Angela Denning, CoastAlaska
Breakup Proving Tough On Kwethluk
Breakup has been harder on the Lower Kuskokwim than the Upper River this year. Fifteen miles upriver of Bethel, the village of Kwethluk is flooding in all low lying areas. It has been for a few days now. Thirty-one elderly and chronic care patients were evacuated to Bethel before waters closed off the airport road.
BLM Meeting With Kuskokwim Communities About Red Devil Mine Contamination
The Bureau of Land Management is meeting with communities along the Kuskowkim River to talk about contamination leftover from the Red Devil mercury mine.
Hooper Bay Man Get s $500,000 For Tasering
A man from the Bering Sea village of Hooper Bay has been awarded a half million dollars for being excessively tasered by village police officers.
Bethel Court Struggles With Judge Vacancies
The Bethel Court House serves more than 50 communities in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta. Now, it is struggling with judge vacancies with three out of its four judgeships soon to be empty.
Federal Agencies Meeting With Alaska Tribes
Multiple federal agencies are planning to meet with Alaska’s tribes on a government to government basis. Regional meetings are being planned all over the state but the first one is in Bethel Friday at the Yupiit cultural center. It includes tribal delegates from the region’s 56 villages.
Bethel Judge Removed From Bench
For the first time in Alaska history, there is a recommendation to remove a judge from the bench, permanently.
Bethel Residents Consider the Merits of Hydro Electricity
Hydropower is common in some parts of state, but there are no such projects in western or southwest Alaska. That could change though as oil prices, and in turn energy prices, continue to rise.
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New VPSO Class Graduates From Training Academy
Twenty-eight new Village Public Safety Officers graduated from the Sitka training academy March 9. That’s one of the largest lasses in history. As Angela Denning-Barnes reports from KYUK in Bethel, students completed 10 weeks of intensive training and testing.
Bethel Jury Sides With School District Over Hooper Bay Fire
A Bethel jury sided with a regional school district in a five-year trial about the devastating Hooper Bay fire of 2006.
High Heating Costs Plague Bethel
Whenever oil prices are high, the effect is immediately felt in Rural Alaska. Prices for everything from groceries to building materials go up because they are all shipped in by fuel-run planes or barges.
National Guard Save Man in Red Devil
A young man in the small Kuskowim River village of Red Devil was saved after two National Guardsmen parachuted through a storm at night to give him medical attention.
Napakiak Man Indicted For Murder of Cab Driver
A young Napakiak man has been indicted for allegedly murdering a Bethel cab driver a few weeks ago.
Citgo Giving 200 Bethel Homes Free Heating Fuel
Two-hundred households in Bethel will be receiving free heating fuel through Citgo. That’s just a fraction of homes that received the donation last year. But the program has gone through a lot of changes the past five years, that it’s been giving free fuel to Bethel.
Two Sentenced To 104 Years In Killing Of Hooper Bay Man
Jeffrey Hout of Bethel and Harry Williams of Kwethluk will never be free men again, after receiving life sentences Friday in Bethel Superior Court.
Bethel Cab Driver Found Dead
A Bethel cab driver went missing earlier this week, and was later found dead.
Rohn Buser Wins Kuskokwim 300
Rohn Buser of Big Lake won the Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog race Sunday in Bethel. The 22-year-old beat out a field of veterans including reigning Iditarod champion John Baker of Kotzebue, who finished a half hour later in second place.
Bethel Judge Announces Retirement
The judge in Bethel who is being investigated for allegations of improper behavior has announced his retirement.
Western Alaska Residents Receive State Assistance For Storm Repairs
The Bering Sea in November brought a series of storms affecting coastal communities from the Aleutians to Northwest Alaska. Some YK Delta villages clocked winds of close to 100 miles an hour. Now, the State is reaching out to residents with grant money to help them pay for some of the damages.
Teen Found Dead In Bethel Park Identified
The 15-year-old boy who was found dead in a Bethel park has been identified. Bethel police say he is Kelton Atchak of Bethel.
Missing Bethel Teen Found Dead
A 15-year-old boy was found dead beside a snow machine in Pinky’s Park in Bethel. Police have not released the boy’s name yet, but say his parents had reported him missing and search and rescue volunteers, Alaska State Troopers, and police had all been looking for him.