Economy

The longtime executive director of Coastal Villages Region Fund has retired. Morgan Crow worked with CVRF for 22 years. His retirement became effective immediately on June 15. He was replaced by Eric Deakin, who had been working as Chief Operating Officer and has been with the organization since 2008.

Bethel’s tribe, Orutsararmiut Native Council, has received a huge amount of money to deal with COVID-19’s impact on the community. ONC Executive Director Mark Springer says that the organization got $13.8 million in Federal CARES Act funding.  

The Alaska Permanent Fund dividend going out in July will be $992. The amount announced on June 12 is $8 less than the Alaska Legislature estimated when it budgeted for the annual dividend.

The state has allocated $10 million of federal CARES Act funds to help pay one month of housing costs for Alaskans behind in their rent or mortgage because of income lost during the pandemic.

Patience may be required this summer to navigate Bethel’s Chief Eddie Hoffman Highway. Knik Construction Superintendent Bob McDonald said that delays from highway work could be four to five minutes in some places, starting in late June.  

Roughly 50 Bethel residents gathered on June 5 at the Yupiit Piciryarait Cultural Center to peacefully protest the killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of a white police officer. It was captured on video and circulated on social media, spurring the national wave of protests against systemic police brutality against black people. Their protest began with 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence to represent the time that a white police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck.

Ravn Air Group’s March bankruptcy filing during the coronavirus pandemic left many Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta villages without mail or passenger service, but three airlines stepped in to make sure that residents got their mail and access to medical care. Still, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation claims that there are still villages without regular air service.