thetundradrums

Girl Scouts honor Herron with appreciation pin

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:36:00 -0900

Bethel’s Margaret Herron was honored for her service to girl scouting at the annual meeting of Girl Scouts Susitna Council at the Nicholas Begich Middle School in Anchorage.

Herron received the Girl Scout appreciation pin.

The appreciation pin recognizes an adult who has delivered service beyond expectation to at least one geographic area, service unit, or program delivery audience in a way that furthers the council’s goals.

Herron has been a Girl Scout leader in Bethel for more than nine years, which makes her the longest-serving Girl Scout volunteer in the region. Herron’s troop shares her love of service in the Bethel community by offering events such as Girl Scout tea parties.

“The rural Girl Scout program would not be as successful as it is without Margaret’s help.” said Amy von Diest, rural development manager for Girl Scouts Susitna Council.

The council serves more than 5,000 girls in Southcentral Alaska.

K300 field starts taking shape

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:35:00 -0900

Eight mushers have signed up for the Kuskokwim 300, race officials announced Dec. 19.

Listed in the order they signed up, the mushers are Ron Underwood, Mike Williams Jr., Mike Williams Sr., DeeDee Jonrowe, Jeff King, Dave DeCaro, Hugh Neff, and Sebastian Schnuelle.

K300 officials said a number of other mushers, including defending-champion Mitch Seavey, have expressed their intentions to sign up for the race, which begins in Bethel on Jan. 16. The race committee expects more mushers to sign up before the Jan 1. late-entry fee goes into effect.

Last month, the race committee said it projected a $100,000 purse for the famous mid-distance race and Iditarod qualifier.

In other K300 happenings, a quilt created and donated to the K300 by Anchorage’s Nancy Hayes will be auctioned off as a race fundraiser. One ticket costs $1 and six cost $5 and are available at the AC pull-tab booth, Saturday markets, K300 events and from K300 board members. The drawing will be held Jan.19 at the K300 banquet and awards ceremony at the Yup’iit Piciryarait Cultural Center. The winner doesn’t need to be present to win.

K300 officials seek volunteers for the race and related activities in January. Dozens of people help out each year, and there are many types of jobs available.

To take part, call Casie Stockdale at 543-2972 or 545-3300 or send an e-mail to k300@alaska.com.

Health liaison for rural vets sought by VA

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:34:00 -0900

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. and Alaska Veterans Administration health care system have partnered to help rural veterans gain better access to benefits.

The VA created a part-time, temporary position of rural veteran liaison who will help recent and long-term veterans understand what benefits are available to them and how to access those benefits.

“Currently the closest facility for veterans to receive health care, or to get help with their benefits, is in Anchorage. YKHC and all of the veterans in our region are very fortunate to have this happen,” said Jack Robert Crow, YKHC’s vice president of health services. “Our goal is to help veterans have increased access to vital health care services with as little inconvenience as possible.”

The liaison will be based at YKHC in Bethel and will offer benefit education services, as well as act as a consumer advocate liaison. The rural liaison will serve the approximately 2,500 veterans who live in Western Alaska.

“The VA values the close working relationship with YKHC and the opportunity to honor veterans by enhancing services closer to where veterans live” said Alex Spector, director of the Alaska VA. “Having a VA employee in the community who is knowledgeable about VA benefits provides a pathway to VA care by assisting local veterans to access health care and non-health care benefits.”

For more information about the rural liaison position, contact the Alaska VA human resources at 888-353-7574, ext. 4750 or go online at www.usajobs.gov

Bethel Native Corp. pays $2.25 dividend

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:33:00 -0900

Bethel Native Corp. paid a dividend of $2.25 a share last month.

A typical stockholder with 100 shares got $225. The village corporation has paid annual dividends to shareholders since 1987, with about $4 million paid to date, the company said. The company is a real estate developer in Alaska and it has subsidiaries involved in construction, demolition/abatement, environmental remediation, uniform and accessories management, engineering and professional services, said Ana Hoffman, chief executive. It is based in Bethel and has offices in Anchorage and the Lower 48.

Native beauty is in hands of book holders

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:54:00 -0900

Alaska author Stan Jones wanted a certain look for his latest mystery novel, “Frozen Sun.” So he posted an appeal online for a “beautiful Native woman” on craigslist.com.

“I’ll be more careful next time,” he said with a laugh recently. “I got some pretty, um, off-the-wall responses, including some guy in Seattle. I’m not sure what he thought I wanted.”

In the end Jones got what he wanted: Heidi Johnson, a Cordova-born model who has been scouted for Budweiser billboards and even a Bruce Willis movie, responded to Jones’ post and her face graces the book’s cover.

“The book distributor didn’t like some of the grittier options we put together,” Jones said. “I was told that eyes will sell books, so having the eyes of a beautiful face like Heidi’s should be a winner.”

Jones and Johnson made a joint appearance at Title Wave Books in Anchorage this fall when “Frozen Sun” (Bowhead Press, $13.95) came out, where the two described how the cover evolved for the hard-boiled tale of a missing Alaska beauty queen. The story takes fictional State Trooper Nathan Active from Anchorage’s homeless district to Dutch Harbor and finally back to his native Chukchi, a fictional Inupiat village that seems rather like Kotzebue.

The new book is the third of the series, which has garnered critical acclaim, including from the New York Times Book Review: “Jones doesn’t pretend to find anything remotely character-building in the conditions of those who have survived the unforgiving climate of the Arctic only to disappear on the streets.”

“I lived in Kotzebue in the ’70s and the ’80s,” said Jones, “and I was so taken with the terrain and the people there. When I read Tony Hillerman’s stories that used a Navajo cop to tell stories about the American Southwest, I saw a way to tell stories from another locale.

“Mysteries have two things going for them,” he said. “First, there’s a puzzle. Second, the stakes are high — somebody’s been killed.”

And when the story is about a beauty queen, a mystery can have another thing going for it: A pretty face on the cover.

Johnson was one of four women who responded to the ad Jones put online, and he says she was an easy choice.

“We did the shoot in my living room in an afternoon,” he said. Johnson smiled at the memory.

“My mom came along,” she said, as Jones nodded. “She wanted to be sure everything was on the level.”

Johnson is no stranger to the limelight. She started in gymnastics when she was 4, and she performed in a high-school variety show in Cordova as well as being on the drill team (“I loved that”) and the cheerleading squad (“I didn’t like that as much”).

More recently she’s been photographed for the cover of an upcoming book by Alaska author Tom Brennan and for a phone company ad.

Contact Mike Peters at 907-348-2433 or 800-770-9830, ext. 430

A son of Adak and his memories of dad

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:51:00 -0900

In David Vann’s office in Tallahassee, Fla., sits a relic of his childhood — a story he wrote as an 11-year-old boy about his adventures in Alaska. Laminated and bound are tales of a trip in a motor home and of catching a big salmon, all with the young boy’s illustrations.

The “book” is a souvenir, but it also marked a beginning of Vann’s career as a writer — and a tale that would became the basis for the first piece in Vann’s nationally acclaimed collection of short stories, “Legend of a Suicide.”

