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Alaska Chinese Association is marking its 50th anniversary with Golden Jubilee Lunar New Year celebration from noon to 4 p.m. Feb. 15 at Dimond High School (2909 W. 88th Ave., Anchorage, AK 99502) will feature performances, food, and family activities. Tickets and information are available here. The community celebration leads into the Year of the Horse, which begins with Lunar New Year on Feb. 17, 2026, marking half a century of Chinese heritage, community building, and cultural fusion in...
As Alaskans, we take great pride in our unique culture and the breathtaking beauty of our state. Yet, hidden within this beauty is a pressing issue that affects a significant part of our population: our seniors. Today, I want to address the multifaceted challenges they face, including voting rights, economic security, access to quality health care, social justice, and educational opportunities. We must unite to advocate for meaningful changes that ensure our seniors receive the respect and support they deserve. Voting rights: Alaskans must be...
Frances Perkins was tough as nails. She had to be. She was the first woman ever to serve in a presidential cabinet. Perkins was Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Her beat was workers, immigrants, and the creation of Social Security. She was determined, focused, and did not suffer fools. According to her Wikipedia entry, one time she got in a spat with Alfred P. Sloan, the chairman of the board at General Motors. During a United Auto Workers strike, she...
Q: A client of mine, an avid salsa dancer, often talks about the physical advantages of dancing for older adults. But what about the mental benefits? A: As we get older, the knowledge and experiences we gather inspire us to look for ways to boost not only our physical well-being, but also our mental acuity. This brings us to your interesting question about how dance can impact our brain function, alongside the already familiar physical perks. Dancing goes beyond enjoyment; it is an expressive...
Strong natural immunity represents the potential to avoid chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, frequent vaccinations, hospital convalescence, chronic fatigue, degenerative disease, and other unpleasant or costly medical interventions. Below are basic parameters for wellness through immune support. Daily foundations Adequate rest. Work balanced by play. A healthy diet and fresh water. These may sound obvious, but they require conscious commitment. Rest and play Most people need about eight hours of sleep per night. Aim to be in bed eight hours...
Music has a remarkable ability to reach people living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, often long after other forms of communication become difficult. Melodies, rhythm, and familiar lyrics can spark recognition, ease anxiety, and create moments of joy and connection. Research and lived experience show that music engages multiple areas of the brain, allowing emotional memory to remain accessible even as other abilities change. I know firsthand the transformative power of music....
Alaska has 139 active clinical trials looking for those willing to sign up for research studies in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Bethel. Not only do you earn money for participation, but you also learn about your own state of health. Over the past few years, I've been found to have Stage 1 fatty liver disease, which the earliest and mildest form where fat accumulates up to 33% in liver cells and usually causes no noticeable symptoms. But it is crucial to address because it can progress to...
This month’s article provides an overview of Medicare coverage in 2026. The 2026 edition of the Medicare & You handbook provides much greater detail than is provided in this article; if you do not have a copy, then please contact the Medicare Information Office and we are happy to provide a copy. You may also find the handbook available on the Medicare.gov website (look for the link under the “Basics” topic header) as an eBook, as well as in large print, audio version, and in Braille. The Medic...
If you catch a cold, know the facts. Studies have confirmed that taking vitamin C supplements regularly may only slightly reduce the duration and severity of symptoms. However, these supplements typically don't prevent you from catching a cold and can only slightly reduce the severity of symptoms for most people. Starting vitamin C after symptoms doesn't seem to help much. However, consistent daily intake in large doses (1000-2000 mg) might shorten a cold by a day or so and make it milder. In...
Alaska has been awarded $272 million to support system-level investments in health care through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), according to a press release from the Alaska Department of Health. The five-year, $50 billion national initiative is designed to strengthen, stabilize, and modernize health care systems in rural communities. Alaska is among the top recipients of the funding. “This investment represents a turning point for rural health care in Alaska,” said Heidi Hedbe...
After months of heating our homes through Alaska's long, cold winter, now is the perfect time to check that everything works safely. Your heating system has been working hard, and a little attention now can prevent fires and keep you warm through the rest of the winter and into spring. Wood stoves and fireplaces need regular cleaning to work safely. Creosote builds up inside the chimney when you burn wood. This black tar-like substance is dangerous because it can catch fire. If you've been using...
Editor's Note: National Centenarian's Day is Sept. 22. The day honors those who've celebrated 100 birthdays or more. We're publishing profiles of people who have hit this milestone. The Alaska Commission on Aging is working with the Governor's Office, Pioneer Homes and Long Term Care Ombudsman to celebrate Alaska's centenarians. This interview was made possible thanks to the Alaska Commission on Aging. Every morning before dawn, Susie Ford is up. Coco, her little dog, is waiting. At 5 a.m., she...
This year's Fur Rondy will be different in that there is now an Anchorage Mushing District arch over Fourth Avenue, marking the starting line for the Fur Rendezvous Open World Championship Sled Dog Race and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the state's most famous international event. The landmark was inaugurated in November 2025, and it was the culmination of a multi-year effort by led by Jim Huettl, the president of the nonprofit Anchorage Mushing District. "He was indefatigable," said Rod...
