Y-K Delta
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Week of Aug 24
Former Rep. Carl Morgan, mayor of Aniak and Kuskokwim Native leader, has died
Former state Rep. Carl Morgan of Aniak, who served in the House from 1999 to 2004 and led communities along the Kuskokwim River, has died. Gov. Dunleavy will order flags lowered statewide.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Storm-displaced western Alaska workers can still get job help
Western Alaska workers displaced by last fall's storms can still get job-search help at the state's job centers, even as one disaster aid deadline has passed.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
State moves to sell a second contractor gravel from one Dalton Highway pit
Alaska is preparing to sell Cruz Construction 7,500 cubic yards of gravel from a Dalton Highway pit it offered another company in July.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Air Force names 2nd Lt. Leah Borsich as airman killed in Cape Newenham crash
All eight aboard died in the Cape Newenham crash. The Air Force identified one as 2nd Lt. Leah Borsich, 23, of the 611th Civil Engineer Squadron.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Week of Aug 17
NovaGold moves to consolidate the Donlin gold project, a potential next Red Dog for Alaska Native corporations
NovaGold has agreed to consolidate Donlin, a potential next Red Dog for Alaska Native corporations, though tribes oppose it and financing remains unresolved.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago4 min read
Bethel commission recommends $2 taxi fare increase, with $1 elder discount
Bethel's Public Safety and Transportation Commission voted unanimously to raise taxi fares by $2 per trip, with a $1 discount for elders, but the City Council has not yet acted on the recommendation.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Three rescued after float plane crashes in forest near Bettles
Three people survived a floatplane crash near Bettles and were hoisted out overnight, after a satellite device let them relay their location to rescuers.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Kusilvak unemployment hit 16.1% in May, six times Denali Borough's rate
About one in six people in the Kusilvak labor force was unemployed in May, the highest rate in Alaska. Every high-rate region is off the road system.
by Alaska News2mo ago2 min read
More from Y-K Delta
Subsistence coho fishing closes on the middle and upper Kuskokwim
Subsistence coho fishing closes Friday on the middle Kuskokwim and a week later upriver. Sonar counts are running about a third below average for the date.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Bethel weighs letting its manager file lawsuits without council approval
Bethel is weighing whether to let its manager file routine lawsuits without a council vote, moving some legal authority from the elected body to city staff.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Bethel would move sand shed money to road salt and water plant engineering
Bethel wants to move about $55,000 from fixing its sand shed to buying road salt and helping engineer a water plant. The council takes public comment Tuesday.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A Bethel man will serve 60 years for sexually abusing a child left in his care
A Bethel man, Matt Atcherian, 27, will serve 60 years in prison for sexually abusing a child under 13 who had been left in his care.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Judge asked to rule by Aug. 31 on whether King Cove road work can begin
A judge has been asked to rule by Aug. 31 on whether King Cove road work can start. The state says construction will not begin before Sept. 1.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Bethel wants a Louisiana firm to audit local businesses for unpaid sales tax, without bidding
Bethel wants a Louisiana firm to audit local businesses for unpaid sales tax, with no bidding. The $19,999 cap covers only part of the work.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Emmonak man charged with murder in fatal stabbing of Anita Hootch
Christopher Horn, 38, of Emmonak, was arrested and charged with murder in the stabbing death of Anita Hootch, 37, found dead at an abandoned steam house on August 14.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
Bethel health fair screens 48 for diabetes and promotes same-day services
Forty-eight people got diabetes screening at a three-hour Bethel health fair aimed at showing what YKHC can offer the same day a patient walks in.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
About Y-K Delta
The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, often called the Y-K Delta, is a vast tundra and wetland region in Western Alaska where the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers meet the Bering Sea. Bethel is its hub city, and most of its villages have no road connection. People travel by boat, snowmachine and small plane.
Subsistence salmon fishing and goose hunting sit at the center of life in the region. Its stories return to Kuskokwim and Yukon salmon closures, the effect of Bering Sea pollock bycatch on Western Alaska chum, coastal and river flooding from Bering Sea storms, and the high cost of power and fuel in rural villages.
Regional institutions include the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, Calista Corporation, the Kuskokwim Corporation and the AVEC rural power cooperative. State and federal fisheries managers make many of the decisions that shape the region's harvests.
