Desiree Hagen, KOTZ

Researchers believe that if permafrost thaw continues at its current rate and mercury keeps being released, it could pose a real threat to many communities throughout northern and western Alaska.

The operators of Red Dog Mine have paid nearly half a million dollars for hazardous waste violations.

Over roughly five years of flying out of Kotzebue to locations on the Baldwin and Seward Peninsulas to conduct research, the team has noticed dramatic changes in the landscape.

This year, some of the program participants traveled to the rural hub communities of Bethel, Kodiak, and Dillingham. A group also went to Utqiaġvik during Nalukataq, or the summer whaling festival. In Kotzebue, the teens learned about edible wild plants, cut and jarred dried, black seal meat in oil, and helped build drying racks for hanging fish.

A lawmaker from Kotzebue is seeking to amend the Alaska Constitution to resolve a longstanding conflict between the state and federal government on subsistence management. But multiple Alaska Native groups and Northwest Arctic leaders are speaking out against the measure.

The Kobuk 440, one of the last sled dog races of the season, begins Thursday, April 4. Eleven mushers and their teams are signed up for the mid-distance race that runs along the Kobuk River.

“So she requested a closet, and we'd be in the closet, and she would teach and record then,” Julia choked up as she remembered Elder Emma Clark.

“Alaska tribes deserve the same kind of protections and resources that other communities in Alaska receive and don't even think about it,” said AVCP spokesperson Joy Anderson. “So this is really pretty historic.”

The Bethel Fire Department has released more information about a house fire that destroyed a home in Bethel on March 14 near H-Marker Lake.

“It moved so fast. To me it looked like it was alive,” Polk said about the fire. “I would say in less than two minutes the whole place was engulfed.” he said.