Evan Erickson

This year's festival brought three packed days of performances and events to the Bethel Regional High School gymnasium. Once again, it showed that the beating of traditional frame drums resonates with Elders and young alike.

More than 92% of adult tribal members that the tribe was able to contact by phone in recent weeks voted to relocate. Of two potential relocation sites located between Kipnuk and Chefornak, two-thirds said they'd prefer an option closer to the historical settlement of Cicing.

In an effort to protect chum bound for Western Alaska rivers, the board has approved some of the most severe restrictions in decades on fishing in the state-managed area lying along the western Alaska Peninsula and Eastern Aleutians.

Following a request from the state and the transfer of a surplus grader, crews were able to plow the road roughly 40 miles beyond its normal southernmost point to reach Tuntutuliak for the first time since 2020.

In 2025, Williams Jr. won the race for the first time in two decades. This year, the Akiak musher and his team have hit their stride, coming off a third-place finish in the Kuskokwim 300 and multiple sprint race victories.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has added dozens of communities to the list of those eligible for both individual and public federal disaster assistance following the October 2025 storm that caused widespread damage across Western Alaska.

The hometown hero has become the winningest musher in the history of the Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race, pulling through the finish line in Bethel at 10:40 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 25.

The St. Sophia Russian Orthodox Church choir kicked off Orthodox Christmas celebrations in Bethel by honoring Elders first. The spinning star at the center of Slaviq will be working its way through a dozen homes in the community through Sunday, Jan. 11, accompanied by hours of feasting and singing.

This Thanksgiving season there are dozens of new families in Bethel who've been displaced by ex-typhoon Halong. For evacuees, host families, and non-profit organizers, community gatherings are about the sense of togetherness that's served up alongside a plate of food.

The idea of building a road to connect the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers has been studied for decades, but a new program spearheaded by the state transportation department could finally make the link between Alaska's two longest waterways a reality.