Where in the World is Dennis Zaki? – Part II
18 01 2009Just threw out an email to Dennis Zaki of The Alaska Report, hoping he wasn’t still in Anchorage waiting for the Bethel airport to open. I just got a response back. Dennis is in Bethel, and just getting settled in! He arrived right before they closed the airport again.
He’s got a couple interviews lined up for tomorrow, and reports the following:
Just left the Bethel grocery store.Milk – $9.89 a gallon.A gallon of liquid Tide – $29.79.16oz bottle of Mug rootbeer – $2.65Subway foot long $10.89Bland hotel room for one tired traveller – $168.
Heading out to bush Alaska to cover this breaking story and bring it to the national media? Priceless.
I’ll bring you more news as I know it.
Meanwhile, you can leave your messages for Dennis in the comments section.
January 19th, 2009 at 7:46 AM
Go Dennis! I am so happy to see something so constructive being done, and to have even been a very small part of it.
What an amazing thing you are doing on this day of service!
January 19th, 2009 at 7:50 AM
What I’d like to know is how many of these stores are owned and operated by the native people?
January 19th, 2009 at 7:56 AM
Carmen n’ha LydiaNo Gravatar (07:50:46) :
What I’d like to know is how many of these stores are owned and operated by the native people?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don’t think this particular one is, I believe someone said it was owned by a Canadian co.?
It would be nice to get a Native trading post or co-op going to make prices more competitive for the people living in these villages.
January 19th, 2009 at 7:56 AM
Why isn’t the Alaskan Federation of Natives involved in this, or was it brought up at their meeting in Anchorage last Oct. they represent 178 villages and 13 native corporations, maybe they should be helping their people??? Do these people get foodstamps or welfare? I was born and raised in Alaska and yes the prices are HIGH. The prices in Fairbanks , on a lot of the groceries are double what I pay here in Washington. When I retired we had to move, couldn’t afford to live there with the prices of gas, electricity, fuel and groceries, I was visiting when the pfd and energy checks came out, you couldn”t get in the parking lots, they were so crowed, people buying big screen tvs and filling baskets with junk from China, it was crazy!! FREE MONEY, how many people thought about groceries or heat at that time? but they will get another check this yr and probably do it all over again. I am not talking about just natives either. Hope the the donations help, but something needs to be done for the future of these people, most can not move, where will they live( most own there homes in the villages) and work? and where will they get the money to move whole familys? Sarah–where are you??
January 19th, 2009 at 7:59 AM
Also on that note, I’m sure if Gov. Grifter really cared about the Native people and had filled that position that sits empty, that they (who ever) was picked could start working on such a project, however Gov. grifter does not care, (wink, wink!) She’s gotta fix her lipstick, she gonna be on glen beck tonight, you betcha!
January 19th, 2009 at 8:32 AM
Sorry for my first comment, I posted it before reading even one third of what’s on this thread. I now know how ignorant my question is. One thing did occur to me, though: seems that the one supplier who posted here is revelling in how his/her kids are so diversity savvy, and mentions that her/his kid now in college in San Francisco (did I get this right?) is so hip to diversity she never even mentioned that the new much-liked roommate was African/American… and what occured to me was that at least this kid’s parents could afford to send her to college, based on what they made supplying the rest of the locals… and then I wondered how many of the other local kids could afford to go to college…
I don’t mean to disparage free enterprise in the hinterlands, but I’m just sayin’…
January 19th, 2009 at 9:05 AM
If anyone is still on this thread, I sent an email to the contact (you can’t send on on the site), so I’ll post if/when I get an answer-
January 19th, 2009 at 9:06 AM
oops. Forgot the link to where I went- need more coffee.
http://fairbanks-alaska.com/alaska-native-corporations.htm
January 19th, 2009 at 9:45 AM
$2.25 for a Gallon of milk at wally mart (Weatherford, Texas about 30 miles west of Fort Worth) last week and $2.47 for a 1/2 Gallon of the same stuff! Go figure!
