Emily Schwing

News Reporter

Emily has covered land and wildlife management, wildfire and local government extensively in Alaska since 2006. She has worked all over the state, from the Chukchi Sea Coast to the Wrangell Narrows and from the Canadian Border to the Seward Peninsula.

Public Safety

After report finds squalid conditions inside rural public schools, Senate Finance Committee questions state funding process for maintenance, construction

Emily Schwing

KYUK and ProPublica launched a project highlighting the public health and safety crisis inside Alaska’s rural public schools this month, kicking off a discussion among lawmakers on the powerful Senate Finance Committee.
Public Safety

Alaska-q Nallunguarilartuq Amllernek Ikayungcautnek Kitugutkaitnun Kaimengelriit Elitnaurviit

Emily Schwing

Nunacuarni school district-aat akikiterkaat kitugutkanun state-amek kingunengqelartuq. Taugam allrakut yuinaq talliman cipluki, Alaska-mi alerquuciurcet nallungualarait amlleret ikayungcaucet elitnaurvignek nunamta nutem yukekain elitnaurviit.
Public Safety

Rural schools in Alaska are crumbling. The state is the likely culprit

Emily Schwing

Rural school districts depend on the state to fund construction and maintenance projects. But over the past 25 years, Alaska lawmakers have ignored hundreds of requests from public schools that primarily serve Indigenous children.
Public Safety

Alaska's rural schools need major infrastructure investment. KYUK has been investigating

Sage Smiley

This week, KYUK will release the first part of an investigation with ProPublica that looks at infrastructure issues in rural Alaska schools.
Without infrastructure investment, some rural communities may not be able to have school at all

Emily Schwing

For years, school districts statewide have submitted hundreds of millions of dollars in requests for help with construction and maintenance. And for years, Alaska's lawmakers haven’t been able to fund those needs. Now, the state’s rural school districts are facing a public health and safety crisis.
Alaska’s rural schools need millions to address infrastructure, but have only seen a fraction

Emily Schwing

There are 128 open rural schools in Alaska. Just under half of them are owned by the state, and many of them are falling apart. KYUK dug through state data and found decades of neglect and lacking accountability that’s put students, teachers, and staff at risk.
Decades of lacking investment means rural Alaska’s schools now face public health and safety crises

Emily Schwing

Chemical leaks, standing raw sewage, extensive black mold, exposed electrical wiring, and malfunctioning fire alarms. These are all things that pose serious public health and safety risks to students, teachers, and staff inside Alaska’s rural public schools.
Public Safety

Newtok shuts down its critical infrastructure

Emily Schwing

On Dec. 1, local tribal leadership decided to shut down the power and water plants, and to board up buildings in the tiny Bering Sea coastal community.
Arts, Culture & Community Features

Memories, stories, and family heirlooms make the final move from Newtok

Emily Schwing

The Newtok Village Council has decommissioned the village, deeming it too unsafe to live in. Nearly 90 people will move to higher ground this month, and they’re scrambling to take what they can with them.
Public Safety

“All public services … decommissioned and shut down.” Newtok’s end is imminent

Emily Schwing

By the end of November 2024, the Newtok Village Council hopes no one will be living in Newtok. The local tribal government has deemed the village too unsafe for anyone to remain there through the winter. Eighty-eight residents still in the Bering Sea coastal village are moving into temporary housing 9 miles away at a new townsite: Mertarvik.