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What I really wanted to write about this month was the legislation making its way through Congress which would dramatically change how inherited IRAs can be taken out over time. That is what I wanted to write about. But I won’t. Part of the problem is that by the time this column reaches print, even though that may be only a few weeks, the legislation may have morphed into something completely different, or may have died completely. The other problem is that the details will probably change, a...
Q. The Internet in my house seems slower than at my local coffee shop. How do I measure the speed and compare the two? A. My favorite test site is located at www.speedof.me. Each connection has three numbers: Ping, Download, and Upload. Ping measures the latency, or “raw” speed. Upload and download measure bandwidth, which is to say how long will it take to move a quantity of bits each second. When comparing connections, smaller latency means faster. Bandwidth is reversed, so that bigger is better. Here is how to think about it. Imagine a roa...
The school classroom is filled with children eager to hear stories from Marge, who is volunteering in the classroom. Marge speaks fluent Yup’ik and was raised in the community where she has lived her entire life. In both Yup’ik and English, Marge shares the history and language with the school kids, what life was like when she was a little girl, and words of wisdom and advice she wants the children to remember as they grow up. Even though she has a hard time walking and uses a walker for support, she makes her way to the school twice a week to...
Born in Santa Ana, Calif., to two Muslim refugee survivors of the Cambodian genocide, Hatefas Yop wasn't aware of her family's use of public services when she was a young girl. After all, her peers in her elementary school all hailed from the local neighborhood, where many immigrant and refugee families had to live in one-bedroom apartments subsidized by Section 8 housing. She didn't understand the melancholy in an elder whom Hatefas referred to as "Grandma," when she said her food stamps...
Three men found a large deposit of nuggets on Aug. 17, 1896, which started the famed Klondike Gold Rush. George Washington Carmack, who came north in 1885, James Mason, better known as Skookum Jim, and his nephew, Charlie – often called Dawson or Tagish Charlie – left Fortymile during that summer to go fishing. The Natives and Carmack found what they thought might be a good fishing spot and set their nets. They hauled in a few king salmon, but the fishing was poor so they gave up and cut tim...
Opening last summer in Jamestown, New York, the National Comedy Center will launch an exhibition honoring comedian Ernie Kovacs beginning with a Festival on August 7-11 (see www.comedycenter.org). "It's the centennial of Ernie's birth this year, so a great time to recognize this influential comedian," said Laura LaPlaca, the Center's Director of Archives. "The Kovacs' exhibit will remain until summer 2020." Though he died tragically in a single car accident at just 42, Kovacs would leave his mar...
I don’t know how many times I have heard someone say “I don’t need to do any estate planning. I have a will and it does what I want”. Oh, I wish it was that easy. A will is a good and important thing to have, but it doesn’t do nearly what people think it does. For one thing, the will only controls assets that go through probate. So anything that does not go through probate, isn’t affected by the will. What doesn’t go through probate? For one thing, assets that have a designated beneficiary (...
Q. My computer was crushed in an accident. I was able to rescue the drive from the wreckage, but how do I copy my files onto a new computer? A. This can be a surprisingly complex task. Simply installing the old drive into a new computer will not work. The contents have to be migrated onto the new drive. Assuming you have a bare drive from the original computer, the first thing you will need is a new enclosure. These are typically inexpensive and can be found easily online. Check the ports on your new computer and choose an enclosure that has a...
Editor’s note: Long-time Senior Voice readers will remember Edna Woolston’s frequent columns from her home in Sutton, sharing stories about her days there with her husband and their animals, and her thoughts and recollections about many aspects of life. When her husband passed away six years ago, she returned to New York to live with family and we recently learned she passed away this year in January. There will be a celebration of life this month in her hometown of Gaines, New York. In honor of the dozens of articles she wrote over many yea...
If you think America's college loan crisis – with more than $1.5 trillion worth of debt – is only a young person's problem, think again. The federal government is now garnishing the fixed-income Social Security benefits of seniors in its crackdown to get people to repay student loans. More than three million people over 60 are still paying off college loans. Many of these seniors took out loans to help their children, grandchildren or spouse pay off tuition and are still paying them off. Oth...
In rural communities across Alaska, it is not uncommon to see young people on four-wheelers or snow machines, riding around town with family and friends and spending time outdoors. On the same roads you see elders walking alone or with others to visit friends or family, check their mail or buy groceries, or visit the Elder luncheon. As someone who grew up with Elders who walked everywhere, I love to walk so I typically decline rides offered by the youth and get to know the community by walking. The Elders we have visited over the years have...
In the United States, American Indians and Alaska Natives have a greater chance of having type 2 diabetes than any other racial group. This is troubling because without medical intervention, the progression of type 2 diabetes may lead to other conditions and diseases, including high blood pressure, kidney failure and heart disease, itself the number one cause of death in the United States. In the United States, American Indians and Alaska Native are 50% more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic whites. In addition, 33% of the American Indian...
What happens when you mix kittens and the residents of Providence Alaska's assisted living facility, Horizon House? You get the Kitten Social Hour! Kitten Social Hour had a humble beginning. An Anchorage Animal Care and Control (AACC) kitten foster mom, who also provides hospice care primarily to our homeless community was caring for a woman who often mentioned how much she missed her cat. Debbie asked AACC staff if she could bring one of her foster kittens to visit her client and we agreed it...
