CVRF Distributed Record Amount of Heating Oil This Winter
![An aerial view over a snowy, coastal Alaska village in wintertime](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Aerial-View-of-Scammon-Bay-Alaska-November-2011_edited-1200x800.jpg)
The nonprofit distributed about a third more heating oil than last year to over 2,000 households in the Kuskokwim Delta.
National Weather Service Will Cut Rural Alaska Staff By Two-Thirds
![White and dark grey building next to snowy airstrip at Nome Airport.](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/National-Weather-Service-Nome-Alaska-Building-Tyler-Stup-1200x800.jpg)
NWS is replacing manual weather balloon launches with Finnish-made automatic launchers in its 12 rural-Alaska weather stations.
With State Approval, a Marijuana Store is Coming to Nome
![Close-up / macro shot of vibrant green hemp / marijuana plant.](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Herb-Hemp-Marijuana-Plant-public-domain-Pixabay-edit-3000px-1200x800.jpg)
This week, the Alaska Marijuana Control Board approved a license for a Nome-based marijuana retail store, the first in Western Alaska. Its owner says he plans to open shop on April 20.
‘Self-Help’ Housing Project Could Be First in Rural Alaska
![House in Nome](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2015-06-19-house-001-2432px2-1200x800.jpg)
The Mutual Self-Help Housing Program proposed for Nome would be the first of its kind in rural Alaska. If there’s enough interest, qualifying families and individuals would work together to construct a group of homes themselves.
GCI Says to its Customers “No Worries”, Increases Data Plan for “Rural Hub Communities”
![GCI TERRA 2016-2017 Expansion. Reposted with permission from GCI.](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/TERRA_2016-2017_Construction_Map-10-2-15-2-1200x927.jpg)
As of Tuesday, customers in Nome, Kotzebue, Bethel, and Utqiagvik, were automatically upgraded to the No Worries Plan, which will cost almost half as much as GCI’s current 100 gigabyte plan while also providing more data.
Power Restored To Diomede After Five Days in the Dark
![Little Diomede, 2008](https://knom.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2008-04-23-dio-for-static-001-2432px-1200x799.jpg)
Power for most of Diomede was restored Wednesday after five days of downtime. The exact cause of the community-wide outage remains unknown.