Local organizations and topics
Numbers are stories in the last 30 days.
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July 2026
Eight welders certify in Nome as a $400 million port job looms
Eight Bering Strait adults certified in welding in Nome just as a $399 million port expansion gears up to need exactly that skill. And nobody had to leave the region to train.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Unalakleet's new greenhouse sends its first harvest to the elders
Unalakleet's new greenhouse is sending its first harvest to village elders — and the schoolkids who named the potatoes will be back in fall to pick them.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Retiring judge's Arctic caseload lands in an unassigned court queue
A retiring Arctic judge's entire caseload but eight cases now sits in an unassigned queue, with no new judge named and no word on hearing dates across three hub communities.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Nome port's national security designation could save city $132 million in construction costs
A Senate bill could cut Nome's share of its Arctic port project from 35 percent to 10 percent, saving the city $132 million as construction begins this summer.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readFrom 
Kawerak extends RFP deadline for construction management services in Bering Strait Region
Kawerak extended its deadline to July 31 for construction management firms to bid on transportation projects across the Bering Strait Region.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Kotzebue chum fishery opened Sunday, but only one buyer is registered to purchase fish
Kotzebue chum fishery opened Sunday with five fishing windows, but only one buyer is registered to purchase fish this season.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Five Nome-area tribes sue Army Corps over Safety Sound gold dredge permit
Five Nome-area tribes sued the Army Corps of Engineers to block a gold dredge in Safety Sound, saying the agency approved the project without required environmental review.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
The SAVE Act now rides on the defense bill Alaska wants
The SAVE Act is now attached to the defense bill carrying Alaska's military money — putting Murkowski's opposition against Sullivan's biggest win in one vote.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
More from Nome
Savoonga's voting barriers surface in Senate election-integrity debate
Sen. Murkowski cited Savoonga's $1,000 travel costs to register in person under the proposed SAVE America Act. • U.S. Department of Justice found Alaska violated disability-access voting rules in 2024. • Absentee ballot application deadline for 2026 Primary is August 8.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Kotzebue Sound fishing ban near airport runway takes effect with July 10 commercial opening
Kotzebue's first commercial salmon opening July 10 now runs under a permanent fishing ban near the airport runway that blocks both commercial and subsistence nets to keep birds away from planes.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Senate bill would fast-track Army Corps engineering for Juneau's glacial flooding
A Senate bill would let the Army Corps of Engineers skip study steps and move straight to designing a permanent fix for Juneau's glacial lake flooding, which threatens nearly 1,900 homes each summer.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
Alaska Supreme Court affirms termination of Native mother's parental rights over domestic violence
Alaska Supreme Court upheld termination of an Alaska Native mother's parental rights, ruling that four years of case-plan work did not address the domestic violence that endangered her disabled son.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
Senate panel advances water bill with Alaska Native village sanitation, Nome port, and Juneau flood provisions
Senate panel approved a water bill directing $60 million yearly to Alaska Native village sanitation and fast-tracking Juneau's glacial flood response.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A Nome teacher heads to Stanford to rethink how schools teach
A Nome reading teacher is off to Stanford for a Ph.D. — studying how Inuit knowledge and values can be built into what schools actually teach.
by Melinda Communities.News4mo ago1 min read
Why an Arctic fiber company needs 30,000 yards of Dalton gravel
Quintillion wants 30,000 yards of Dalton Highway gravel to build a land backup for the Arctic's only fiber line — the one sea ice has cut twice, knocking whole communities offline.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Higher-than-normal tides along western Alaska's coast through Tuesday
Higher-than-normal tides hit western Alaska's coast through Tuesday, up to 3 feet over the high tide line in Eastern Norton Sound. Move gear off the beach.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
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
Bering Straits bets big on federal contracting, just as the business gets harder
Bering Straits Native Corp. bought nine federal contractors, doubling down on government work just as awards to Native-owned firms drop and the 8(a) program comes under fire.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Alaska Native ivory carvers can now sell their work in all 50 states
A new federal law lets Alaska Native artists sell walrus-ivory handicrafts in all 50 states, fixing a mess where anti-elephant-ivory bans accidentally swept up legal Native carving
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Bering Straits promotes a shareholder into its executive ranks
Bering Straits promoted Nome shareholder Brittany Daletas to VP of operations — a step in something ANCs keep working at: growing their own shareholders into the people who run them.
by Alaska News4mo ago1 min read
Starlink claims 10 Gbps in Utqiagvik, but maybe... not so much
Starlink says it hit 10 Gbps in Utqiagvik — but that's the firehose into town, not what reaches your house. A rooftop dish still gets about 200 Mbps.
