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Bethel's safety and taxi commission is down to two of six members
Bethel's commission overseeing public safety and its huge taxi fleet is down to two of six seats — with a taxi fare hike on its agenda in a busy hub town.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
AVCP chief executive presents on Arctic typhoons as Inuit assembly closes in Iqaluit
AVCP's CEO presented on Arctic typhoons at an Inuit assembly in Iqaluit, highlighting how Typhoon Halong destroyed homes and displaced hundreds in Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta villages in October 2025.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Why the fight over the Strait of Hormuz shows up in Alaska's budget
The fight over the Strait of Hormuz sets the price of oil — and Alaska's budget moves with it. Talks continue; tanker owners still don't know who pays.
by Alaska News2mo ago2 min read
Kuskokwim mainstem reopens early as six spawning tributaries stay closed to Chinook and chum
Strong sonar counts returned the Kuskokwim mainstem to state management July 13, but six spawning tributaries stay closed to Chinook and chum through July 31.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Kuskokwim Bay subsistence fishing closes so commercial boats can fish
Kuskokwim Bay subsistence fishing closes Monday through Friday so the same waters can open to commercial fishing — the latest such swap this month.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
One new rural Alaska prosecutor, against deep tribal-justice cuts
The DOJ is adding one rural Alaska prosecutor while proposing to cut the budgets that fund tribal police and victim services by roughly a quarter.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
High surf and minor flooding for Alaska's west coast through Thursday
A Bering Sea low is pushing high surf and minor flooding into Alaska's west coast through Thursday night, with water 1 to 3 feet above the normal high tide line.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Western Alaska leaders take food security to a circumpolar assembly
Western Alaska tribal leaders are in Nunavut for the first circumpolar Inuit assembly in nearly a decade, with food security high on the agenda.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Many Bethel homes still haul water. This money starts to change that.
Many Bethel residents still get water by truck. The state just forgave $3.4 million in loans that starts the design work toward piping it instead.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Bering Sea low to push 13-foot seas into Bristol Bay, Kuskokwim Delta Wednesday
Big seas, big problems
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Calista seeks airport land at Kwethluk, Napakiak to bring hardwired broadband
Calista Corporation wants to build broadband shelters on airport land in Kwethluk and Napakiak to bring hardwired internet to both villages.
by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read
IHS picks Sitka and Bethel tribal health groups for first-ever elder care construction program
Indian Health Service picked Sitka and Bethel tribal health groups to build and expand skilled nursing facilities, the first time the federal program has funded long-term elder care in Alaska.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Peltola puts numbers on rural fuel crisis: $21 a gallon in Noatak, $15 coming for St. Mary's
Senate candidate Mary Peltola cited fuel prices of $21 a gallon in Noatak and $14 to $15 expected in St. Mary's, calling for Congress to investigate price gouging.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Shishmaref man charged with running moonshine still in dry community
A Shishmaref man faces five felony counts for operating a moonshine still and selling alcohol in the dry community, with potential exposure of 25 years in prison if convicted.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A tiny Alaska post office runs out of a cabin, and the state wants to keep it
Skwentna's post office runs out of a private cabin at a fly-in airport, and the state just moved to renew the lease keeping it open.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Akiachak man faces 7 felony charges in Bethel sexual abuse case
Alaska State Troopers arrested Akiachak man Lewis Lomack, 47, on seven felony charges tied to sexual abuse of a minor, and believe more victims exist. He is presumed innocent.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A shifting wall threatens Bethel's freight lifeline
A sheet pile wall at Bethel's port is shifting, and the Corps wants an engineering fix — a worry for the roadless Y-K Delta's only real freight lifeline.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Bethel's lifeline dock is shifting — and its port commission can't get quorum
The dock that supplies the roadless Y-K Delta with fuel and freight is shifting and eroding — and its oversight commission hasn't reached quorum in 11 straight months.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Kuskokwim subsistence fishing reopens as salmon run strong
Subsistence fishing is back open on the lower Kuskokwim as salmon run strong — and the state is managing the mainstem again after losing a long fight over who controls the river.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Commercial fishing opens in Kuskokwim Bay as subsistence fishing closes
Commercial fishing opened in Kuskokwim Bay's Districts 4 and 5 through July 17, with subsistence fishing closed until the 18th — a real trade-off in a region built on salmon.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Bethel moves to repay firefighters shorted on their pay