“That’s why I write now, it is an extension of what we were doing then,” said Vann, who was born in Adak and lived in Alaska until he was 6 years old, visiting it frequently in the years after.

Vann moved to California with his mother after his parents divorced, but his time in Alaska, particularly in fishing communities like Kodiak, Valdez and Ketchikan, has shaped his worldview and his writing — a body of work deeply entrenched in wild landscapes and the adventures they offer.

“I had all these magnificent experiences as a kid hunting and fishing with my dad in Alaska,” Vann said. “From nettles to the wonderful spaces in the conch shells, no other place has captured my imagination since then in the way that it did.”

“Legend of a Suicide” is a collection of five short stories and a novella. The stories are all set in Alaska and revolve around a young boy’s relationship with his father, exploring the ramifications of his father’s suicide. Only one story is strictly autobiographical, but all are based on events in Vann’s life (Vann’s father killed himself when Vann was young).

The book has received a glowing review from the New York Times and earned a place on that publication’s list of “100 Notable Books of 2008.” As the title suggests, this is not light reading. As critic Tom Bissell wrote in his New York Times review: “An author more haunted by paternal amputation would be difficult to imagine. A sadder book about fathers and sons would be impossible to imagine.”

While Alaska is the site of trauma and sorrow for Vann, he said that he still loves the landscapes that were the site of his father’s tragedy, which launched his literary career.

“It felt like Alaska was really at the center of the story and that’s why I kept going back,” Vann said. “It was the beginning of the downward spiral of my dad’s life, but it was also the place he made his last attempts at doing something he liked to do.”

Fishing for meaning
A large part of that was fishing, an activity that reoccurs throughout the book. The first story in the series, “Ichthyology,” details his father’s purchase of a 23-foot fishing boat in Ketchikan and attempt to become a commercial fisherman (Bissell issues a wry warning in his review that “the fish-trauma-per-page ratio here makes ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ seem like a paean to ichthyophilia”).

In “Ichthyology,” Vann writes of the beauty and savagery of halibut fishing off Ketchikan, remembering being on deck with the halibut and “flopping into the air with them each time my father sailed over one wave and smashed into the next.”

“”The halibut themselves lay flat, like gray-green dogs on the white deck of the boat, their large brown eyes looking at me hopefully until I whacked them with a hammer . . . they had terrific strength in those wide, flat bodes, and with a good splat of their tails they could send themselves two or three feet into the air, their white undersides flashing.

“Sometimes, when the ride was especially wild and we were all thrown again and again into the air and their blood and slime were all over me, I gave out a few extra whacks, an inclination of which I am ashamed. And the other halibut, with their round brown eye and long, judicious mouths, did see.”

Of such scenes, Vann said “The things that come up out of Alaska waters are just mythic. As a kid it was sort of me versus the halibut, and I knew they had the edge.”

Vann said that “Legend of a Suicide” is a book that has taken him 10 years to write. While distilling his childhood landscapes and his experience of suicide was a decade-long process, he said he feels the end result was worth it.

“I’m never going to write a better book than that, I think,” Vann said. “I’m really happy it was reviewed well, because it is the book I care the most about.”

Victoria Barber can be reached at 907-348-2424 or 800-770-9830, ext. 424.

Teleconference celebrates constitution, statehood

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:33:00 -0900

On Jan. 9, the University of Alaska Anchorage Justice Center, American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska and the University of Alaska Eight Stars of Gold Project will come together to offer an evening event to celebrate 50 years of Alaska’s statehood and the Alaska Constitution.

The celebration will take place from 7-9 p.m. in the UAA Fine Arts Building, Room 150.

Simultaneous teleconference connections with Barrow, Bethel, Dillingham, Fairbanks, Homer, Juneau, Ketchikan, Kotzebue, Nome and Sitka will allow audience participation from around the state.

The program includes a keynote address by Bruce Botelho, Juneau mayor and former Alaska attorney general, and a panel presentation, “At the Constitutional Convention,” with Vic Fischer, Katie Hurley, Arliss Sturgulewski and Douglas Pope.

Rhonda McBride will moderate the event.

The event will also feature performances by the Anchorage Concert Chorus, Lepquinm Gumilgit Gagoadim Tsimshian Dancers and readings from the Constitutional Convention by Bartlett High School students.

Locations for each teleconference site are as follows:
• Barrow: Location TBA

• Bethel: University of Alaska Fairbanks, Kuskokwim Campus, Room 135

• Dillingham: University of Alaska Fairbanks, Bristol Bay Campus, Room TBA

• Fairbanks: University of Alaska Fairbanks, Butrovich Building, Room 109

• Homer: University of Alaska Anchorage, Kachemak Bay Campus, Room 212

• Juneau: University of Alaska Southeast, Glacier View Room

• Ketchikan: University of Alaska Southeast, Ketchikan Campus, Room TBA

• Kotzebue: University of Alaska Fairbanks, Chukchi Campus, Room 112

• Nome: University of Alaska Fairbanks, Northwest Campus, Room 101

• Sitka: University of Alaska Southeast, Sitka Campus, Room 214

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.uaa.alaska.edu/advancement/Alaska50th.

Memorable moments on the tundra

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:29:00 -0900

Residents of Bethel and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta witnessed their share of change in 2008 when it came to political leaders.

Bethel welcomed a new, 24-year-old mayor. District 38 voters selected a new state representative and the entire state voted to send a new senator to Washington, D.C.

Outside of politics, Y-K Delta newsmakers were many. An Aniak woman moved to the news anchor desk at one of Anchorage’s television stations. The Kuskokwim 300 sled dog race survived some rough offseason terrain as the 30th edition of the race approaches. And a collection of students in the area celebrated 50 years of Alaska’s statehood in “tundra style.”

And that’s just scratching the tundra’s surface.

The staff at the Tundra Drums and Alaska Newspapers Inc. did its best to bring the region’s stories to life in the pages of the newspaper and online at www.thetundradrums.com. Below is a collection of some of the memorable Drums stories of 2008.

Visit our Web site to read the stories in their entirety — look at them as a refresher of what the year was all about.

Nelson decides to step down
State Rep. Mary Nelson joined her colleagues in the Legislature when it convened for the 25th session in January. It was the representative’s fifth session in Juneau. It also would be her last.
Nelson joined the Alaska Legislature in 1998 after ousting veteran Rep. Ivan Ivan in the Democratic primary as a 24-year-old political outsider. Then known as Mary Sattler, she knew the halls of the Alaska State House only as a first-year legislative aide.
By her fifth session, she led the Bush Caucus and served on the influential House Finance Committee. Her five sessions in the House earned her some clout, and she said it was difficult to relinquish that tenure at a time when her popularity in the district remains strong. There’s a value in “continuity of service,” she said.
But Nelson’s loyalties reached beyond District 38, which includes Bethel and a broad swath of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
She is a mother of three. A fourth child arrived March. Her husband, Joe Nelson, has a satisfying career as admissions director at the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau.
With loyalties split between a young family in Juneau and her duties as a legislator representing Bethel and the region, the line between career and family duties was stretched too tight, she said.
After conversations with her husband, Nelson said she decided not to seek re-election near the end of the last legislative session. The family will live in Juneau, where she expects to remain engaged in the public process.
Her time in the Legislature spanned the Federal Bureau of Investigations probe of corruption in Alaska politics. The probe implicated several colleagues and tarnished the Legislature’s image.
“That has been very disappointing. That has definitely contributed to my desire to not run again,” she said.
Former Bethel city manager Bob Herron was voted in to replace Nelson.

