The Tundra Drums - CAUYAT - "The Beat of the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta"

A disaster declaration, due to this year’s commercial fishery failure on the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers and in Cook Inlet, was made last week by Acting U.S. Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank. The low chinook returns prompted Governor Sean...

On Oct. 2 Bethel citizens will elect three city council members. In the lead up to the election, The Drums asked the three candidates the question: How do you plan to serve the people of Bethel? Sharon Sigmon I will serve the people of Bethel by list...

Prizes in the Best in the West Small Business Competition were announced Sept. 5 after each competitor made their 20-minute presentation to the selection committee. The awards in this year’s...

After a mayday call from a boat that was sinking in Goodnews Bay near Platinum on Sept. 7, a search party was quickly launched, according to Alaska State Troopers. A Yute Aviation pilot who was dropping off passengers in the area spotted two people...

The Alaska Department of Revenue announced Tuesday that the 2012 Permanent Fund Dividend will be $878. Last year’s dividend was $1,174. Funds will be distributed on Oct. 4....

A home fire in Alukanuk took the life of an 88-year-old woman on Sept. 12. According to the Alaska Division of Fire and Life Safety, the woman was trapped in her home when fire engulfed the exit doorway and she suffered severe burns when trying to...

BBC news reported earlier this month that a recently discovered site of a 500-year-old settlement is disappearing into the sea. Researchers from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland have been helping rescue thousands of artifacts near Quinhagak. The...

On Sept. 9 Alaska State Troopers received a report of a disturbance in Holy Cross. Troopers responded and investigation revealed that Kristi Turner, 24, and Chastity Demientieff, 23, assaulted a Holy Cross female resident. Turner and Demientieff...

Matt Bissonnette who grew up in Aniak, according to KYUK, wrote of his experience as a Navy Seal, using the pen name Mark Owen, in the recently released book “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden.” U.S....

A mother, who allegedly abducted her daughter and son in August 2004 and traveled out of Alaska, was arrested Sept. 7 in Macomb, Missouri on a Bethel warrant. Denise Jeanine Festervand (Denise Ebertz) was wanted by the Alaska State Troopers for two...

Alaska State Attorney General Mike Geraghty, at the direction of Governor Sean Parnell, is requesting that the federal Environmental Protection Agency put the old Red Devil mercury mine on the national priorities list for cleanup, according to...

Historical Background Pre-contact According to the accepted theory of the settlement of the Americas through a Bering Land Bridge, the ancestors of the Nunakauyarmiut Tribe may have arrived in this area about 12,000 years ago or even earlier. Today,...

Rachel Berry was born Oct. 15, 1953 in Kasigluk to Henry “Ilegvak” and Marie “Apess’aq” Charles of Kasigluk. Mom said she had her dad’s stubbornness and her mom’s kindness. Rachel was...

Do you know who would appreciate your last year’s lightly-worn sweaters, kuspuks, jackets, shirts pants, and other articles of adult clothing? The seniors at the Eddie Hoffman Senior Center would be so delighted to have some new duds to wear the...

Ariel Amelia Panigarkaq Capenaq Brown was born Aug. 19, 2012 at 11:04 a.m. She weighed 9 pounds 5.6 ounces and was 20.75 inches long. Her parents are Tony and Joletta Brown of Eek. Her siblings are...

Floyd Anthony Joseph Johnson, Jr. was born June 11, 2012 at 1:18 a.m. at Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage. Floyd weighed 7 pounds and 4 ounces, and was 20 inches long. His parents are Gwendelyn Heckman and Floyd Johnson, Sr. of Mountain...

The Kuskokwim Art Guild ninth annual Steel Salmon and Raven auction is planned for Sept. 22 at the Yupit Piciryarait Cultural Center. Chef Tiffany Tony will serve up a luscious crab dinner and many...

Alaska fishermen are feeling the squeeze of lower prices at the same time that their operating costs continue to spiral upwards. For halibut, in a reversal of trend and fortune, prices have dropped...

Dozens of residents from Coastal Villages Region Fund member villages are preparing to attend higher education programs this fall with help from CVRF. CVRF has awarded 79 residents with a total of $351,000 for the fall 2012 semester. Of the 79...

“The results of the primary election are conclusive, if not disappointing,” Sea Party Chair Bruce Botelho said on Aug. 29, “but the volunteer effort that drove this initiative was truly heartening. We gathered the necessary signatures in record...

The Calista Heritage Foundation announced last week that they are providing $239,250 in scholarships for fall 2012 semester. Year-to-date the total scholarship distribution is $461,000 to about 300 students. Life-to-date more than $3.2 million in...

Alaska’s premier winter sports and recreation show, the Oxygen & Octane Expo, will make a fifth appearance Oct. 5-7 at the Dena’ina Center in downtown Anchorage. The “Big O” has become a fixture in the outdoor expo arena, and plans are in...

Compiled by Julie Rosier Vaska calls for unity in reapportionment — The political power of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta was undermined and weakened by a 1981 state reapportionment board decision to divide the region into three separate house...

Referrals to Southwest Alaska residents for assistance with food and other basic needs rose in the first half of 2012, according to Alaska 2-1-1, the statewide help referral line. From January through June, referrals for basic needs – food,...

A training conference, Full Lives in Rural Alaska, is planned for Bethel. Trust Training Cooperative will present trainings focused on “Alaskan Core Competencies for Direct Care Workers in Health and Human Services.” The course is 8:30 a.m. - 5...