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Alaska’s current case count As of April 1 at 3 p.m., Alaska had 10 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of affected citizens statewide to 143. There are nine individuals hospitalized, no new deaths, with 5,000-plus coronavirus tests administered. Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s chief medical officer, also relayed information that test kits are being sent to rural communities, and health aides are in the process of training to enable them to administer tests to residents of villages. The State of Alaska’s COVID-19 page on the Depar...
By now, every home in the United States should have received an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census, our once-in-a-decade opportunity to ensure that our communities are counted. Census results help determine how billions of dollars in federal funding flow into states and communities each year, and the results determine how many seats in Congress each state gets. To ensure that diverse elders, their families, and their caregivers are given the community support and representation that they deserve, the Diverse Elders Coalition is...
Where were you when the pandemic came to Alaska? Future generations will demand an answer from each of us. Did we change our habits to protect the vulnerable? Did we make sure our elderly neighbors had everything they needed? Long after the virus disappears from the public consciousness, these are the questions we’ll be left to grapple with. For so many, we look to government to provide services during a crisis. We forget, as Franklin Roosevelt once said, that “government is ourselves.” It’s understandable. Few have experienced an event o...
Editor’s note: This press release was received on March 30, 2020. The Salvation Army, the nation’s largest social services organization with more than 7,600 service locations across the country, is increasing efforts to meet human need. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the organization has evolved service delivery to ensure that immediate needs of community members, first responders, and government partners are met. With an expected spike in requests over the coming weeks, months, and potentially years, ongoing public support will be...
Thousands of Anchorage area seniors, youngsters and others need help from voters in this spring’s municipal election. Voting begins after ballots go in the mail on March 17 and ends on April 7 when the polls close. I ask voters in the Municipality of Anchorage to mark their ballots YES, for Proposition 7. At stake in Proposition 7 is $5,375,000 in much-needed funding for projects at the Anchorage Senior Activity Center, the Chugiak-Eagle River Senior Center, Loussac and Mountain View Libraries, and various municipal facilities, including W...
Despite a genuine consensus that something must be done, Congressional efforts to rein in drug prices remain stalled and more than likely dead until after the November elections. Even with rhetoric rising on how important controlling drug prices is and added pressure due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), nothing is likely to get done as lawmakers are split on fundamental issues of how to solve the problem. Even President Donald Trump’s support for bipartisan Senate drug-pricing legislation doesn’t appear to be motivating Senate Majority Lea...
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a “pandemic” – the worldwide spread of a new disease. That same day Governor Mike Dunleavy issued a declaration of public health disaster emergency in response to the anticipated outbreak of COVID-19 (the disease caused by a particular coronavirus). Two days later President Trump declared a national emergency. Our daily lives are likely to change rather dramatically in the coming months. This is especially true for older persons who are hit harder by COVID...
Providing essential services for individuals affected with developmental disabilities is challenging even in the best of circumstances. As the nation deals with a COVID-19 pandemic, the way direct services are presented to clients is likely to shift, both in scope and availability. The Alaska Training Cooperative (https://aktclms.org/), an online resource for training and educational opportunities within the state, is geared toward providers who serve beneficiaries of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority. Administered under the University...
The number of diagnosed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has topped 125,000 globally as I write this article. Countries are closing their borders, travel restriction bans into the U.S. are going into effect, and sports leagues have suspended their seasons in an effort to slow the spread of this virus. Some states, such as Alaska have declared a public health emergency status, schools are extending their spring break, some colleges are moving to online classes, and many much anticipated confer...
Alaska Health Fair, Inc. has canceled all April Health Fairs due to the current health crisis, following state and national guidance and mandates. We will assess Alaska’s health condition on an ongoing basis and make announcements in late April related to the holding of any May events. Please check www.alaskahealthfair.org for Alaska Health Fair event updates, newsletters and announcements, plus our COVID-19 status updates. We hope to quickly return to offering office blood draw appointments in both our Anchorage and Fairbanks offices, once s...
Dear Savvy Senior: Do kidney problems run in families? My mother died from kidney failure 10 years ago at age 74 but didn’t know she had a kidney problem until it was too late. - Just Turned 60 Dear 60: Anyone who has a family history of kidney disease, or who has high blood pressure or diabetes is at increased risk and needs to have their kidneys tested. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, around 37 million U.S adults have chronic kidney disease (when the kidneys can’t properly do their job of cleaning toxins and wastes...
We are all learning to navigate these challenging, unprecedented times. While our care looks different these days, Hospice of Anchorage is still able to serve patients and families in our community with compassionate hospice and palliative care. And while that is our organization’s focus, we also know that as a community, we must take care of our children, parents, brothers and sisters. Maintaining a healthy community is everyone’s common objective as we work through the crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Please be assured that we...
Southeast Alaska Independent Living (SAIL) will conduct its monthly low vision support group meeting via Zoom teleconference on April 21, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Call Linda Newman at 907-209-7555 for the log-in or dial-in information. Also, the Alaska Center for Blind and Visually Impaired is starting a weekly Wednesday call-in meeting to provide support for Alaskans with low vision or blindness. Contact the center for details at 907-248-7770 in Anchorage, or toll-free statewide at 1-800-770-7517. The National Federation of the Blind is offering...
