sage smiley

KYUK plays a singular role in the media landscape of the United States. over the coming weeks, we'll go from 10 full time staff down to 4. this is my last week at KYUK. listen here →

a poster advertising a panelist discussion about journalism in the north to take place on Nov. 6, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. AK time

tonight!

Here's how you can help survivors of the Western Alaska storm The remnants of Typhoon Halong have killed one person, left two missing, displaced hundreds and destroyed or damaged dozens of homes.

ICYMI: We've updated our list of ways to help those affected by the devastating storm that hit Western Alaska on Oct. 12.

https://akpub.io/479rSJO

"It's been a really mixed bag of emotions to be doing important work and trying to get the vital information that people need about disaster relief," @sgsmly.bsky.social of KYUK told PBS News Hour's Geoff Bennett.

"My position itself will be going to five hours a week in the beginning of the year."

Mass evacuations underway in Western Alaska after storm devastates communities Hundreds of people are being evacuated from the Alaska villages hardest hit by the remnants of Typhoon Halong over the weekend.

Sage Smiley, news director of KYUK in Bethel @sgsmly.bsky.social briefs NPR on the evacuation and devastation of western Alaska.

People are not just displaced from their homes but also their traditional ways of life.

www.npr.org/2025/10/16/n...

Officials say storm 'completely devastated' Western Alaska communities A Coast Guard commander recounts scenes of Alaskans swimming in floodwaters in the middle of the night, in search of debris to hold onto.

A U.S. Coast Guard commander compared the devastation in Southwest Alaska villages over the weekend to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“This took people into peril, where folks were swimming, floating, trying to find debris to hold onto in the cover of darkness," Capt. Culpepper said.

an editorial from the fairbanks daily news-miner entitled “TV at what price?”, which advocated against developing a local educational television programming channel in bethel

this anonymous editorial from the fairbanks daily news-miner in 1971 derided the effort to bring educational television programming to the the y-k delta, saying “you will not be able to get this caliber of person to Bethel and in sufficient numbers to be worthwhile” — 54 years of KYUK beg to differ

Bethel Police say 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off schedules work. Some community members disagree In the past decade, Bethel has increasingly relied on a policing system where officers work for two weeks, then take two weeks off. This lets some officers commute from thousands of miles away. And wh...

Every two weeks for the past three years, a police officer has boarded a plane near his home in Sydney, Australia, to commute to work – in Bethel, Alaska.

A story with @sgsmly.bsky.social at KYUK.

www.kyuk.org/public-safet...

Alaska public radio stations are essential parts of community safety.

i’d recommend reading subpart D of the public broadcasting act of 1967. it’s a visionary statement, and makes lays out that the CPB should be “free from extraneous interference and control,” ironic since it’s now our government trying to exert control cpb.org/aboutpb/act

rescission would decimate rural, sole-source broadcasters, including my station, KYUK. the dream of the public broadcast system — free informational, educational and cultural material for everyone — shouldn’t be under threat because some politicians disagree w national editorial decisions

C. 1940 "Radio Babies" by Iñupiaq artist George Ahgupuk (1911-2001). It depicts Joseph H. Romig advising an expectant mother in Bethel via radio. Romig was a medical missionary, surgeon, Anchorage mayor, & Romig Hill/Jr High namesake. Via Anchorage Museum. #alaskahistory #alaska

What defunding public media would mean for the West - High Country News Data show that rural, tribal and Western stations would be the most impacted by Trump’s attempt to cut CPB funding.

“this is part of the beauty of public media: Stations like KYUK allow people to get thoughtful, nuanced coverage of the place they live, whether or not they can afford to pay for it.” (via @highcountrynews.org) www.hcn.org/articles/wha...

Commentary: Alaska Press Club honors MMIP Activists At its annual gathering in Anchorage, the Alaska Press Club bestowed one of its highest honors to four activists in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons movement. Antonia Commack, Amber Batts, ...

Today is National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) Awareness Day.

Thinking about this case today, and the tireless efforts of these 4 activists to investigate and identify the murder of Cassandra Lee Boskofsky, who Anchorage police kept secret for years
www.knba.org/news/2025-04...

Time series plot of the date of Kuskokwim river ice break-up at Bethel 1924 to 2025. There are a few years missing in the 1930s and 1960s. The ten earliest and ten latest break-ups are highlighted along with an estimate of the time varying average.

Ice broke on the Kuskokwim River at Bethel at 410pm AKDT Monday. This is five days earlier than the average break-up date over the past 50 years. The typical break-up nowadays is 8 days earlier than it was in the 1920s. #akwx #Spring2025 @markspringer.bsky.social @egw-b12.bsky.social

Alaska-q Nallunguarilartuq Amllernek Ikayungcautnek Kitugutkaitnun Kaimengelriit Elitnaurviit Nunacuarni school district-aat akikiterkaat kitugutkanun state-amek kingunengqelartuq. Taugam allrakut yuinaq talliman cipluki, Alaska-mi alerquuciurcet nallungualarait amlleret ikayungcaucet elitnaur...

Yuinaq cipluku amllertalriit nunacuarmi Sleetmute, Alaska-mi, elitnauryalartut unuaquaqan enecuarmun nunapigngalnguuluni imyarpiarumaluni.

www.kyuk.org/public-safet...

A Rural Alaska School Asked the State to Fund a Repair. Nearly Two Decades Later, the Building Is About to Collapse. Rural school districts depend on the state to fund construction and maintenance projects. But over the past 25 years, Alaska lawmakers have ignored hundreds of requests for public schools that…

NEW: For 25 years, Alaska lawmakers have ignored hundreds of requests from rural school districts to fund repairs at their crumbling schools, according to a KYUK and ProPublica investigation.

'What else are we gonna have to take out?' Bethel students protest ANSEP name change High school students in Bethel say Alaska Native heritage is integral to their accelerated science and engineering education, and are protesting the University of Alaska's recent decision to rename AN...

Great follow-up story from Samantha Watson at KYUK about ANSEP students in Bethel organizing a walkout to protest the University of Alaska removing “Alaska Native” from the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program’s website. www.kyuk.org/education/20...

Kuskokwim training hauls Bethel man to podium finish in international kite skiing marathon The wide-open sky and super-flat tundra expanses of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta might not immediately seem connected to elite skiing, but training on the Kuskokwim River led one Bethel man to a podium f...

How about some happy news? From @sgsmly.bsky.social — a man travels from Bethel to Wisconsin and takes third place in a world kite skiing championship: www.kyuk.org/sports/2025-... #akleg #Alaska

the move will bypass the upper Kusko / interior communities of Nikolai, McGrath & Takotna this year

48-hour trace of the reported temperature at the Bethel Airport from Sunday afternoon to Friday afternoon, Jan 26-31, 2025.

Bethel, Alaska goes from the winter's lowest temperature (so far) of -27F (-32.8C) to above freezing in less than 36 hours. #akwx #weather #Winter2025 @markspringer.bsky.social @sgsmly.bsky.social @climatologist49.bsky.social

this week’s episode of @onthemedia.bsky.social closes with a look at the unique, beautiful and vital relationship KYUK has with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. public media is reflective. it is inspiring. and it should be funded at every possible level.

‘We could still hear the hillside cracking’: How neighbors helped each other to safety after Wrangell's deadly landslide People stuck on the far side of the slide described a night of confusion and an improvised evacuation.

today, November 20, is the one-year anniversary of Wrangell's deadly landslide. my heart is with my former island home ❤️‍🩹
www.ktoo.org/2023/12/03/w...

morning #alaskasky in bethel, at the yukon-kuskokwim fitness center (celebrating its 10 year anniversary!)