Council moves to fire city attorney
Bethel City Council members who voted to fire the city attorney in February said they wouldn’t reverse their decision despite mounting public outcry criticizing the impromptu move.
In a Feb. 8 special meeting most expected to be a routine performance review, four council members voted to fire city attorney Sharon Sigmon in what some called the “cocktail-hour massacre.”
Most of the dozens of residents who overflowed the gallery of the council chambers at a Feb. 12 meeting seemed to support Sigmon. But characterizing its critics as “way wrong,” council member Willy Keppel said the four-person majority vote would stand.
“That’s not changing my mind or anyone else’s. If anything, it probably just solidified the rest of us,” Keppel said. “We’re just going to keep asking questions. This is Bethel’s version of Rome burning.”

Kuskokwim 300 stays in the running
Significant cost-cutting measures, a few new revenue generators and continued support from sponsors have allowed the Kuskokwim 300 race committee to project a full $100,000 purse for the 30th running of the famed mid-distance sled dog race in Bethel.
Officials announced Dec. 2 the K300 purse and traditional purses of $25,000 and $10,000 respectively for the smaller Bogus Creek 150 and Akiak Dash races.
The three races are set to start Jan. 16.
“For me, it’s a real happy day,” K300 race chairman Myron Angstman said. “I felt for a long time that we were going to make it. (The funds) started adding up quicker than normal in the summer, partially because we had (fewer) expenses.”
The $100,000 purse is considered mushing’s third largest, behind only the Iditarod and Yukon Quest sled dog races.
The K300’s tumultuous offseason was well documented. Former race manager Staci Gillilan was fired in March and then arrested and charged in May with allegedly stealing money from the race, an Iditarod qualifier that runs from Bethel to Aniak and back.
Financial fallout from the Gillilan case left some to wonder about the K300’s health. But race officials made necessary changes — selling the company truck, canceling race insurance and working as more of a volunteer organization — to keep moving along.

Pioneers of Yup’ik immersion graduate
When a sandy-haired, fair-skinned teenager gave a greeting speech at Bethel Regional High School’s graduation ceremony in May, tears streamed down Agatha John-Shields’ cheeks.
It wasn’t just what Daniel Updegrove said.
It was the fact that the white science and math whiz — who tied with another student for the second-highest academic rank in his graduating class — spoke in perfect Yup’ik.
For John-Shields and others fighting to save the language of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Updegrove’s few minutes on stage helped justify an immersion program that remains controversial years after its creation.
“Hearing that was like taking a big backpack off our shoulders and saying this was the product we created,” said John-Shields, principal of the Ayaprun Elitnaurvik Yup’ik immersion elementary school.
Updegrove, 19, was one of 16 pioneer students to complete the school in 2002. He was it’s only non-Native at the time. The Yup’ik-speaking students were sixth-graders heading into standard, English-taught classes in junior high.

24-year-old Zulkosky named mayor
Tiffany Zulkosky’s budding political career got on the fast track after she was voted to the Bethel City Council at age 23.
A year later she was appointed mayor.
At 24, Zulkosky is one of the youngest mayors in the country and the youngest member of the seven-member City Council. But don’t let her age fool you — she carries herself like a political veteran, which is why the council appointed her mayor in a resounding 6-1 vote.
“She’s vibrant. She’s intelligent. She’s very assertive,” said fellow Councilman Dan Leinberger. “Quite frankly, she’s what this community needs right now as the face of Bethel moving forward.”
Zulkosky was floored upon hearing the news that she had been picked in late October to replace Eric Middlebrook for the standard one-year term. She had just started her second year of a three-year council term, so for her peers to vote her in charge was quite a tribute.
“It wasn’t something I was really anticipating,” she said. “I was very excited and honored that they wanted me as their mayor.”
Unlike traditional elections, the residents in Bethel vote for the City Council and the council appoints a mayor. But Zulkosky was quick to point out that being mayor doesn’t mean she’s running the show.

The Aniak Anchor
When Aniak’s Andrea Gusty looks squarely into the television camera and tells her stories, she delights in knowing Alaska Natives like her are watching and taking pride in the work.
More important, the reporter and anchor at KTVA-Channel 11, Anchorage’s CBS affiliate, wants Alaskans of any and all cultures to view the images, listen to the words and learn something they may not have known before.
“It’s definitely something I’ve tried to do,” said Gusty. “Anytime I can go to my managers and say this story is important to rural Alaska, I do. I want to be able to kind of educate urban Alaska. People who have lived (in Anchorage) their whole life don’t really know how people live out in the Bush.”
Gusty, a 2001 graduate of Aniak High, grew up catching salmon, hunting caribou and moose and picking berries from the tundra. She lived every bit of the lifestyle nurtured by her Yup’ik and Athabascan ancestors and relishes it.
In June, after nearly 2-1/2 years working as a KTVA reporter, she made Alaska broadcasting history. Gusty took over as KTVA’s weekend news anchor, and it’s believed she became the second Alaska Native woman to fill an Anchorage anchor’s chair and the first since Bettles’ Shannon McConnell, now executive director of the Doyon Foundation, anchored the KIMO-Channel 13 news in the early 1980s.
“I’m scared, anytime one has change, it’s a little nerve-wracking,” Gusty said. “But one of the great things about the weekend position is it’s only two days. I’ll still be doing what I love the other three days.
“All I’ve ever wanted is to tell stories.”

Hoffman, Albertson, Klejka win
Three City Council candidates rode a wave of voter discontent to October victory in Bethel’s municipal election.
Bev Hoffman, LaMont Albertson and Joe Klejka have at least one thing in common. They all want to clean up what they say is the council’s dysfunctional leadership.
They’ll get that chance.
Hoffman, a volunteer coordinator at Mikelnguut Elitnaurviat primary school, won handily, receiving 619 votes. LaMont Albertson, head of the Yute Elitnaurviat job training center, received 431 votes. Joe Klejka, the medical director at the regional hospital, received 326 votes.
The three were sworn in Oct. 14.

Limousine rolls through Bethel
A remote Alaska town without a bar, clothing store or even a road out just got its first limousine.
The gleaming stretch Cadillac with polished chrome hubcaps and mahogany paneling stands out like a gold tooth in Bethel, where beat-up trucks roil up clouds of dust on only 20 miles of road and tight booze restrictions means there’s little night life.
But James Pak, a former Bethel cab driver, thinks he can make money because people are eager to live the high life, even it comes in one-hour, $110 increments.
“They want to feel like royal family,” Pak said in his thick Korean accent.
An L.A. jewelry distributor in a past life, Pak opened his doors for business in mid-September, throwing on shiny duds to drive around clients. He bought the gray 2003 limo from a cosmetic surgeon in L.A., he said. It cost more than $100,000, including $5,000 to ship it to Bethel by barge this summer.
“First time limo in Bethel,” said Pak proudly.
The limousine might be the only one in Western Alaska, said Mark Springer, chair of Bethel’s transportation and public safety commission.

