Evan Erickson

Resident hunters can apply for permits beginning at 9 a.m. on July 22 to harvest a group of at least five muskoxen the state says are unlikely to survive.

The Yukon River has a brief opening for summer chum salmon fishing for the first time in two years. Alexandra Kozevnikoff spoke with KYUK about how the small opportunity holds huge significance for her.

The 45-year-old had been missing from Kwigillingok since the night of the ex-typhoon in October 2025. He was the son of 67-year-old Ella Mae Kashatok, whose body was found one day after the storm. Her brother, 71-year-old Vernon Pavil, is still missing.

The tribe originally applied for the declaration in January, several months after an October 2025 storm destroyed an estimated 90% of homes and led to the mass evacuation of nearly all of the community's roughly 1,000 residents.

KYUK's Evan Erickson spoke with Northern Journal reporter Nat Herz, who traveled to Hooper Bay as part of a broader look at what leaders describe as an unfolding crisis that threatens barge-dependent communities in Western Alaska.

The increase would have been limited to disaster relief during the first 90 days after the storms. It would have covered the bulk of costs related to debris removal and emergency protective measures, costs that the state says reached $20 million in the first weeks after ex-typhoon Halong.

The project, made possible with the support of the Indian Health Service, will make the 49,000-square-foot facility more than one and half times larger. It will double the number of available beds, from 18 to 36.

Alaska has seen skyrocketing gas prices driven by the war in Iran. But communities in the western part of the state that have been burning last year's fuel are bracing for their own crisis as they anticipate what could be an even more drastic spike with the arrival of the first barges of the spring.

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs and chair U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski visited Bethel this week to hear directly from tribal leaders and agency heads about the federal government's response to ex-typhoon Halong and the path forward. Testimony showed that the need for better planning and cooperation between tribes and agencies is immediate.

The lion's share of the funding, $16 million, is going to the coastal village of Chefornak to address the impacts of severe erosion, permafrost thaw, and failing infrastructure. Another $4 million is being used to purchase essential fuel and supplies for more than a dozen Alaska Native communities impacted by a historically cold winter.