Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 25
The 31st Alaska State Legislature gaveled in on Jan. 15 with many new faces and a host of old challenges. The Senate quickly elected Sen. Cathy Giessel (R-Anch.) as Senate President, with a 14-6 Republican majority caucus (one Democrat caucuses with the Republicans). On the House side, as of this writing, there is no chosen leadership. Despite having a Republican majority, the House does not follow party lines so clearly. There is a Speaker Pro Tem, Rep. Neal Foster (D-Nome) until the House is able to achieve either a 21-19 majority caucus, or...
AARP Alaska, Older Persons Action Group and the Anchorage Senior Activity Center continues its series of “Age Smart – Let’s Talk” forums on Feb. 12, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Anchorage Senior Activity Center. The February topic is “How Does Intimacy Change with Age?” Intimacy isn’t something we talk much about, yet it is something that we need throughout our lives. This session will examine the ways the need and the capacity for intimacy changes as we age. Is it sex? Is it a very close friend or soul mate? Is it physical, emotional or...
At its January meeting, the Older Persons Action Group, Inc., board of directors accepted John “Jack” T. Pauli onto the board. A long-time Alaska resident, John’s professional background includes 27 years’ active duty in the military, retiring as a colonel. He coordinated and supervised the overall operations of the U.S. Army Public Affairs Office at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. He then worked as director of two workplace-learning operations, including training on computers and speaking and writing in the workplace, and also instruc...
"Did all these cookbooks come from one collection?" I inquired of the lady behind the desk. Several rolling carts filled with books spilled out of the small room labeled "Friends of the Library Used Book Sale". I was visiting the community college library in Fort Collins, Colorado, where my daughter lives. "Yes," the clerk replied. She explained that a woman had died and her husband had donated her cookbook collection to the library...twenty-three boxes worth. I had already browsed enough to...
In elementary school, my day started with getting breakfast from the cafeteria window, where I got to choose a cereal box along with a small carton of milk from our cafeteria lady, Angie. She had short curly silver hair and always happily provided us our breakfast, along with a great smile. For lunch, I lined up with the rest of my classmates to get lunch from Angie, too. Each of us carried a small envelope with our names on it. I didn't realize, though, that my envelope was different from the...
Alaska Health Fair’s Spring 2019 health fair season is starting, so check out their earliest fairs, listed below. Make it to one of the spring events in your local community before the end of the season and you’ll find a variety of resources to help meet your family’s health needs and take time to enjoy some great community gatherings. These events offer great rewards for your highly prized and limited free time, with free health screenings, health and safety education, plus many affordable blood tests and other services. These tests can help...
Dear Savvy Senior: What are the warning signs for glaucoma? My 65-year-old brother lost some of his vision because of it but never had a clue anything was wrong. Could I be at risk too? - Concerned Sister Dear Concerned: It’s called the “silent thief of sight” for a reason. With no early warning signs or pain, most people that have glaucoma don’t realize it until their vision begins to deteriorate. Here’s what you should know. Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can damage the optic nerve and cause vision loss and blindness if it’s not...
While slipping on ice may be a common affair during the slick, wintry months of the new year, falls are the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in Alaska, according to the Alaska Brain Injury Network (ABIN). “Falls that result in a TBI occur across all age groups, but we definitely see a lot of this in the older population,” said Julie Davies, resource coordinator and executive director of ABIN. “With the ice and weather, a lot of people slip and fall, banging their head. Most think that if you don’t lose consciousness, you don’t n...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in February. This month’s training features part two of a DVD presentation with Teepa Snow, “Progression of Dementia: Seeing Gems, Not Loss.” Teepa Snow explains the appropriate levels of care needed during different stages of dementia, which types of behaviors to expect, appropriate activity and much more. Feb. 5, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. Feb. 12, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m....
There is some good news in the fight against heart disease. In the last decade, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is down almost 30 percent. Through intense efforts at educating the public, agencies like the American Heart Association with programs like Go Red for Women, have made great strides in spreading the word. Studies show that this education is effective in actually reducing the incidence of heart disease. Even so, certain segments of the population are not getting the message. Heart disease remains an enormous problem for women in general,...
Dancing your way to a better life Grab your dancing shoes and put them on daily. A new study published in The Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports examined the potential effects of 16 different exercise types for reducing disability for activities of daily living (ADL) in older women and found that dancing may be just the right ticket. The prospective study enrolled 1,003 women without ADL disability. All participants were asked in person whether they performed any of 16...
The American Legion was chartered and incorporated by Congress in 1919, as a patriotic veterans’ organization devoted to mutual helpfulness. It is the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization, committed to mentoring youth and sponsorship of wholesome programs in our communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security, and continued devotion to our fellow service members and veterans. Hundreds of local American Legion programs and activities strengthen the nation one community at a time. American Leg...
Editor's note: Some of the times and dates for the Black History Month events changed after our print deadline and have been updated in this online version of the story, below. This month, nine Alaskan African Americans and members of the Black Corps of Engineers will be saluted as Trailblazers by the Shiloh Community Development, Inc.'s Media Justice Project. This recognition is for achievements and contributions to the state over the last 75 years that are not often found in history books,...
