Local organizations and topics
Numbers are stories in the last 30 days.
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September 2026
A Bering Sea storm brings flooding and high winds to the Y-K Delta
A Bering Sea storm is bringing coastal flooding and damaging winds to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, including Kipnuk, still rebuilding from last year's typhoon.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Bethel judge sentences Wassillie Brink to 30 years in Kasigluk assault
A man with a prior conviction for sexual abuse of a minor got 22 years to serve for a 2022 assault in Kasigluk. Western Alaska's rate is double the state's.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Bethel's water plant has been sending filter backwash onto open ground
Water flushed from Bethel's treatment filters has been running onto the tundra instead of into the sewer lagoon. The city does not say for how long.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
Southwest Alaska carried most of the state's tuberculosis cases last year
Southwest Alaska, with about 5% of the state's population, had 46 of Alaska's 77 tuberculosis cases last year — roughly nineteen times Anchorage's rate.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom 
Three Alaska National Guard wetland surveys go out to bid, with proposals due Sept. 21
Alaska Army National Guard is buying wetland surveys at three aviation facilities in Kotzebue, Bethel and Nome, budgeted at $45,000 to $50,000 each, with proposals due 2 p.m. Sept. 21.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A $2 fix could cut $49,944 a year off Bethel's fitness center energy bill
Two dollars. That is what Bethel would have to spend to cut nearly $50,000 a year off the fitness center energy bill, according to an audit.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
The roof went on wrong at Bethel's gym expansion and has to come off
The roof and walls went on wrong at Bethel's gym expansion. They come back off at no cost to the city, and nobody has set a new completion date.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
10 Kuskokwim Delta villages named in flood outlooks for Friday
High water coming down the Kuskokwim meets storm surge pushing up it at Friday's high tide. Ten western Alaska villages could see flooding or erosion.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
More from Bethel
Bethel shut off the water at a house leaking sewage and it came back on
Bethel shut off the water at a house leaking sewage. The resident turned it back on the next day, and the repair deadline has now passed too.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Bethel's deadline to fix a sewage leak passed two weeks ago
Untreated sewage is leaking onto the ground at a Bethel house. The city's repair deadline passed two weeks ago with no word on whether it was met.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Bethel Fire Department recruits nationally for a captain and firefighters
Bethel Fire Department is recruiting a captain and firefighters nationally to fill gaps in its eight-person career staff serving over 6,000 residents.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Bethel council to take up a holiday rescheduling rule, in a code section that does not set meeting dates
Bethel's city council could reschedule meetings that fall on holidays under an ordinance introduced Tuesday, Sept. 8.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
August 2026
Troopers rule Akiak house fire non-criminal
A home burned in Akiak in July with no injuries reported. State investigators have closed the case, finding the cause undetermined but not criminal.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Why the Coast Guard is paying a Homer helicopter company to reach roadless villages
The Coast Guard is paying a Homer helicopter company $345,000 to fly inspectors to roadless Alaska villages to reach the fuel facilities it regulates.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Short on officers, Bethel police look to grow their own with a cadet program
Bethel's police, the hub much of the Y-K Delta relies on, are short officers and dispatchers and are looking to grow their own through a cadet program.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Montana man charged with 37 counts in Bethel hunting residency case
A Montana man faces 37 criminal counts in Bethel for claiming Alaska residency to hunt while living out of state, a violation that affects license costs and permit eligibility.
by Alaska News2mo ago2 min read
About Bethel
Bethel (Mamterilleq) is a city in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, in the Bethel Census Area, on the Kuskokwim River. It is the regional hub for the Yup'ik villages around it and the gateway to a large roadless region, with no highway in or out.
Bethel's economy and institutions are built around its role as a service center, with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, the regional court, police, and air and barge links to surrounding villages. Its stories return to city services such as water, sewer and the landfill, sales tax collection, police staffing, and electric rates set by AVEC.
The Kuskokwim River shapes daily life, from subsistence salmon fishing that closes when runs fall short to the winter freeze-up. Villages such as Kasigluk, Akiak and Akiachak look to Bethel for courts, health care and supplies.
