Local organizations and topics
Numbers are stories in the last 30 days.
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Week of Sep 21
Nome's utility is five years behind on audits and borrowing costs more
Nome's utility hasn't finished an audit since 2021, and its manager says the delay is probably raising the interest rate on its annual fuel loan.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Week of Sep 14
Alaska reroutes Region IV absentee ballots after 75 arrived too late to count
Alaska will route Region IV absentee-in-person ballots through Anchorage after 75 primary ballots arrived after certification.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom 
Alaska rural health notices pass $239 million with $30 million round
Alaska sent out $30 million more in rural health awards this week, funding a Girdwood telepharmacy, a Norton Sound scheduling hub and rural X-ray machines.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min read
Nome weighs what to do with the boats that never leave its port yards
Boats and dredges that haven't floated in years are clogging the Port of Nome's yards, and the Port Commission is weighing higher fees or clearing them out.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Spur demolition begins for Nome's planned Arctic deep-draft port
Kiewit has begun removing Nome's port spur. Phase 1A extends the causeway, while separate dredging will create the 40-foot basin.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Nome cannot say whether a free shuttle van is a taxi
Nome's code does not say whether free shuttle vans count as taxis. The mayor says nobody has worked it out, and the sales tax turns on the answer.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Repairs begin on the Nome-Council Highway, four years after Merbok
Permanent repairs have begun on the Nome-Council Highway, four years after Typhoon Merbok breached the road in 2022.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Nome may add flowcharts to help residents navigate permits
Nome may give residents visual flowcharts to walk them through variance and rezoning applications. The Planning Commission backed the idea Tuesday.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom 
More from Nome
Week of Sep 7
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
Moose hunting closes early west of the Darby Mountains
Moose hunting west of the Darby Mountains closes Sunday, a day early, as the last of several quota-driven closures around Nome this season.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Troopers identify two Savoonga men dead after capsizing near St. Lawrence Island
Two Savoonga men died when their boat capsized off St. Lawrence Island. A 15-year-old survived by clinging to the overturned hull until a search crew found him.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom 
NWS forecasts water 5 feet above high tide at Golovin through Friday
Water is forecast 3 to 5 feet above the normal high tide line at Golovin through Friday, the third stretch of high water there in three weeks.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Coast Guard finds 15-year-old alive on capsized skiff off St. Lawrence Island; two dead
Coast Guard found a 15-year-old alive on a capsized skiff 4 miles east of St. Lawrence Island on Monday; two other boaters from the same vessel were recovered dead.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
State tax office flagged seller of Anchorage cannabis concentrate license as non-compliant
Alaska flagged a marijuana license seller as non-compliant on taxes. Her sworn statement listed no debts. What the board did is not on the record.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom 
Week of Aug 31
Norton Sound commercial salmon fishing closed for the rest of 2026
Norton Sound's commercial salmon fishery is closed for the rest of 2026 after most of the state's fish-counting projects failed, leaving too much uncertainty.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom 
Alaska Supreme Court bars Nome from taxing hospital staff housing
The Alaska Supreme Court says Nome cannot tax the building where its hospital houses doctors and nurses, a ruling that reaches every borough in the state.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago4 min readFrom 
Coming up
Grants Workshop Day 2
Kawerak Ublugiaq Board Room, Nome, Alaska (in-person) or via Zoom (virtual)
Class
Basic Heavy Equipment Maintenance Training
Class
Interior Department and Marine Minerals Administration Meeting with Nome
Meeting
Nome Planning Commission Rescheduled Meeting
Hearing
Bering Strait Marketplace – holiday edition
Community event
About Nome
Nome, known in Iñupiaq as Sitŋasuaq, is a city on the Seward Peninsula on the Bering Sea coast, in the Nome Census Area. It is the hub of the Bering Strait region and is known for its Gold Rush history, its gold dredging and the finish line of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
An elected city council, school board and utility board govern local affairs, deciding licenses, taxes and requests such as federal money for harbor dredging. Gold dredging and mining near the city, including the Graphite Creek project and dredge permits in Safety Sound, draw debate from tribes and residents. Hunting and fishing seasons in the region, from moose closures to Norton Sound salmon, are regular questions for local households.
Regional organizations such as Kawerak, Norton Sound Health Corporation and Bering Straits Native Corporation serve Nome and the surrounding villages, among them Koyuk, Gambell, Elim, Unalakleet and Shaktoolik. The Nome-Council Highway, damaged by coastal storms, is one of the roads leading out of the city.
