On Monday, July 28, the governor called for legislators to address what he called “Alaska’s chronic education outcome crisis,” and to reconsider his executive order they had previously voted down, creating a new Alaska Department of Agriculture that he said would strengthen food security in Alaska.

The administration says the cut, which is in its budget proposal for the federal fiscal year that begins in October, is part of an effort to curtail what they call taxpayer waste and to reduce the federal role in local economic development.

Yuut Elitnaurviat, the vocational center serving the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, is under new leadership after Executive Director Mike Hoffman recently retired. Yuut Elitnaiurviat says it could not be in better hands with his replacement – a household name across the region and the state.

Last week, three Alaska drag queens traveled to the bush to perform in Bethel’s first-ever drag show. The Pride event bridged Native culture with the modern art form featuring an all-Indigenous cast.

Students from Mertarvik have been documenting the impact climate change has had on their lives through writing and photographs. A group of Mertarvik students traveled to New York City earlier this year to see their work on display.

On Tuesday, July 22, the National Transportation Safety Board released its final report on the Sept. 2023 plane crash near St. Mary’s that resulted in the death of pilot Eugene “Buzzy” Peltola Jr., 57.

The coastal New England town of Provincetown, Mass. and the Bering Sea coastal village of Mertarvik are just about as far away as two places can be in the United States. But students in both communities have common ground in growing up in a rapidly changing climate.

The civil suit filed in Bethel Superior Court on July 18 alleges negligent actions by hunting guide Bruce Werba and two companies under Werba’s control caused Eugene "Buzzy" Peltola Jr.’s death.