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When Land Office chief Andrew Christensen opened the auction for townsites above Ship Creek on July 10, 1915, bidding became so brisk that prospective lot owners couldn't hold down prices. After sales closed a week later, 655 lots had sold for almost $150,000 (more than $4 million in today's dollars). Christensen claimed the sale had "injected confidence in the people of the town" that soon would become Anchorage. But that confidence may have been tempered somewhat when the residents realized th...
Emmy-nominated actress Cynthia Geary was immediately drawn to her latest character Charley Copeland, a hospice nurse in the compelling new drama series "Going Home." Season one began streaming in June on Pure Flix, a faith and family-friendly media service (see www.pureflix.com). "The death of a loved one is something we will all experience, but I feel like the show sends a positive message in a sad but cathartic way," said Geary from Palm Springs while traveling from her home in Seattle. Set...
Dear Savvy Senior: What types of financial resources are available to help seniors pay for long-term care? My 86-year-old mother will need either an assisted living facility or nursing home care in the near future, but she doesn’t have long-term care insurance and her savings are minimal. - Searching Daughter Dear Searching: The cost of assisted living and nursing home care in the U.S is very expensive. According to the Genworth cost of care survey tool, the national median cost for an assisted living facility today is over $4,600 per month, w...
Dear Savvy Senior: How do I go about selling unwanted burial plots in my hometown cemetery? When my parents died about 25 years ago, my husband (at the time) and I bought two plots near them in the same cemetery. But we’ve gotten divorced since then and have both moved out of state. Besides that, I would like to be cremated instead of buried. - Looking to Sell Dear Looking: Life changes such as relocating, family disputes and divorce, along with the growing popularity of cremation in the U.S., is causing more and more people to sell p...
In a corner of my office is an old Underwood typewriter. It was built sometime around the 1920s, it weighs a ton, and there is no electricity involved in its operation. The keys still work, but if I used it the ribbon would tear. Why is it there? Because it was from the law office of Howard Kirk, my grandfather. Having the typewriter there is a useful reminder, for me, of my family heritage in the practice of law. But it also serves another function. On those days when the computer is driving...
Q. Is it possible to block a website from view? A. Yes, but like so many questions, the how-to part of the answer begins with “it depends.” There are many different apps that filter website content. They use various methods behind the scenes and sometimes provide unexpected results. The different methods include apps that block specific sites and apps that filter certain types of content. For example, in one case you may only see a “page not available” message, in another case you might be forwarded to a different page. Other utilities can rew...
Editor’s note: This press statement was received June 9, 2022. Congressman Peter DeFazio and Senator Bernie Sanders today introduced joint legislation, the Social Security Expansion Act (SSEA), to strengthen and expand Social Security for current and future generations. “As a trained gerontologist, I have devoted my career to protecting and expanding programs that are vital to seniors. One of my highest priorities is protecting Social Security, which millions of Americans rely on, including hundreds of thousands of Oregonians” said Rep. DeFaz...
Q: Due to a change in my health and physical capabilities, I moved to assisted living away from close friends. I’m not happy about this new situation. I feel lost and alone. A: Starting a new phase of life can be stressful. I understand and empathize. Coping with changes big or small, planned or unplanned, takes adjustment time. At first, we yearn for the ‘way our life was before’. We pine for friends and identifiable faces. There’s a sense of security, safety and confidence with recogni...
The Alaska state legislature failed to pass any bills this session to replace the campaign finance laws that were struck down by a federal court recently. So now, there are no limits to how much a person can donate to one or more candidates running for office. Attorney Robin Brena, in a recent article regarding this issue, boasted that he had just donated $25,000 to one candidate. He was the attorney who brought the lawsuit against the state claiming its laws were unconstitutional, and he won. It is doubtful that the bulk of Alaskans have that...
Note: This story was updated after the printed version went to press. AARP Alaska advocates for public policies that matter most to Alaskans age 50 and older and their families. During the 2021-22 legislative session, we passed 15 of our 22 budget and bill priorities benefiting older Alaskans. We saw successful passage of policies that support family caregivers, improve healthcare access and promote health. With wins ranging from dementia awareness and telehealth to expanded scopes of practice for Physician Assistants, Advanced Practice...
Is your “lifestyle” correlated to your health? Although the intuitively obvious answer is a resounding “yes”, very little credence is given in the standard of care to the powerful impact of your day-to-day choices on your wellbeing. It’s not just about living longer, folks. It’s about living longer with energy, grace and satisfaction. Our health care system, unfortunately, is mostly monetized to support illness, not wellness. Therefore, we are largely on our own to promote and maintain good health. Fortunately, there is increasing awareness,...
We all love summer and sometimes our Alaska summers are warmer and smokier than others. How do you stay cool? Seniors need to be careful of overheating, our bodies don’t adjust as well to higher temperatures, and we tend to get more dehydrated. Medical conditions can change body response to heat. Some prescription medicines can also have an impact on our bodies’ ability to stay cool. Following are a few tips we found to stay cool: Don’t wait until you feel thirsty – drink plenty of cool water throughout the day. Popsicles, flavored ice cubes f...
