Economy

In what may turn out to be good news for rural Alaska, online retailer Amazon has made a change aimed at moving medical supplies, household staples, and other high-demand products as quickly as possible. 

While telecommunications carrier GCI is closing down many of its urban retail stores in Alaska, the Bethel store will remain open with shortened hours, for now. 

Demand for products like hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies and toilet paper has spiked across Alaska, spurred by concerns over the coronavirus. That strain has been tough for some rural communities. The Alaska Commercial Company operates 33 stores around the state, including in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. In an effort to get ahead of that demand, General Manager Walt Pickett said that at the beginning of March, AC started to increase its orders from suppliers and manufacturers and stock its warehouses in Washington state and Anchorage.

Calista Corporation has reaffirmed its Alaska Federation of Natives membership in response to a caller on a Feb. 28 KYUK talk show, who claimed that Calista had pulled out of the organization.

For the first time ever, the ice road on the frozen Kuskokwim River has been plowed to Sleetmute, a village north of Bethel. According to Mark Leary, who helped lead the effort, the ice road now stretches about 355 miles from Tuntutuliak, located south of Bethel, to Sleetmute.

Bethel’s second marijuana store is almost open for business. On Feb. 13, the state’s Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office conducted its final inspection of Kusko Kush. Store co-owner Naim Shabani said that it “passed with flying colors,” and he plans on opening in early March.