KNOM

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At 91, Shaktoolik election judge reflects on decades of service, urges young Alaskans to vote - KNOM Radio Mission Nov 3
Audra Billings named Region I Principal of the Year - KNOM Radio Mission Nov 2
The Iditarod nearly lost its wings. Volunteer pilots helped keep it flying - KNOM Radio Mission Oct 27
Gambell coach honored with youth leadership award at AFN - KNOM Radio Mission Oct 23
Winter storm brings power outages, flight cancellations to Western Alaska - KNOM Radio Mission Oct 23
Alaska State Trooper from Teller receives law enforcement award at AFN - KNOM Radio Mission Oct 23
Sen. Dan Sullivan calls into KNOM ahead of tight senate race - KNOM Radio Mission Oct 22
Nome Common Council unanimously reverses decision on chauffeur's license appeal - KNOM Radio Mission Oct 16
Nome Common Council to reconsider chauffeur’s license appeal Friday - KNOM Radio Mission Oct 14
Halong scattered a Kipnuk family. Their dog carries memories of home Oct 12
Nome certifies uneventful municipal election in less than 3 minutes Oct 9
Kelly Hunt investigation leads Anchorage detectives to Shaktoolik Oct 7
Two stranded boaters, dog rescued by Nome helicoper crew Oct 7

KNOM Radio MissionThe Nome Static, November 2026 (Print Layout) Powered By EmbedPressRead on knom.org

KNOM Radio MissionDear Friend…(November 2026) For months now, escape has been impossible. From Miami to Nome and everywhere in between, whether we’ve been at home, at camp, or hiding under a rock, political campaigns have relentlessly hunted us down for our vote. But after election day passes, Catholics will fittingly celebrate the feast of Christ the King. Whether or not you’re happy with the election results, remember that no human victory or defeat is final; ultimately Jesus Christ is King of the Universe. He will always have the last word, and as Thanksgiving Day rolls around, that is a reminder that we can all be thankful for, just as much as election season finally being OVER. Along the way, KNOM has been ever-present to serve Western Alaskans with the information they need: reporting on local and regional issues, live broadcasts of local government meetings, interviews with political candidates, timely updates on election results, and more. KNOM can only provide all these services thanks to your constant support. Thank you for being such a faithful friend to Western Alaska! If you ever want to say hello, feel free to contact us by phone at 907-868-1200 or by email at belong@knom.org . We would love to hear from you!Call 907-868-1200Read on knom.org

KNOM Radio MissionNome’s newest police officer is a local Just a day before his 21st birthday, Son Erikson was sworn in as Nome’s newest police officer. He was joined by family, city staff and fellow members of the Nome Police Department on the morning of September 18 for the ceremony. After graduating from Nome-Beltz in 2024, Erikson pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Alaska Anchorage. During a visit to Nome, Erikson said he started talking with Nome Police Department Chief Mike Heintzelman about a long-term return to Nome. “I got to talking with the chief in the gym one day, and I really just thought no better place than home,” Erikson said. Erikson has already spent several months shadowing other NPD officers. While he’s the youngest member of the department, Heintzelman said he’s already got a leg-up on more senior officers from outside the region. “He knows every street. He knows every location. He knows the people. So if he gets a call at a certain location, he’s going to know which way is the fastest way to go,” Heintzelman said. For years, the Nome Common Council has implored police leadership to bring in more local officers. Heintzelman said the hire of Erikson is a step in the right direction, but filling positions remains difficult. Erikson will serve the same two week on, two week off rotation as officers from outside the region. For now, he’s working 12 hour graveyard shifts without weekends. Next year, Erikson will undergo a 15 week training program at the Alaska Law Enforcement Training Academy in Sitka. Upon completion in May, he’ll return to Nome and begin serving full-time. “I’m just extremely excited to serve, protect, give back to the people that raised me, people that made me who I am,” he said.Read on knom.org