by Melinda Communities.News4mo ago1 min read
Northern Region roads return to full summer loads Friday
Alaska lifts spring weight limits on most Northern Region roads Friday, July 10, letting commercial haulers return to full legal loads, except Tofty Road into Tanana stays capped at 75 percent.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Nome Airport Crossing Permit
A dull state permit reveals something distinctly Alaskan: a Nome resident wants to taxi his plane from his own yard onto the airport — the kind of access rural life runs on.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Kawerak hauls 4,000 pounds of e-waste out of Nome
Nome shipped 4,000 pounds of old electronics to the Lower 48 — because rural Alaska's unlined landfills can't safely hold the poison inside them, so the only option is to haul it out.
by Alaska Newsadded 4mo ago2 min read
June 2026
Nome is becoming America's first deepwater port in the Arctic
After nearly 20 years, work is underway to make Nome the first deepwater port in the American Arctic — a ~$600M project deep enough for Coast Guard icebreakers.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Aleut & Bering Straights, scholarship deadlines arrive this summer
Two Alaska Native corporations have summer scholarship deadlines — part of how ANCSA's land-settlement corporations quietly fund the education of the generations that followed.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Nome man indicted on 47 counts of sexual abuse spanning 16 years
A Bethel grand jury indicted a former Nome foster parent on 47 counts of sexual abuse. State troopers believe more victims exist.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
BSNC placed 16 interns across its operations — building homegrown management
Bering Straits Native Corporation placed 16 interns across its operations this summer, including returning participants pursuing business degrees, to build management talent from shareholders and descendants in the region.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
Sitnasuak Buys the River the Gold Rush Left Behind
Land the gold rush claimed a century ago now belongs to Sitnasuak — permanently undevelopable, which lawyers may someday find interesting.
by Maggie AlaskaNews5mo ago2 min readFrom 
Dunleavy vetoes rural transit planning bill
Governor Dunleavy vetoed a bill requiring rural transit programs be included in statewide transportation planning, saying the state already does this work.
by Walter AlaskaNews5mo ago1 min readFrom 
Bering Air seeks Nome and Unalakleet lease updates — at the same airports the NTSB is investigating
Bering Air is seeking lease extensions at Nome and Unalakleet airports while the NTSB investigates the February 2025 crash of Flight 445 that killed 10 people, citing overweight aircraft as a major factor.
by Alaska News5mo ago2 min read
Neal Foster files for House District 39 re-election
State Representative Neal Foster, a Democrat who has served House District 39 since 2009, filed for re-election emphasizing his seniority and work on rural energy assistance, dividend payments, and senior benefits.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 5mo ago2 min read
Nome cuts school funding by $500K, forcing layoffs and larger classes
Nome Common Council cut school funding by $500,000 to $2.7 million for fiscal 2027, forcing the district to eliminate positions including teachers, counselors, and a school psychologist while class sizes grow.
by Walter AlaskaNews5mo ago1 min read
May 2026
DNR advances Graphite One drilling permit near Nome
Graphite One, one step closer
by Bill AlaskaNews5mo ago1 min read
DNR receives 24 placer mining applications for Interior Alaska gold districts
Alaska's Department of Natural Resources is reviewing 24 placer mining applications for Interior gold districts, part of the typical 100 to 200 statewide applications the agency processes each year.
by Alaska News6mo ago3 min readNome subsistence salmon fishers face new weekly schedule, 25-fish limits
Alaska Fish and Game set a Wednesday-to-Monday subsistence fishing schedule and 25-fish household limits for Norton Sound salmon in 2026, citing conservation concerns across the region.
by Alaska Newsadded 6mo ago3 min readNavy eyes return to Adak amid Arctic security concerns
The Navy is assessing whether to reestablish operations on Adak Island as China and Russia increase military activity near Alaska, with no formal decision yet made.
by Alaska News6mo ago4 min read
Alaska residential schools seek doubled stipends to cover rising costs
Senate Bill 257 would double state funding for Alaska residential schools to cover rising costs. The bill aims to fix a funding gap that has remained stagnant since 2014.
by Alaska News6mo ago4 min read
Alaska Senate panel hears proposal for immigrant integration office
Alaska Senate panel heard testimony on a bill to create a Welcoming Alaska Office to help immigrants and foreign-born teachers settle in state communities and schools.
by Alaska News6mo ago3 min read
April 2026
Federal Subsistence Board adopts 52 wildlife proposals for Alaska
The Federal Subsistence Board approved 52 new hunting rules for federal lands. • Rules take effect July 1 and govern subsistence access through June 2028. • Changes include a new Kodiak brown bear hunt and tighter limits in Southeast.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 6mo ago4 min read
Alaska's tribal school compact bill navigates sovereignty and public education law
Senate Bill 66 would authorize up to five Alaska tribes to operate public schools under compact agreements, with a seven-year pilot costing $19.2 million in the first year.
by Alaska News6mo ago4 min read
