Location: Off of Point Barrow. "243 80 grain at 150 feet, not yards." (Photos courtesy of dalf / ADN reader submission)

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Location: In town, March 5. "Thank you Jesus."

Alaska's next reality star?: Atz Kilcher hangs on to his overalls while running the Carhartt Relay Race at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer Aug. 28, 2007. Kilcher, father of the singer/actress Jewel, and his family star in Discovery Channel's 'Mountain Men of Alaska.' (Erik Hill / Anchorage Daily News)

From Kyle Hopkins in Anchorage --

The Alaska reality TV invasion continues with the Discovery Channel announcing today a new show tentatively called “Mountain Men of Alaska” that centers on the family of Atz Kilcher –- Jewel’s dad –- who live outside of Homer.

Discovery packaged the announcement with that of a different show slated to premiere this summer about Appalachian moonshiners.

The news release for the Alaska series describes one of the Kilchers’ neighbors as a guy named “Brother Roadkill" who is "not above eating animals lying dead on the side of the road."

So, yeah. Here’s hoping they do us proud.

If you can’t wait that long to see your home state on cable again, check out "Mounted in Alaska," a new History channel reality series about Knight’s Taxidermy shop in Anchorage.

The show debuts on April 7 and yes, that is the real title. (Picture the bumper stickers.)

From the History announcement:

“There's no job too challenging for (owner Russell Knight) to tackle. From mounting a charging warthog so that it's busting through a wall in one client's home to creating the world's first camel form to the complete restoration of an historic 50-year-old polar bear that's an Alaskan landmark ...”

Meanwhile, the first season of “Flying Wild Alaska" has wrapped on Discovery and a second season was already filming when we passed through Unalakleet this month to cover the Iditarod.

I saw maybe five minutes of the production, as a Discovery crew filmed one of the show’s stars walking up behind Lance Mackey to say hello and give him some banana pancakes after he arrived in the village.

The scene took two takes.

-- Related: Reality TV invades Alaska (Feb. 14)

A report from Western Alaska on a early morning fire:

By PAUL J. PAUL in Kipnuk

One family's traditional steamhut for washing and cleansing was on fire early morning (4:30 or 5 a.m.)

This village still doesn't have running water, no adequate fire equipment, and the only way we fight fire in winter is by snowshovels. Thank God no one got hurt. I don't mind posting the photos on your website, so USA government can see what we still do in parts of USA. Some parts of Alaska still need help some some areas for safety.

"Group of early morning firefighters without water, using only snowshovels. Shoveling like heck for it wouldn't spread to nearby houses." All photos by Paul J. Paul.

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Note: Kipnuk is a Yup'ik community about 85 miles southwest of Bethel and four miles inland from the Bering Sea coast.

NANA Regional Corp. has posted a notice on its Facebook page today warning of flooding in Kotzebue:

"We've gotten word that areas of Kotzebue are flooding or in danger of flooding due to a storm surge. Residents are being urged to limit travel according to KOTZ. We'll keep you posted on updates when we hear them, but you can tune in to www.kotz.org for more information. NANA's Kotzebue office is currently open at this time."

Cheryl Humme, of Barrow, just snapped this photo of the "view" outside her window:

"All of Barrow seems to be closed today and the wind is still howling out there," she says.

Live in northwest Alaska? How hard is the storm hitting your hometown?

We'd love to see your photos. You can upload them here.

The National Weather Service has announced a blizzard warning along the northern and western Arctic coast through 3 p.m. tomorrow.

Hugh Neff gets a kiss from Geronimo at the Takotna checkpoint on March 10 during the 2010 Iditarod. Geronimo died during this year's Yukon Quest. Neff withdrew from the race. BOB HALLINEN / Anchorage Daily News.

Iditarod and Yukon Quest musher Hugh Neff had a suggestion for me this morning as we talked about the upcoming Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

“Write something about how to win over the villagers again," said Neff who finished ninth in last year's race. "That’s the reason Joe Redington started this race. And there’s a lot of villages that don’t even really care for Iditarod coming through anymore.”

Why not?

“The whole … We just bring in a bunch of garbage, and what do they get out of it, you know?" Neff said.

“I think as mushers we need to promote more of, you know, why this race went through the villages in the first place. It’s a little speech that (Mark) Nordman, the head official, gives us every year. About being courteous to the locals and cleaning up your messes on the trail.”

