Krysti Shallenberger

The state of Alaska approved a right-of-way lease for Donlin Gold’s proposed 315-mile gas pipeline on Jan. 17. The lease is an important step forward in the company’s quest to build the Donlin Gold Mine, which could be one of the largest in the world if completed.

There was only one substantive change to the recommendations: the working group now recommends keeping unfunded mandates for the VPSO program because of the state budget shortage.

ALASKAbuds may be the first marijuana store opening in Bethel, but it won’t have the field to itself for long. Two other marijuana shops are in the process of going through the bureaucratic hoops in order to open.

Bethel is gearing up for a big sled dog racing weekend as top-tier mushers from around the state arrive to compete in the Kuskowkim 300.

Despite the cold stretch that brought the year to an end, 2019 is the warmest year on record for Bethel.

First on the list is to revise the state statute that details what the Village Public Safety Officer program is supposed to do.

The permits will allow Donlin to build an airstrip and a port, and install fiber optic cables and build access roads for its mine, which could be one of the biggest in the world, if completed.

After visiting rural Alaska in May, U.S. Attorney General William Barr declared a public safety law enforcement emergency nd the results, Liedike said, were almost immediate.

For the last two decades, mining companies have been working to develop the massive Donlin Gold prospect in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. And most of that time, the development has claimed support from neighboring communities. But that’s changing. Tribes, organizations, and communities have begun opposing the mine development and organizing.

This has become the new norm across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Late winters and sudden thawing have turned roads into slush and made rivers and sloughs, which are necessary for travel, less safe because they take longer to freeze.