The Nome Nugget

FEMALE – A female merlin is perched on a powerline scanning for prey. Females and immature merlins are browner overall in color. Females are also 10 percent larger and 30 percent heavier than males, which is a noticeable difference.

The merlin is a spirited little falcon that blazes over the landscape in a blur of rapid wingbeats, often in pursuit of songbirds.

RED FOX SPARROW— A fox sparrow shows the “foxy” red plumage that gives these sparrows their name. Fox sparrows are widespread across North America and vary greatly in appearance from region to region. Only ours, the red fox sparrow––the northernmost variety––shows the extensive, rich reddish coloration for which the sparrow is named.

Fox Sparrow –– a shy, handsome songster

By Kate Persons |

Photo by Jenni Monet SUMMIT— President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a joint press conference Friday, August 15, 2025, at the Arctic Warrior Events Center on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

At the Edge of Peace: The Trump–Putin Summit and Bering Strait History with Russia

At the cease-fire summit with Donald Trump in Anchorage, Vladimir Putin invoked the geography that binds Russia and America reluctantly together: a pair of islands divided by a strip of water, miles wide, and with centuries of tangled history betw

SOUNDING THE ALARM – A lesser yellowlegs sounds its blaring alarm call from a treetop perch in the Council area. These shorebirds are most common where wetlands and shallow ponds adjoin the boreal forest. They are known for their incessant calls that can carry for a half mile or more when intruders approach their nest or chicks.

Birder’s Notebook: Lesser Yellowlegs –– a long-legged loudmouth

By Kate Persons

FACING REPRIMAND— Superior Court Judge Romano DiBenedetto in two incidences violated the canons and the Alaska Court System’s policy and procedures for a healthy work place, the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct found.

Panel recommends public reprimand for Nome judge

By Diana Haecker

MALE NORTHERN HARRIER – A male harrier is carrying a redpoll it captured north of Salmon Lake. Males and females are colored and marked differently, and males are smaller. Males are slate gray with a white breast, prominent black wingtips and black bands on the tail. They are sometimes referred to as “the gray ghost.” All harriers have an eye-catching white rump patch. This harrier caught a redpoll, but voles are their main food.

Northern Harrier––An owl-like hawk with a breathtaking courtship display

Airlines bid for subsidized air service to Unalakleet

By Laura Robertson | Three airlines submitted proposals to provide subsidized air service to Unalakleet before the bidding period closed on September 2. Public comments are due on September 12. The proposals came after a troubled summer for...

FIRST WALL—The 3D printer prints the first wall of the experimental house in Nome on August 20, 2025.

3D-printed house going up in Nome

By Laura Robertson | Tucked between the KICY radio station and the Arctic Native Brotherhood Club, an experimental, 3D-printed house sits half-finished after a 3D printer has started churning out the walls of the building in mid-August. The house,...

OFF THEY GO— The boys high school race gets underway at the Nome-Beltz Musk Ox Classic on Saturday, Sept. 6.

Rain, fog and wind didn’t hamper runners in the Nome-Beltz Musk Ox Classic

By Ariana Crockett O’Harra | Competitors and spectators from six communities gathered in wet and windy conditions on Saturday for the annual Nome-Beltz Musk Ox Classic cross-country running race. High school athletes traveled from Shaktoolik,...

Labor Day celebrated with 49th annual bath tub race and modified rubber duck race

By Laura Robertson | Labor Day took place under cool grey skies. A break in the weeks of rain allowed onlookers to watch the annual Bathtub Race without getting wet, but the Rubber Duck race had to adapt to bad racing conditions. For 35 years...

BACK TO SCHOOL— Second graders Edwin and Björn Toerdal and their mom Amanda Toerdal, welcome new Nome Elementary School Principal Michelle Carton, on Tuesday, Sept. 2.

School in Nome begins with less students than last year

By Anna Lionas | Nome Public Schools opened its doors on Tuesday for the first day of the 2025-2026 school year. Students flooded in ready to begin the new year, but the hallways are a bit emptier this time around with enrollment down 6.3 percent....

Two candidates run for mayor

By Diana Haecker | The filing deadline on Tuesday, Sept. 2, revealed meager interest to run for public office as only one race in the upcoming municipal elections is contested. It’s the office of the mayor, a two-year term, and the race pits...

Teller man sentenced to 20 years in prison for stabbing assault

By Diana Haecker | The life of Gregory Saclamana changed forever on October 4, 2020, when he was stabbed more than 50 times by his partner Bradley Gene Okpealuk, in Teller. Okpealuk continued to cut into Saclamana, who laid in a pool of his own...

Garden Tour showcases Nome’s secret gardens

By Laura Robertson | Last Sunday, a yellow school bus carried garden enthusiasts across town as they peered into greenhouses, admired tomato plants and smelled flowers. The Nome Garden Tour, an annual tradition celebrating Nome-grown gardening...

Troopers identify body found on Nome's East Beach last week

By Laura Robertson | The human remains that washed up in Nome last week have been identified as 72-year-old Samuel Shavings of Mekoryuk, Alaska State Troopers say. Shavings went missing on May 26, 2025, when the boat he was traveling in sunk in...

At the Edge of Peace: The Trump–Putin Summit and Bering Strait History with Russia

The US Army Corps of Engineers awarded a bid to Kiewit to begin Phase 1a of the Port of Nome Modification project.

Army Corps of Engineers awards port expansion Phase 1a bid to Kiewit

By Diana Haecker | As the local and national press was focused on the historic meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, August 15 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, the meeting drowned out a big...

N NOME— Pictured are left to right Congressmen Jimmy Patronis (R-FL) and Mike Ezell (R-MS), both on the subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, acting Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Kevin E. Lunday and Master Chief Phillip Waldron, during a meeting with local leaders in Nome on Saturday, August 9.

High-Ranking US Coast Guard officials and visiting congressmen listen in on plan to expand Nome’s Arctic Deep Draft Port

By Jenni Monet | On the eve of commissioning the repurposed Storis, moored in Juneau — what is now the United States’ first new polar icebreaker in a quarter century — senior U.S. Coast Guard officers gathered with local leaders in Nome for a...