It does not make a whole lotta sense to me, but I’ve been told and I usually believe that there is a good reason why a gallon of something will sometimes cost less than a 1/2 gallon of the same product.
I do not remember the last time I saw milk at $2.25 a gallon and the expiration date was about 10 days forward.
Milk around here is usually in the $3.00 to $3.50 range.
You mean to tell me that the Mat-su Dairy up there can’t turn a profit with milk in the $10.00 per gallon range?
With milk at $10.00 a gallon, I’m surprised they can keep there cows from being stolen!
Rumor has it that bush and chenney are trying to get blackwater a deal to go up there and protect the cows because the way things are going it won’t be long before milk is more valuable than oil !!
January 19th, 2009 at 9:58 AM
Questions engendered by Terry Gross’s interview with John Lewis about “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, AL.
[Please excuse the vast areas of ignorance about the situation that I may
be exposing....but here goes:]
WHEN A STATE GOVERNMENT CANNOT PROTECT ITS’ CITIZENS, THE LARGER
POLITY MUST STEP IN.
Could Senators Begich or Murkowski ask for federal attention?
Can’t PRESIDENT [halliluia] OBAMA declare it a national disaster emergency?
Nationalize the National Guard to do what it is supposed to do.
Isn’t there some federal land involved? Over which BLM or BIA would have jurisdiction?
[Most governors are eager to declare emergencies to get the federal money, though I understand there may be issues her blaminess may not want to do that.]
Just wondering…and worrying…and sending reiki energy…
January 19th, 2009 at 10:00 AM
I’m just going to throw these numbers out there:
$3900 PFD ($2700) + energy assist ($1200)
-$1200 taxes (approx 30%)
= $2700 (which means that the energy assist or whatever it was called was essentially swallowed by taxes)
$2700 to last the 6-9 months between freeze/thaw, to be used for oil/food/etc
As you can see from the numbers given, it wouldn’t last long.
I don’t begrudge these people an ipod or dvd player or computer to keep themselves entertained. I’d go crazy w/out ours….
January 19th, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Carmen n’ha Lydia, not to criticize your criticism, but I got the sense from CRFlats in the explanation to Irishgirl that “the school” was what was being described, not just CRFlats’ kids.
….And that the schoolkids in general (and of course, we should accept that might not mean ALL the kids, just like down here in lower-48 HSs) were independent enough and educated enough to do all those things and get good grades too, in preparation to go to college.
But then again, I have a generally charitable and generous outlook on life and other people…
January 19th, 2009 at 10:27 AM
OT: Thank you Mr Bush. He pardoned the 2 border guards. (announced by CNN just moments ago)
January 19th, 2009 at 11:33 AM
-take those numbers and multiply them be each member in the family, children get the checks too. Very few people living in the villages have year around jobs so they don’t pay that much in taxes, I think TV is still provided by the state free. I think warm clothes, groceries and fuel come before i-pods etc. just saying. I think the native corporations should have co-op stores in each village to benefit the people belonging to those corporations, I dought if the northern commercial co. is taking advantage, they have been around for probably 50 yrs and they have to pay for heat, electricity, freight and workers to keep these stores open. If you live in an outlying area you need to be self-sufficient , your life depends on it. It fine to help them out when they are in a crisis but what about the future. Sarah– were are you????
January 19th, 2009 at 12:04 PM
Multiply $2700? Why? The point is that an extra $2700 for each person, to last an entire year, is not much money when costs are that high. Who in the world lives off of less than $3000 for an entire year. Exactly how far is a person to be expected to stretch that money with those kinds of costs for basic staples? Every little bit helps, and I hope that they are spending the money wisely, not on big screen televisions, but honestly so many people judging them, talking smack about “everyone” buying big screen televisions, and other stuff at Costco or Best Buy, and completely missing the real point(s) here.
The real point(s): Weather, fishing season & high fuel costs combined to make this an unusually difficult year. Basic staple costs are high out there. Conditions are horrific. Families are struggling. They asked the governor to do something and she didn’t.
January 19th, 2009 at 12:04 PM
Darn the spam filters and as well as wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Some things aren’t worth wasting words over.
