Page 12 - Mark Springer News Today

In case you missed it, the Rockies had a major shakeup in the front office this week. In a stunning move, General Manager Jeff Bridich stepped down from his role with the team and Greg Feasel was named the Club President, with an interim GM planned to be named for the rest of the season. Many took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the latest revelation in the Rockies’ soap opera season, and while I can’t share all of the fantastic reactions, I will be sharing several that got a quality...

Credit KYUK One day last year, $13 million arrived in the bank account of Bethel’s tribe, Orutsararmiut Native Council. “I was sitting at my desk and my then-chief accountant came to the door,” recalled ONC Executive Director Mark Springer. “And he had a piece of paper in one hand, and he was clutching his chest in his other.” The money, which would soon grow to $14 million, was ONC’s distribution from a fund for tribes that Congress passed in the CARES Act.  Amid pandemic anxiety,...

Alaska city OKs investigator to review sex crime processes April 5, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail BETHEL, Alaska (AP) — The Bethel City Council in Alaska has voted to hire an independent investigator to review the citys response to allegations of sexual assault in this hub community in southwest Alaska. The vote on Tuesday came after Bethel resident Juanita Nick reported to police that she was sexually assaulted last year. Nick said it took local police over seven hours to respond to her call and...

Credit: Carl Buell A new study shows that the similarly smooth, nearly hairless skin of whales and hippopotamuses evolved independently. The work suggests that their last common ancestor was likely a land-dwelling mammal, uprooting current thinking that the skin came fine-tuned for life in the water from a shared amphibious ancestor. The study is published today in the journal Current Biology and was led by researchers at the American Museum of Natural History; University of California, Irvine...

3:15 Local family advocate Anny Cochrane testified in the “people to be heard” portion of the meeting, saying that she’s sick of hearing about the Bethel Police Department being understaffed. “For years this is continuing on. We really cant allow our police departments to be so dramatically understaffed that they lose the ability to protect and serve the communities that need that,” said Cochrane.    “It really comes down to the basics. The Bethel police department has a responsi...

Credit Christine Trudeau / KYUK Bethel City Council passed a resolution that pits the city against the state government in a transportation plan. The state and the city both want to ease the strain on local commuters by connecting BIA Road to Ptarmigan Street, but they disagree on the route.  The state’s preferred route would go through Polk Road, a Native allotment owned by the Polk family. The state invoked eminent domain with the Polk family property late last year. The City of Bethel ha...

The City of Bethel has vacant seats on most of its committees and commissions. Some of them haven’t been able to meet in months, due to lack of a quorum.

Credit Matt Rourke / AP Photo The controversial sugary beverage tax prompted hours of discussion by Bethel residents, advocacy organizations, and city council members in last night’s meeting. The council voted to introduce the ordinance, but tabled the public hearing and final vote until April 2021. If adopted, the ordinance would add a 1-cent-per-ounce excise tax on sugary drinks. That would add $1.44 to the cost of a 12-pack of soda, to be paid by the distributor. Residents who support the ...