Sorted by date Results 719 - 743 of 1132
Q. I want an Amazon Echo, but my wife thinks it’s creepy to have a microphone listen to everything we say. What do you think? A. I think your spouse is very wise. New tech is always flawed, and smart speakers are very, very new. The privacy implications of installing an always-on microphone in your house should not be glossed over. The three main competitors in the smart speaker market are Amazon, Apple and Google. The “smarts” in smart speakers comes from an “intelligent personal assistant,” similar to phone-based assistants like Siri and...
My husband dropped me off at the Anchorage airport for a flight to Denver early last November. It wasn't until after I'd gone through TSA that I learned my flight was delayed for two hours. I wasn't ready to sit and read and I found myself restlessly wandering the aisle checking out the stores between my gate and TSA. After I enjoyed perusing the Alaskan books on display at the front of the bookstore, I decided to treat myself to a specialty coffee. While standing in line, I noticed the sign for...
Agueda González is Dominican, and though she is 83 years old, she says she feels 60 (and that's how she looks). A single mother, with a suitcase full of hope, she arrived in the United States more than 30 years ago. "I was 50 years old, another full life ahead and two beautiful children to be raised. Some friends told me, 'Agueda you are too old to start a new life in a different country,' and I answered them, 'It will be a new life, and it is just the beginning'." For 18 years she cared for...
Most Vietnam Veterans are aware VA benefits exists for a wide range of adult onset illnesses that qualify for presumptive causation from the effects of Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War. After many decades of testimony and case law, Congress finally directed the VA in 1991 by passing the Agent Orange Act to re-evaluate their stance on the effects of Agent Orange. Section 1116 of title 38 USC and ss 38 3.307 and ss 3.309 states if you served in Vietnam anytime from Jan. 9, 1962, and Ma...
There was no border established between the Great Land and Canada when the U.S. agreed to purchase Alaska from Russia for 2 cents an acre in March 1867. The lack of an agreed-upon boundary caused problems from the get-go. Russian maps of the time showed more land belonging to them than was stipulated in an 1825 treaty between Russia and Great Britain. That treaty divided the Northwest American territories between the Hudson's Bay Company and the Russian-American Company trading areas and...
Beginning in 1960 and for some three decades thereafter, Marlyn Mason appeared in almost 100 television series, earning the unofficial title of TV "Guest Star Queen." While her film roles were far fewer, fans of Elvis Presley movies remember the actress as Elvis's vivacious co-star in his next-to-last film, 1969's "The Trouble with Girls." However, Marlyn left Hollywood – literally – in the early 1990s. "When my Hollywood career came to a halt I moved to Oregon," said Mason from her home in Med...
A good education is getting harder to come by, and that’s true not just for college but starting in kindergarten. If you are looking to help ensure your grandkids get a quality education, you might consider opening a 529 plan. If protecting your income from the estate tax is another goal, a 529 plan can help accomplish both. And with the new tax bill, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the rules for 529 plans just got easier. Not only can you use the plans to pay for college costs, but you can generally make tax-free withdrawals of up to $10,000...
This is a subject which, for a lot of people, is going to touch on some very personal, and perhaps painful, circumstances. Some years back, I was involved in a case involving termination of life support, which went all the way to the Alaska Supreme Court. It was a horrible case for everyone involved. A middle-aged lady had choked on some food, and suffered anoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain). A mere nine days later, the doctors wanted to end all life support, insisting that she was never going...
Q. My wife and I spend the winter months in our RV. We are both voracious readers, and I am considering a Kindle to help declutter our coach. Which one do you recommend? A. The simple answer is that any Kindle is better than no Kindle at all. Each of the four current models has advantages and drawbacks, so here are a few items to consider. The entry level model, which sells for less than $100, is probably best avoided. The screen is an older design, and I much prefer the sharper screens used on newer models. The second model in the lineup, the...
With the tax bill signed into law, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has set his sights on reforming Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and welfare in 2018. But he will have to overcome several big barriers to be successful, including reversing President Donald Trump’s repeated campaign pledge not to touch those specific federal entitlement programs for the elderly. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Ryan are also at odds over whether to tackle entitlement reform in a mid-term election year, which traditionally favors the p...
Learning the causes of sleep deprivation, especially in the winter, and how to overcome them are important steps for our elders to take in order to get a good night’s rest and increase their overall physical wellbeing. Why sleep is important Sleep deprivation, a lack of sleep that affects a person’s performance when awake, includes symptoms such as having trouble staying awake during daily activities and the need for caffeine to get started. Sleep deprivation can also lead to long term issues including memory impairment, weight gain, dia...
With the New Year behind us and February under way, many of us have already forgotten our well-intended resolutions and plans to change something in our lives for the better. The old standbys are losing weight, joining a gym, stopping smoking, and calling your friends and family more. But today, let’s strive to make a resolution that may save your life. Let’s take some baby steps toward self-sufficiency in the unlikely event of a natural disaster that interrupts our normal lives. FEMA and the...