Many diverse conversations took place at our kitchen table when my husband Gary and I lived in Slana, partly because we ran a bed and breakfast in an area of Alaska that is off the beaten trail, but also because we lived next to the largest National Park in the United States – Wrangell-St. Elias. One Sunday in June 2006 stands out in particular. We had fixed our specialty breakfast of blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs and reindeer sausage and sat down to eat with our father-son guests. We d...
The U.S. Army Service's famed "Black Wolf Squadron" planted its mark on Alaska history in 1920, when four biplanes flew across our northern skies in an attempt to prove the feasibility of long-distance air travel. The New York-to-Nome Alaskan Flying Expedition, as it was known, was comprised of a squad of four airmen with crewmembers flying wheeled DH-4 De Havilland biplanes. The crew left Fort Mitchell in New York bound for Fort Davis in Nome on July 15, to demonstrate that the United States co...
Since her first film role in 1940, Terry Moore has appeared on the big screen in each of the subsequent eight decades. Recently celebrating her 90th birthday, the actress plays a lead role in the Vladislav Kozlov-directed period drama about silent film superstar Rudolph Valentino – Hollywood's first male sex symbol. "The film's called 'Silent Life' and I had 90 pages of dialog to learn," said Ms. Moore from her home in Santa Monica. "I feel it's one of the best roles I've ever had." Following V...
Here’s an interesting question: The last time you were admitted to the hospital, were you admitted to the hospital as in inpatient? “Kirk, you’re crazy as a loon,” you might respond, “of course I was an inpatient the last time I was an inpatient. What else would I be?” But that wasn’t my question. You were admitted, given. But were you admitted as an inpatient? “I was,” you say, “and I have a plastic wristband to prove it. They kept me for several days, poked my arm for blood a bunch of ti...
Q. A few weeks ago I read that Apple was killing iTunes. How will I load music onto my iPod? A. In early June there was a flood of dire sounding news about the end of iTunes. Let me put some of the more alarmist implications to rest. Apple is replacing iTunes with several applications. However, the iTunes app you have now will continue to work. iTunes is a very old app. By splitting the tasks it does into smaller pieces, the experience should be better for everyone. In the meantime, the current version of iTunes will continue to support users...
Being surrounded by grandchildren and children from the community is a blessing for anyone, and especially when you are given an opportunity to share what you have learned in your life. While we are doing interviews in Elders’ homes across Alaska, we are always surrounded by children and the joy visible on the Elders’ face, in their stories, and passion for their futures and learning what it means to be a healthy Native person. This desire to share your knowledge, stories and to teach the youth, is a stage of human development we achieve in...
A child drawn to the rainbow stickers on display was heard asking his mom, “What’s a Pride?” “Pride is when you get to celebrate loving who you are,” was her perfect response. For the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community, much of the focus is on the “coming out” time of life. Who will you tell and how will they react? Will your family reject you or embrace you? Will you lose any friends, your apartment, or your job? Coming out happens over a period of time as you reveal your authentic self to more and more people. What escapes...
While leaving a recent nonprofit meeting another member was muttering aloud, obviously annoyed. I questioned why. He said: “Ugh, ‘A’ means ‘Ally’, it has always meant ally, not ‘Alternative.’” I agreed; he was correct. What frustrated him was discussion with a younger volunteer who insisted the “A” in LGBTA meant one thing; in essence negating the other “A” which stands for straight allies. This discord reminded me of a recurring thought. The initials “LGBT” became common in the 1980s to combine gender identities and create an inclusive fra...
Caregiving provided by grandparents serves as a safety net for children in need of parenting regardless of race, ethnicity or sexual orientation. Approximately 2.9 million grandparents make breakfast, organize their grandchildren's activities, arrange doctor's appointments, help with homework, and worry about how they are going to afford college coupled with their everyday household expenses. Since the 1970s, the number of grandparents raising grandchildren in the United States has rapidly...
To get to his construction job site those early summer mornings in 1974, my husband, Gary, could either drive 24 miles into Fairbanks and then another 25 miles to Eielson Air Force Base, or drive 4 miles down Chena Hot Springs road, park the car, take the canoe across the Chena River and get a ride with a co-worker who was camped there in the campground. The shortest route usually won out, and so a lot of river crossings took place - to work in the morning and from work in the evenings, six days...
Seventy-seven years ago this month Japanese Zeros bombed Dutch Harbor and then occupied Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands. Why? Because they thought that two months earlier James "Jimmy" Doolittle had led the U.S. Army Air Forces in the first-ever bombing raid on Japan from an airstrip in the Aleutian Chain and wanted to prevent further attacks on their homeland. The Japanese bombers probably were surprised when they did not find any military air bases in the Aleutians. Turns out Doolittle...
As one of the most popular television shows in the late 70s to early 80s, "Happy Days" helped propel many cast regulars into the production side of show business. Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Don Most and Anson Williams all achieved recognition behind the camera as producers, directors and/or writers. Williams played Potsie – the naïve, well-meaning friend to Ron Howard's Richie Cunningham character – and says the show was almost shelved when the pilot didn't sell and then aired by ABC for an e...