January 19th, 2009 at 12:08 PM
@ former Alaskan: The Alaska Federation of Natives held the convention in Anchorage this year and about 5000 natives from Anchorage area and all over the state attended. The theme over and over was about the energy crises in the villages. The role of AFN is one of advocacy, it does not have money of it’s own. It is supported by donations and direct membership dues provided by Native Corps and others. It is a phenomenally run and effective organization. The convention is in October every year, and last year, and the year before that, the discussions were also largely about energy and high costs.
However, the state government has turned a deaf ear, and continue to claim “this is the first we have heard of this”.
The advocacy is much more effective in DC than in Juneau. The major infrastructure improvements in the bush can be traced to the Feds, not to the state of Alaska.
January 19th, 2009 at 12:15 PM
Anyone who wants to learn more about Alaska and Alaska Natives, there is a Suggested Reading thread in the Forum under Alaska Lodge. I will add some links for web sites of organizations that are run by Natives. There are some very fantastic organizations in this state that are conceived and operated by Alaska Natives. They include The Alaska Federation of Natives, First Alaskans Institute, The South Central Foundation (runs the largest hospital and clinics for natives), and many more.
Start here: http://www.nativefederation.org
January 19th, 2009 at 12:26 PM
Not sure if it’s in the suggested reading thread, but have to put a plug in for a book written by a wonderful family acquaintance, “Growing Up Native”
http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Up-Native-Alaska-McClanahan/dp/1578331145/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232399335&sr=1-1
January 19th, 2009 at 12:43 PM
SMR- I understand your point, yes it is a bad year for the people living in the villages,its a bad yr for a lot of people in the United States and I have no problem with helping the villages out. Every adult and child in Alaska received$2069.00 pfd check and an energy check $1200.00. If they do not have a job they can receive food stamps and welfare also. That is $3269.00 each, I do not expect them to live on that alone, a family of 5 would get 16,000.00 and I did not say “everyone” was buying big screen tv’s. I was at Fred Meyers and Walmart, don”t but words in my mouth. I lived in Alaska and know what its like, even people in places like Fairbanks are having trouble paying fuel and electric. I just think something needs to be done in the long run to prevent this from happening again.
January 19th, 2009 at 1:17 PM
@former alaskan –
I wasn’t speaking to you or about you, actually, which is why I didn’t put your name or comments in my comment. This topic has been discussed over the past several days on several threads, on other blogs, other news sites (ADN), and a common theme is that the PFD & energy money should have been sufficient to address the problems that rural citizens are facing.
I think everyone here at the ‘flats honors the fact that people do not always agree, the main thing is that we all hope that dissenting opinions are given respectfully & constructively, which yours were — so really, my comment was a general response to the plethora of similar statements that seem to consider the PFD & extra $1200 to be enough to have allowed these families to get through this. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, I’m not out there, and don’t have any clear idea of what the real numbers are for heat + food + other essentials. Seems to me that a single trip, for emergency or family matters or whatever, could eat up that money more or less instantaneously. I hope that Dennis Z will shed some light on this. And I hope that conversation about this on blogs such as this one will bring greater understanding, and a lot of that comes when there are opposing views and so people must be clearer about their circumstances, experiences & thoughts.
I could write a long time about this, but will try to be brief here –
1) Though I was born & raised in AK, I’ve just moved back, so did not get a PFD or anything else, have not for many years, and will not do so in the future because we are in the process of moving away again.
2) I have long wished that the PFD would go away and that income tax would be instated here. We were here pre-PFD and did just fine without it. There are a lot of things that I don’t like about it. I was particularly against the extra $1200 this year because I believe that the money would have been better spent in investment in long-term solutions to the energy issues. Had the PFD funds been spent on these sorts of things we might not be having these discussions now, as there may have been things long since in place to address the problems.
3) I don’t think there is any amount of money, whether it’s received from caring people, welfare, food stamps, PFDs, etc, that addresses the real issues here as I put them above. Very basic fact that conditions are horrible, costs are high, Gov not doing anything to prevent a crisis or to address the crisis that could have been prevented to a certain extent.