In the mid 1930s, a few fellows got together and decided it would be great to put together a winter sports tournament for all of Anchorage's residents. Vern Johnson, Clyde Conover, Thomas Bevers and Dale Bowen wanted to organize several teams to compete in hockey and basketball. With the city's population less than 4,000 at the time, the idea took hold and turned into a carnival to show community support and celebrate the beginning of the end of winter. Revelers bought tickets to the Winter...
Debby Boone's recording of "You Light up My Life" not only became a monster hit of 1977, but went on to become one of the most popular songs of the decade. "I have a hard time believing it's been 40 years," said Boone. The album of the same title released that year became certified platinum (1 million in sales in the U.S.), yet it was never released on CD when the new music format became popular in the 80s. "To celebrate its 40th anniversary we have just released the original album on CD for...
Last month, I promised that I would cover the estate planning consequences of the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” in this month’s column. At the time that previous column was due, the final version of the bill had just passed, and I still needed time to figure out what was in it. And there is a lot in it. Most of it doesn’t have anything in particular to do with estate planning, though. And the parts of the bill that do affect estate planning, don’t change a whole lot about what you should do. The m...
Q. Are recent reports of iPhone battery problems serious or much ado about nothing? A. The truth lies somewhere in between. When it comes to the battery strength, your smartphone “lies” to you all the time. At first glance the battery-level icon seems to work like a gas tank. The first gallon of gas in the tank is as powerful as the last. The dashboard gauge shows a good estimate of how much gas remains. This simple metaphor works reasonably well when the battery is young. But as a lithium-ion battery ages, the little white lies told by the...
I have been hunting since I was 12 years old and still enjoy it, though I am now in my 70s. The key to hunting when one gets older is to think safety at all times and try not to over-challenge oneself. Do not hunt alone. I have a cabin 25 miles up Alexander Creek from its confluence with the Susitna River. Now that I am in my 70s I limit my river trips to higher water. Gone are the days when I could pull an 18-foot boat with gear and engine through shallow water. This year we had high water, so...
Will Social Security be in your future? The short answer is “yes.” The other short answer is “maybe.” Let’s start at the beginning. Who cares if Social Security has a future? About 61 million people, or more than one in every six U.S. residents, currently collect Social Security benefits. They care. About 40 percent of Americans age 65 and older would have incomes below the poverty line without Social Security benefits. With Social Security benefits, 9 percent do. They certainly care. The median retirement account balance is $2,500 for all w...
In the nation’s capital, where politicians are always wearing partisan political jerseys, the nomination of Alex Azar to be the new Health and Human Services Secretary may offer the hope of a fresh start on health care issues. President Trump’s recent nominee to run HHS, the largest agency in the federal government, has steadfastly opposed President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA), which Azar often describes as “circling the drain.” So the 50-year-old Indiana native is not likely to get many Democrats on his side when the Senate votes on...
By all accounts, Bharti Parikh, 66, has led an exciting life: from a childhood in the tiny village of Patton in Gujarat, India, to a law degree and fulfilling years in America that included working for the City of New York, being invited to be an artist at President Clinton's inauguration, and being a singing star on TV. However, there's also another sadder, more stressful side to her story, one that is unfortunately shared by so many older adults in America. Bharti Parikh is a caregiver, and ha...
My Anchorage neighborhood had been chattering about packages disappearing from doorsteps. Security camera footage was posted to Facebook of people stealing boxes. So I was not stunned when one of ours went missing late November. The delivery service tracking information showed it being left by our front door, but it vanished. "We call them porch pirates, stealing packages from front porches," says Michelle Tabler, Better Business Bureau Alaska Regional Manager. "We've heard reports that these thieves actually follow the UPS and FedEx trucks...
The holiday season is a joyous and festive time of the year for most folks. But some in our community don’t feel celebratory due to depression. Be it because of long term illness, the loss of a spouse or, worst, a child, the loneliness of deep winter could be the tipping point for someone considering ending their life. September was National Suicide Prevention month, but the holiday season and its aftermath are a particularly vulnerable time for our relatives and neighbors who are going t...
Dear Savvy Senior: As a divorced woman, am I entitled to my ex-husband’s Social Security benefits? I was married for 14 years and would like to know how this works. - Happily Divorced Dear Divorced: Yes, you may very well be eligible for divorced spouses Social Security benefits if you meet certain criteria. Here’s how it works. A divorced spouse can collect a Social Security retirement benefit on the earnings record of their ex-husband (or ex-wife) if you are at least age 62, were married for at least 10 years, are unmarried, and are not eli...
In late November I sat with my son and his friend enjoying the ambience of the historic Paramount Theater in downtown Denver. We waited with quiet anticipation along with the rest of the sold out crowd. After a while the house lights went down and a spotlight followed three men as they walked across the stage. First Nikos Kilcher sang a beautiful song he had written for his wife, then brother Atz Lee sang his song titled "Rain" while playing his double bass. Father Atz Kilcher followed up by...
Juneau became the capital of the 49th state on Jan. 3, 1959, after U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the statehood act into law. It became the only state capital not accessible by road. But Juneau was not the capital of the Last Frontier when Alaska became part of the United States in 1867. Sitka was the center of government for Russia-America. So why did the Americans choose to move government offices to Juneau? The discovery of gold deposits in the area that became Juneau-Douglas in...
