Local organizations and topics
Numbers are stories in the last 30 days.
Editorial map (Gemini + Google Maps)
Dillingham City Council adopts 2036 comprehensive plan, replacing its 2010 plan
The Dillingham City Council unanimously adopted the 2036 Dillingham Comprehensive Plan on Sept. 3, making it the city's official long-range policy guide and replacing the plan the city has used since 2010, according to the signed ordinance and the meeting minutes.
The plan sets direction for land use, housing, economic development, public facilities and transportation over the next 10 to 20 years, according to the city's planning page. Under the ordinance, it is the main policy guide the Planning Commission and council use when they weigh zoning, subdivision, development review, capital spending and grant applications. State law requires first-class cities to adopt a comprehensive plan.
The plan covers eight focus areas, including housing, land use, transportation and the waterfront. Its housing goals aim to address a documented 232-unit housing gap, Planning Department Director Chris Maines wrote in a July 31 cover memo.
Plan documents say about 15% of occupied homes in Dillingham lack complete plumbing or kitchen facilities. The 2023 Dillingham Housing Study estimated that 53 units need rehabilitation.
The plan's appendix proposes assessing 99-year land leases to lower land costs while the city keeps ownership of the land. It also proposes evaluating graduated property-tax breaks for new housing, and it says the city is exploring a public value-added fish processing facility and cold storage unit.
What did you make of this story? (no account needed)
Have a story from Dillingham? Send a tip
Stories on what’s next
Dillingham City Council Public Hearings on Tax-Foreclosed Property Sales
Dillingham council moves to sell three tax-foreclosed lots and keep a fourth
Dillingham's council introduced ordinances to sell three tax-foreclosed lots, one with a $172,300 minimum bid, and keep a fourth for road and utility work.
Latest
October 2026
Alaska Board of Fisheries picks Bethel and Dillingham for 2028 regional finfish meetings
The Board of Fisheries will take its 2028 AYK and Bristol Bay meetings to Bethel and Dillingham, after some debate over hotel rooms and winter dining.
by Alaska News2w ago2 min read
Unmarried partner keeps boat bought with his own money, Alaska Supreme Court rules
Skipped marriage to skip divorce court? The Alaska Supreme Court says what you buy alone, with your own money and in your own name, stays yours.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Peltola pledges to finish the Izembek road, a goal Sullivan shares
Peltola pledged to finish the Izembek road and fight Pebble on a Southwest swing. Sullivan backs the road and has been on the record opposing Pebble, though not EPA's action on it.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Dillingham council votes Thursday on exempting Tribal land from property tax
Dillingham's council votes tonight on exempting land owned outright by federally recognized tribes from city property tax. Commercial buildings stay taxed.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
September 2026
Court orders former Curyung Tribal Council accountant to repay $125,834 to tribe
Federal court ordered former Curyung Tribal Council accountant William Corbett to repay $125,834 after he embezzled funds through forged checks and falsified payroll documents.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Kotzebue gets $1.5 million to keep growing food above the Arctic Circle
Kotzebue gets $1.5 million for Alaska Native food sovereignty work. The USDA calls it national security. The people doing it call it something else.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Dillingham forum puts two open Southwest Alaska legislative seats on one stage
Two senior rural lawmakers are leaving, eight candidates want their seats, and seven are listed for a Dillingham forum.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read
Ten sockeye a day holds through December in the Wood and Nushagak
Anglers can keep 10 sockeye a day in the Wood and Nushagak through December, double the usual. The kings in the same water are a stock of concern.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
More from Dillingham
BBNC Dillingham IT apprenticeship applications close Friday
BBNC is hiring one IT apprentice in Dillingham, applications close Friday, Sept. 4. The one-year role includes CompTIA certifications and requires BBNC or Choggiung shareholder status.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
August 2026
AFN holds a subsistence listening session in Fairbanks on Aug. 31
The Alaska Federation of Natives holds a subsistence listening session in Fairbanks on Aug. 31, gathering harvesters' and elders' input on the future of subsistence.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A free clinic helps BBNC shareholders decide who inherits their shares
A free Dillingham clinic Aug. 13 lets BBNC shareholders write stock wills, choosing who inherits their shares instead of leaving it to default law.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
AFN gathers Dillingham voices on the future of subsistence
AFN holds a four-hour listening session in Dillingham on Aug. 12 to gather subsistence harvesters' input on how Alaska's subsistence future should be managed.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