Celebrating statehood ‘Tundra Style’
Through the creativity of the arts — activities such as singing, dancing, acting or painting — students in the Lower Kuskokwim School District will embark on an educational adventure to celebrate Alaska’s 50 years of statehood and learn about their region and the people in it, past and present.
“Students Celebrating Statehood: Tundra Style/Yupiulleg Nutemllarmek” is the name of the LKSD project spearheaded by Bev Williams, the district’s Literacy Through the Arts Project director.
“Tundra Style” was awarded a $70,000 Alaska Statehood Experience grant from the Alaska Humanities Forum and the Rasmuson Foundation.
“We’ve been seeing some real growth (from the students) as little performers,” Williams said. “With this grant, we have the opportunity to look at statehood and reflect on it from over the last 50 years.
“We’re going to have the students look at contributions (to the state) from a Yup’ik perspective.”
The “Tundra Style” project is one of 28 the Alaska Humanities Forum and the Rasmuson Foundation gave $921,284 to explore the history of Alaska statehood.
Williams said LKSD students from 10 targeted schools — Akiuk, Atmautluak, Ayaprun Elitnaurvik, Eek, Goodnews Bay, Kwigillingok, Mikelnguut Elitnaurvik, Napaskiak, Newtok and Tununak — would participate

Matt Nevala can be reached at 907-348-2480 or 800-770-9830, ext. 480.

Begich engages rural mayors on money

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:25:00 -0900

Alaska Sen.-elect Mark Begich met telephonically with about 30 mayors and other city leaders from around the state recently in an effort to best gain from an expected national economic stimulus package.

But more than the proposed projects or how to file the proper paperwork, at least one leader was impressed with the end-of-the-year teleconference in total.

“I think it was innovative, it was beneficial to all of us and I hope it continues,” said Tiffany Zulkosky, Bethel’s 24-year-old mayor. “I hope (Begich) continues to move forward in being directly involved in local government.”

During the teleconference, Begich said that many in Congress want to move rapidly on an economic recovery bill that could total more than $800 billion. The bill will likely cover transportation and energy infrastructure funding as well as programs such as extended unemployment and food stamp benefits.

“We don’t know if the package will be formula driven, a project list or a hybrid of the two,” Begich said. “But we want to make sure Alaska’s priorities are part of the discussion when a final bill is passed.”

Begich said projects should be “shovel ready” this summer, create jobs, be sustainable with indentified operating money and have other committed sources of funding, either public or private. He asked mayors and city leaders to return their lists, with projects prioritized, by Dec. 29.

Unrealistic expectations
Aleknagik Mayor Carolyn Smith felt the requirements set forth by Begich weren’t ideally suited for remote rural villages.

“He asked for projects dirt-ready, permitted, ready to go, planning, design, environmental engineering done, ready to stick the shovel in the ground, ready to do the project. We don’t have a lot of projects sitting around meeting those criteria.”

The Wood River bridge, which had been Aleknagik’s No. 1 project, got funded by a state bond proposition in November. The community moved its No. 2 project to No. 1, but it is not anywhere near “shovel ready,” Smith said.

That project involves construction of a floatplane road between the top of a hill and a mile west toward property the city owns.

Mayor Smith said she got on the phone to the state Department of Transportation to see if there was any way that project could be ready soon enough, but the project engineer told her it wasn’t anywhere near “shovel ready.”

Both the project engineer for the road and Jim Amundsen, the DOT project engineer for the bridge, told Smith that there are a lot of state projects that are ready to go that will likely get the majority of the funding.

“The requirements that Begich gave are going to represent a challenge to a lot of communities,” Smith said. “Currently we have a request for a building at the airport to house a tractor at the runway. We need a grader, but none of those things really meet the criteria that Begich set out.”

She said he’s asking for projects with local employment, local matching funding, and that benefit more of the population, the elderly or young people or disabled or economically disadvantaged, she said.

“We don’t have a senior center or Head Start building in mind,” Smith said.

She’s sent out e-mail appeals asking community leaders to suggest ideas of what they could include on a project list, but many are on vacation.

“The Dec. 29 deadline doesn’t give us much time,” Smith said. “The other thing he wanted was projects that could be started in 120 days. Nothing we have is shovel-ready,” she said.

The 120 days would fall in April. For construction projects in her area, the first barge can’t get there until April. Construction supplies and equipment couldn’t be brought to her community until then.

Dillingham harbor
In Dillingham, Mayor Alice Ruby said by e-mail that the city recently completed a list of projects and prioritized them.

“Our priority, of course, is the boat harbor erosion projects. We received funds from the Corps of Engineers and the State of Alaska for the harbor entrance but not enough to deal with the erosion issues inside the harbor that are still threatening improvements that are integral to the commercial fishing fleet’s activities,” Ruby wrote.

She said she was pleased with Begich’s obvious effort to establish lines of communication at the community level.

“It was great to be oriented to his staff and hear his plans for the next few months. At one point he said that he plans to work closely with Sen. Murkowski on methods for receiving information from communities. I was really pleased to hear him talk about our legislators working together — we all benefit,” Ruby said.

Buckland Mayor Floyd Herman Tickett said he was happy to have the chance to talk with Begich, and he’ll happily put together a project lists, starting with the village’s longtime need for running water and a sewer system. He said his is one of two Northwest Arctic Borough villages without running water.

“We’ve been working on it for almost 12 years and there are always new problems,” Tickett said. “Now it’s funding. We need about $9 million for the project.

“Hopefully, we’ll (now) move forward.”

Zulkosky, who was named Bethel’s mayor in October, said most of the teleconference focused on the process — getting individual project lists ready, filling out the forms correctly and getting a better understanding of how the federal government works.

She said the City of Bethel will ask for assistance in two of the town’s well-publicized projects — a public safety building and a multi-use recreational facility.

Zulkosky said each individual city leader was allotted teleconference time to ask Begich questions. She asked for clarification on the Dec. 29 deadline.

“Then our great staff at City Hall got started working on it,” Zulkosky said.

Matt Nevala can be reached at 907-348-2480 or 800-770-9830, ext. 480. News editors Tamar Ben-Yosef and Tammy Judd contributed to this report.

Trappers victimized in vandalism spree

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:10:00 -0900

Alaska wildlife officials are trying to snare the person – or people – responsible for sabotaging several traps in the Bethel area.

Since the trapping season began Nov. 10, about a dozen traps belonging to at least four trappers have been vandalized in Bethel and the nearby villages of Napakiak and Oscarville, said Patrick Jones, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game in Bethel.

Most of the tampered traps were designed to catch fox, he said.

At least five fox have been snatched from traps. Several other traps have been set off to render them useless.

It’s illegal to interfere with the lawful work of a trapper, but it happens every year, Jones said.