More from Y-K Delta
Bethel shut off a home's water to stop raw sewage, and the resident turned it back on
Bethel cut off a home's water to stop raw sewage reaching the ground, but the resident turned it back on, and the sewage still has nowhere treated to go.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
State's latest fuel survey put Alaska gasoline at $6.63 a gallon, and it is seven months old
State fuel data shows Alaska gasoline averaged 6.63 dollars in January. This report is seven months old and prices have risen.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Thursday is the last day to file for Bethel city council
Thursday at 4 p.m. is the last chance to file for one of four Bethel city council seats on the Oct. 6 ballot. Voters have until Sept. 6 to register.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Week of Aug 10
Saint Mary's woman, 42, dies pinned under an ATV in Pitkas Point
Tragic accident - a woman from Saint Mary's died Saturday night after being pinned under an ATV in Pitkas Point, Troopers said
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Anchorage firm gets $77,900 more work at the Phoenix building it maintains
Anchorage firm Tunista Logistics Solutions won two federal repair contracts worth about $77,900 for a Phoenix building, part of a pattern of Alaska companies winning GSA work outside the state.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read
Nearly four years on, Alaska has been paid 15 percent of Merbok's $90.9 million
Nearly four years after Typhoon Merbok, only about 15% of the FEMA rebuild money has been paid out — and the deadline to finish the work is seven weeks away.
by Lucas Brown3mo ago3 min read
Bethel-area electric bills would rise about 30% on everything but fuel
Bethel-area electric customers would see the non-fuel part of their bill rise about 30%, with AVEC blaming higher costs for materials, labor and freight.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readFrom 
Akiachak is in line for fiber broadband, one of seven roadless villages getting wired
Akiachak is in line for fiber broadband, one of seven roadless Y-K Delta villages being wired in a project reaching nearly 3,000 long-unserved households.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
The body overseeing the Y-K Delta's only fuel lifeline hasn't been able to meet in a year
Bethel's port commission hasn't had a quorum in a year — leaving the road-less Y-K Delta's fuel lifeline without oversight and a dock warning unaddressed.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Jedidia Atchak, 40, has been missing from Chevak since Aug. 7, and no new search has been announced
An adult male reported missing in Chevak on Aug. 7 remains missing after search efforts by local teams and rescue crews paused on Aug. 11, with Alaska State Troopers continuing to follow leads.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Supreme Court declines to review Alaska's challenge to rural subsistence priority
The Supreme Court declined to hear Alaska's challenge to federal subsistence priority, leaving rural residents with first claim to fish and game on federal waters when supplies run short.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago5 min read
Week of Aug 3
The state closes Kuskokwim subsistence coho fishing as the run lags
The state closed subsistence coho fishing on the Kuskokwim River, cutting off a key food source mid-run as the coho run comes in far below average.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Bethel weighs fixes or demolition for three problem properties
Bethel holds a hearing Sept. 1 on three problem properties it's chased for months — one nearly two years — to decide on fixes or demolition.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
Bethel weighs a climbing fee to force action on empty buildings
A draft Bethel ordinance would make owners of empty buildings register and pay a fee that climbs the longer they sit vacant: $100, $500, then $1,000-plus.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min read
Bethel man arrested for DUI near Cooper Landing after a REDDI report
A driver reported swerving into oncoming traffic near Cooper Landing was arrested on a DUI charge Friday night, flagged through the state's REDDI line.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Electric bills would rise in Bethel, Yakutat and 50-plus rural communities
Electric bills would rise about 4.75% in Bethel, Yakutat and 50-plus rural communities under an AVEC proposal, on customers already paying several times urban rates.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Alaska moves to cut white-fronted goose limits again as the Y-K Delta population falls
Alaska wants to cut white-fronted goose limits in Unit 18 again as the Y-K Delta population falls, the second reduction in recent years. Comment is open through Aug. 16.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Bethel's mayor files to run for her city council seat again
Bethel Mayor Rose "Sugar" Henderson filed a letter of intent to run for re-election to her city council seat in the Oct. 6 election.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Kuskokwim coho fishing slow in early August as Bethel sonar counts run low
Coho fishing on the lower Kuskokwim has been very slow in early August amid high water and low Bethel sonar counts, though escapement should still be met.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Bethel weighs buying road salt before the river freezes
Bethel is weighing $55,000 in road salt before freeze-up — in a town with no highway in or out, once the Kuskokwim freezes, the barges bringing it stop.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
State weighs 19-year rent-free FAA lease at Hooper Bay Airport
Alaska is considering a 19-year rent-free lease for the FAA to install navigation and weather equipment at Hooper Bay Airport, one of six rural airports where the agency seeks similar no-cost deals.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min read
Wind, high surf and rain batter four Y-K Delta villages into a second day
Four Y-K Delta villages spent a second day under coastal advisories, with high surf, winds gusting to 55 mph and days of rain — landing on Kipnuk as it still rebuilds from Typhoon Halong.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Week of Jul 27
A fisherman found the stranded boaters before the Coast Guard could launch
A local fisherman found two overdue boaters stranded on a sandbar near Toksook Bay before the Coast Guard could even launch, a familiar story in Western Alaska.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Aleut Corp's Skoey Vergen elected vice chair of the regional corporation association
Skoey Vergen, head of the Aleut Corporation since 2021, has been elected vice chair of the ANCSA Regional Association, giving Aleut a leadership seat among Alaska's 12 regional corporations.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
