Alaskans bemoan sum of yearly check

ANCHORAGE – Yes, you could call it free money.

But that doesn’t mean all Alaskans are happy about the $1,022 dividend checks nearly every resident will receive starting Thursday from the state’s oil wealth fund.

Folks were looking at getting more than twice that amount.

“It’s really putting the hurt on my community,’’ said Joel James, mayor of the tiny Yup’ik Eskimo village of Gambell, which, like many remote communities around the vast state, is plagued by chronic unemployment and astronomical living expenses. “I’m definitely disappointed.’’

Each year, residents get the checks from the Alaska...