Y-K Delta

Bethel City Council to certify Oct. 6 election and swear in new members

Bethel City Council will certify the Oct. 6 election results and swear in new members at its Tuesday, Oct. 13 meeting at 6:30 pm, with four council seats running through October 2028.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Coastal flood advisory warns of water 4 to 6 feet above high tide near Hooper Bay

Water could run 4 to 6 feet above the normal high tide line near Hooper Bay, reaching beach property and possibly threatening access to the airstrip.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

State tentatively approves Pitkas Point cemetery lease

The state tentatively approved a no-rent, 55-year lease of 1.15 acres to Pitka's Point's tribal council for a public cemetery. Comments are due Oct. 28.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 28

NTSB report details fog, aborted landing and second attempt before fatal Cape Newenham crash

An NTSB preliminary report lays out the Aug. 20 Cape Newenham crash that killed eight: fog, an aborted landing, a dropped diversion and a second attempt.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readFrom Aug 20

Follows: Charter plane crash at Cape Newenham radar site kills eight

Anchorage Assembly to consider permanent mayoral emergency power for disasters outside the city

Last fall Anchorage needed a special emergency law to help Western Alaska storm evacuees. An ordinance up Tuesday would make that power permanent.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Three more Bethel properties head toward City Council nuisance abatement hearings

Bethel's Planning Commission picked three more properties for possible nuisance abatement hearings. One has no living owner and no known heir.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Bethel commission to consider raising maximum cab fares by $2 and taxi fees about 30%

Bethel's transportation commission meets Wednesday to reconsider a $2 taxi fare increase and a new fee ordinance, though City Council must approve any changes.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Bethel commission to weigh $675,000 gravel trail to YKHC campus to replace closed boardwalk

Bethel wants a $675,000 gravel trail to the YKHC campus to replace a boardwalk closed as unsafe. Walkers now pick between the tundra and the highway.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Calista Education and Culture gets $900,000 to pay 16 young adults for village-based internships

Calista Education and Culture will pay 16 young adults from the Middle Kuskokwim and Lower Yukon for village-based internships with a $900,000 federal grant.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

AVCP opens comment on $14.5 million Y-K Delta aid plan through Nov. 13

AVCP opened public comment Tuesday on a $14.5 million aid plan for cash, heating and child care covering 2027 to 2029 in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, with comment due Nov. 13.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Court-ordered review models what a large Donlin Gold dam failure would do downstream

A court-ordered review modeled what a Donlin Gold dam failure would do downstream. The Corps calls any failure extremely unlikely; the worst cases are severe.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago4 min readFrom Sep 23

Kuskokwim Corporation hosts first Evening with an Elder on Zoom Oct. 1

The Kuskokwim Corporation hosts its first Evening with an Elder on Zoom Oct. 1, with Jennie Zaukar and Ann Fienup-Riordan, as it marks 50 years.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 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

Native Village of Paimiut gets $900,000 to teach the Hooper Bay dialect of Yup'ik

The Native Village of Paimiut gets $900,000 to teach the Hooper Bay dialect of Yup'ik. The tribe says 72 elders are its last first-language speakers.

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 seeks new public defender after Terrence Haas resigns from top post

Alaska is looking for a new public defender to lead the agency that represents people who can't afford a lawyer, a month after its last leader resigned.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 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

A year after Typhoon Halong, western Alaskans can still get job, training and winterization help

People still recovering from Typhoon Halong can get job training, winterization help and FEMA-paid flights. Disaster unemployment benefits have closed.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Napaskiak man arrested after troopers say he pulled a handgun on VPSO

Troopers say a Napaskiak man pulled a handgun on a village public safety officer answering an assault call Friday. He was arrested at a nearby fish camp.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 25

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

YKHC names interim chief Patricia Smith as permanent president and CEO

Patricia Smith, YKHC's interim chief since April and a nearly 30-year employee, is now the Bethel tribal health corporation's permanent CEO.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Bethel police warn residents not to shoot suspected rabid animals in the head

