Anchorage Daily News

State cuts rent for Bush airports as business nosedives

A growing crisis for aviation in the Bush has prompted the state to roll back recent increases in real estate leases at rural airports.

Promoter of Native culture dies at 65

Joan Hamilton, one of Alaska's most energetic proponents of Native culture, civil rights and health care, died of natural causes on Saturday at her home in Scappoose, Ore. She was 65.

Cordova tries to satisfy electric needs

A state grant has wiped out the remaining debt on Cordova's Power Creek hydroelectric project.

Pilot pleads guilty in bootlegging case

A case of beer and a bottle of whiskey cost the owner of Ambler Air Service $55,000 this week.

Variety of factors found to boost fuel price in rural Alaska

A study by the University of Alaska Anchorage helps explain why rural Alaska villages are paying exorbitant prices for home heating oil.

Rural electric utilities stricken by fuel prices

Village electric utilities in rural Alaska, panicked over the sky-high cost of fuel arriving on the summer's first barges, are appealing to the state for help.

In rural Alaska, some communities are being pushed to the very edge by high cost of fuel

Last winter, old people in Emmonak sometimes brought six-gallon plastic jugs to the tank farm at 20 below. They would pull the jug home on a sled, carrying enough stove oil to heat their house for the rest of the week.

Leaving the village

The migration of rural Alaskans from village to city has accelerated in the last two years, though the reasons are complex and cannot be easily linked to higher energy costs, a new university study says.

Tanana River flooding prompts evacuations

Ice jams backing up the Tanana River in the Interior this week flooded an area near Manley Hot Springs, forcing the evacuation of at least six people and leaving 21 sled dogs stranded on a barge, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Doing business in rural Alaska can be very risky

To a first-time visitor arriving by floatplane, the Southeast community of Thorne Bay seems more of an idyllic getaway than a former timber capital.

Village rallies around art co-op

On an island 30 miles off Alaska's southwest coast, skilled hands create traditional Native artwork that travels the globe -- as far away as Hong Kong and Germany.

Setbacks generate success stories

The Yukon River village of Galena has had its share of drama. This year, it's all bad news: The Air Force station is closing for good in September. Fuel prices are astronomical, and some people are leaving the village.

Currency bypasses the Bush

At the general store in Noorvik, an Inupiaq village on the banks of the Kobuk River, Pauline Morris and her customers are on a constant quest for dollars and coins.

Fort Yukon toddler killed by dog

A toddler was killed in Fort Yukon this week when he wandered into a neighbor's yard and was attacked by a chained dog, according to village police.

King Cove land swap bill moves forward

WASHINGTON -- The community of King Cove had a small victory Wednesday in its campaign to get a road to an airport built across a wilderness area, but the triumph might be short-lived.

You want tongue-tied? Try some Alaska names

Who lost it on Lost Temper Creek? What horror befell the village of Eek? Does it have anything to do with another town being Chicken?

State to inventory potential energy sources

The dependence of much of rural Alaska on diesel fuel for heating and lighting coupled with the escalating price of oil-based fuels is causing a major economic crisis in many communities. To help address this problem, Alaska's Division of Geological and Geophysical Services is embarking on an exercise to identify and catalog Alaska's energy resources.

Sitka school is taking on an elite shine

Mt. Edgecumbe, a state-run boarding school with a long Alaska history, is getting high marks from recent graduates, re-affirming a reputation as a premier education option for kids who live in the Bush, a new study found.

Respiratory infections in Bush raise alarm

Rural Alaska Natives in homes without running water experience far higher rates of pneumonia and other serious lower respiratory tract infections than do Natives in homes where water is readily available for bathing and hand-washing, according to a new study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Project to help Natives over language barrier

For years, Alaska Native language speakers have relied on family and friends to help them with bureaucratic red tape, medical appointments, voting and even just getting a driver's license.