More from Nome
Norton Sound's health corporation is in line for $7.2 million
Norton Sound Health Corporation would get about $7.2 million in federal rural health money, most of it replacing end-of-life computers in 15 village clinics.
by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read
Nome to host 2030 Inuit Circumpolar Council General Assembly
Nome will host the Inuit Circumpolar Council's 2030 General Assembly, drawing 400 delegates from Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia to vote on Arctic sovereignty and food security.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
GCI is buying the only fiber link connecting Alaska's Arctic coast to the state
GCI, Alaska's biggest telecom, is buying the only wired link between the Arctic coast and the rest of the state for $310 million, a route rivals depend on.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Graphite Creek permit decision pushed to September 2027
The Army Corps of Engineers delayed the Graphite Creek mine permit to September 2027 and upgraded the review to a full environmental impact statement.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Free school supplies and dinner at Nome's Back-to-School Bash
Nome families got free backpacks, school supplies and pizza at a community Back-to-School Bash — a welcome hand in a year of tight budgets and $10 milk.
by Alaska Newsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Unit 22C bull moose season closes 12 days early, after two days
Bull moose season in Unit 22C on the Seward Peninsula closes Sept. 2, twelve days early, after hunters are expected to fill the 30-bull quota in just two days.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Two Bering Straits directors retire. One seat goes to shareholders, one to the board.
Two Bering Straits Native Corporation directors are retiring, but shareholders will only vote on one replacement seat because the other will be filled by board appointment under company bylaws.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Week of Aug 24
A Nome jury convicted a 78-year-old man on 28 counts of sexual abuse of a minor
A Nome jury convicted Isaac Ozenna Sr., 78, on 28 counts of sexual abuse of a minor involving nine children abused in Nome between 1984 and 2014.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Hunters near Nome have one last day for a bull moose before the season closes early
Hunters near Nome have one last day for a bull moose before the season closes more than two weeks early, with the area's 17-bull quota set to fill.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Three Merbok-damaged stretches of the Nome-Council Highway are finally getting permanent repairs
Federal grants totaling $2.4 million will repair three stretches of the Nome-Council Highway damaged by ex-typhoon Merbok in 2022, with work running through April 2028.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Week of Aug 17
A Bering Strait Native corporation will staff anti-trafficking work for the State Department
A Bering Straits Native Corporation subsidiary won a State Department contract to staff anti-trafficking work, supporting its 8,200+ Native shareholders.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
Nome buses roll as Steadman Street reopening goes unconfirmed
Nome school buses roll this morning down a street the state said would reopen Friday. The state's own weekly update does not say whether it actually did.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Three Alaska Native groups demand answers on rural election staffing before Tuesday's primary
Three Alaska Native groups are demanding the state account for unfilled rural election-worker jobs and pay overdue per diem before Tuesday's primary, citing past precincts that never opened.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read
Week of Aug 10
Free school supplies offered in Nome on Aug. 26
Nome families can get free school supplies, snacks, and crafts at the Recreation Center on Aug. 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., as the school district faces budget cuts.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Crews dug out Alaska's remote seasonal highways for summer, meeting in the middle of the Denali
Alaska cleared its remote seasonal highways for summer, with crews meeting in the middle of the 135-mile Denali Highway. A $1.25M federal grant paid for it.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Nearly four years on, Alaska has been paid 15 percent of Merbok's $90.9 million
Nearly four years after Typhoon Merbok, only about 15% of the FEMA rebuild money has been paid out — and the deadline to finish the work is seven weeks away.
by Lucas Brown3mo ago3 min read
A suction dredge permit off Nome is open for public comment through Aug. 18
A suction dredging permit for a small operation off Nome is open for public comment through Aug. 18, in waters where gold dredging has long been established.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readFrom 
Alaska lacks the skilled workers for the LNG project, a report says
A state analysis says Alaska can't train enough workers for the LNG project — even as the state that funds much of that training warned of the gap in 2018.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Week of Aug 3
Alaska Supreme Court shields Nome hospital's staff housing from tax
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Nome can't tax a Norton Sound Health building housing doctors and nurses, calling the staff housing vital to the hospital.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Hughes $25 billion pitch: connect Alaska's railroad to Canada, and Nome to the Interior
Candidate Shelley Hughes wants to link Alaska's railroad to Canada and reach Nome — a roughly $25 billion pitch with no identified funding source.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A new Nome dredge application enters the pipeline that just rejected a fiercely fought gold mine
A new suction-dredge application near Nome enters the same regulatory pipeline that just rejected IPOP's massive Bonanza Channel gold mine
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A decade after a plan promised lower energy costs, Bering Strait villages are still studying the problem
A decade after a regional plan promised lower energy costs, Bering Strait villages are still studying the problem — as Kawerak seeks contractors to assess the diesel infrastructure keeping 20 communities running.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
Six Nome seats are open this fall, with a Sept. 1 filing deadline
Six Nome seats — City Council, Utility Board and School Board — are up this fall. To run, file with the city by 5 p.m. Sept. 1. The election is Oct. 6.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Week of Jul 27
NTSB: Bering Air crash that killed 10 was a chain of preventable failures
The NTSB found the Bering Air crash that killed 10 near Nome resulted from a chain of preventable failures — an overweight plane the company routinely flew heavy, severe icing, and a pilot overloaded in the final minutes.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
