Public Safety

Emmonak's local option law was changed via special election vote, but then 34 votes were ineligible... Photo Credit: Creative Commons

State Troopers and the Anchorage Airport Interdiction Team seized alcohol and marijuana at Nome airport on October 7th from three suspects.

In an effort to bring Florence Okpealuk home a team of search and rescue dogs will be combing the beach and tundra west of Nome this weekend. KNOM reports that her family, friends, and community have all worked to make the search happen.

“You know, no one wants to go running into a burning building… What makes someone want to go in there and save somebody? Well that could be answered by Officer Martino.” – Nome Police Chief Mike Heintzelman

“I believe that if we keep speaking. They will listen,” said Billi Jean Miller during Saturday’s march in Nome. She and many others continue searching for Florence Okpealuk.

Council members were clear in their comments: their support is for the movement against racial injustice and not to endorse any particular organization.

It has been over three months since Benjamin Milton’s death. No arrests have been made, no charges have been filed, and the district attorney’s office says they are still evaluating the case.

Alaska State Troopers and the Nome Police Department have seen their fair share of cabin crime for the month of September. Multiple incidents of break-ins, burglaries, and vandalism have been reported in the Norton Sound region.

In the midst of an ongoing search for a local missing woman, the commission says they aren’t being utilized. Nome’s Interim Mayor John Handeland, says the Public Safety Advisory Commission (PSAC) wasn’t excluded on purpose.

Florence Okpealuk went missing at the end of August Since then, the community, police and the FBI have been looking for clues about her disappearance. KNOM reports on Okpealuk’s life before she went missing.

Alaska’s Mandatory Child Abuse Reporting Statue took effect at the beginning of this month [Sept. 1st]. Kawerak’s mandated reporter says this is a positive adjustment, but more should be done to protect abused children.