Thank you for your support

The family of Darlene Margaret “Goosh-Goosh” Cole would like to thank the following people and businesses for the support and donations during our loss of our loved one:

BJ Hoffman, Travis Dostert, The Moses family-Floyd & Theresa, Paul, Glen, Elaine, Byron and Lisa Ivon, Carolyn and Martha Jack, Rose Olsen, ONC Burial Assistance, The City of Bethel, VFW, Pastor Andy of Covenant Church, Pastor Bradbury, the Doctors, nurses and staff of YKHC, the EMT’s, Fred Nielsen, Susan Chief, Mekoryuk Choir, Bertha, Heidi, Alyson Hoffman, Helen Edge.

If there is anyone or business I missed, I apologize but thank you all for everything. May God continue to bless you abundantly.

Mother Maybelle Cowger, sisters Geraldine Sparks and Rachel Phelps, husband Harold Cole and sons Steve and Chad Cole

A company that does things right

My name is Jeremiah Willert. I had the opportunity to work at Donlin’s project for two years. I have been employed by quite a few different companies, both big and small, and can honestly say that Donlin was a company who does things right. They treat their employees with respect and care. Every project I ever worked on with Donlin was planned around two primary objectives: safety and creating as little, to no environmental impact as possible. No matter what it was that we were doing.

Safety and Environmental Protection are common themes when talking to companies. Behind the scenes it is something that a lot of companies try to skate around rather than actually employing these ideals. Donlin does not. I can say that with 100% sincerity. They have a safety culture that was beyond anything I had ever been a part of before my time there. They consider the possibilities of environmental impact in everything they do. I know the team that was monitoring those impacts and they were top notch and a critical component in every planning phase. They are exceptional people who were amazing at what they do and actually were the gatekeepers of all of our projects being approved or not.

I hear a lot of negativity towards this project going on right now and I totally understand environmental concerns about our natural resources. We all did at Donlin, but my time with this company and the caliber of people that they have working to ensure that they get things done the right way has earned my confidence.

Donlin will be a good thing for our state and local communities. It will be a project that has the potential to provide jobs in a region where they are hard to come by. An opportunity to move to natural gas and get away from 7 dollar a gallon heating fuel. Provide a future of meaningful employment for the youth of that region without having to relocate to Anchorage or anywhere else. It has the potential to be a game changer for a lot of people. With a company like Donlin Gold at the head of it I think the future will hold a lot of good things for everyone involved.

Jeremiah Willert
39 Yr. Alaska State Resident
Former Employee
Chugiak, AK

Well, hello again

It’s been raining around here a lot lately. Good for the berries and greens, but the green are starting to turn color. So if it keeps up the berries will get too soft. Although, my buddy Meda would say, ‘we don’t melt’.

When traveling, or even out my window, I look at the beautiful scenery and wish I had been born an artist. Such beauty, even the cameras can’t really catch the color right, which is a shame.

So, it appears that there aren’t any police officers here in Unk., AK at the moment, and in the evening if you call – the troopers are just on-call. Anyway, since I had knee surgery, and had already been out walking, I felt like I could not walk to the bridge, so I stood outside my house yelling my head off. A bunch of kids under 5 or 6 years old were going over the bridge toward out of town, and some of them were riding their bikes down the bank towards the slough.

Waited outside as long as my knee would let me to see if anyone would show, they didn’t. Thank God for the person on the 4-wheeler coming back from up the road, got them to leave. Praise God, they have hired someone.

Much less, whenever I get to go to the North River bridge and see youngsters bridge-jumping, often without an elder person (who hopefully knows how to swim and CPR) there watching. Or, there are adults, just maybe not on the downside of the river, so they could get to the person quicker. If I was rich enough I’d hire lifeguards. Scary!!!

I get sooo bugged at GCI. I know a lot of us wish we had access to a different phone company around here, but we’re stuck with GCI. Not only do we get dropped calls all the time, they also charge you up the yin-yang if you go over on your usage. There are times when we can’t call anywhere because phone service is down. GCI bummer. If they can do unlimited data in some places, there is no reason why they can’t do it in the bush too. After all, they have a lot of us as customers (we have no choice).

With the school year coming on, please try to get your children to bed early enough so they may get an adequate amount of sleep and be able to think better. Being me, they had to have the games and tv off by 9:30 p.m., or even be in bed then, or they could stay up and do the dishes (worst chore ever). Then you could enjoy your peace.

Don’t forget – you could use the stinkweed at any time of the year and it works on quite a few different areas of your body. When it is green it is more potent, so you need less of it then.

All you have to do is boil water, then let the stinkweed seep in it, or boil the stinkweed in the water to your taste. Have about ¼ cup two to four times a day. Tastes better than cough syrup I think.

Anyway, take care. Dress accordingly, and stay warm. Don’t forget to tell people where you are going – very, very important that you tell someone.

Just as important is for you to vote. Your vote really does count, just as every single one of you do really count, even if it doesn’t feel like it…

If you want you could add my name to the BSNC proxy. At least then I’d be able to ask more questions, maybe get heard a little. Needless to say, I’m glad Jolene is going for it – yay.

I guess I go the berry and fish bug. I feel like I want to go every day, even if I feel like crying, I tell myself it is worth it. Ooo whee – you should see the size of some of those things. Lots of fun to do these things, hard for me to quit. It’s trying to get nice out, time to hitch a ride.

Take care you all. Stay safe. Trust in God, and He will get you through all things. As always…

Karen Nanouk
Unalakleet, AK