Alaska Beacon

A pile of marine debris colected during the May 2025 beach cleanup campaign on St. Paul Island is dominated by discarded fishing line and netting. Organized community beach cleanups in locations ranging from northwestern Alaska to the tip of Southeast Alaska removed more than 1.5 million pounds of trash in 2025. (Photo by Kristina Tirman/Ocean Conserva...

Members of the Alaska Organized Militia, including the Alaska Army and Air National Guard, Alaska State Defense Force, and Alaska Naval Militia, work alongside and conduct damage assessments with community members in Kongiganak, Alaska, Oct. 18, 2025. In the wake of Typhoon Halong, AKOM members were on the ground in western Alaska, conducting damage ev...

At the pump in the Western Alaska village of Hooper Bay, unleaded gas costs $8.44 a gallon and heating fuel is $9.24. (Nathaniel Herz/Northern Journal)

This story is co-published by Northern Journal and Bethel-based public media outlet KYUK.

HOOPER BAY, ALASKA — Every few weeks this winter, 75-year-old Harvey Joe, an Yup’ik e...

A gray whale and her healthy calf swim in the Pacific waters off Washington. Gray whale calf counts have plummeted, and last year were the lowest on record, according to NOAA Fisheries estimates. (Image courtesy of NOAA Fisheries/ Alaska Fisheries Science Center)

Raymond, Washington — Doug Nussbaum is a retired logger whose morning rituals inclu...

Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich and his supporters wave campaign signs at the corner of the Seward Highway and Northern Lights Boulevard on Nov. 4, 2024, the day before Election Day. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Two years ago, Republican Nick Begich III defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola and became Alaska’s lone ...