Bethel police warn residents to avoid shooting suspected rabid animals in the head, since brain tissue is needed to confirm the disease. Two foxes in Bethel tested positive for rabies in February.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Weather service cancels flood watch for Bethel, Kwethluk and nearby Kuskokwim villages

The weather service canceled its flood watch for Bethel, Kwethluk and nearby villages Friday, plus a coastal warning. The river is still high for the season.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Coastal flood warning for Kipnuk and Kwigillingok canceled as storm tracks south

The storm passed south of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok, and the coastal flood warning was canceled Friday night. Earlier river flooding hit Kasigluk and Kwethluk.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Togiak man, 19, dies after ATV hits shipping container

Tyler Lee Maines, 19, of Togiak died early Friday when the ATV he was driving hit a shipping container, troopers said. The investigation is continuing.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Aniak's Bush-Tell has drawn more than $12 million in federal support to serve river villages

An Aniak phone company has drawn more than $12 million in federal support to keep calls and internet running in villages along the Kuskokwim and Yukon.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read

Kipnuk and Kwigillingok face coastal flooding as rain threatens Kwethluk and Kasigluk again

Kipnuk and Kwigillingok are under a coastal flood warning through Saturday, and rain could flood Kwethluk and Kasigluk again after last week's high water.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Murkowski's bill would extend a rural maternity program Alaska never used

Alaska has never won a grant from the rural maternity program Murkowski's new bill would keep funded. The same bill has died three times before.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

The King Cove road is under construction, but the refuge corridor is still blocked

Bulldozers are on the first 2.8 miles of the King Cove road. The 10.5 miles through the refuge that would finish it are still blocked by a judge.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 16

Alaska Native tribes begin five-year youth suicide prevention programs

Ten Alaska Native tribes and health organizations begin five-year youth suicide prevention programs next week, sharing about $4.1 million in federal money.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Palmer pilot and Michigan passenger killed in eastern Alaska plane crash

Two people died when a Piper Super Cub went down in eastern Alaska on Sept. 17, two days after a separate crash near Aniak killed two men.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 17

Bethel would lease city lots to a fiber contractor without taking bids

Bethel would lease six city lots to a fiber contractor for $201,600 without bids, and nothing in the packet shows how the price was set.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Bethel council to authorize $5,200 culvert easements the city signed months ago

Bethel City Council takes up an ordinance Tuesday authorizing $5,200 in perpetual culvert easements along Ptarmigan Road that the city manager already signed in May and June, with a public hearing Oct. 13.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

NWS tracks Bering Sea low that could raise Yukon Delta water 1 to 3 feet

A Bering Sea low pressure system could raise water 1 to 3 feet above normal along the southern Yukon Delta coast Thursday through Saturday, with an advisory in effect until Tuesday afternoon.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Alaska sets October-to-May RSV window; Native toddlers again qualify for a second dose

More Alaska babies now qualify for a second RSV shot, including those born preterm or with Down syndrome. Parents may need to ask for it directly.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Aniak basketball still plays as the Halfbreeds

Aniak basketball still uses a nickname students chose in the late 1970s to express the community's mixed Alaska Native and white ancestry.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Search continues for missing Akiachak boater Jonathan Lomack

Jonathan Lomack, 59, of Akiachak, has been missing on the Kuskokwim River since Tuesday night, with his boat found empty and search crews from three communities now in their third day looking for him.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

BIA sends nearly $800,000 to five Alaska tribal governments, most of it road money

The BIA sent about $794,000 to five Alaska tribes this month, mostly for roads in Y-K Delta villages that have no road system.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Bethel's dock wall is failing and the Port Commission hasn't taken it up

The Corps warned Bethel that its City Dock wall is shifting out of alignment. The Port Commission hasn't managed to discuss it in seven months.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kuskokwim closures lifted because the coho run ended, not because it recovered

Six weeks of Kuskokwim subsistence closures lifted Friday, not because the coho finally came back but because the run is over for the year.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read