No heat closes Dillingham's job center counter early
A heating failure closed walk-in service at Dillingham's Bristol Bay Job Center on Tuesday afternoon, sending staff home at noon and cutting counter hours short.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
July 2026
An Ekwok safety officer was assaulted doing the job alone
An Ekwok village safety officer was assaulted at the clinic following up on a case — the risk of being the lone law enforcement in a remote village.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Alaska opens all of Togiak to fishing with the sockeye count far below goal
Alaska is opening the whole Togiak District to commercial fishing with the sockeye count at a fraction of its goal — and no stated reason why.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Delta Junction man cited for fishing closed waters and gillnet violation in Nushagak
A Delta Junction man was cited for fishing in closed waters and violating gillnet rules in Bristol Bay on July 4, one of 11 citations troopers issued during peak sockeye season.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min readFrom 
Coming up
City of Dillingham Petroleum Fuels Bid Opening
City Hall, 141 Main St., Dillingham, AK 99576
Meeting
Public Hearing on Ordinance 2026-17: Foreclosed Property Sale
Hearing
Dillingham City Council Public Hearings on Tax-Foreclosed Property Sales
Hearing
City of Dillingham Petroleum Fuels Bid Submission Deadline
Public notice
Dillingham City annual work plan due
Public notice
About Dillingham
Dillingham, also called Curyung, is a city at the head of Nushagak Bay in the Bristol Bay region of Southwest Alaska. It serves as the administrative and commercial hub for Bristol Bay's villages, and its harbor supports the Nushagak district sockeye salmon fishery.
The salmon season shapes the town, with commercial openings, sport limits on the Wood River and trooper enforcement of closed waters and boat markings during the peak of the run. City council business includes property tax policy, such as exempting land owned by tribes, and the sale of tax-foreclosed lots.
Regional organizations work there, including the Bristol Bay Native Corporation with its shareholder and workforce programs, and the Curyung Tribal Council. Dillingham also hosts regional gatherings such as fisheries board meetings and subsistence listening sessions, and surrounding villages include Aleknagik, Manokotak, Togiak and Ekwok.
More from Dillingham
Bristol Bay enforcement program yields 11 citations across Naknek and Nushagak districts
Alaska Wildlife Troopers cited 11 people in Bristol Bay's Naknek and Nushagak districts for commercial fishing violations including closed-period fishing and unlicensed crew.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Manokotak man arrested on murder charge after fishing-site death
A Manokotak man died after being struck in the head with an anchor during a fishing-site altercation on June 26. Another Manokotak man faces murder and manslaughter charges.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago1 min read
One town, six citations: Homer stands out in Bristol Bay
Six people from Homer turned up in a single batch of Bristol Bay fishing citations — more than any other town. Whether that's coincidence or something more isn't yet clear.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Troopers are running an enforcement blitz on Bristol Bay's peak season
Troopers cited four more in Bristol Bay last week — mostly for improperly marked boats, the very violation Fish and Game flagged as a season priority. Part of a bigger crackdown.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
AML resolution calls for protecting bypass mail to remote Alaska communities
Alaska Municipal League urged federal officials to protect bypass mail, which lets remote communities buy cheaper goods through the postal system.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
A Dillingham campus wants to grow rural Alaska's scientists at home
A Dillingham campus won nearly $889,000 from the NSF to train STEM pros in place for rural Southwest Alaska — a "grow-your-own" model, though the grant runs just three years.
by Melinda Communities.News4mo ago1 min read
June 2026
On the Wood River, so many sockeye are coming back that the state wants you to keep more
Good news for once on the water: the Wood River sockeye run near Dillingham is so strong the state doubled the limit to 10 fish a day, through year's end.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Bristol Bay Igushik set gillnet season opens June 15 with 15-hour blocks
Bristol Bay's Igushik set gillnet season opens June 15 with 15-hour fishing blocks, kicking off the summer sockeye harvest that generates most of the region's annual catch and revenue.
by Bill AlaskaNews5mo ago1 min read
Murkowski: War-price fuel barges lock rural Alaska into costly winter
Rural Alaska villages are paying $9 to $14 a gallon for fuel locked in at peak war prices and cannot wait for global prices to fall, Senator Murkowski warned
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
May 2026
House committee advances LGBTQ anti-discrimination bill on 4-3 vote
Alaska House committee advanced a bill adding sexual orientation and gender identity protections to state civil rights law in employment, housing, and public accommodations, voting 4-3 Thursday.
by Alaska News6mo ago4 min read