Olivia Ebertz
News ReporterOlivia is a News Reporter for KYUK. Before coming to Bethel, she worked in film in New York City. Her documentary films have screened at festivals worldwide. In 2020 she was an artist-in-residence in Petrozavodsk, Russia. She speaks English, Norwegian, Italian, Spanish, and Russian with decreasing fluency in that order.
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During the surge, all city committee and commission meetings will be held virtually. Plus, the Bethel City Council could soon vote to make its meetings virtual as well. -
The Bethel City Council voted to adopt virtual and phone public testimony as a permanent element of its meetings. The council also rejected two proposals by council member Mary "Beth" Hessler. The first one would have given the council more oversight over the Bethel City Manager’s personnel policies, and the second would have overturned the city’s vaccine mandate for employees.
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During the Jan. 11 Bethel City Council meeting, the council is set to decide whether to vote to accept changes to the city’s personnel policy towards unvaccinated individuals.
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The Tanana Wolves won the Jan. 7 game, but the Bethel Warriors came back to snag a narrow win on Saturday, Jan. 8. Saturday’s tense game grew more tense when the teams tied and the game went into overtime.
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The last game held in Bethel was in March 2020, but the latest COVID-19 surge has already shaken up this weekend’s games. The Palmer girls’ team has pulled out of the game because they don’t want to take rapid tests in Bethel.
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Many travelers who had been stuck in Bethel for weeks over the holidays have made it home to their villages on Grant Aviation flights. Now, a new batch of passengers is stranded. Grant is working to get these passengers home, and the backlog of mail delivered.
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The Kuskokwim Ice Road crew will begin plowing and marking the Kuskokwim Ice Road on Jan. 5.
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Bethel’s airport runway lights were out Dec. 28 and 29, but were fixed in time for the Alaska Airlines evening jet on Dec. 29, according to a Alaska Department of Transportation employee.
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Mark Leary, Bethel Search and Rescue member and Director of Operations for the Native Village of Napaimute, says to avoid all travel near the Tuluksak River, especially at the point where it meets the Kuskokwim.
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A combination of historically bad weather in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and ill-equipped airports stranded hundreds of passengers in Bethel this holiday season. Volunteers stepped in to donate food and some businesses provided lodging, but passengers still missed out on Christmas at home with their families.