KNOM Radio MissionTeller Cultural Festival Ilakus performs during the second night of the 20th annual Teller Dance Festival on Sept. 26, 2026. Quinn White/KNOM The second and final night of the 2026 Teller Cultural Festival saw a packed house. The bleachers inside the school gym became so full, it became standing room only. The festival has been a staple of the community for two decades, and Cora Ablowaluk has been organizing it since the start. She explained it’s the people who make Teller and its dance festival so special. “Teller is unique. We’re a little bit of everything,” she said. “It’s a mix of everybody from our region.” Eight dance groups performed, including dancers and drummers from Nome, Saint Lawrence Island, Little Diomede, and Brevig Mission. The dancing didn’t stop when the sun went down. And Ablowaluk didn’t either. “Dancing got done after 3 a.m.,” she said. “By the time everybody left and we fed the dancers a snack, it was already almost five, and I have to be here by six to start breakfast.” Between coordinating schedules, cooking and cleaning, putting the festival together requires months of work and some long, long days. Ablowaluk does it because she loves it. But now, she’s ready to be able to enjoy it. Before the weekend began, she announced that this would be her final year organizing the festival. She becomes teary-eyed reflecting on the past two decades. “A lot of emotions were triggered,” she explained. “Just thinking of 20 years of all the people who took part in it and who are no longer with us.” Finding a new festival coordinator will be a problem for next year. Back in the gym, hundreds of people surrounded the basketball court-turned-stage. Dancers of all ages — from elders to infants — move their arms to the rhythm of the drums. The beat continued to echo through the school, as the late night turned into early morning.

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KNOM Radio MissionQuinn visits Teller My dad’s mom, Evelyn Tweet, or “Little Gramma” was born in Teller in 1929, and lived there until she moved to Anchorage in 1974. Growing up, she sometimes mentioned her uncles who were gold miners or the store her family owned. Otherwise, she didn’t talk about her life there very much. Teller always seemed to be a mysterious, far away place. When I had the opportunity to cover the Cultural Festival, I asked my dad and my brothers, Jake and Vance, if they would like to join me. It’d be the first time my siblings and I were able to visit Teller. Teller is connected to Nome by a 70-mile-long highway full of some of the largest potholes I’ve ever seen. It took us nearly three hours to get there, driving through the vast, beautiful landscape of the tundra. The community has changed a lot since Little Gramma left more than 50 years ago. During the turn of the century, the family owned a store and a movie theatre in Teller. Her mother was a postmaster. Today, most of the buildings she lived and worked in have long burned down or been lost to our harsh winters. But still, it was a really special feeling to be in the same place where she spent time. It brought me joy and a sense of comfort to be able to finally visit the place I’ve only ever heard about. I am so grateful to the community of Teller for being so welcoming and generous to us during our visit. I’m sure my adventures will bring me back here one day!Read on knom.org

KNOM Radio MissionIndigenous Peoples Day Nome residents gathered at Nome’s Recreation Center to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day, October 12. The Village of Solomon has organized the event for the last 7 years with support from Kawerak. This year’s event featured performances from the King Island and Nome-St. Lawrence Island dance groups, a potluck with native foods including dried salmon and muktuk, a fashion show and a comedy show by Navajo comedian Marc Yaffe. To view the full photo gallery, visit KNOM’s Facebook page: https://tinyurl.com/mr3tfby6Read on knom.org

KNOM Radio MissionEx-Typhoon Champi tracks toward Bristol Bay, impacts expected across Western Alaska The remnants of Typhoon Champi are expected to move through the southern Bering Sea this week before reaching the Bristol Bay region early Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service. As tropical storms move toward colder waters, National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist Jason Laney said they often swell in size, spreading wind over a much larger area. That means communities along the Aleutians and Western Alaska will still feel the effects. “As they move up into the high latitudes and begin to impact parts of Alaska, that wind field it really expands,” Laney said. “We're talking not just 10, 20 miles from the center. We're talking 100, 200 miles from the center.” In a briefing issued Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service said Hooper Bay on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta could see water levels reach 2 to 4 feet above normal high tide line Thursday afternoon, potentially flooding a road that connects the east and west sides of town. A coastal flood advisory is also issued from Hooper Bay to Kotlik starting at 7 a.m. Thursday. Communities further to the north including Nome and Kotzebue could also experience high surf and coastal erosion. In Nome, Laney said heavy rainfall is the bigger concern, with around 1.5 inches in the forecast. That rain, combined with high water levels in Norton Sound, could make it difficult for the Nome and Snake rivers to drain. “Where is all that water going to go? It's going to have a hard time depositing into the Norton Sound because the water from the Norton Sound is trying to come up the river,” he said. Laney said Champi is just one of a series of fall storms fueled by a powerful El Niño. A Bering Sea storm last week led to the cancellation of flights across Western Alaska and prompted some residents to evacuate their homes in Kivalina. Early next week, Laney expects another low-pressure system – potentially even stronger than Champi – to enter the Bering Sea. “ And it looks like it's going to linger for a while,” Laney said. “So I think we just need to be prepared for this ongoing weather pattern to hold up.” The latest forecast is available on the National Weather Service’s website .Read on knom.org