However, the trap vandalism seems to be up sharply this year, he said.

In some cases, someone has peed near the traps, adding a human scent that can frighten the animals away.

Also, shiny lures hung from trees near traps to attract lynx — such as bird wings or CDs — have been removed, he said.

Fox pelts can bring about $50. Lynx pelts brought $300 last year, he said.

A wildlife trooper hoping to stop the crime spree is considering installing motion-triggered cameras near some traps, Jones said.

Alex DeMarban can be reached at 907-348-2444 or 800-770-9830, ext. 444.

Christmas cookies go fast during Bethel fundraiser

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:44:00 -0900

The 16th annual Lifesavers Christmas Cookie Extravaganza in Bethel was over in 15 minutes.

In the end, the swimming pool fundraiser brought in more than $1,200 to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Lifesavers Fund. Patrons quickly gobbled up more than 120 pounds of cookies on Dec. 14 baked by 26 bakers from around town. Customers started showing up an hour before the doors opened.

Organizers Nancy Elliott, Beverly Hoffman and Kathy Baldwin said they would like to thank the bakers and volunteers for their help, as well as all the cookie buyers:
• Christmas Cookie Bakers

• Janet Kaiser

• Robin Powers

• Sally Russell

• Bonnie Bailey

• MaryAnn Brown

• Jill Hoffman

• Lisa Cronk

• Ponsness Family

• Ted & Heidi Simmons

• Bill & Cauline Ferguson

• Jan Vanasse

• John & Rhonda Sargent

• Casey McDonald

• Dyane Chung

• Jake Russell

• Nancy Elliott

• Mandy Stebbins

• Karen Sidell

• Mary Samuelson

• Sheri Neth & Will Updegrove

• Rebecca Cook

• Barbara Cook

• Jehona Kadriu

• Sherilyn Soots

• Danielle Beaver

• Angie Abel

• Beverly Hoffman

• Lifesaver Elves

• BRHS Honor Society members, Kelsey Wallace, John Street & Chuck Herman

• Diane Chaney Coffman

• Cindy Andrecheck

• Kathy Baldwin

• Nancy Elliott

• Casey McDonald

• Jake Russell

• Beverly Hoffman

• Sally Herman

Palin proposes 7 percent spending decrease

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:41:00 -0900

With oil prices falling, Gov. Sarah Palin is asking state department heads for restrained spending in her proposed state budgets. The impact from this on rural Alaska won’t be immediately felt, some lawmakers say.

Last week, Palin proposed a 7 percent spending decrease in the operating and capital budgets for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The operating and capital budgets total $4.9 billion in general funds and $11.2 billion in total funds.

“The budget plan is consistent with our fiscal policy that has guided this administration, and built on our commitment to live within our means, and save for the future and control government spending,” the governor said at a news conference in Juneau.

The spending reflects a 7 percent reduction from the current fiscal year. That comparison does not include the $746 million that went for this year’s energy rebate.

Over the last two years, as the price of oil boomed, rural Alaska saw a boost in government spending, particularly on large capital projects. Rep. Reggie Joule of Kotzebue said the future of these projects will highly depend on both demand and oil prices.

“It depends where the oil goes,” he said. “If we get oil coming in under $40 we will have some tough decisions to make.”

Joule said the budget is based on about $64 per barrel. If it drops under $40, the state may have to draw from its savings. Last week, the price for North Slope crude reached $30 a barrel.

For the next fiscal year, the price of oil is forecast at $74.41 per barrel.

It would provide a projected surplus of $388 million, which would go into the Constitutional Budget Reserve at the end of the year.

With oil being so high last spring, lawmakers earmarked additional funds to programs such as the Power Cost Equalization that aid rural Alaskans by subsidizing electricity. Funds were increased for the Village Public Safety Officers program as well as rural schools and other programs aimed at helping rural residents.

These programs, according to Joule, were put directly into the operating budget and will get rolled into the baseline operating budget in fiscal year 2009 as well.

However, things might still get tough as demand for aid rises in rural Alaska. Schools and clinics are facing higher costs, making their operating budgets larger.

Sen. Donald Olson of Nome said it is too soon to panic.

“Even though the capital budget is smaller this year, it doesn’t mean things will slow down a lot and come to standing halt. They will just slow down.”

Olson said having a 16-member house majority will make it easier for decisions to be made. He and Joule plan to hit the ground running next month when the Legislature reconvenes.

At her news conference, the governor credited good planning in helping the state during the recent volatility in oil prices.

“Today’s budget provides for essential state services and protects Alaskans, keeping that volatility in mind,” she said. “The spending plan is based on prudent principles because the principles never change, whether the price of barrel of oil is $40 or $140.

“Fiscal discipline, pursuing responsible resource development and a stable economy in the midst of changing financial conditions, those are the principles that don’t change,” Palin said.

Over the past two years, the state has been able to put $5 billion in savings accounts.

Dropping oil prices are also a concern for this current fiscal year, now predicted to have a shortfall of $402 million after the projected price of oil was changed from $83 a barrel to $77.

Budget director Karen Rehfeld said that number could change since there’s still six months left in this fiscal year, and oil prices continue to fluctuate.

But if a shortfall needs to be corrected, the state could tap money in the savings accounts.

“The governor’s preference, I believe, would be to look at appropriations in the current year, and if there are ways we can either reduce, delay or eliminate some of those appropriations, we would do that to minimize the impact on any of our savings accounts.”

Some items in Palin’s budget include:
• $1.7 billion in capital projects

• $1 billion for K-12 education, including $118 million for special needs students and $40 for major maintenance of schools

• $451 million for full funding of retirement costs unfunded liability

• $300 million for oil and gas exploration tax credits

• $60 million for community revenue sharing

• $82 million for gas line projects, including $20 million for the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act reimbursement fund

• $887 million for capital federal highway, aviation and water projects, including an $88 million general fund match

• $98 million for capital energy projects.

State lawmakers have expressed skepticism over Palin’s claim that her proposed budget will not produce a deficit.

Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman says the Revenue Department’s forecast is optimistic and it would not take much of a reduction in the price of Alaska crude oil to put the budget “under water.”

State wants comments on education summit results

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:40:00 -0900

The draft results of the Statewide Education Summit, held in November, will soon be posted online, and the state will be seeking public comments.

The document will be posted on the front page of the web site of the Department of Education and Early Development, www.eed.state.ak.us.

The draft includes an introduction, a vision statement, a mission statement, graduation outcomes for world-class students, and rationales, goals and actions categorized by these themes: world-class schools; technology lifestyles for learning; school finance and facilities; community, culture and family; and student health and safety. The draft also contains for reference the core beliefs of the State Board of Education and Early Development, the state’s education technology standards, and a summary of the purpose and value of an education plan.

Public comments and the draft document will be presented to the State Board for review this winter. Working groups will meet into the spring to produce detailed action plans for each goal.

Native Policy Center seeks research coordinator

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:39:00 -0900

The Alaska Native Policy Center is hiring a policy and research coordinator.

The position requires a bachelor’s degree or higher in any field that demonstrates possession of the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities. Knowledge of, and work experience within, the Native community is required.

