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Public comment on new Nome-area suction dredge application closes Aug. 18
Public comment closes Aug. 18 on a suction dredge permit application in Norton Sound near Nome, filed by Carl Fowler and Phillip Diaz for a small operation running through Dec. 31, 2026.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3d ago2 min readAI
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 AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readAI
Erosion is forcing Alaska to move the Noatak airport two miles west
The Noatak River has eroded to within about 160 feet of the village's airport — its only lifeline — so Alaska is moving the whole airport two miles west.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3d ago1 min readAI
State proposes five-year lease extension for Noatak school site at airport
Alaska is proposing a five-year lease extension for Noatak's school and fuel tank farm on airport land, even though the airport itself is scheduled to close once a replacement facility opens.
by Walter AlaskaNews5d ago1 min readAI
NANA's fall payout works out to about $1,687 for an original shareholder
NANA's fall payout is $16.87 a share — about $1,687 for an original shareholder with 100 shares. Update your information by Nov. 6 to be paid on time.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min readAI
Ambler advances, but the U.S. stake in its developer hasn't closed
Ambler Road permits are back in force and the project is advancing, but the U.S. government's planned stake in developer Trilogy Metals still hasn't closed.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readAI
Shaktoolik and Unalakleet subsistence fishers must pull beach seines Tuesday
Shaktoolik and Unalakleet subsistence fishers must pull beach seines by Tuesday, part of Norton Sound's king salmon conservation effort. Gillnets stay open.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago2 min readAI
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 AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readAI
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 AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readAI
The water keeps coming back to Kotzebue Sound
Kotzebue Sound is getting its second high-water warning in two days — small rises on a coast where the flooding keeps getting worse.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min readAI
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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
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 AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readAI
More than 200 Alaska watersheds have turned orange
Uh-ohh. More than 200 Brooks Range watersheds have turned orange in a decade as thawing permafrost releases iron and metals — rusting rivers that villages drink from and fish.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Noatak Airport relocation triggers water quality review as river erodes toward runway
River erosion is forcing Noatak to relocate its airport, and the Army Corps of Engineers opened a water quality review that must clear before construction can start on a new site 1.5 miles west.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
New fire burns 1.5 miles from Native allotment near Kaltag
The Notakok Fire ignited Monday in black spruce 4 miles north of the Yup'ik village of Kaltag, with 12 smokejumpers and water-scooping aircraft on scene and the nearest Native allotment sitting only 1.5 miles away; no size estimate or containment figure has been released.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Nalukataq season carries Alaska whaling traditions into summer
Nalukataq celebrations honoring bowhead whale hunts move across five northern Alaska communities from mid-June through early July, distributing whale meat and muktuk to mark the tradition.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Notakok Fire held at 55 acres one mile from Kaltag as smokejumpers begin to stand down
The 55-acre Notakok Fire one mile from Kaltag entered mop-up operations Wednesday as most smokejumpers stood down and a full fire crew took over, with rain and humidity favoring containment.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
24 bottles of R&R, grounded short of Shungnak
Bargain whiskey, $400 a bottle: Fairbanks airport police seized 24 bottles of R&R bound for a dry village, street value $9,600.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min readAI
Kotzebue chum fishermen get a better price but have just one buyer left
Kotzebue chum fishermen are getting nearly 20 cents more a pound this season, but with only one registered buyer left, their market now hinges on a single company.
by Bill AlaskaNews6d ago1 min readAI
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 AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
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 AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readAI
The fight to keep Red Dog alive past 2031
A routine nine-acre lease along the Red Dog haul road opens onto a much bigger question: how one of the world's richest zinc mines keeps going after its main pit runs dry around 2031.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readAI
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.News1mo ago1 min readAI
NWS issues overlapping fire-weather alerts across northern Alaska through July 9
NWS Fairbanks has kept the Northern Seward Peninsula, Upper Kobuk Valleys, and Lower Koyukuk Valley under a Fire Weather Watch through Wednesday evening, while a separate Red Flag Warning for the Upper Koyukuk Valley runs until midnight July 9. Forecasters flagged uncertainty about how far north thunderstorms could push.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
DNR advances Graphite One drilling permit near Nome
Graphite One, one step closer
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readAI
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 News2mo ago2 min readAI
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 3w ago1 min readAI
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 AlaskaNews3w ago1 min readAI
Four-wheeler breakdown strands two near Kotzebue; borough SAR unable to respond
Two people stranded near Kotzebue were rescued the morning after the Fourth — by troopers and two local volunteers, after the borough's search-and-rescue unit couldn't respond.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min readAI
Selawik landfill fire smoke poses distinct health risk beyond wildfire haze
A landfill fire near Selawik is sending toxic smoke into the air, posing greater health risks than typical wildfire smoke for elders and children.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
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 1mo ago2 min readAI
Alaska Board of Game proposes hunting, trapping rules for Ambler Road
Alaska Board of Game is proposing hunting and trapping restrictions in Game Management Units 23 and 24 if the 211-mile Ambler Road is built across the Brooks Range. Public hearings are July 22-23 in Fairbanks.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
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 AlaskaNews3w ago1 min readAI
Rural Alaska faces fuel crisis as prices surge, shortages loom
Rural Alaska villages face potential fuel shortages and prices that could double to over $6 per gallon for diesel, adding $6,000 per person in annual costs as war in Iran disrupts supplies.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min readAIMinor Chukchi surge hits Kivalina and Red Dog Dock
A minor Chukchi surge Sunday is small by 2022 standards, but it hits Kivalina and Red Dog Dock, where erosion and flooding are already permanent problems.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min readAI
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 AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Kotzebue's backup runway is closing for construction, starting at night
In a roadless region the airport is the road. Kotzebue's bad-weather backup runway is closing for construction — nights first, then around the clock.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Teller pressed Graphite One on subsistence risks at the Graphite Creek mine
Teller residents pressed Graphite One on subsistence risks from the proposed Graphite Creek mine at a June 2026 meeting, raising concerns about caribou, fish, and marine mammal impacts. • Community members questioned spill response plans, dust and traffic in harvesting areas, and how the company would enforce hiring and revenue commitments rather than merely promise them. • The company met privately with Native entities before the public meeting, a sequencing that drew scrutiny from attendees.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Kotzebue Sound crab opener set for June 15 with no buyers registered
Alaska opens Kotzebue Sound red king crab fishing June 15 with a 10,000-pound limit, but no registered buyers, forcing fishermen to sell directly to dockside customers instead of processors.
by Alaska News2mo ago2 min readAI
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 News1mo ago1 min readAI