Bethel's firefighters were shorted on paid days off while stuck at the lower rate meant to offset them — and the city's now moving to pay back what they're owed
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Bethel lands $3.4M for water — and won't pay most of it back
Bethel's picking up $3.38M in state water loans that get fully forgiven once spent — a near-free upgrade for a town where plenty of people still haul their own water.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Fewer geese on the Y-K Delta, and a proposal to let hunters take fewer
White-fronted geese are declining on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, so Alaska wants to cut the bag limit from 10 to 6 — in a region where geese are a staple food. Comment by Aug. 5.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Bethel's free bulky-item pickup ends this month
Bethel's one free bulky-item pickup of the year ends in July — last call to haul off the busted four-wheeler before it's your job to get it to the landfill.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
For a roadless village, an airport lease is really about the lifeline
For roadless Chefornak, the airport is the only way in or out — so a routine state lease keeping the FAA's weather and navigation gear running matters more than it sounds.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Mountain Village man arrested on three sexual abuse of a minor charges
Alaska State Troopers arrested a Mountain Village man, Alphonsus Chiklak, 47, on child sexual abuse charges following a nearly six-month investigation. He is presumed innocent.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
In a dry village, a man is charged with assault after furnishing a teen alcohol
A Tuntutuliak man, Jared Enoch, 24, is charged with furnishing alcohol to a teenager and sexually assaulting them in a village where alcohol is banned. He is presumed innocent.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Akiachak man charged with murder after early-morning stabbing death
Randy Nose, 41, died from stab wounds in Akiachak early Monday. Fred Nose Jr., 37, also of Akiachak, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Bethel hauled water and sewer deliveries shift early for Independence Day
Bethel shifted hauled water and sewer deliveries one day early Saturday to beat the Independence Day holiday, affecting all three service routes.
by Alaska Newsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Kuskokwim subsistence households face empty freezers as salmon closures hold
Federal salmon closures on the Kuskokwim through July 31 are leaving subsistence households with few chances to harvest fish for winter, forcing families to buy more groceries as prices rise.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
North Pacific council directs Ecosystem Committee to revise 2004 groundfish policy goals
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is updating 2004 groundfish goals. Tribal groups want stronger protections for salmon.
by Alaska Newsadded 2mo ago3 min read
Bethel wants to charge owners who let buildings sit empty and rot
Bethel would charge owners to leave buildings empty, and help demolish burnt-out ones — waiving the cost if the owner rebuilds, or filing a lien if not.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A death reported as a suicide in Atmautluak turned out to be a shooting, troopers say
An Atmautluak death was reported as a suicide, but the scene looked suspicious to troopers. A man now faces manslaughter charges in the fatal shooting of Byron Waska, 28.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Kipnuk is being pieced back together, one boardwalk at a time
Alaska closes its federal disaster recovery updates as Typhoon Halong rebuilding continues in Kipnuk, with over 12,000 feet of boardwalk restored but federal funding delays still slowing the work.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Inside a bootlegging pipeline into dry Alaska
Troopers say they broke up a major bootlegging operation smuggling thousands of pounds of alcohol into the Bethel region — where booze is banned, so smuggling it is big business.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Bethel rewrites its animal code to fight the diseases that actually threaten its dogs
Bethel's animal code was built for rabies — but parvo and distemper are the bigger dog killers in rural Alaska. A draft ordinance would finally cover them.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
America's taxi capital is a roadless Alaska town
Bethel, Alaska has more taxis per capita than anywhere in the U.S. — because in a roadless tundra town, cabs are the bus, and this week the city's weighing what a ride should cost.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
One Bethel gym burns through $419,000 a year in energy. An audit says it doesn't have to.
A single Bethel fitness center spends $419,000 a year on energy, mostly heating oil at $5.77 a gallon. An audit found it could save $51,000 a year for almost nothing.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Mountain Village airport gets federally funded snow removal building
Alaska is replacing Mountain Village Airport's snow removal building with a 5 to 10 million dollar federally funded project to keep the runway clear through winter.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Sullivan's Bycatch Bill Wades Into Alaska's Hardest Fish Fight
Sullivan's sweeping bycatch bill targets trawl salmon catch — a real and raw grievance, even as federal science pins Alaska's river collapses mostly on a warming ocean.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