Living at our place on Chena Hot Springs Road out of Fairbanks the spring of 1975, my husband Gary and I wanted to be as self-sufficient as possible. We had five acres, but no electric power. Besides tending our garden, greenhouse and two honeybee hives, we decided to raise our own meat. So, we purchased thirty Cornish Cross chicks and two Holstein calves. Of course, these cute little peeps soon outgrew their cardboard box. We built a small plywood shelter and created a fenced enclosure with chi...
Some courageous pioneers saw the possibilities of the Yukon Basin years before the Klondike Gold Rush. And a few stand out above the rest, including Leroy Napoleon "Jack" McQuesten, Alfred Mayo and Arthur Harper. Had they not seen the need to establish supply centers, it is possible that gold rushes to the Yukon and Alaska would not have boomed during the late 1890s. These men met up in British Columbia in 1873 and continued on to Fort Yukon together. The first winter, Harper went prospecting...
Chances are, every time velvet-voiced Johnny Mathis takes center stage during his current U.S. tour, the atmosphere could turn Misty. Sure, some devoted Mathis fans might swoon teary-eyed with waves of emotional nostalgia witnessing the 86-year-old singing icon in person, but many will just dutifully sway to the familiar soothing melodies as the veteran performer delivers his signature ballads such as "Wonderful! Wonderful!," "Chances Are," and, of course, his 1959 hit, "Misty." Interrupted...
A long time ago, in a land far, far away (well, Juneau is pretty far away) there was a group of legislators who tried to do the right thing. They wanted to update and improve the laws about what happens when someone can’t make their own decisions about medical care. And as part of that change, they wanted to offer a form people could use, so that people could say for themselves who would make those decisions for them. They wrestled with this for four long years. And finally, one day, they had i...
Q. How do I listen to podcasts? A. As the old saying goes, “there is an app for that.” Many different apps, in fact. And beyond apps, most podcasts are just a click away on the Web. Podcasts are audio-only programs that have exploded in popularity in the last few years. The best place to start depends on your device. For a personal computer, a Web browser and a Google search is an easy place to start. On mobile phones, podcasts are the perfect companion for keeping your mind occupied while driving or working around the house. For Android own...
The Equality Act is a piece of federal legislation that would update current civil rights laws for the 21st century. It includes significant and explicit protections for LGBTQ+ people in public accommodations, federally funded programs, employment, housing, education, credit, jury service and education. The Equality Act would do three things: 1. Fill critical gaps in public accommodation non-discrimination law for everyone 2. Add non-discrimination protections for sex, sexual orientation and gender identity to federally funded programs 3. Adds...
Q: My wife’s brother refuses to pitch in and help their father, who needs assistance with grocery shopping, bill paying and bathing. The brother lives closest to Dad’s house. We are thousands of miles away, and although we travel as much as possible to visit and help with his care, logistically it’s just not as easy for our family as someone who lives in the same town. How can we work this out? A: While stepmom, mother, brother or father relationships can be straight out of a horror film, often...
My sister, Jeanette, who lives in Soldotna, made arrangements for the four of us siblings to go on a farm tour, though Margaret Adsit, original owner of Alaska Farm Tours. As the date got closer, it turned out that only Jeanette and I could attend. We showed up at the Palmer Visitor Center promptly at 9 a.m. June 18, 2018 and learned we were the only guests for the morning tour. At that time, I'd lived in the Mat-Su Valley for a total of 22 years on and off since 1984, so I knew quite a bit...
Seventy-four days after Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate forces at the Appomattox courthouse in Virginia, and almost two months after the Confederate Army stopped fighting on land, the last gun of the Civil War was fired in the Bering Sea of Alaska. Not knowing the war had ended, the commander of English-built Confederate vessel CSS Shenandoah fired upon several whalers near Saint Lawrence Island on June 22, 1865 (although some credible sources say it was on June 28). Commanding of...
When a top female British singer declined to appear on the premiere episode of the new American musical variety show "Shindig!" on Sept. 16, 1964, the producer knew who to call – Donna Loren. "Dusty Springfield couldn't make the first show, so I was invited to sing her hit 'Wishin' and Hopin'', and became a regular cast member for the rest of the series," said Loren, who turned 75 in March, from her home in Bisbee, Arizona. Loren had already impressed American television audiences six years e...
Here’s a very common question I am asked: “How much can I give my kids while I’m alive?” The correct answer is “How much ya got? You can give it all away to them”. It's true. This is still a more-or-less free country, and if you own it, you have the right to give it away. But that doesn't mean there aren't consequences if you do. Every action has consequences, even if you have the right to take that action. You have a right to wear satanic symbols on your T-shirt, but that doesn't mean they c...
Q. Is there a good image editor for making my photos look better? I want something like Photoshop but less expensive. A. Free tools to retouch photos are installed on many devices and bundled with cloud services like Google Photos. The power of these tools is significant, and most of them are much easier to use than Photoshop. I suggest you consider those options first. There was a period early in its history when Photoshop was bundled free with scanners. Today, Photoshop is only available as an annual subscription that costs hundreds of...
U.S. culture is often described as youth focused - a description that is certainly true of U.S. popular culture. Driven by Hollywood standards of beauty and fashion, our media outlets inundate us with images and analyses of trends, as well as star gossip. Invariably, these images and analyses focus on the young and beautiful stars of stage, screen and popular music. Today, however, the U.S. faces a demographic shift that will likely also force a cultural shift. As the nation's baby boomers age,...
