Northwest Arctic

Nome council tables pull-tab tax change pending legal opinion on mayor's possible conflict

Nome's council put its pull-tab tax change on ice until a lawyer says whether the mayor, who leads the Chamber of Commerce, has a conflict of interest.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Norton Sound Health Corporation gets $250,000 federal grant for produce prescription program

A $250,000 Indian Health Service grant will help Norton Sound Health Corporation give food-insecure households monthly produce vouchers or shipments.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Report says 37% of Alaska households couldn't cover basic costs, with rural areas hit hardest

By one group's measure, 37% of Alaska households couldn't cover basic costs in 2024, and a two-income family with two small kids came up nearly $12,000 short.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Alaska prisons seek contractor for mental health care, with video visits allowed in Nome, Bethel and Ketchikan

Alaska's prisons want a contractor for mental health care at four facilities. In Nome, Bethel and Ketchikan, clinicians might visit in person only monthly.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Regulators fix math errors in AVEC power subsidy, raising credits in most villages

State regulators found math errors in AVEC's rural power credits. The fix raises the credit in 44 of 46 village power systems and lowers it in two.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readFrom Sep 24

ICE places $7 million, one-month El Paso detention order with Anchorage-based Paragon

ICE placed a $7 million, one-month order with Paragon, a Bering Straits Native Corporation subsidiary, to keep providing detention services in El Paso.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min read

Troopers investigating death of Elim woman after reported injury

A 40-year-old Elim woman died early Saturday after an injury at a house in the village. Alaska State Troopers and the medical examiner are investigating.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

State puts $4.2 million toward housing for teachers and other professionals in rural Alaska

Rural Alaska keeps losing teachers to a lack of decent housing. The state has $4.2 million to build more, for communities that signed up by August.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Judicial Council tries again to fill Kotzebue and Nome superior court seats

Kotzebue and Nome are each without their only superior court judge. The Judicial Council is trying again to fill both, Kotzebue's for the third time.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Board of Game proposals would cut Western Arctic caribou limits further as the herd declines

The Western Arctic Caribou Herd is down to about 121,000. Proposals to cut harvest further go before the Board of Game in Kotzebue, and comments are due Jan. 9.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kotzebue water system exceeds federal lead action level after two of 10 homes test high

Two of 10 Kotzebue homes tested above the federal lead action level. The city is testing more homes and says to run taps until cold before drinking.

by Alaska News1mo ago2 min read

Park Service hires Everts Air Fuel to keep avgas at two remote Alaska park units through 2030

Two of Alaska's roadless park units run on small planes, and small planes run on avgas. The Park Service is paying Everts Air Fuel $54,506 to keep it coming.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Nome utility board member says new housing project's septic units will need heavy upkeep

New Nome housing will run on above-ground septic units with grinders, pumps and UV lights. A utility board member says they will need a lot of babysitting.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Ten rural Alaska communities can now vote in person on Election Day

Ten villages with no polling place can now vote in person on Election Day itself. In August, 75 ballots from the region arrived too late to count.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

EPA proposes $21,618 penalty over Red Dog Mine spill into Red Dog Creek

EPA proposed a $21,618 penalty against Teck Alaska Inc. for a May 2025 leak of process water into Red Dog Creek near Kotzebue after a pump failure at the mine.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Copper River responders will learn to start addiction treatment in the field

One paid ambulance crew and 20 volunteers cover an area bigger than West Virginia. A $300,000 grant will train them to reverse overdoses in the field.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Knik Tribe awarded $199,482 for Palmer fingerprinting site and mobile units

Fostering a child in Mat-Su can mean a long drive to get fingerprinted. Federal money is buying the Knik Tribe a station and two portable units.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

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

AIDEA's board takes six major projects into executive session in Kotzebue

AIDEA's board meets in Kotzebue with Ambler, Red Dog, ANWR and West Susitna on the closed agenda — listed by name, with nothing said about what's up.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read

Federal environmental review begins for the Arctic copper mine near Kobuk

The Army Corps is starting its environmental review of the Arctic copper mine near Kobuk, with a final decision targeted for September 2028.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Interior proposes dropping the Arctic relief rig rule and a whaling check

Interior's proposed Arctic drilling rule would drop the standby relief rig and a whaling-ground discharge check, with subsistence losses scored at zero.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago5 min read

Last Unit 22 bull moose hunt closes early as quota fills

The Seward Peninsula's fall moose hunt is over, closed area by area as quotas filled. One section shut three days in. The winter hunt opens Jan. 1.

by Alaska News1mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 13

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 Sep 16

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

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

Follows: Alaska adds $16.8 million in rural health awards without naming who gets the money

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

Kotzebue's chum run beat the forecast; the state will not say by how much

Kotzebue's chum harvest beat the forecast, and the state will not say by how much. Nobody counted the fish upriver for the second year running.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Alaska DNR issues four land decisions for University of Alaska land grants

Alaska issued four land-transfer decisions in four days ahead of a December deadline, over unanimous opposition. At Medicine Lake, the opposition won.

by Maggie 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

The federal stake in Trilogy Metals closes, terms made public

The federal government now owns about a tenth of Trilogy Metals, developer of Alaska's Ambler district, and the terms of the $35.6 million deal are now public.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 11

Follows: Washington bought into Ambler. The payoff depends on the road being built

A Tanana company will dig diesel out from under old BIA school sites

The government left diesel in the ground under old BIA schools in Western Alaska. It is paying a Tanana company $247,786 to dig some of it out.

by Maggie 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 AlaskaNews2mo 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 AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 8

Managers want to double a halibut cap. Their own analysis warns against it.

Federal managers want to roughly double a halibut vessel cap in the Bering Sea, though their own analysis says it helps a few big boats at the fleet's expense.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min readFrom Sep 3

The Permanent Fund's budget is up $5.3 million, and most of it goes to managers

The fund that pays for most of Alaska's government is raising its own budget $5.3 million. Most of that is fees to outside money managers.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 3

High surf advisory holds until 10 p.m. Saturday as Utqiaġvik logs record September rain

A storm brought high surf to Alaska's Arctic coast and set a September rainfall record in Utqiagvik, the wettest day there in records going back to 1920.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

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

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 Sep 6

Teller woman indicted in embezzling more than $88,000 from tribe

A former coordinator for a Teller-based tribe was indicted on allegations she took more than $88,000 from the tribe's accounts.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read