Tyler Thompson

It’s a huge election year … for bears. Katmai National Park’s Fat Bear Week is underway, and the competition is bigger than ever. That’s in part to large sockeye salmon runs in Bristol Bay. 

Three candidates are running for school board this year with two seats open, one unopposed. The candidates are focused on supporting education with COVID-19, growing skill-based classes and future policy development. 

The municipal election is October 6, with two City Council seats up for grabs. Kaleb Westfall is running against Aksel Buholm, and Curt Armstrong is running unopposed. 

A muskox was recently spotted in Manokotak. This is highly unusual — these animals normally range further north and west, across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. But in recent years, state biologists and Bristol Bay residents have noticed these stocky, furry fellas stepping out of their home turf.

The new federal initiative to track cold cases for missing and murdered Indigenous people is up and running in Alaska. In Bristol Bay, local activists and social workers are focused on drawing attention to the issue — something they’ve been doing for years.

After the working group settles on a revised plan, the FERC licensing process will restart, and there will be another three month comment period. Then the co-op can file the new plan with FERC and start aquatic feasibility studies next year.

With the end of fishing season and the school year right around the corner, community leaders from the City of Dillingham, Curyung Tribal Council, Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation and Public Health came together to rehash COVID-19 safety protocols.

The co-op's microwave project is complete, and it is now testing data capacity and moving members to the new packages. 

The community is still feeling tremors from the earthquake, causing some side effects. Chignik Bay is also looking to improve emergency infrastructure after last month's evacuation.

It’s the final Bristol Bay Fisheries Report of the season! A few stories about community on our last evening together. The bay smashed expectations this season -- the total run is the fifth largest ever recorded. We see how the districts measure up in the last daily run summary of the season.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released its final environmental review for the proposed Pebble Mine. The project’s supporters are calling the report a win, but critics say the study is fundamentally flawed.