Chevak, AK

When I first began teaching in Hooper Bay in 1979, my winters were made more enjoyable by cross-country skiing daily out to the edge of the Bering Sea coast, which was only a mile to the west of the village. It was in November when I first began to notice snow buntings that looked whiter than usual. After checking my bird book, I learned they were what the book called McKay’s buntings, named in honor of Charles McKay, a young naturalist who lived in the mid-1800’s.

Hooper Bay has closed the hole in its sewage lagoon. It took the community about a month and a half to plug the hole. In the meantime, sewage kept spilling out onto the tundra. The city was finally able to plug the hole in April. The city’s utility manager, Dennis...

Juneau, Alaska (KINY) - A man was stabbed to death in the western Alaska village of Scammon Bay Thursday and his brother has been charged with his murder. That's in a bulletin issued by Alaska State Troopers who say 35-year-old Cedric Yunak died at the village clinic. Troopers from Hooper...

Man accused of fatally stabbing his brother in Scammon Bay, charges show. A Scammon Bay man is accused of fatally stabbing his brother during an argument in the Western Alaska community, according to Alaska State Troopers and charging documents in the case. Updated: 6 hours ago. A Delta Junction man...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A Scammon Bay man is accused of fatally stabbing his brother during an argument in the Western Alaska community, according to Alaska State Troopers and charging documents in the case. Troopers got a report around 2 p.m. Thursday that a man had been stabbed in Scammon...

ConocoPhillips Alaska says a shallow gas reservoir that a waste disposal well had come into contact with was the source of a natural gas release first detected last month at one of its North Slope drill sites. Man accused of fatally stabbing his brother in Scammon Bay, charges show. Updated:...

After nearly a month, Hooper Bay’s sewage lagoon has finally stopped leaking out onto the tundra. Hooper Bay City Administrator Sandra Tall-Lake said that by March 21, city workers had put enough sand into the hole in the sewage lagoon to stop the flow of sewage leaking out. It’s...

After nearly a month, Hooper Bay’s sewer lagoon has finally stopped leaking out onto the tundra. Hooper Bay City Administrator Sandra Tall-Lake said that by March 21, city workers had put enough sand into the hole in the sewer lagoon to stop the flow of sewage leaking out. It’s...

The Toksook Bay boys will play for the 1A state championship title against Tanana after upsetting second-seeded Lumen Cristi 84-79 in Friday night’s semi-final matchup. The Islanders used their superior speed and ball handling, along with the inside play of their big man Colton Angiak, to assume an early lead and never let go.

Hooper Bay expects to fill the hole in its sewer lagoon, at least partially, by March 11. That should stop the sewage spill next to the community from growing. Hooper Bay’s plan to fix its sewer lagoon is to collect sand from the beach, fill large sand bags, and then use them to plug the hole in the sewer lagoon.

Officials say they now better understand how the Hooper Bay sewage lagoon broke open on Feb. 25. The breach seems to have occurred due to an extreme shift in the weather. A Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation remote maintenance worker was in Hooper Bay this past week to help the community respond to the sewage lagoon break. According to YKHC spokesperson Mary Horgan, the worker said that extreme cold temperatures in February caused a crack in the berm that surrounds and contains the lagoon.

The Pilot Station/Marshall girls and the Scammon Bay Eagles are the 1A Yukon Delta Conference tournament champions and will be representing the Lower Yukon School District at the Alaska Schools Activities Association 1A State tournament, March 16-19, 2022. The girls tournament took place Feb. 22-25 in Alakanuk and the boys tournament was hosted in Russian Mission March 2-5.

Officials now better understand how the Hooper Bay sewer lagoon broke open on Feb. 25. The breach seems to have occurred due to an extreme shift in the weather. A Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC) remote maintenance worker was in Hooper Bay this past week to help the community respond to the sewer lagoon break. According to YKHC spokesperson Mary Horgan, the worker said that extreme cold temperatures in February caused a crack in the sewer lagoon berm, or land wall, that surrounds and contains the lagoon. It was a small crack, which the remote maintenance worker said is not unusual to see.

After meeting with local, state, and federal agencies on March 1, Hooper Bay has a plan to fix the hole in its sewer lagoon. It’s been nearly a week since the wall of the coastal community’s sewer lagoon collapsed on Feb. 25, spilling its entire contents onto the tundra. With the lagoon wall still broken, sewage continues to seep onto the tundra as community members use their water systems.

As of Mar. 1, Hooper Bay has not been able to close the breach in its sewer lagoon wall. Any waste that residents flush down their toilets continues to flow out of the lagoon. On Friday, Feb. 25, a wall of the community’s sewer lagoon collapsed, spilling the entire contents onto the surrounding tundra. The city issued a state of emergency that day. Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a state emergency disaster declaration the day after.

The sewage lagoon in Hooper Bay began leaking early on the morning of Feb. 25. By the afternoon, the entirety of the community’s sewage had poured onto the surrounding tundra, threatening an important subsistence location for the coastal village. Community leaders are worried it could spread further and are calling upon the state for help.

----------- In the early morning hours Friday, the sewage lagoon in Hooper Bay began leaking. By the afternoon, the entirety of the community’s sewage had poured onto the surrounding tundra, threatening an important subsistence location for the coastal village. Community leaders are worried it could spread further and are...