Editor’s note: This schedule may change, due to coronavirus safety measures. Be sure to confirm with the host agency prior to visiting. The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in April. This month’s presentation and discussion will focus on age-related driving issues, as April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. April 7, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. April 14, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. April 21, Caregiver sup...
Protecting yourself from COVID-19 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that the new novel corona virus will be spreading around the country and everyone in Alaska should be as prepared as possible. Anyone who is older than 65 and anyone who is being treated for cancer need to take special precautions. The disease caused by the new coronavirus is called COVID-19. The most common symptoms include fever, cough and breathing difficulties. Although symptoms are very similar to th...
There are many ways to train our bodies to be strong and no shortage of available advice on how to do so. Seeking this advice can quickly get complex given the wide variety of ways to work out and equipment available for purchase. This fitness professional finds it helpful to break down some key exercise concepts into simple descriptions that can be applied to any form of workout. Around 15 years ago, the fitness industry turned its full attention to the concept of functional training— performing exercises that more closely resemble the way w...
If you plan on celebrating National Garlic Day on April 19, remember the old New York Yiddish saying, "A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat." Even a well-known Muslim prophet supposedly once informed his followers: "Whoever has eaten garlic should not approach the mosque." Potent biochemistry Despite its much-maligned odor, garlic is a wonderfully versatile cooking ingredient that has been cultivated for thousands of years. The production of smelly odors is...
Microwaves are one of the 20th century's most useful inventions. In fact, over 90% of American homes have at least one microwave. The basics of using this appliance are widely known, but there are also some important pointers for keeping our foods safe and nutritious when heating with a microwave. Tips for thorough cooking While microwaves heat food and kill bacteria, they don't heat as evenly as a conventional oven. To help your foods cook through, spread them out in a covered dish, adding...
After four years of closure, Mid-Valley Senior Center in Houston is under new ownership and providing meals on a regular schedule, although services are severely curtailed for now due to the coronavirus. In January, Wasilla Area Seniors, Inc. (WASI) finalized a deal to take ownership of the center, along with one of its senior apartment buildings. WASI, which owns and operates the Wasilla Senior Center and several Wasilla senior housing complexes, had already been catering meals on a contractor...
I welcome the sight of springtime sunlight streaming through the south facing windows of my home, but along with that comes noticing dirt on the window glass and a thicker than usual layer of Matanuska Glacier silt on the window sills. Although I no longer live in a log home, this reminds me of the following story I wrote back in 2004. "What do you mean 'washing logs'?" asked the lady at the other end of the phone. I had just mentioned I needed to get back to my project of washing logs. Upon...
Alzheimer’s Resource of Alaska’s largest annual fundraising event is taking a detour of sorts, due to safety precautions surrounding COVID-19. “Amblin’ for Alzheimer’s,” originally scheduled for May 2 at the Anchorage Golf Course, will now be a “virtual campaign,” said Alzheimer’s Resource of Alaska Executive Director Pamela Kelley. “We knew it couldn’t happen in the way it has for the last 15 years, so we’ve changed it from an actual walk to a ‘virtual campaign’ with a social media component that allows people to amble safely where they are...
Two of the state’s largest annual senior-related events, usually held each year in May, have been canceled, with hopes for rescheduling at a later date. Senior Recognition Day, held each year in Fairbanks at the Carlson Center, will not take place as planned on May 7. Fairbanks North Star Borough Parks and Recreation Senior Program coordinator Marya Lewanski told Senior Voice in an email that the event has been postponed, but no new date has been set. Meanwhile, all of the program’s senior activities are canceled until May. For more inf...
Movies about Alaska, mostly based on books by Jack London and Rex Beach, thrilled audiences during the early 1900s. But all motion pictures were filmed outside of Alaska. So when a group of Oregon promoters planning a travelogue and feature film about the territory toured Alaska's towns in 1922, several Anchorage residents decided to go into the filmmaking business themselves. They formed the Alaska Motion Picture Corp. and elected Austin E. "Cap" Lathrop, who owned theaters in Anchorage,...
France Nuyen remains astonished not only by her successful Hollywood career, but by her very survival. Turning 80 last year, Nuyen is still beloved by Star Trek fans for her role of Elaan, the obnoxious princess Captain Kirk attempts to tame in the third season episode "Elaan of Troyius." But her journey to the 60s classic sci-fi series and Hollywood almost never happened. Born in France, she was abandoned by her father and still remembers the harrowing days growing up in her occupied homeland....
Part one of two. Seniors are “investdemics” – it is a characteristic of our age group that we have tried to compile investment portfolios that (fingers crossed) will last us. Some want to leave a legacy to favored charities and descendants, and others want to spend their last dime on their dying day. How do we cope with investing for unknown futures? Goals of investing for seniors include: 1) Setting up our accounts so that we understand how to stay within our acceptable parameters of spending. 2) Keeping a buffer of cash, savings accou...
