Showcase highlights healthy workplaces

Man in studio with mic

After two and a half decades of faithfully sharing jobs in the region during KNOM’s weekly Job Files show, Vickie Erickson retired last year. Dan Fishel, who took over the regular Job Files hour, is trying something new in addition to the usual show: an employer showcase.

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UAF Northwest supports rural Alaska with specialized skill courses

UAF campus

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Northwest, located in Nome, teaches specialized skills such as snow machine repair and indoor plumbing. With maintenance services on multiple-month-long wait lists, if available at all, practical skills are in high demand in communities across Western Alaska.  Fun classes offered this semester include subarctic gardening, introduction to Iñupiaq, and ceramics.…

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Dear Friend… (March 2023)

In the small communities of Western Alaska, individual effort means a great deal. For example, one person can make the difference between someone learning a new skill or participating in a sport and not having that opportunity.

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Local help empowers land owners

Suwat logo

It was a Unalakleet Elder who encouraged Francine Hopson to become Kawerak’s Tribal Land Management Services program director. “Someone needs to help our people,” the Elder told her.

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Alaska gears up for snow machine races

tired sled dogs

January in Alaska means slowly gaining daylight and plenty of snow for travel, subsistence, and fun. With no roads, that means more and more people are riding snowmachines, both in town and out in the backcountry. As Western Alaskans know, the knowledge of how to stay safe in varying conditionssaves lives. There are plenty of…

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Dear Friend… (Christmas 2022)

Advent is a discipline that doesn’t come naturally in busy, modern lives. Advent is about waiting with faith-filled expectation for what is to come. Christmas, the birth of Christ, makes the long wait worthwhile.

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Amid catastrophic damage, Western Alaskans display resilience and generosity

In mid-September, communities all along the northwestern coast of Alaska, a distance equivalent to southern Georgia to New York City, suffered a historic storm. Typhoon Merbok brought with it a storm surge of more than 10 feet in Nome and the surrounding coastline, devastating several coastal communities. In particular, the communities of Hooper Bay, Scammon…

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Language-engagement survey results

“Language is larger than just the language itself — its culture, its connectedness to community and its willingness to also be part of that community,” Ukallaysaaq Okleasik with Northwest Planning said.

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