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.

SECTION

2011 AFN

Follow the progress and see the scenes from this year's Alaska Federation of Natives conference in Anchorage.

PHOTOS

2011 WEIO

The World Eskimo Indian Olympics took place at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks.

PHOTOS

Summer in Barrow

Take a photo tour of the northernmost U.S. city during the summer when the sun is out almost the entire day.

READER-SUBMITTED PHOTOS

Life in Rural Alaska (PT 2)

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

FWS video: Wolf versus salmon - 12/2/2011 11:41 am

Tribe bills Native corporation for $500,000 in 'taxes' - 12/1/2011 6:38 pm

Grade the state's new suicide prevention plan - 10/26/2011 2:38 pm

Quinhagak woman launching supply shop for Native artists - 10/21/2011 10:11 am

AFN proposals: Should Columbus Day be abolished? - 10/20/2011 10:10 am

Iditarod champion Baker: "I won’t pretend that living in rural Alaska isn’t difficult at times" - 10/19/2011 1:52 pm

Kids these days: Meet the teens of the Elders & Youth conference - 10/18/2011 6:36 pm

Murkowski to hold Senate hearing on suicide at AFN - 10/14/2011 4:13 pm

(UPDATE) Democrats confirm Neal Foster as the new Nome rep

Nome City Councilman Neal Foster passed the final hurdle toward today replacing his father as the region's new representative in the state House.

House Democrats voted by a secret ballot at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage to confirm Foster for the job, said Rep. Mike Doogan. Democrats had previously recommend Foster, Ralph "Weaver" Ivanoff and Sam Towarak for the seat. Ivanoff and Towarak are both from Unalakleet.

Gov. Sean Parnell announced last Tuesday that he'd chosen Foster from the list, but the appointment still had to be approved by a majority of Democrats. That's what happened today.

Richard Foster died of a heart attack in October. While the elder Foster had a "D" by his name, he regularly voted with Republicans. The question for his son: Which side he'll choose once he's sworn in?

UPDATE: Just talked to Foster, who says he'll caucus with the Democrats.

I asked if that could mean less funding for the region, given that rural Democrats who team-up with the Republican majority may be in line to get more money for local projects.

As the son of a 21-year state lawmaker and regional leader, Foster said he's built good relations on both sides of the aisle.

“I’m really hoping … that will help to continue to keep the funding in our district at least the current levels," he said.

He'll serve the remainder of his father's term, about one year, and is already planning to run for re-election next year.

Trivia: Foster's a pilot who flies a Cessna 172 and is a hardcore distance runner. He plans to do "Goofy's Race and a Half" this January at Disney World -- a half-marathon on Saturday followed by a full marathon (26.2 miles) on Sunday.

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