Economy

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. 

This week, the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative is turning off power for people who have past-due bills of more than $200. The cooperative has notified these people of the consequenses twice.

Bethel’s Department of Motor Vehicles office will open for four days next week after being closed for more than a month. Residents must make appointments online or by phone at (907)-269-5551 to get a driver’s license or other forms of identification, or to take a written driving test. The DMV urges residents to renew licenses online to reduce the number of people coming into the office.

The ghost gravel barge that enthralled social media in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta has finally been recovered. The vessel froze into the Kuskokwim River on its way to Red Devil last fall, stopping just past Aniak before this spring’s river breakup freed it.