See http://www.firstalaskans.org for more information. The deadline is Jan. 7.

The offices will be closed from Christmas Day to Jan. 4. During that time refer questions to info@firstalaskans.org or leave a message at 907-677-1708.

Northwest Alaska region sees suicides rise

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:36:00 -0900

Inside Selawik’s Davis-Ramoth Memorial School, the final days leading up to the holiday break were somewhat somber as the students, staff and community coped with two deaths by suicide since the start of December.

“It’s hard,” principal Gerald Pickner said. “It’s difficult for kids to try to focus. Our younger kids up through the sixth or seventh grade are doing fairly well, but our high school kids lost one of their classmates, and a parent of some of our high schools kids was lost.”

An alarming number of suicides this month in Northwestern Alaska, most of them involving teenagers, prompted the Alaska State Troopers to issue a news release offering contact information for counseling. Six people killed themselves in the first three weeks of December around the Seward Peninsula, including the deaths of a 17-year-old girl and a 42-year-old woman in Selawik, a 17-year-old boy in Kiana and a 15-year-old boy in Noatak.

Troopers said more people have attempted to take their own lives in recent weeks.

“I’m leaving to go down to the Lower 48 to visit my grandchildren and I’m terrified I’ll return (after the break) to find more dead kids,” said Pickner, in his second year as Selawik’s principal. “People here are doing good things (to help), and I hope they’re successful.”

Selawik students return to school Jan. 5.

Alaska has consistently ranked at or near the top in per capita suicide rate in the country. It’s nearly twice the national average, according to the state’s Department of Health and Social Services. James Gallanos, Alaska’s Division of Behavioral Health, Prevention and Early Intervention Services lead suicide prevention coordinator, said the state had 146 deaths by suicide in 2007, higher than its average of nearly 128 over the past 10 years.

The rates vary by region of the state, and none are more deadly than Northwest Alaska.

“The biggest problem for kids is there is not enough for them to do,” said Pickner, who spent the five years working Kivalina before moving to Selawik. “You get into these communities and the only thing there is the school. The communities need to have more for them to do.”

$1.5 million grant
Earlier this year, the Alaska’s Division of Behavioral Health, Prevention and Early Intervention Services received a $1.5 million federal grant targeted at youth suicide prevention.

Gallanos said the grant, spread over three years, will be used to implement a regional model that will specifically diagnose special suicide prevention needs in communities throughout the state.

Starting in early 2009, regional suicide prevention teams will travel to around the state and work with local services to create plans specific for a given region or community. This will be done in cooperation with the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Behavioral Health Research Services.

Plans will include early prevention, intervention and post-intervention — the support given to youths after someone in the community has committed suicide.

The teams will include representatives from community youth organizations, mental health providers, churches, parent groups, juvenile justice and the Office of Children’s Services.

There are already several suicide prevention programs operating around Alaska, such as Maniilaq Association’s Project Life, but the high numbers of youth committing suicide signal that more is needed.

Gallanos said the grant will work to enhance the existing programs and services in high-risk communities where suicide rates are extremely high.

The program is modeled off the division’s Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Diagnostic Team. That program received a five-year, $5 million grant.

“Once that money was gone, we had enough sustainability to support our programs,” Gallanos said.

The hope is that once a plan is in place, communities will seek funds, with the help of the division, and put them to work once the grant finds are spent.

In Selawik, Pickner said the village’s 820 residents are doing everything they can to stem the tide of suicide.

“The community is reeling, we’re talking to each other, encouraging each other,” he said. “We started a morning gym (last) week and offering extra tutoring sessions.”

Pickner hopes to see elders, parents and young adults get more involved in the lives of the children of all ages. He allowed the school to be open for any type of activity during the holiday break.

“A lot of people have the keys,” Pickner said.

Some have suggested starting clubs for sewers or prospective wood carvers. There has been talk of teaming adults with children — whether at-risk or not — to go fishing and hunting or simply take snowmachine rides.

“We’ve got to think outside the realm of there only being a basketball court,” Pickner said. “We have to have some variety.”

The Anchorage Daily News contributed to this report.

Reading habits about to change in rural Alaska

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:34:00 -0900

When Barb Angaiak and her family spend summer days at their cabin in Nyac, they regularly put in grocery orders with the AC store in Bethel and have the items flown out to them the 60 or so miles east of town.

Those orders often include the most-current editions of the Anchorage Daily News. Future orders won’t likely include the state’s largest newspaper, which will soon stop shipping to most parts of rural Alaska.

Daily News circulation director Roger Weinfurter confirmed the cost-cutting move last week. The Sunday, Dec. 28, edition will be the last delivered outside of Southcentral Alaska, Fairbanks, Juneau and a few other locations.

“It’s not like this is something we want to do, but we have no choice,” Weinfurter said.

Freight and shipping costs are just too high to continue servicing rural Alaska, Weinfurter said. Calling the decision “unfortunate,” he said the Daily News spent as much as $25,000 per month to ship the newspaper out on a daily basis.

By comparison, officials with Alaska Newspapers Inc., which publishes six small weekly rural Alaska newspapers, said the company spends in excess of $10,000 on monthly shipping costs.

Locations where the Daily News is trucked will still get shipments, but the communities served by air likely won’t. Weinfurter said oil companies pay to ship the newspaper to Prudhoe Bay.

Weinfurter said rural Alaska delivery exceptions can be made if recipients are willing to pay the shipping costs.

The Daily News currently circulates about 62,700 papers Monday through Saturday and almost 71,000 on Sundays. Of those newspapers, Weinfurter said only a few thousand are delivered to rural Alaska.

That doesn’t mean residents in those parts of the state won’t miss the daily delivery.

“It’s certainly going to be a disappointment,” said Bethel’s Angaiak, the National Education Association-Alaska president. “People are going to miss out on what’s going on. It’s important to realize that the state is situated in a way that even though the Daily News is an Anchorage newspaper, it’s really the state’s newspaper.”

Weinfurter told Kodiak radio station KMXT it was possible for the Daily News to subsidize shipping cost to rural Alaska during the days of the newspaper war with the long-gone Anchorage Times. But it’s no longer feasible with today’s shipping costs. He said the Daily News has been losing money for years sending the newspapers to the Bush.

“It’s a real drag,” Weinfurter said. “The (editorial staff) doesn’t want this to happen, but again, we have no choice. From a business standpoint, we’ve always enjoyed being the first word for news and information around the state, even in places where we sent only 10 or 15 newspapers.

The Daily News is owned by the McClatchy Co., which is based in California and is another in a long line of media organizations in the country stuck in a financial quagmire. Weinfurter said the decision to discontinue Daily News delivery to rural Alaska was made in Anchorage.

Matt Nevala can be reached at 907-348-2480 or 800-770-9830, ext. 480.

Begich to educate Congress on Native contractors

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:29:00 -0900

U.S. Sen.-elect Mark Begich renewed his support for the 8(a) program that gives Native Americans special status with the federal government at an Anchorage business luncheon last week, insisting that critics in the Lower 48 don’t understand how the program works.

