Villages

On Sep. 12, a residential home fire killed an elderly woman in the Western village of Alakanuk, according to the Alaska State Troopers. The fire occurred around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday and trapped an 88-year-old woman when the blaze engulfed the exit doorway. Troopers said she suffered severe burns when she tried to escape and was medevac'd to Bethel. She succumbed to her injuries around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. A Deputy Fire Marshal with the State Fire Marshal's Office has been dispatched to the village to investigate the fire.

by Christine Kim and Rebecca Palsha Wednesday, March 10, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Candice Berner was a young woman with a passion for the outdoors, running, and the children who lived in villages along the Alaska Peninsula, her friends and colleagues said Wednesday. Berner, an itinerant teacher in southwest Alaska, was found dead Monday near a gravel road in Chignik Lake. Villagers say they believe a wolf attacked her. As several communities wait to confirm what exactly caused her death, they're sure of one thing: Berner spent her life touching many little lives.

An elderly woman from Homer was killed in vehicle collision in Voznesenka village on Sunday morning, according to Alaska State Troopers. 94-year-old Agafia Polushkin of Homer was pronounced dead as a result of injuries from a two vehicle crash that happened at 8:03 a.m. near mile 22 of East End Road. Troopers said 23-year-old Peter Basargin of Homer was driving up a steep hill in a 2005 F-150 pickup and lost traction and slid downhill. 45-year-old Cornily Reutov of Homer was driving a 2003 Honda Pilot behind Basargin's truck with Polushkin and another passenger.

by Ted Land Thursday, May 27, 2010 TANACROSS, Alaska -- The Alaska Highway has been re-opened after being closed multiple times due to the wildfire burning near Tanacross. Residents of the Interior village near Tok have evacuated as the fire continues to threaten their homes. The weather has been extremely hot and dry, and now the state is calling for extra help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, hoping to add to the more than 200 firefighters on the Eagle Trail Fire, which has already burned more than 2,000 acres 12 miles west of Tok. It was about a half-mile away from Tanacross at last report, putting about 50 homes in jeopardy.

by The Associated Press Friday, May 21, 2010 NAPASKIAK, Alaska -- Authorities say a 3-year-old girl has been killed by a dog in the village of Napaskiak in southwest Alaska. Alaska State Troopers say Krystal Brink wandered into a dog yard Thursday night and was mauled. "She was out playing with a group of kids," said troopers spokesperson Beth Ipsen. "And they're just a group of kids out playing like normal kids do, and they were called in about 5:00 -- all the kids came in and she was missing, so everybody went out looking for her. About an hour later she was found in the dog yard.

That phrase, "It takes a village,"  takes on a whole new meaning if the whole village has to move. But state and federal agencies who have been tracking erosion and the warming climate in the  Southwest Alaska community of Newtok say it has best ten or fifteen years before it collapses into the Ninglick River. The tribe doesn't want its people to be parceled out to other communities. In the two final installments of  "Newtok:  Village on the Edge," KTUU reporter Rhonda McBride and photographer Eric Sowl look at why it's so important for the people of Newtok to remain together.  And they take you to Mertarvik, which literally in Yup'ik means "getting water from the spring.

Alaska State Troopers said a Mountain Village man died in a rollover crash early Thursday morning. According to Troopers, 21-year-old Keith Delarosa was driving a Ford F-150 pickup on Airport Road in Mountain Village when the truck drove off the road and rolled several times. Troopers said Delarosa was thrown from the driver's side window and died instantly. 22-year-old Kevin Thompson was in the passenger seat and suffered minor injuries. Troopers said neither of the men were wearing seatbelts, and alcohol and the speed of the truck appear to be major factors in the crash.

by Rebecca Palsha Thursday, March 11, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A memorial service was held Thursday night for an itinerant teacher most likely killed by wolves. An autopsy conducted Thursday shows that wolves likely killed 32-year-old Candice Berner in the southwest Alaska village of Chignik Lake, according to the Alaska State Troopers. Village residents found Berner's body a short distance from town on Monday. Multiple injuries due to animal mauling caused Berner's death, trooper Col. Audie Holloway said, referencing a report from the state medical examiner's office.

A former president of the Alaska Native village of Tatitlek was arrested Wednesday for allegedly misappropriating more than $200,000 of village funds for personal use by herself and her brother. According to U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler's office, a grand jury named Anchorage woman 45-year-old Lori Clum -- known as Lori “Sue” Johnson before her marriage -- in three counts of a four-count Thursday indictment for theft from an Indian tribal organization. Clum's brother, 47-year-old James Kramer of Valdez, was named in the indictment's fourth count.