KYUK’s 2025 in review
It’s the last day of 2025. Here’s a look at some highlights of the 359 stories reported by KYUK this year.
January
January started with the delayed first sled dog race of the year, kicking off a regional mushing season marked by unseasonably warm weather. The Kuskokwim 300 and Bogus Creek 150 were both delayed because of trail safety concerns.
Despite the January heat, the Slaviq spinning star visited homes throughout the Yukon Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta. Bethel’s librarian won a national award, and Mountain Village brought back its beloved school book fair by partnering with a Palmer-based nonprofit.
Kipnuk became the second Alaska tribe to ever receive a federal disaster declaration following a flood in 2024, while some members of Bethel’s tribe raised concerns about voting policies and transparency.
Alaska’s legislative session started with the swearing in of a new representative for the lower Kuskokwim, and with the region’s longtime senator as the president pro tem.
At the close of the month, a rare earthquake rocked communities from Aniak to Kalskag.
February
KYUK’s general manager, Shane Iverson, bid the organization farewell after 19 years of service: working in radio, reporting the news, and seven years at the helm.
Iverson stuck around just long enough to take part in KYUK’s coverage of the Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race. The delayed start was timed perfectly for Bethel’s Pete Kaiser, who clocked his ninth first-place finish, tying Jeff King’s all-time record.
In the leadup to the race, KYUK delved into the history of mushing and how it has been impacted by climate change in a three-part series.
Far away in Washington, D.C., mass firings of federal employees and funding freezes sent shockwaves through Alaska, including institutions on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta that rely on federal support.
March
March kicked off in Bethel with a boom as hundreds of families and fans lined the halls of Bethel’s high school to get a seat at the 37th Annual Coastal Conference 1A Tournament. With a Warrior Dome full of “itchy ears” and “sweaty palms,” the Kipnuk Falcons and Kasigluk-Akiuk Lady Grizzlies left champions and headed to state, wrapping up the local basketball season.
March also brought the end of the local dog mushing season, with Kwethluk’s Raymond Alexie winning the Kuskokwim 300 (K300) Race Committee's Delta Championship Series.
Also in March, the Nunapitsinghak Moravian Children’s Home in Kwethluk burned to the ground.
The annual Cama’i dance festival featured groups from across the state and beyond, including a Taiko Dance group based out of Oregon. Living treasures Angela and Isidore Hunt from Kotlik were honored, as well as past treasure Cakicenaq Stanley Waska, whose legacy of compositions were featured throughout the festival.
April
A collaborative series, “Lessons from Newtok,” gave young students who relocated to Mertarvik the opportunity to share their experiences in their own words, and to connect with students also impacted by climate change a world away in Massachusetts.
Bethel residents constructed a massive, three-legged, wooden dog on the still-frozen Kuskokwim River. People began placing their bets for when Tripod Charlie would be washed away by breakup, but the Kuskokwim Ice Classic couldn’t put a price on the promise of warmer weather ahead. In another sign of spring, dog racing season wrapped up as pint-sized mushers took part in a fun run to kick off the Kuskokwim 300 Race Committee-sponsored Junior Championship.
Upriver, Aniak’s public library closed its doors after decades as a community gathering place. And a little further upriver, powerful forces were at play with Barrick Mining Corporation’s exit from the proposed Donlin Gold mine, and the entrance of billionaire investor John Paulson.
May
In May, Bethel’s Yupiit Piciryarait Museum reopened its doors after closing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ongoing river ice breakup brought flood advisories to communities up and down river – in Bethel, the Kuskokwim Ice Classic tripod fell at 4:10 p.m. on May 5. One family’s lucky number 10 helped three of its members win big on guessing breakup time.
Bethel residents marched in support of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day.
Mid-month, high speed fiber internet arrived in Bethel thanks to the AIRRAQ project – a partnership between Bethel Native Corporation and GCI.
Kipnuk searched for answers after the federal government cancelled a $20 million erosion mitigation grant.
Salmon returned to the Kuskokwim and Yukon rivers as managers announced the first openers of the 2025 Kuskokwim fishing season, while Yukon managers set closures.
And community theater returned to Bethel with a Shakespeare play on the tundra – A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
June
Public media funding came into the crosshairs of the Trump administration. Public radio stations across Alaska prepared for the worst, and KYUK began making hard decisions in anticipation of what would ultimately be a 70% loss in funding.