In his valedictory appearance as mayor before the city’s Chamber of Commerce, Begich said Alaska’s three representatives in Congress would have to renew their efforts to educate their colleagues and the public about Native contractors. While they have been important engines for the economy of Alaska, Begich said, 8(a) contractors “create wealth and jobs and business all over the nation and the globe.”

Begich reached out to the Bush early, visiting Bethel and Dillingham during the primary campaign and making a well-publicized boat trip up the Y-K Delta in July, stopping in Kasigluk, Nunapitchuk and Napakiak to meet and greet voters. That effort was rewarded on Election Day, when Begich beat incumbent U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens in most rural Alaska communities.

Poised to join a Democratic-majority Congress, Begich told business leaders he was excited to be part of a growing centrist caucus in the Senate.

“We don’t all agree on everything,” he said, but he welcomed the opportunity to make the case for drilling in ANWAR and other Alaska interests.

While Alaska enjoys great benefit from the federal government, he said, “the federal obligation to Alaska is huge” because the U.S. owns so much of it, approximately 60 percent of the land. “We’re also strategic for the military,” he said.

Begich described hosting U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., on a recent Alaska visit. Tester, whose committee assignments include Indian Affairs, expressed support for 8(a) programs during a three-day campaign swing with Begich in May. “I had not heard that from him before, until he was asked about it by a reporter,” the mayor said. “That was gratifying to hear.”

Tester, who also sits on Senate committes for Energy and Natural Resources, Small Business and Homeland Security, met with Begich again early this month when the senator-elect visited the nation’s capital.

At the chamber luncheon, Begich said Alaska had a lot to offer the nation in the energy sector — and not just expertise in oil and gas. “I’m very proud of the windfarm network we’ve been able to implement here in Anchorage,” he said, noting that Alaska had pioneered development of wind, geothermal and other alternative-energy technologies that generate enthusiasm all over the country.

Noting his achievements in two terms as mayor of Anchorage, Begich saluted the building that hosted his lunchtime speech, the Dena’ina Center downtown, as a highlight for recognizing Alaska’s Native communities.

Asked about a recently announced rural initiative by the Obama transition team, Begich said he’d been involved “in a conversation about it this morning.” While he said it was too early to expect details, the mayor expressed confidence that the discussion would range far beyond conventional farm issues and include challenges faced by off-road Alaskans.

“But that’s part of our educational challenge, too,” he said. “Most people in Washington have never had to take a boat to get to their constituents — or been told, ‘Oh, by the way, you’re being bumped off this plane because cargo is being shipped to the village.’”

Mike Peters can be reached at 907-348-2433 or 800-770-9830, ext. 480.

Tracking the year’s big stories in the Bush

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:27:00 -0900

Rural Alaska, once isolated from the rest of the world, wasn’t immune to big national events in 2008.

Fuel prices swung violently leave rural residents with sticker shock, and pushing up the cost of living. Gov. Sarah Palin tense relationships with Alaska Natives seemed to grow after she joined John McCain on the Republican presidential ticket. And the jury is still out on what the loss of Sen. Ted Stevens will mean for the Bush.

At least 2008 wasn’t boring. Here some of the news that mattered most in rural Alaska, presented in no particular order.

Rural-to-urban migration
It’s happened for years, for several reasons. But the number of families leaving villages for bigger cities gained speed this year, as many complained that the cost of living in rural Alaska made life there unbearable.
School enrollment numbers offered key evidence, with Anchorage schools growing while many rural schools shrunk. But efforts are under way to better track the numbers, with state researchers and other groups, like First Alaskans Institute, on the case.
A big shift would challenge social service agencies and public institutions in the city, which have scrambled to help with housing, transportation and jobs for the newcomers.

Fuel costs
Rocketing petroleum prices shook the nation this year, then plummeted to earth after the global economy collapsed.
But in rural Alaska, fuel prices stayed high, since villages typically buy a year’s supply of fuel in the summer when river barges arrive. As a result, the cost of stove oil and gas exceeded $7 a gallon in many villages this fall. Relief won’t come until at least May.
On the plus side, each Alaskan got a $1,200 energy rebate courtesy of the Legislature and the governor, but it didn’t go as far in rural Alaska as it did in the city. And while state legislators provided more than $100 million to create a renewable energy fund — sparking a rush of applications for new projects — the benefits likely won’t be felt for years.

Begich wins Senate seat
Rural Alaska voters rallied around Mark Begich on Nov. 4, propelling him to narrow victory over Sen. Ted Stevens shortly after the Hulk of Alaska politics was found guilty on seven counts of lying on financial disclosure forms.
The change of power raises big questions. Stevens’ role as Alaska’s pipeline for federal money was especially important in the villages. Many worry that millions will be lost for everything from vital water and sewer projects to bypass mail.
The good news is that Begich, like Stevens, has a special interest in rural Alaska. He might prove just as adept at educating his Senate colleagues about its challenges and opportunities.

Walt Monegan
Native leaders weren’t happy when Gov. Palin canned Walt Monegan, the Alaska Native formerly in charge of the Department of Public Safety. On top of that, she faulted his performance with what was perceived as weak explanations for the firing.
In Monegan, rural residents felt they had an ally. His priorities included improving rural law enforcement and slashing alcohol-related deaths, domestic violence and child sexual abuse, big problems in the Bush.
On the plus side, replacement Joe Masters shows promise on rural Alaska issues. He was raised in the Bush, started his career above the Arctic Circle and has seen rural problems firsthand.

Sarah Palin
The governor’s decision to fire Monegan was just one move that didn’t sit well with Native leaders. Earlier in the year, Palin’s picks to fill three open seats on the Board of Game would have left the board without a Native for the first time. After a public outcry, she backed down and appointed Craig Fleener, an Athabascan from Fort Yukon.
The criticism picked up after Palin joined John McCain on the Republican presidential ticket and the spotlight on her record shined brighter. Key Native figures blasted her for not listening to tribes, and for continuing legal efforts they say could erode federal protections for subsistence and tribal adoptions.

Ballot Measure 4
Sponsors said the initiative was designed to limit pollution at the Pebble gold and copper prospect to protect Bristol Bay salmon. Opponents said it would have shut down several mines across the state. The measure was defeated handily, except in some rural areas such as around Dillingham and Bethel. But the state’s mining industry did a nosedive anyway, as metal prices plummeted following the economic collapse. The coming year doesn’t look rosy, with some companies struggling to survive in Alaska and others facing big cutbacks.

Woody and Wilcox
Anchorage radio hosts Greg Wood and Chris Wilcox sparked a hailstorm of criticism when one of them twisted an old Alaska saying that was disparaging of Native women.
The racial slur on KBFX 100.5 the Fox was considered especially vulgar in light of the high rates of sexual violence suffered by Native women. Some advertisers canceled, people picketed, and the remark made headlines around the country.
But both sides found common ground. Native leaders, including Rep. Mary Nelson, D-Bethel, saw the remark as an educational opportunity — for the hosts and the public — about attitudes that Native people face all too often. They said the men should keep their jobs — once they learned their lesson.
The duo underwent sensitivity training, which included apologetic visits with Nelson and others. They also said sorry on the Web and during a four-hour call-in radio show on the topic.