The Alaska Commission on Aging (ACoA) will meet Feb. 11-13, in Juneau for their quarterly board meeting. The meeting will also include visits with legislators and their staff to provide information on topics related to the Alaska senior population and the programs that serve them. The commission’s meeting is open to the public both in person and via teleconference at group teleconference sites including the Anchorage Senior Activity Center, Ketchikan Pioneer Home, Mat-Su Senior Services, Soldotna Senior Center, Chugiak-Eagle River Senior Center...
Keep track of senior-related bills, budget decisions and other issues by attending or listening in to the Alaska Commission on Aging Legislative Teleconferences. Hosted by local agencies statewide, and available by toll-free call-in, the teleconferences provide a convenient forum for seniors and advocates across Alaska to share information about issues and specific bills of concern, including Medicaid, state budget and funding, senior assistance, retirement, Pioneer Homes and more. Teleconferences are scheduled 9:30 to 11 a.m. every other...
Between 1912 and 1915, a number of single, unattached men mysteriously disappeared in Southeast Alaska. The few law enforcement officials in the territory were baffled, but a suspect finally emerged in the fall of 1915. A Petersburg man named Edward Krause, who'd run for the Territorial Legislature as a Socialist Party candidate in 1912, represented himself as a U.S. Marshall to officials at the Treadwell Mine in Douglas in mid-September. Krause told the bosses that he had a court summons for...
India Adams and Annette Warren have a lot in common. Both now in their nineties, their career paths merged in the 50s when the pair were hired by studios to dub the singing voices of actresses as so-called 'ghost singers.' Adams sang for Joan Crawford and Cyd Charisse in films such as "The Band Wagon," "Torch Song," and "Johnny Guitar," while it's Warren's voice heard for Ava Gardner in MGM's musical "Show Boat" as well as Lucille Ball in several movies. "I was appearing at a club and someone...
February marks the opening of Tax-Aide sites around Alaska. The AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program is designed to prepare basic tax returns and anyone can use the service regardless of age or income. Sites are staffed by volunteers who are trained and certified by Internal Revenue Service and AARP Foundation instructors to prepare basic tax returns. By using AARP Foundation Tax-Aide, these taxpayers also avoid tax preparation fees and pitches for high-interest tax credit or refund loans. And the service is free. Find a nearby Tax-Aide site by vis...
Staff from Alaska’s Social Security office will be available for questions via videoconferencing at the following locations and times in February: Kodiak Job Center, on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month (Feb. 12 and 26), 9 a.m. to noon. Kenai Senior Center, on the first and third Wednesday of each month (Feb. 6 and 20), 9 a.m. to noon. Ketchikan Job Center, every Thursday (Feb. 7, 14, 21 and 28), noon to 3 p.m. Social Security provides toll-free telephone service to all of Alaska. Residents in Alaska’s Southeast communities can cal...
Interested in learning more about businesses and agencies providing senior services in the Anchorage and Mat-Su area? Want to get the word out about your own service? The monthly Service Providers Breakfast (formally known as the Interagency Breakfast), sponsored by Older Persons Action Group, is an opportunity for all the above. Informal, early and free, with breakfast provided. The February meeting is Feb. 13, hosted by Nila Morgan, Medicare specialist at the Anchorage Senior Activity Center. Begins at 8 a.m. RSVP by calling Older Persons...
Very few people have to worry about estate taxes any more. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, only estates worth more than $11.4 million are subject to estate tax. However even fairly small estates can be subject to income tax. Most inherited assets do not count as income. If I inherit a house worth $400,000, I do not have $400,000 worth of income. I just get the house, tax-free. But if I inherit an IRA worth $400,000, I might very well have that much income. And that is because an IRA is...
Q. My incoming callerID information seems less accurate lately. It works fine for numbers I already recognize, but most everything else is inaccurate. A. As someone who still receives far too many unwanted telephone calls, I feel your pain. A popular new technique by scammers and robo-callers called “neighbor spoofing” could be to blame. When someone uses a neighbor spoof attack, they display a fictional number that indicates the call is from your area code and local exchange. The technique assumes the victim is more likely to answer a fam...
Alaskans will find much familiar in Vancouver. On the shores of the Pacific Ocean, with a backdrop of the North Shore Mountains, the tail end of the Coast Mountains, it could almost be Anchorage or Juneau. But there's a difference. Home to close to 640,000 people, it's near the population count of 739,000 of all Alaska. But think of it – that means in the 1,111 square miles of the city you're among the number of people that inhabit Alaska's 663,300 square miles. Tight squeeze. Cosmopolitan w...
"A traveler am I, and a navigator, and every day I discover a new region within my soul." ~ Kahlil Gibran There's a new trend afoot, encouraging the exploration of religious, philosophical, and morally-significant destinations around the world. Known as "spiritual travel," it's an effort to combine vacation with pilgrimage, for lack of a better term, and reach a demographic of people interested in history, culture and spiritual affiliation beyond the boundaries of home. And it's booming. I'm in...
Perhaps I have been reading too much Sherlock Holmes (again!), but I couldn't resist thinking about this article as "The Case of the Ignorant Caregiver." It could also be titled "How I Discovered Access Alaska," a wonderful non-profit with several offices around the state. Here's what happened. A few years ago my wife, Christy, was told that she would eventually need surgery to correct several problems affecting her right foot. That day finally arrived and she had surgery mid-December, 2018....