I like to think that we’ve had Gov’s in the past that would have handled this situation better than the really crap one that we have now, but to be honest, rural Alaskan needs have long been at the bottom of the list for our Alaskan governors. That needs to change NOW. Long-term solutions need to be put in place, and that $1200 that was handed out to everyone could have gone a long way toward doing so. And it would have been nice if it could have happened BEFORE our Gov decided to pi$$ away $500 million on her pipeline to nowhere, while oil prices were high, and much much more…
January 19th, 2009 at 1:51 PM
@CRFLATS:
Just a suggestion. (knowing you don’t have money – but maybe have people resources). Is there the possibility of something on the order of a “food bank” that could handle packages, and distribute to people who need?
Flat rate U.S. Postal Service is just that. Weight doesn’t matter. If it fits in the box, it ships for the flat rate of about $10. Anything non-hazardous, non-breakable, and non-flammable is what they will ship.
I’m going to put some things together for the Project Director at Nunam Iqua, who posted here, and gave her address, and get it in the mail. According to her. They do get mail – albeit infrequent.
You always know it isn’t enough, and wish it could be more.
January 19th, 2009 at 2:05 PM
if one is familiar with the costs of what one is used to in say ‘the lower 48′ the prices in Greenland, Nunavit (aka Northwest Territories) or anywhere else in the Arctic for the ‘necessities’ of life in, say, Atlanta are vastly higher due to the costs of shipping and the relatively sparse settlement patterns.
And in both these cases which I am personally familiar with there is a huge government subsidy involved anyway. It is simply not a sustainable population in a ‘free market’ society… its hard enough in the semi-socialist examples cited. [cf. my earlier post]
January 19th, 2009 at 2:07 PM
SMR I lived in Alaska without the PFD and with the PFD, some people saved it for their children ed. etc. , but most pi$$ed it away. I totally agree with you about the energy check. and the pipeline to now-where. Just think how things could be if the PFDs and the energy money was put into infrastructure, energy and helping all of the people of Alaska all of these years, we would not be having this conversation right now about Alaskans needing fuel and food. I think it is up to Alaskans to handle the situation with their crap gov. ALL i CAN SAY IS GOOD LUCK WITH THAT ONE…when this is all over she will come out smelling like a rose, AGAIN, it will be everyone’s fault but her’s.
January 19th, 2009 at 2:39 PM
people are asking about local coordination of these efforts. I would suggest the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP). It is the non-profit, service provider for that region of the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta. They provide social services and a host of other services to the native villages. they have all of the local expertise and knowledge that is available for that region. they are located in Bethel. Myron Naneng is the president. He is a native guy from one of the villages. A good guy.
January 19th, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Miemaw: Good recommendation for the USPS flat rate boxes. Don’t know why I forgot that-we use it all the time.
Ex-Alaskan: AVCP and Myron were on the teleconference with the Lt.Gov & Commissioners. Check out the new thread posted by AKM. We are getting some traction, but will have to keep up a steady pressure.
January 19th, 2009 at 3:41 PM
@CRFlats, Thank you.
January 19th, 2009 at 3:43 PM
I can’t wait for tomorrow…..Keep that in mind everyone…new day!
January 20th, 2009 at 1:05 AM
“I lived in Alaska without the PFD and with the PFD, some people saved it for their children ed. etc. , but most pi$$ed it away.”
That’s why, dare I say it, more ‘enlightened’ governments with unexpected oil revenues… Norway comes first to mind as it shares with AK a long coastline with thin infrastructure, a ‘native’ (Sami) population ‘up north’ etc… all the standard excuses for AK… but Norway has invested its equivalent of PFD funds not as a bunch of yahoos blowing their heritage on snowmobiles, underinsulated Macshacks, and AHHH… the latest wall-to-wall TV [not to mention an ‘investment’ with SWWNBN’s sister-almost-in-law.
Little sympathy for such a dysfunctional ‘big-AK-family’ from here. This is what government is for, not private bleeding heart ‘charity’.
QED