Some of Bethel’s unofficial first hippies reflected on the harrowing journey that brought them from San Francisco 50 years ago, and why Bethel remains such a special place for them.
An investigative series took a deep dive into issues that affected the relocation from Newtok to Mertarvik, and why what was supposed to be a blueprint for climate change response has not gone as planned.
In Kwethluk, a long-awaited honor was given to a local midwife who gained a reputation as a gifted healer of deep-seated trauma during her life. Pilgrims from across Alaska and the world came to glorify Olinka “Arrsamquq” Michael, or Matushka Olga, who became the first-ever Yup’ik Orthodox saint.
July
In July, competitors swam, biked, and ran in Bethel’s first-ever traditional triathlon. Also in the spirit of firsts, Bethel hosted a drag performance featuring a lineup of Indigenous performers.
Students from Mertarvik traveled to New York City to see their photography and writing on display, documenting growing up during Newtok’s relocation. They played basketball in front of the Manhattan skyline with their pen pals facing similar climate issues in Massachusetts.
And the reigning Miss Cama’i, Joeli Angukaranaq Carlson, was crowned Miss World Eskimo-Indian Olympics.
August
An investigative series looked at a pattern of neglect by the state that has left many of Alaska’s rural public schools in serious need of repair.
Rural policing also came up for discussion through a story looking at the community impacts of two weeks on, two weeks off staffing for officers at the Bethel Police Department. Meanwhile, community criticism mounted over a proposal to bring a live policing reality show to Bethel. The Bethel City Council voted it down unanimously.
KYUK’s own Jesuit volunteer, Ryan Cotter, offered up a series documenting the departure of the three last Jesuit priests from Alaska, ending a complicated 140-year legacy.
September
In the first full month of the school year, students and community members in Napakiak celebrated their new school building, safe from Kuskokwim River erosion. It would go on to house dozens of community members in the wake of ex-typhoon Halong.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks, Kuskokwim Campus unveiled a new training lab for nurses. But as high school athletics heated up, the Bethel Regional High School gym remained closed for structural repairs. Stony River’s school remained closed for a second year in a row.
Bethel’s city government announced a sudden leadership change for the police and fire departments, marking the departure of the third police chief in just over three years.
Candidates for local office made their cases to the public in advance of local election day in early October.
October
With Akiak continuing to grapple with power issues and winter right around the corner, the remnants of Typhoon Halong brought unprecedented destruction for communities across the Kuskokwim Delta.
The storm displaced more than 1,600 people and led to the largest airlift in state history. The majority of the evacuees came from the hardest-hit communities of Kwigillingok and Kipnuk, and the majority of these ended up in Anchorage, where they face an uncertain future.
The Alaska Federation of Natives convention kicked off in Anchorage as C-17 transport planes arrived with the first loads of storm evacuees. The theme of the convention: “Standing Strong, Standing United.”
Before October wrapped up, children displaced by the storm were already back in school, including more than 100 in Bethel.
November
In November, after 43 days without power, Akiak restored its electricity. In Bethel, Jeffrey Kirkham was named the new director of public safety.
A month after ex-typhoon Halong, recovery efforts were still in full force. The state announced an emergency hunt in the Quinhagak area to support those impacted by the storm, and the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP) held a media briefing looking at the road ahead of rebuilding.
Bethel Resource Connect expanded services to support those impacted by the storm, and resources including lumber, equipment, and food fanned out to the impacted communities.
December
Financial support for storm victims, both working to rebuild their communities and displaced far away from their homes, poured in from numerous agencies and organizations. In Bethel, the community hosted a holiday potluck for evacuees and gathered donations of traditional foods.
The reopening of a cherished community space lightened the mood in Bethel when the hot tub at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Fitness Center received a much-needed replacement part and regained its status as “the tub of the town.”
Meanwhile, mushing season came back around again. Akiak musher Mike Williams Jr. came out on top in the first two K300 Race Committee-sponsored races of the season.
Finally, 2025 wrapped up with resolutions for two police brutality suits against the City of Bethel that ended in a combined settlement of $10 million.
It’s been a full year of news for the Y-K Delta. Quyana cakneq for tuning in and reading KYUK’s reporting. We’ll catch you next year!