Neff said he was talking about this with a friend last night. "It’s like my buddy told me ... Villagers nowadays are more into the Iron Dog than Iditarod. That’s what most of them are doing," he said.

Is that right?

Are rural Alaska communities more invested in the Iron Dog snowmachine race than the Iditarod? Send me a note at khopkins@adn.com.

Justin Tennison

Justin Tennison, a 33-year-old crew member for one of the fishing vessels that appears on Discovery's "Deadliest Catch," was found dead Tuesday in Homer, police say.

Tennison's body was discovered in a room at the Best Western Bidarka Inn and reported to police at 12:52 p.m. Police say he died of unknown causes and the state medical examiner's office plans to perform an autopsy today in Anchorage.

Homer police say no foul play is suspected.

Tennison was found alone in the room, along with alcohol and roughly a quarter-ounce of what appeared to be marijuana, said Lt. Randy Rosencrans. "There was information that there had been a party at an adjacent room."

Read the brief police account here. Hotel employees declined to comment yesterday.

A spokeswoman for Original Productions, the production company that films the show, e-mailed this statement today:

Discovery Channel is saddened by the passing of Time Bandit crew member Justin Tennison. We send our sympathies to his entire family and fellow crew members during this most difficult time.

More on Tennison from the Time Bandit website:

Justin fished commercially for many years, living in Alaska for 28 years. He worked on the Time Bandit, alongside his second cousin, Eddie Uwekoolani, Jr., serving as Engineer during the tendering seasons, and joined the Time Bandit crew as a deckhand fishing the Red King 2010 and Opilio 2011 seasons.

Justin was tough as a bull and was an all-around good hand. The Captains and Crew appreciated his hard work and many contributions this past year. We will miss him terribly and wish his family all the best during this most difficult time.

Justin is survived by a son, daughter, sister, father and grandparents.

Tennison would have turned 34 next month, according to court records.

The Bethel-based Association of Village Council Presidents is calling for a 40-mile road linking the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers, KYUK reports.

A connection from Kalskag to a point near Russian Mission -- the site of a dilapidated tram -- might lower energy costs in the region, the station reports.

"That's the closest part from the Kuskokwim River to the Yukon, and it's been traveled for hundreds of years, probably thousands of years," AVCP vice president Mike Hoffman told the station.

A man troopers describe as the former host of a Selawik “fight club” has been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor after two teenagers were found intoxicated early Saturday morning at his home.

Percy Clark, 20, was arrested along with another 20-year-old – Jody Sheldon – who had been drinking in violation of his probation, troopers said.

Calling the underground boxing matches in Selawik and other villages that sometimes appear on YouTube a “fight club,” might be a stretch. But Clark uses that term himself when visited by Trooper Luis Nieves in this clip from the National Geographic “Alaska State Troopers” show:

Read the state Department of Natural Resources letter to the reality show miners here. Love it or hate it, get ready for more of "Gold Rush: Alaska." The show appears poised for a second season according to the promo for this special one-hour episode.

By KYLE HOPKINS
khopkins@adn.com

In one of the first episodes of “Gold Rush: Alaska,” the new Discovery Channel series about six men transplanted from Oregon to Southeast Alaska in hopes of striking gold, a brown bear wanders into camp.

Unattended graham crackers might be to blame, luring the animal into the combination mining claim and reality TV set, more than 2 million viewers learned in the episode’s debut. On screen, the would-be miners grab their guns.

“That bear’s not going to get in between my son and I,” says Greg Remsburg, one of the stars of the show.

Click-clack!

Remsburg pumps a shell into the chamber of his rifle. “That I guarantee ya,” says the miner, who is described by Discovery as an “unemployed construction supervisor" from Sandy, Oregon.

Sure enough, a bear is killed by the end of the episode. “The team has made the camp secure,” the narrator concludes.

What viewers aren’t told is that no one had to shoot the bear to save a life or protect property at the mining claim on Porcupine Creek, according to a review by the state Department of Natural Resources.

Location: Nanwalek, Feb. 12. Photos courtesy of Naomi Klouda:

"The Village of Nanwalek hosts a winter carnival, with the grand finale of a Miss Sweetheart and Miss Nanwalek Pageant. The young girls perform humor, dance and song pieces, following Alutiiq culture and Western traditions. Miss Nanwalek was Shoshanna Huntsman and Elaina Peterson was crowned Miss Sweetheart. Winning runner-ups were Jade Huntsman, Miss Nanwalek, and Sarah Evans, Miss Sweetheart."