More from Bethel
Bethel commission recommends $2 taxi fare increase, with $1 elder discount
Bethel's Public Safety and Transportation Commission voted unanimously to raise taxi fares by $2 per trip, with a $1 discount for elders, but the City Council has not yet acted on the recommendation.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Kusilvak unemployment hit 16.1% in May, six times Denali Borough's rate
About one in six people in the Kusilvak labor force was unemployed in May, the highest rate in Alaska. Every high-rate region is off the road system.
by Alaska News2mo ago2 min read
Subsistence coho fishing closes on the middle and upper Kuskokwim
Subsistence coho fishing closes Friday on the middle Kuskokwim and a week later upriver. Sonar counts are running about a third below average for the date.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Bethel weighs letting its manager file lawsuits without council approval
Bethel is weighing whether to let its manager file routine lawsuits without a council vote, moving some legal authority from the elected body to city staff.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Bethel would move sand shed money to road salt and water plant engineering
Bethel wants to move about $55,000 from fixing its sand shed to buying road salt and helping engineer a water plant. The council takes public comment Tuesday.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A Bethel man will serve 60 years for sexually abusing a child left in his care
A Bethel man, Matt Atcherian, 27, will serve 60 years in prison for sexually abusing a child under 13 who had been left in his care.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Bethel wants a Louisiana firm to audit local businesses for unpaid sales tax, without bidding
Bethel wants a Louisiana firm to audit local businesses for unpaid sales tax, with no bidding. The $19,999 cap covers only part of the work.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Bethel health fair screens 48 for diabetes and promotes same-day services
Forty-eight people got diabetes screening at a three-hour Bethel health fair aimed at showing what YKHC can offer the same day a patient walks in.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Bethel shut off a home's water to stop raw sewage, and the resident turned it back on
Bethel cut off a home's water to stop raw sewage reaching the ground, but the resident turned it back on, and the sewage still has nowhere treated to go.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Thursday is the last day to file for Bethel city council
Thursday at 4 p.m. is the last chance to file for one of four Bethel city council seats on the Oct. 6 ballot. Voters have until Sept. 6 to register.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Bethel-area electric bills would rise about 30% on everything but fuel
Bethel-area electric customers would see the non-fuel part of their bill rise about 30%, with AVEC blaming higher costs for materials, labor and freight.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readFrom 
The body overseeing the Y-K Delta's only fuel lifeline hasn't been able to meet in a year
Bethel's port commission hasn't had a quorum in a year — leaving the road-less Y-K Delta's fuel lifeline without oversight and a dock warning unaddressed.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Bethel weighs fixes or demolition for three problem properties
Bethel holds a hearing Sept. 1 on three problem properties it's chased for months — one nearly two years — to decide on fixes or demolition.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
Bethel weighs a climbing fee to force action on empty buildings
A draft Bethel ordinance would make owners of empty buildings register and pay a fee that climbs the longer they sit vacant: $100, $500, then $1,000-plus.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min read
Bethel man arrested for DUI near Cooper Landing after a REDDI report
A driver reported swerving into oncoming traffic near Cooper Landing was arrested on a DUI charge Friday night, flagged through the state's REDDI line.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Electric bills would rise in Bethel, Yakutat and 50-plus rural communities
Electric bills would rise about 4.75% in Bethel, Yakutat and 50-plus rural communities under an AVEC proposal, on customers already paying several times urban rates.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Bethel's mayor files to run for her city council seat again
Bethel Mayor Rose "Sugar" Henderson filed a letter of intent to run for re-election to her city council seat in the Oct. 6 election.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Kuskokwim coho fishing slow in early August as Bethel sonar counts run low
Coho fishing on the lower Kuskokwim has been very slow in early August amid high water and low Bethel sonar counts, though escapement should still be met.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Bethel weighs buying road salt before the river freezes
Bethel is weighing $55,000 in road salt before freeze-up — in a town with no highway in or out, once the Kuskokwim freezes, the barges bringing it stop.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
July 2026
Bethel's safety and taxi commission is down to two of six members
Bethel's commission overseeing public safety and its huge taxi fleet is down to two of six seats — with a taxi fare hike on its agenda in a busy hub town.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
One new rural Alaska prosecutor, against deep tribal-justice cuts
The DOJ is adding one rural Alaska prosecutor while proposing to cut the budgets that fund tribal police and victim services by roughly a quarter.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Many Bethel homes still haul water. This money starts to change that.
Many Bethel residents still get water by truck. The state just forgave $3.4 million in loans that starts the design work toward piping it instead.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
IHS picks Sitka and Bethel tribal health groups for first-ever elder care construction program
Indian Health Service picked Sitka and Bethel tribal health groups to build and expand skilled nursing facilities, the first time the federal program has funded long-term elder care in Alaska.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Akiachak man faces 7 felony charges in Bethel sexual abuse case
Alaska State Troopers arrested Akiachak man Lewis Lomack, 47, on seven felony charges tied to sexual abuse of a minor, and believe more victims exist. He is presumed innocent.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read