Caribou slaughter
Alaska State Troopers say more than 50 caribou were left to rot on the tundra outside Point Hope. They’ve identified suspects in the Northwest Alaska village. But residents say troopers are exaggerating. They question whether Point Hope residents were involved and have refused to cooperate with the investigation, claiming troopers have tainted the villagers’ reputation as responsible hunters. The caribou were shot in July, but the investigation drags on.

Native language lost
Marie Smith Jones died on Jan. 21 at age 89. She took the Eyak language with her.
The last fluent speaker of the Native language, Jones’ passing marked the first time an Alaska Native language went extinct. The loss of Eyak — once heard in the Prince William Sound area — prompted warnings that other Native languages might follow.

Yup’ik at the polls
Bethel residents and several Kuskokwim river villages won a court fight, forcing the state to step up the help it provides Yup’ik speakers at the polls. Following an order by U.S. District Judge Timothy Burgess, the state provided bilingual training to poll workers in Yup’ik-speaking areas. The workers were also given handbooks with Yup’ik translations of ballot terms that they read to Native elders who speak little English.

Democrats join House majority caucus

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:25:00 -0900

Rep. Bryce Edgmon, a Dillingham Democrat from Alaska House District 37, talked regularly with both Democrats and Republicans attempting to form an organization for the upcoming legislative session.

He gave a lot of thought and consideration to the pros and cons of the decision to join the Republican-heavy House majority caucus along with veteran lawmaker Reggie Joule of Kotzebue and newly-elected representative Bob Herron of Bethel, two more Democrats.

“Clearly there will be Democrats who are not going to be happy with us in the Legislature, but also a lot will understand that rural legislators are badly outnumbered and oftentimes you’re put in a position of making difficult decisions in order to best represent your district,” Edgmon said. “My first goal was to organize with the Democrats in a majority caucus, that was my first preference, but it was clear after several weeks of negotiation that to make that happen, the numbers weren’t there.”

After weighing the options of serving the next two years in the minority or majority, Edgmon, Joule and Herron decided it was in the best interest of their districts to be in a position to help shape the agenda and outcomes in the House majority.

“I think the timing was right for us to move over into the coalition in terms of what we can bring to the majority,” said Joule, who was first elected in 1996.

Nome Democrat Richard Foster is already part of the House majority.

“For years, (Foster) has been in the majority and generally someone from Southeast. That left quite a big missing part of the state,” Joule said. “Now we can bring the kind of leadership to issues that may not have been vetted in the past.”

With Edgmon, Herron and Joule, the House majority will hold a 26-14 advantage when the 26th Alaska Legislature gavels in Jan. 20.

“What’s exciting about the opportunity is the Bush caucus is united in one organization. We’re pleased about the prospect of representing a united front on issues important to rural Alaska, including energy, problems of rural out-migration, issues of education, health and social services, and the village public safety officer program,” Edgmon said.

Herron, Bethel’s former city manager and a former state legislative aide, said he based his decision on the idea of giving rural Alaska a greater voice in Juneau.

“It’s based upon what we can do to help our (constituents), our No. 1 concern,” Herron said.

Democratic commitment
But at least one of Herron’s constituents wasn’t thrilled with the idea.

Bethel’s Tony Vaska, a legislator in the 1980s and a member of the Alaska Democratic Party’s executive council, ran unsuccessfully against Herron in August’s Democratic primary. He didn’t think he could make a similar move to the majority if he had been elected.

“I make a commitment and I stick to it,” Vaska said. “If you ran as a Democrat, the people of the district expect you to be a Democrat.”

Vaska somewhat understood the thinking behind the three current Democratic representatives’ decision, noting the political game in Juneau involves a lot of give and take.

“It means working with others, it means compromise,” Vaska said. “But one thing you can’t compromise is your ethics and trust. When you join a coalition it can put a strain on you personally.”

Herron asked Democrats in his district to keep an open mind.

“I hope they would give me the benefit of the doubt,” Herron said. “We’ll see how it works out.”

Joule said he ran the decision past his constituency, including leadership officials at many of his district’s regional organizations, and found support.

“We have had some pretty sensitive discussions and there hasn’t been any backlash,” Joule said.

Edgmon said House Speaker Mike Chanault, a Republican from Nikiski, who also has a rural background, and influential members of the majority caucus will make a push to make rural issues a priority in the upcoming session.

“The question came down to — did I want to be part of that team, or a team with smaller numbers and less direct influence on the events in the Legislature?” he said.

As part of the majority, Edgmon said he will have a seat at the table of important discussions, hold an important role on energy and a key role on fisheries issues. He will become co-chairman of the House Special Committee on Energy, chairman of the Fisheries Committee, and he’ll sit on the Resources Committee and possibly other committees, he said.

Joule will join the House Finance Committee. Herron will become the co-chairman of the House Health and Social Services Committee.

Herron said joining the majority means the trio promises to vote with it on all procedural votes and on the final version of the state budget.

“On any other policy issues, you still vote your conscience,” he said.

Edgmon said he is most looking forward to working on the energy issue.

“I think that finding both a short-term and long-term solution is unquestioningly a top priority. And it’s also a priority for the new caucus,” Edgmon said.

But once in Juneau, run-ins with other Democratic lawmakers could be a little awkward — at least for a while.

“I kept the Democratic leadership apprised of what I was doing,” Joule said. “(They) didn’t agree with it. But we’ve been longtime friends. At times it will be difficult, but I expect our friendships to hold fast.”

News editors Tammy Judd and Tamar Ben-Yosef contributed to this report.

YKHC and Alaska VA Healthcare System collaborate to help rural veterans

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:58:00 -0900

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation (YKHC) and Alaska VA Healthcare System have partnered together to help rural veterans gain better access to their healthcare benefits.

The VA created a part-time, temporary position that will help recent and long-term veterans understand what benefits are available to them and how to access those benefits.

“Currently the closest facility for veterans to receive healthcare, or to get help with their benefits, is in Anchorage. YKHC and all of the veterans in our region are very fortunate to have this happen,” said Jack Robert Crow, YKHC’s vice president of health services. “Our goal is to help veterans have increased access to vital healthcare services with as little inconvenience as possible.”

The Rural Veteran Liaison position will be based at YKHC in Bethel and will offerBenefit Education Services, as well as act as a Consumer Advocate Liaison. The RuralVeteran Liaison will serve the approximately 2,500 veterans who live in western Alaska.

“The VA values the close working relationship with YKHC and the opportunity to honor veterans by enhancing services closer to where veterans live” said Alex Spector, Director of the Alaska VA Healthcare System. “Having a VA employee in the community who is knowledgeable about VA benefits provides a pathway to VA care by assisting local veterans to access healthcare and non-healthcare benefits.”

For more information about the Rural Veteran Liaison position, contact the Alaska VA Human Resources at 1-888-353-7574, ext. 4750 or go to www.usajobs.gov (Search – Bethel, Alaska).

The position will be open until December 30, 2008.