The Nome Nugget

STATE OF THE SCHOOLS— Nome School District Superintendent Jamie Burgess delivered the state of the schools address at the Nome Common Council on Monday, Nov. 10.

Nome Public Schools Superintendent Jamie Burgess delivered the annual State of the Schools address to the Nome Common Council’s work session on Monday, November 10.

GRAPPLING— Nanook Kive Shannon and Qyren Jones of Galena compete for the 126-lbs championship title at the Dudley Homelvig Scramble on Friday, November 7, 2025. Shannon ended up winning the bout.

Nome hosts second annual Dudley Homelvig Scramble

Fifteen wrestling teams descended on the Nome-Beltz High School gymnasium last week for the second annual Dudley Homelvig Scramble competing in a three-day tournament that stretched from Thursday to Saturday afternoon.

UNALAKLEET— Unalakleet’s Post Office was missing part of the roof. It has been repaired as of Tuesday.

Ex-typhoon Halong spares Nome, Norton Sound and Bering Strait from worst

One woman was recovered dead, and two persons are still missing in Kwigillingok after ex-typhoon Halong ravaged villages along the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta last weekend.

The Graphite One exploration camp, on the northern slopes of the Kigluaik Mountains.

Public comment period opens for Graphite One permit application

By Diana Haecker |

LEARNING— Visitors explore the newly renovated Bering Land Bridge Preserve Visitor Center on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025.

New Bering Land Bridge Preserve Heritage Center opens doors after renovation

By Ariana Crockett O’Harra | The Bering Land Bridge National Preserve Heritage Center re-opened its doors on September 6 after spending nearly a year undergoing renovations.

SPEECH – Reverend Keith Bateman gives a speech during the Nome Nazarene 80th anniversary celebration on Friday, Sept. 12.

Nome Church of the Nazarene celebrates 80th anniversary

By Ariana Crockett O’ Harra

PACKED COMMUNITY HALL – Residents of Brevig Mission listened to subsistence hunter and fisherman Elmer Seetot Jr. as he expressed concern about Graphite One’s potential adverse effects to water and land, on Wednesday, November 12.

Brevig Mission residents gather comments ahead of Corps deadline for Graphite One permit

About 100 residents of Brevig Mission gathered last week in a public townhall meeting hosted by the tribe, the city and the Native corporation to address concerns about a proposed graphite mine as federal regulators are soliciting public comments on...

THE HEAT OF PLAY - Cassidy Martinson handles a Valdez serve with Roselynn Paniptchuk and Chevy Reader watching.

Nome-Beltz Volleyball team puts up a good fight at State 3A Championships

The Nome-Beltz Lady Nanooks volleyball put up a tough fight last week at the Alaska State 3A Championships. On Thursday, November 13, the team went up against number one seed in the state, Valdez, and lost, 0-3. Assistant Coach Krystal Hensley said...

Volunteers prepare food boxes during the first week of November, at the XYZ Center in Nome.

Delay in SNAP benefits caused regional effects

The delay in SNAP benefits caused immediate effects in the Bering Strait region. Community aid organizations sprung into action while local grocery stores saw fewer customers and a drop in sales. SNAP benefits were delayed as a result of the...

The Nome Food Bank is stocked, in this Thursday, November 13 photo. The Food Bank is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

SNAP benefits can be issued as soon as Friday

SNAP benefits should be issued as soon as Friday, according to a spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Health, which administers the federal SNAP program in the state through the Department of Public Assistance. “Alaska is working to send the...

IT’S HERE!— Assistant Principal Maggie Gray points excitedly to part that was needed to fix the broken AWOS system in Shishmaref, to allow for FAA weather reporting again.

At the whims of weather reporting: How village travel is affected when crucial FAA equipment goes down

Rural Alaskans know the drill. Bad weather can ground flights and interfere with one’s travel plans. Or, if it’s not the weather, flights may get grounded when the FAA’s weather reporting system does not work and commercial aircraft can’t fly...

Budget cuts will impact Nome schools

Nome Public Schools Superintendent Jamie Burgess delivered the annual State of the Schools address to the Nome Common Council’s work session on Monday, November 10. In her report, Burgess emphasized how a reduction of funding from the city and the...

Nome hosts second annual Dudley Homelvig Scramble

FOOD AID DISTRIBUTION – People enter the XYZ Senior Center to collect Food Aid boxes distributed by the Nome Food Bank and Kawerak on Monday, November 3.

Nome grapples with first week of SNAP payment delay

Kawerak and the Nome Community Center sprang into action earlier this week to cover the gap imposed by the delay in SNAP benefit payments this month. The monthslong government shutdown resulted in a lapse in funding from the federal government to...

Nome wrestlers competed in Anchorage last week.

Nanook wrestlers compete in Anchorage

By Corey Erikson, Wrestling Coach The Mountain City Christian Academy girls and boys wrestling tournament in Anchorage is the biggest 123A wrestling event of the year. Nome wrestlers competed there last weekend and did very well, showing that...

PROPERTY USE— The Nome Common Council granted an appeal by Kanosak LLC owner Joe Burnham who asked the panel to overturn a Planning Commission determination that the use of his lot is incompatible with the commercial zoned district it is located on. Pictured is the lot and the items stored on it, which were at issue during last Monday’s council meeting.

Council grants appeal to Kanosak LLC in property use dispute

The Nome Common Council granted an appeal by Joe Burnham, sole proprietor of Kanosak LLC, overturning a decision by the Nome Planning Commission that found Burnham’s use of a property not in line with the city’s code. At the heart of the matter was...

KICKING UP DUST— A dry fall with no snow or rainfall lately, and freezing temperatures create conditions in which dust is easily kicked up by traffic on Nome’s gravel roads.

Fall dust creates unhealthy levels of air quality in Nome

Achoo, grit itching the eyes and sand in one’s mouth just by walking down the street – those are signs of living in a veritable dust bowl in Nome these days. Dust is a troublesome reality in Nome but recently, dust levels have reached highs that...

INDUCTED— Ada Blackjack, pictured here on deck of the ship Donaldson in 1923, was inducted into the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame last week.

Ada Blackjack inducted into Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame

Ada Blackjack was inducted posthumously in the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame last week. Ada Blackjack was an Inupiaq woman who reluctantly rose to fame as the only survivor of a doomed expedition to Wrangel Island from 1921 to 1923. Ada Delutuk was...