BC-US--Eroded Village, 2nd Ld-Writethru,598
22.05.12
Alaska village to vote on school relocation Eds: Expands with details, comments from village administrator, school district official, background. With AP Photos. By RACHEL D'ORO Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Voters in one of Alaska's most storm-eroded coastal villages will decide next week whether to build a new school seven miles away -- a project one local official believes could hasten efforts to relocate the crumbling community.
Janet Mitchell, Kivalina's city administrator, said a yes vote Tuesday also could speed construction of a long-desired road that would provide economic development and better access for subsistence hunters in the Inupiat Eskimo village.
Kivalina is a traditional Inupiat Eskimo community of more than 400 people 625 miles northwest of Anchorage. It is built on an 8-mile barrier reef between the Kivalina River and Chukchi Sea, and is reachable only by boat or plane, and, in winter, also by snowmobile.
Source: WGME