The Nome Static, February 2022

When circumstances change for the worse, it can be challenging to adapt. In Western Alaska, where hardship can be both sudden and gradual, the first response to change is coming together: we trust the best answers will come when everyone is in agreement. When a consensus is reached, people adapt quickly. Each person finds strength…

Emergency services dispatcher Jessica Saclamana was recently honored for her service. Her ten years of working for the police department makes her their most senior employee. Nome Police Chief Mike Heintzelman commended Saclamana for her performance. “On a lot of people’s worst days, they call in and Jess is able to calmly handle those situations…

Two Norton Sound leaders, Roy Agloinga and James ‘Richard’ Beneville, received this year’s Governor’s Arts and Humanities Award. Agloinga, who received the Distinguished Service to the Humanities award in education, is originally from White Mountain, and has worked to preserve the village’s dialect. He says the award announcement came as a shock. “I was pretty…

Right before the new year began, much of Western Alaska experienced unusually mild, stormy weather. While winter storms are par for the course in Nome, freezing rain and slush are unusual in December. With gale-force winds wracking Nome, much of the city suffered blackouts. (At KNOM, the power was out for nearly an hour.) Despite…