Rural blog

The Village is a Daily News blog about life and politics in rural Alaska. Its main author is ADN reporter Kyle Hopkins. Come here for breaking news on village issues, plus interviews, videos and photos. But that's just part of the story. We want to feature your pictures, videos and stories, too. Think of The Village as your bulletin board. E-mail us anything you’d like to share with the rest of Alaska -- your letters to the editor, the photos of your latest hunt or video of your latest potlatch. (We love video.)


Kyle Hopkins

I was born in Sitka, have lived in Kake, Skagway and Fairbanks and joined the ADN in 2005 after writing for the Anchorage Press and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. I started blogging for the paper in 2006 with The Trail, our blog about the governor's race. Then came the Alaska Politics blog. Now I'm covering government and rural affairs and live in Anchorage with my wife, Rebecca. (Update: Our daughter Alice was born May 31. Thanks everyone for the suggestions.) E-mail me at khopkins@adn.com and find me on Twitter at twitter.com/ADNVillage.

 

READER-SUBMITTED PHOTOS

Life in Rural Alaska

Post your photos from the Bush and check out what others are sending in.

STORY

Fourth-grade whale hunter

A nine-year-old delivered the killing blow to a 32-foot bowhead whale in Barrow.

AUDIO SLIDE SHOW

Relocating Newtok

Residents of the Yup'ik Eskimo village and military reservists on site discuss Newtock's relocation.

VIDEO

Coping with suicide

Willie Ballot, of Selawik, describes life after his daughter's suicide.

PHOTOS

Kotzebue in April

While Southcentral Alaska enjoyed warm and sunny April days, in Kotzebue snow and winter-weather maintained.

Foxes! - 2/5/2010 6:04 pm

Send-off party today for Olympian Callan Chythlook-Sifsof - 2/5/2010 1:33 pm

A runway on the ocean: Plane service returns to Diomede - 2/4/2010 7:27 pm

Game Board round-up: New rules for potlatch hunts, exotic pets - 2/3/2010 4:26 pm

Point Hope caribou case: Remaining hunters on trial - 2/3/2010 10:42 am

'Deadliest Catch' captain suffers stroke - 1/30/2010 3:58 pm

An obituary: Jerel Redfox - 1/24/2010 8:03 pm

Troopers: Bodies discovered after Sand Point plane crash - 1/24/2010 6:06 pm

Alaska Census jobs among the highest paid in U.S. - 1/24/2010 1:01 pm

Coast Guard: No plans to resume search for pilots today - 1/23/2010 1:32 pm

The Kotzebue diaries: Chickens, guns & grub - 1/22/2010 6:13 pm

"Breathe In" - 1/21/2010 2:49 pm

Opinion: What the Massachusetts race means for Alaska - 1/20/2010 3:18 pm

Advisory vote: Bethel voters say they don't want bars, liquor stores - 1/20/2010 9:52 am

John Baker, of Kotz, wins Kusko 300 - 1/17/2010 8:01 pm

Now on your phone: Juneau police - 1/17/2010 7:26 pm

Safety dance - 1/16/2010 10:16 pm

Feds declare fisheries disaster for Yukon kings - 1/15/2010 11:01 am

There's no such thing as fast-paced when it comes to subsistence politics - 1/14/2010 6:37 pm

'I Am Eskimo' - 1/13/2010 9:21 pm

Feds to study link between climate change, subsistence fishing patterns - 1/13/2010 5:46 pm

"Mmmmmmmmmmm ..." - 1/12/2010 7:23 pm

Top 10 villages with the highest gas, heating fuel prices

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A recent report on Alaska heating fuel and gasoline prices shows what many villagers already know: That as oil prices dropped this winter, the costs in many rural communities remained high.

Of the 100 communities that the state Division of Community and Regional Affairs surveyed this February, here are the 10 with the highest gasoline prices and heating fuel prices:

Top heating fuel costs as of Feb. 2009:
1. Arctic Village (Interior) -- $9.50 per gallon.
2. Point Baker (Southeast) -- $8.80 per gallon.
3. Emmonak (Western) -- $8.71 per gallon.
4. Hughes (Interior) -- $8.55 per gallon.
5. Kokhanok (South Coastal) -- $8.11 per gallon.
6. Koyuk (Western) -- $8.06 per gallon
7. Saint Michael (Western) -- $8.06
8. Atka (South Coastal) -- $7.99
9. Stebbins (Western) -- $7.99
10. Gambell (Wesern). -- $7.88

...

Top gasoline costs as of Feb. 2009
1. Arctic Village (Interior) -- $9 per gallon
2. Point Baker (Southeast) -- $8.80 per gallon
3. Hughes (Interior) -- $8.50 per gallon
4. Kokhanok (South Coastal) -- $8.40 per gallon
5. Deering (Western) -- $7.82 per gallon
6. Saint Michael (Western) -- $7.80 per gallon
7. Toksook Bay (Western) -- $7.74 per gallon
8. Wales (Western) -- $7.73 per gallon
9. Stebbins (Western) -- $7.71 per gallon
10. Koyuk (Western) -- $7.71 per gallon

(Remember, these numbers only represent the villages that the state surveyed.)


Meantime, here's a couple bonus lists showing which parts of the state, based on census area, gained and lost the most people over the past year:

Four census areas that lost the most people: 2007 to 2008.*
-- Yakutat City and Borough -4.3 percent.
-- Aleutians East Borough -3.3 percent
-- Hoonah-Angoon census area -2.1 percent
-- Fairbanks North Star Borough -1.6 percent

Four census areas that gained the most people: 2007 to 2008.*
-- Denali Borough + 4.8 percent
-- Matanuska-Susitna Borough + 3.5 percent
-- Haines Borough + 2.8 percent
-- Kenai Peninsula Borough + 1.7 percent

(* Based on percentages, not overall number of people, in each Census area. Source: Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. All numbers based on estimates from July 1 of each year.)


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