KNOM Radio MissionHigh winds, potential coastal flooding in the forecast for Western Alaska A low-pressure system is expected to bring nearly 80 mph wind gusts to the west coast this week, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). Coastal wind warnings and winter weather hazards have been issued for large portions of Western Alaska. Meteorologist Alekya Srinivasan with the NWS’ Fairbanks office said the storm itself is relatively slow moving, but will bring high winds. That combination, she said, could raise water as much as 8 feet above normal high tide lines. “Those winds are going to be kind of held in that position for a little bit longer, allowing that water to be pushed onto shore for a longer period of time,” Srinivasan said. The NWS has forecast wind gusts as high as 78 mph in the St. Lawrence Island village of Gambell. Wind gusts are expected to top out between 60 and 70 mph in Nome and Kotzebue. Snow is also in the forecast, potentially causing blizzard conditions. Srinivasan said further south on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, snow is less likely. “The snow is mostly going to be concentrated a little further north, especially near the southern Seward Peninsula, near Nome,” Srinivasan said. “But for the most part, the Y-K Delta is mainly going to be impacted by stronger winds and coastal flooding.” Srinivasan said the system will move out of the region by the end of the weekend, but modelers are keeping an eye on another storm, Typhoon Champi, that set a record for the strongest winds of any storm in 2026. Champi is currently south of Japan, but remnants could reach Alaska by the end of next week. “But that is pretty far out in the future, so we're just continuing to monitor that,” Srinivasan said. For the latest forecast visit the National Weather Service Fairbanks Office website .

Potential Water Level Rise With This System

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KNOM Radio MissionTellerElevated water, wind expected from ex-Typhoon Choi-wan An ex-typhoon moving toward the Bering Sea is expected to bring elevated wind and water levels to Western Alaska, but the storm currently poses little threat to the region. As of Wednesday afternoon, ex-Typhoon Choi-wan was moving north across the western Aleutians, where it’s expected to merge with another low-pressure system developing west of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Rick Thoman with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness said merging storms are somewhat ordinary, and don’t necessarily mean a super storm like last year’s ex-Typhoon Halong will form. “In the autumn we often see these interactions of what were originally separate storms becoming one,” he explained. “Sometimes they’re weaker, sometimes they become very strong. But from the meteorology perspective, this is a pretty common outcome at this time of year." The combined storm is expected to reach its greatest intensity Thursday while still well west of Alaska. From there, its forecast to weaken while slowly moving northeast through the Bering Sea. The National Weather Service expects water levels to reach 3 to 5 feet above normal high tide levels across the southern Seward Peninsula. A high wind watch has also been issued for the Seward Peninsula and St. Lawrence Island. Persistent southerly winds could push water into Port Clarence, potentially inundating some areas along Teller’s waterfront. Thoman said Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta communities hit hard by ex-Typhoon Halong last year, including Kipnuk and Kwigillingok should continue monitoring the forecast. He said those areas are on the edge of the storm’s most significant potential impacts. “Doesn't look terrible, but they're close enough to the edge that we will want to continue to watch it,” Thoman said. Thoman is keeping an eye on another storm, Typhoon Nolo, as it approaches Japan. The powerful storm began as a hurricane in the eastern Pacific before it crossed the dateline and was renamed a typhoon. “Some models are bringing ex-Nolo to Dutch Harbor area or maybe a little farther east or west. At this point, really, none of the models are bringing Nolo north of the Pribilof Islands,” he said. “But again, there's so much uncertainty. We'll have to keep an eye on it.” For the latest forecast, visit weather.govRead on knom.org