Anna Rose MacArthur, KYUK - Bethel
Anna Rose MacArthur is a reporter at KYUK in Bethel.
Bethel prepares for first liquor store in 4 decades
Bethel’s first liquor store in over 40 years is set to open next week. AC Quickstop received the town’s first liquor license last fall after decades of restricted alcohol sales, and Walter Pickett, AC general manager, says the store could open as early as Monday. Download Audio
Yupik Spelling Bee helps spread Yupik literacy
Young Alaska Natives are spreading Yup’ik literacy. Six students from across the state competed in the fifth annual Yup’ik Spelling Bee for Beginners in Anchorage over the weekend. The contest is open to third through eighth grade and run by volunteers. It’s a lot of work. And with responsibility concentrated to a few individuals, the future of the event is in question. Download Audio
Calista campaigning to reduce quorum requirements before descendants enroll
Calista Corporation is campaigning to reduce quorum requirements at its annual shareholder meetings to prevent invalidating future meeting votes and wasting corporation money when quorum isn’t met. Download Audio
Bethel City Council authorizes reimbursements for overcharged property owners
Bethel City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Tuesday to authorize reimbursements to Bethel property owners who the city overcharged on real estate taxes for more than a decade, because of an error in the city’s tax code. Download Audio
“We Are AVCP” claims tribal representatives seeking transparency on recent controversies
Tribal representatives from across the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta met in Bethel earlier this week to hold what they called a special convention of the Association of Village Council Presidents, or AVCP— the regional, tribal non-profit for 56 villages across the YK Delta. The goal of the meeting was two-fold: to discuss forming a regional tribal government and to get answers to recent controversies surrounding AVCP. But the group left with their questions unanswered. Download Audio
Pizzeria in Bethel sells the city’s first legal alcohol in 40 years
Legal alcohol sales have come to Bethel. Fili’s Pizza restaurant received its first alcohol shipment and began selling beer and wine when the eatery opened at 11 a.m. Friday.
No trucks advised on upriver ice road
Upriver travel has just gotten harder. Ice crews have removed road markers between Tuluksak and Kalskag and are advising no more truck traffic between these points. That means people upriver will be staying in place or shelling out money for airfare until breakup. Download Audio
Kuskokwim Ice Classic Tripod heralds spring on the Kuskokwim
On the Kuskokwim River in Bethel, the Kuskokwim Ice Classic tripod is up. That means the clock is counting down to breakup and to a $10,000 prize. Half the proceeds go to youth programs from dance to archery to the lifesaving skill of swimming. Download Audio
Bethel school finds new home in vacated grocery store
Bethel’s Ayaprun Yup’ik Immersion School is readying to move into its new home. After a fire destroyed the elementary school in November, district officials divided the grades under two roofs, resumed classes, and began looking for a new building. True to rural Alaska resourcefulness, the district found a new space in one of the unlikeliest of places.
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BLM proposes Red Devil clean-up, calls for community meetings
The Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday is releasing its proposed plan on how to clean up the hazardous tailings left by the Red Devil Mine.
A new generation walks for sobriety in Kwethluk
Tired of seeing families and children harmed from alcohol and drug use, a group from Kwethluk organized a march for sobriety through the streets of their community on Wednesday. Leading with a sign saying, “Enough is Enough,” new voices spread their message through the village. Download Audio
Kwethluk community members march for sobriety
Tired of seeing families and children harmed from alcohol and drug use, a group from Kwethluk organized a march for sobriety through the streets of their community on Wednesday. Leading with a sign saying, “Enough is Enough,” new voices spread their message through the village. “No more drugs, no more alcohol,” chanted the crowd gathered in front of the Kwethluk Post Office.
AVCP Allanivik Hotel and Mud Hut shutting down
The Allanivik Hotel and adjoining Mud Hut restaurant will close their doors April 15. The Association of Village Council Presidents operates the establishment and announced the shutdown Wednesday. When the hotel closes, its laundry facilities used by the public will close as well. And under the executive board’s directive, the hotel has stopped accepting Medicaid vouchers. Download audio
Bethel moves closer to possible restaurant alcohol license
Next month, Bethel could hold its first restaurant liquor license in decades. March 6 marks the final day Bethel City Council can protest the Fili’s Pizza liquor license application. The council rejected that action at Tuesday’s regularly scheduled meeting, its final meeting before the protest deadline.
YK tribes demand special AVCP convention
Yukon-Kuskokwim tribes are demanding the Association of Village Council Presidents hold a special convention next month to discuss regional self-governance.
Andrew Reid, ex-Bethel police officer, faces criminal charges for violent 2014 arrest
Former Bethel Police Officer Andrew Reid is facing criminal charges for assaulting and violently arresting a man in the Bethel AC parking lot.
6 U.S. Senators and 1 U.S. Secretary head to Oscarville
Six U.S. senators and the U.S. Secretary of Energy traveled to Bethel Monday to hold a hearing on Alaska’s energy challenges and innovations. The team included the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, lead by Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. But before the hearing, the group went on a field trip to see where those challenges and innovations intersect.
Looming Bethel alcohol sales push need for bigger fire department
The Bethel Fire Dept. is asking the city to fund two extra positions after seeing a surge in alcohol-related calls. The department is straining to respond to the influx, and with legal alcohol sales coming to Bethel, it expects those numbers to rise.Download Audio
Tribal, non-tribal voices discuss VAWA across jurisdictions
The first day of the Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, training began Monday in Bethel. The three-day session marks the first VAWA training in the state since Alaska’s Attorney General, Craig Richards, issued an opinion last summer that law enforcement must uphold tribal protection orders the same as state orders.
Bethel businesses submit new round of liquor license applications
The Alaska Alcoholic Beverage Control Board is considering two liquor license applications for Bethel next week: one for a package liquor store for Bethel Native Corporation’s subsidiary Bethel Spirits LLC and another for Fili’s Pizza restaurant.