KYUK took a trip around town last week to ask a few people in the community about whether they plan to vote, and what types of issues matter most to them.

Bethel’s community pool at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Fitness Center is struggling to find lifeguards. It’s part of a nationwide trend, and puts important and hard-won community programs at risk.

Polls throughout the state will open on Election Day, Nov. 5, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. A record number of voters in Alaska have already cast their early ballots in this year’s general election.

Halloween 2024 in Bethel was filled with tricks and treats! Community members had a wide variety of events to attend, with the library's annual Trunk-or-Treat and games provided by the AIRRAQ network at the Yupiit Piciryarait cultural Center and KYUK's haunted house next door.

Willy Keppel, a Veterans of Alaska Party candidate from Quinhagak, sat down with KYUK to talk about why he wants to represent the lower Kuskokwim, and what he sees as some of the most pressing issues facing the district in the coming years.

Nellie Jimmie was the top House District 38 candidate in the primary election, securing 44% of the vote. She has declined to do a standalone interview with KYUK before the general election. KYUK has compiled some of Jimmie’s answers to questions posed during KYUK’s 2024 HD38 Candidate Forum on Oct. 24.

The Bering Sea’s biggest and most lucrative crab fisheries opened last week, and so far, fishing is looking good.“Fishing has been very good for the [Bristol Bay red king crab] fleet this season and the crab delivered so far has been of high quality — new shell, large size, good meat-fill,” said Alaska Department of Fish and Game Area Management Biologist Ethan Nichols.

Charges against the young man involved in a fatal 2019 Unalaska car crash have been reduced, more than four years after he was originally indicted.Dustin Ruckman, who is now 23 years old, was originally charged in 2020 with two counts of manslaughter, two counts of criminally negligent homicide and one count of reckless driving. He now faces just two counts of criminally negligent homicide.

Alaska processor Trident Seafoods announced Monday that it probably won’t be processing crab in the Pribilof Island community of St. Paul this season. That comes after the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s decision to reopen the snow crab or opilio fishery after a two-year closure. The state’s announcement on Friday surprised many fishermen. It was also a surprise to Trident.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced Friday afternoon that Bering Sea fishermen will be allowed to harvest a total of about 4.7 million pounds of opilio, also known as snow crab, for the first time in two years. According to Fish and Game, estimates of total mature male biomass are above the threshold required to open the fishery.