Greg Kim

Six local fishermen called in to the state’s Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group meeting on June 30 to express frustration with the state opener.

The Alaska Village Electric Cooperative delivers electricity to 58 communities in rural Alaska, 20 of which are in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. All of them rely on PCE.

Kwigillingok, a community on the Bering Sea coast of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, is used to some flooding during high tides. But in recent years, that flooding has grown more severe, reaching a new threshold last week.

The state’s decision to announce an opener on June 28 goes against recommendations by the state’s own advisory group, which voted to oppose any openings announced by the state until the feds and a tribal commission review the king and chum salmon run on June 25.

The current outbreak began in May, and 63 individuals have tested positive since then.

Lumber prices have been soaring across the country as demand for wood during the pandemic outstripped supply. In the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, those high prices have been slowing down construction of new homes, exacerbating a severe shortage of housing in the region.

The Southwest Alaska village of Napakiak has created a comprehensive 50-year plan to navigate the complicated process of relocating its community, which some say is the first of its kind. This could provide a blueprint for other communities threatened by climate change.

Earlier this month, bird watchers in Bethel spotted some ospreys building a nest atop an electrical utility pole in Bethel. A few weeks later, the nest was gone. The utility company said that the nest was removed to prevent a bigger tragedy.

Longtime KYUK colleague Lillian Atmak Michael died earlier this month at the age of 64. She died on the Russian Orthodox holiday Pascha, also known as Easter.

A tribal police officer was leaving a home in a pickup truck when the officer drove over a young child who was near or under the front of the truck, according to a report from the Alaska State Troopers