KYUK

It’s not everyday that a person from a tiny remote village in Alaska gets national attention. But that’s what’s happening to Matt Bissonnette, a former Navy Seal who has penned a book titled “No Easy Day”, about killing Osama Bin Laden.

Many Bethel schools have been closed for the sixth straight school day, counting Monday’s teacher in-service, due to frozen sewer pipes, but the problems started over two weeks ago when school was not in session.

The region’s largest employer, the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation has been hit hard by the cold. It’s Community Health Services building was shut down Tuesday because of a power surge over the weekend.

A 15-year-old boy was found dead beside a snow machine in Pinky’s Park in Bethel. Police have not released the boy’s name yet, but say his parents had reported him missing and search and rescue volunteers, Alaska State Troopers, and police had all been looking for him.

Volunteers in Bethel raised nearly $2,000 selling Christmas cookies. Proceeds are going to a swimming pool fund, something their group—the Y-K Lifesavers—has been after for 18 years.

A Bethel judge is once again under fire for inappropriate behavior. It’s known as ex parte communications and it’s a big no-no in Alaska’s Judicial Conduct Code. It’s when a judge communicates with just one side of a trial off-record. Bethel District Judge Dennis Cummings is being investigated for such allegations for the second time.

Jeffrey Hout, age 47 of Bethel, and Harry Williams, age 33 of Kwethluk, were found guilty of second degree murder of 19-year-old Benjamin Kaiser of Hooper Bay. The jury turned in their verdicts this (Thursday) morning. The jury also found both men guilty of kidnapping.

One of the highest profile murder cases in Bethel history is headed to trial soon. Last October, 19-year-old Benjamin Kaiser of Hooper Bay was murdered in a Bethel shop in what seasoned officers called the most brutal killing they have investigated.

Residents in Bethel have lost a major landmark. On Friday afternoon the Civil Engineer Corp brought down the White Alice radar. The radar towered over the city and much of the low lying region before it came crashing down.