Greg Kim, KYUK - Bethel

Greg Kim, KYUK - Bethel
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After moving to new village, Mertarvik residents say they are living healthier, more traditional lives

A year after Newtok's residents were forced to move, they say they're living healthier, more traditional lives.
The Lewis Angapak Memorial School

Lower Kuskokwim resumes school construction projects after COVID-19 restrictions lift

Construction crews are balancing the need for the work on the schools threatened by things like riverbank erosion with the village's fears of a COVID-19 outbreak.

COVID-19 case in Mountain Village shuts down commercial fishing in some Yukon communities

Kwik’pak, a plant that processes Yukon River salmon, has stopped purchasing fish in District 2 of the Yukon River, which includes Mountain Village, Pitkas Point, St. Mary’s, Pilot Station, and Marshall.

Napaskiak says residents are facing discrimination after announcement of likely community spread

Officials from the village say they've heard that Napaskiak residents have been turned away from Bethel businesses after two positive tests last week. But one of those results was potentially a false positive.

Bethel to offer free hotel quarantine to travelers headed from Anchorage to villages

The city manager says Bethel is in a unique position since all traffic to smaller villages goes through town.

City of Bethel misses payday for employees, will hire help to stabilize finance department

The city finance director missed the deadline to make payments while on partial maternity leave.
A woman dressed in a white lab coat stands in front of a table. Another woman with protective gear stands in a dooray befhind her.

Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation recommends lockdown after COVID-positive person traveled to a regional village

The health corporation is not naming the village, and says the individual is now in isolation.

Alaska State Trooper from Napaskiak died from apparent self-inflicted injuries

Jerry Evan died in Bethel after over two decades in law enforcement. A spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety called his death an "enormous loss" for the communities he served.

State trooper dies in Bethel

Troopers say that Jerry Evan sustained life-threatening injuries at his home before being pronounced dead at the hospital.

Quinhagak and Napaskiak react to positive coronavirus test results

Though one of the positives turned out to be a false reading, residents of the small communities had to grapple with what life would be like if there were a real outbreak.

Bethel plans to incentivize airport testing for coronavirus

After two individuals in Bethel were notified of positive coronavirus test results on consecutive days, the city is wondering if there are more undetected cases in Bethel. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation reports that less...

Bethel cab company says it will go bankrupt if customers keep insisting on private rides

Some people are refusing to share a cab with strangers, causing financial problems for at least one Bethel cab company, Kusko Cab, that says going out of business is a possibility.

Bethel finance director quits amidst rampant turnover at city’s finance department

Fourteen employees have left the city's finance department during the last 14 months over what one employee called a "chaotic and unprofessional environment."

After armed resident thwarts shooting, Kwethluk VPOs consider carrying guns

When a 19-year-old man broke into a village public safety building dressed for combat, state troopers say tragedy was avoided thanks to an armed resident who got the man to give up his weapon and lie on the ground.

Kwethluk man broke into VPO building, took guns in evidence locker, fired at officers, troopers say

Police say the man, when asked why he was shooting, said he'd "seen it in a movie"

In the wake of elementary school abuse scandal, district trains staff to recognize grooming behavior

State law mandates that school districts conduct training to identify warning signs of sexual abuse, but critics say the policy is too vague. A new training program that started this February in the Lower Kuskokwim School District aims to change that.

Four girls now allege Bethel school principal abused them. They’re suing the school district for inaction.

The four plaintiffs say that the Lower Kuskokwim School District failed to properly investigate and sanction a former principal of a Bethel elementary school even after multiple allegations of inappropriate contact with underage girls.

Gravel-filled ghost barge on Kuskokwim heads downstream, owners hatch recovery plan

The barge got stuck in the ice on its way to Red Devil last October, but with the river break up has already floated 100 miles downstream.

Bethel prepares for flood evacuations amid COVID-19 pandemic

River forecasters say it's likely that flooding will be worse than usual this spring, and officials are scrambling to find adequate evacuation shelters.

After a rabid coyote attacked a dog, Quinhagak lifted travel ban for a vet

When a rabid coyote attacked a local dog, it forced the village to bring in a veterinarian from outside the village - and temporarily lift the Southwest community's travel ban.