Davis Hovey, KNOM - Nome
19 mushers set to race 2020 Kuskokwim 300
Top competitors and previous K300 winners entered in this year’s race include Pete Kaiser, Jeff King and reigning champion Matthew Failor.
New Army Corps study offers 7 options for Nome deep draft port project
The new draft feasibility study acknowledges that project construction could have an effect on various marine mammals.
National Guard commander aims to revive service tradition with new hires in rural Alaska
NOME - Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe, head of the Alaska National Guard, is on a mission to hire new Guard members in Nome and other rural communities.
The Guard has history in the gold rush...
Census officials say accurate count key to reducing overcrowding in rural Alaska
Some Alaskans fear there will be repercussions if they share details about their cramped living conditions, but census leaders say accurate data could reduce overcrowding throughout the state.
Nome high schoolers sue mining company after steel cable crash leaves truck ‘mangled’
The students are still recovering from injuries sustained during the accident, according to an attorney representing one of the plaintiffs.
After a week in the dark, remote Diomede’s power is restored, but phones remain down
After seven days in the dark, the lights came back on in Diomede late last week, just in time for the community to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.
Northern Bering Sea trawl survey shows fisheries in flux
NOAA Fisheries' summer trawl survey shows Norton Sound red king crab are moving, Arctic cod numbers have dropped significantly and Pacific cod are continuing to increase as the Northern Bering Sea ecosystem undergoes drastic change.
Chukchi Sea ice coverage reaches record low
With a poor start for ice forming in northern Alaska waters this season, the latest climate forecasts predict sea ice may not reach Western Alaska until December.
Faced with local opposition, IPOP continues search for gold near Nome
The exploratory work has drawn formal opposition from the Native Village of Solomon, as well as dozens of public comments opposing the proposed mine project.
Norton Sound communities are facing an extended coastal flood season — and it began this weekend
Water levels reached nine feet in Unalakleet, according to NOAA’s tide gauges.
NOAA and Savoonga track cod in first-of-its-kind collaboration
Researchers and Western Alaskans alike hope to learn more about Pacific cod’s movements as they swim from the Southern to the Northern Bering Sea.
Proposed Elim quarry faces latest hurdle: lack of money
A project site has been selected and sample test results show promise, but initial estimates show the permitting process and start up work would cost around $1 million.
Scientists suspect retreating sea ice is changing the color of Alaska’s tundra
Biologists say early retreating sea ice is potentially causing vegetation productivity changes on the tundra across Alaska and the Arctic. Uma Bhatt, a climate variability expert with the University of Alaska–Fairbanks, says the land warms...
‘It’s starvation.’ Biologists in Alaska see a fifth year of significant seabird die-offs
According to the National Park Service, reports received by mid-August documented thousands of dead short-tailed shearwaters from Bristol Bay, and lower numbers of other types of birds, found deceased in the Northern Bering and Chukchi Seas. This marks the fifth year in a row Alaska has seen mass seabird mortality events.
‘The ice should have been safe’: International panel gathers climate change stories from Western Alaska
Representatives from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were in Nome and Shishmaref this week to collect feedback for an upcoming report.
Preliminary NOAA survey suggests ‘low abundance year’ for king salmon
The Alaska Fisheries Science Center survey has been happening annually since 2002. This year, scientists say they see signs that chinook salmon numbers are dwindling.
Below-average sea ice levels expand Arctic shipping options
As of August 31, Arctic sea ice coverage dropped to the third lowest extent on satellite record for that day, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
Years of data suggest ecosystem shifts in the Northern Bering Sea
Scientists say based on years of observations and data gathered in the Northern Bering Sea, as well as a recent research cruise, they can see warming waters and biological changes going further north.
Western Alaskans concerned about Graphite One project’s impact on subsistence
Graphite One Resource’s proposed graphite project in Western Alaska seeks eventually to become the largest graphite mine in the country, with a life of at least 40 years. Before it can set up a mine, however, the company needs to gather more environmental data and continue community outreach with local residents, who are concerned about how subsistence resources will be affected.
USGS scientists say there’s not yet enough information to tie seabird die-offs to toxins
Over the course of several seasons, dead seabirds have been found on coastlines all over the Bering Strait region, most of them emaciated. Scientists don’t know why the birds are starving, and they say they don’t have enough information yet to determine a definitive link between these specific bird die-offs and toxins created by algal blooms.