The Bogus Creek 150 Sled Dog Race, scheduled to begin Jan. 22, has been postponed until Saturday, Jan. 30.

Yukon-Kuskokwim Elder’s Home resident Xenia Jackson was one of the first people in the Y-K Delta to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in December 2020. The shot capped off a tumultuous year in which she tested positive for COVID-19.

On Jan. 16, a fire in Tuluksak destroyed the village’s washeteria and water plant building, which was their only source of clean, running water. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation hosted a meeting for a number of local, state, and federal agencies to address the crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic is just one of several complicating factors. 

Nearly 5,000 people in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and almost a fifth of those people have also received their second dose. That makes more people in the region who have received at least one dose of the vaccine than have tested positive for the virus. Across the region, 4,248 people have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Jan. 20, according to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation.

At the end of 2020, a 36-year-old former tribal police officer died from COVID-19. He was to be buried in Kongiganak, a burial which his family in Akiachak couldn’t attend because of travel restrictions. Here’s a story about how people are finding new ways to say goodbye to their loved ones during the pandemic.

The 32nd Alaska Legislature convened in Juneau on Jan. 19. The Senate organized a Republican majority caucus for the ninth straight year and selected a leader, but the House remains unorganized, without a majority or a Speaker. Democratic Rep. Tiffany Zulkosky represents the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in the House. She spoke with KYUK about how the unorganized body can move forward.