A Native-owned fuel distributor announced today that it's building a $3 million barge -- capable of docking in shallow water -- to serve Western Alaska villages.

The "Cauneq," a 162-foot barge, is now being built in Portland, Ore., says NorthStar Gas LLC.

NorthStar will own the barge, while Anchorage-based Delta Western, a major distributor of fuel and other petroleum products around the state, will operate it.

The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE -- U.S. Sen. Mark Begich is seeking a congressional oversight hearing on subsistence management of federal lands in Alaska.
In a letter to leaders of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the Alaska Democrat says a hearing would allow subsistence stakeholders to explore new ways of "ensuring sustainability of such an important way of life."

Catch Kivgiq in Barrow last week?

Check out video by Tiffany J. Zulkosky, rural director for Sen. Mark Begich, here and here.

And some cool shots of the food prep here on Photobucket.

Finally, thanks to Mary Sage for these postcards from the messenger feast:

Utuqqagmiut Dancers from Wainwright perform a taliq song - a song performed sitting down.

Uvagagvinmiut Dancers from Nuiqsut performing the aniraaq portion of their kalukaq (box drum dance to literally pull in the new year).

Kivgiq 2011 Grand Finale! This is the Wainwright Dance Group marching in.

Remember that push to cut a federal subsidy that reduces airfare costs in rural Alaska to the tune of more than $12 million a year?

Today, House Transportation Committee leaders introduced a bill that would spare Alaska and Hawaii from the cuts.

"Congressman Young had discussions with Chairman Mica which resulted in Alaska and Hawaii being exempt from the 4-year phase-out of (Essential Air Service) that will occur," Rep. Don Young spokeswoman Meredith Kenny said in an e-mail.

Root around in the section-by-section summary of the House's FAA reauthorization bill and you'll see plans to sunset the subsidy program "everywhere except Alaska and Hawaii as of October 1, 2014."

That's good news for Alaska air carriers and some rural towns and villages that were worried about losing millions in federal funding -- Alaska Airlines gets the biggest chunk in our state -- but what's happening over on the Senate side?

UPDATE: A spokesman for Sen. Mark Begich says that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has not scaled back his original call to get rid of the EAS program. In other words, his amendment in the Senate would still strip the money from Alaska.

Kuskokwim river, August 2010. "Driving on the river ice road going back to Bethel from Kwethluk." Photo courtesy of Sandra Ingvalson.

BECKY BOHRER
The Associated Press

JUNEAU -- A federal agency is implementing what it calls the first comprehensive revisions in more than a decade to a program that gives Alaska Native corporations an edge in obtaining federal contracts.

The U.S. Small Business Administration says the changes to the 8(a) Business Development program will take effect March 14.

A Kongiganak Post Office worker has pleaded guilty to stealing a package mailed to the village power company containing $10,000 cash, U.S. Attorneys say.

Agnes Evan, 26, admitted to taking the package -- mailed from First National Bank Alaska -- in January of last year.

The money was addressed to Puvurnaq Power Co. Evan had worked at the village utility before working at the post office and knew the power company sometimes received cash by registered mail, said Assistant United States Attorney Yvonne Lamoureux.

"Part of our argument in the case was that she abused a position of trust," Lamoureux said.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Burgess sentenced Evan on Wednesday to five years probation. She has to pay back the $10,000, the U.S. Attorney's office says.

Kongiganak is a community of about 465 people west of the mouth of the Kuskokwim River, about 70 miles southwest of Bethel.

Thanks to Mary Anniagruk Sage for these photos:

Killigmiut Dance Group of Anaktuvuk Pass. Mary Sage photo.

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Killigmiut Dance Group from Anaktuvuk Pass.

Click here for the live feed.

(I've been having trouble with the audio.)

In a new look at an old idea, the state has spent about $2 million over the past two years researching a potential 500-mile road to Nome. Gov. Sean Parnell is asking for another $1.25 million this year for more planning and design.

Supporters see the road as a way to unlock mining deposits and lower the price of food and fuel in villages. Critics eye the price tag – as much as $5.4 million per mile according to a 2010 report -- and fear a boondoggle in the making.

Good idea? Bad?