My husband, Gary, passed away in December 2025 at the Palmer Veterans and Pioneers Home -his residence for almost four years. The staff graciously told me to take all the time I needed to remove his belongings from his room. Above his bed was a beautiful quilt made by his grandmother-a lady I never met. It is a requirement that only lightweight items be placed on the wall above a bed at the Pioneer Home...a precaution for earthquakes. On the wall in his bathroom was a lovely Alaska-themed lap...
Dear Savvy Senior, What are the most popular ages that people start taking their Social Security retirement benefits? I'm turning 62 later this year and trying to decide when to start taking my benefits. - Born in '64 Dear 64, You can sign up to begin your Social Security retirement benefits any time after age 62. However, your monthly payments will be larger for each month you delay claiming them up until age 70. This adds up to around 6 to 8% higher payments every year you delay. To get a...
In the past, scammers preferred using gift cards, bank transfers, and payment apps to swindle money from their victims. But scammers have had to adapt as awareness and protections have increased among consumers, law enforcement, and businesses. Their latest tactic involves directing victims to pay at a "crypto ATM," a new and less familiar method. About one in 17 U.S. adults (6%, or 14.2 million people) have been tricked into converting cash into cryptocurrency or know someone who has fallen...
Anchorage's oldest unsolved murder happened 105 years ago this month when the town's first police chief was gunned down as he tried to get a handle on illegal activities like prostitution, bootlegging, and gambling. An eyewitness account of crime in the railroad town founded in 1915 comes from Kenneth Gideon, author of "Wandering Boy," who visited the town as it began to grow along Ship Creek. Along with describing the proliferation of prostitution, Gideon noted: "The government had decreed...
Alaska has one of the highest smoking costs in the nation, according to a report from personal-finance company WalletHub. The company calculated the potential monetary losses—including the lifetime and annual costs of a pack of cigarettes per day, health care expenditures, income losses and other costs—brought on by smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke. Smoking impacts your health and your pocketbook. Tobacco use is responsible for nearly half a million deaths in the United States each year and remains the leading cause of lung cancer, acc...
Many cold-weather cities have a winter carnival, and Anchorage is no different. Fur Rendezvous is Feb. 26-March 8 this year. The festival – informally called Fur Rondy or "Rondy" – is a significant part of the city's history and tradition. In the mid-1930s, Anchorage was a town of about 3,000 people that stretched between Park Strip and Ship Creek. Winters were long and with few of the modern-day entertainments we take for granted. Though it started as a way for trappers and hunters to show off...
Let’s take a jaunt back in history, back to those halcyon days of 2024. You were probably arguing about the election, worrying about the fighting in the Middle East, or watching Taylor Swift’s boyfriend win the Super Bowl. But I, like most estate planners, was dealing with the upcoming BOI reporting. Congress had passed a law requiring most small businesses—even little one-shareholder firms like mine—to file reports with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN for short) and we were al...
Q. Is it safe to unplug a USB drive without ejecting it first? A. When a USB drive is inserted into a device, the device “mounts” a virtual disk on your system. Ejecting the drive is the process of telling the device to “unmount” the virtual disk. In a perfect world, a drive would always be ejected before unplugging it. The eject command performs an important cleanup process that closes open files, saves cached data, and checks for errors. Each of these steps is not performed if you just unplug the drive. You may have discovered that it does...
Feb. 1-28 National Black History Month. It is observed annually in the United States and Canada in February. It is also called African-American History Month. In 1926, Historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and announced the second week of February to be “Negro History Week” in honor of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist Frederick Douglass, according to Wikipedia. It has evolved since then to occupy a month. Feb. 1 National Dark Chocolate Day. Editorial opinion: The best kind of chocolate. Feb...
Irish traditional musical group Cherish the Ladies performs in Kodiak on Feb. 4, in Fairbanks on Feb. 6, and in Anchorage on Feb. 7. In Kodiak, the performance is at 7 p.m. at the Gerald C. Wilson Auditorium. Tickets available through the Kodiak Arts Council. In Fairbanks, the group will be at Hering Auditorium. In Anchorage, you can see them at the Alaska Performing Arts Center and tickets are available at CenterTix.com … Cyrano's Theatre Company is producing the romantic musical “The Fantasticks,” from Jan. 30-Feb. 22. The performance on Fe...
The light is coming back, and that's a good thing. But if you're not instantly heartened by the returning light and are dreading the next few months of cold and dark, this is what I've learned about coping with winter. Get outside. It doesn't matter what the temperature is or how strong the wind is blowing. Make it a point to get outside. Ideally, you'll spend 20 minutes walking or doing more vigorous exercise. If you're less than mobile, can you stand on your porch and look at the stars on a...
Welcome to 2026. As this new year starts, on behalf the Senior Voice Team, I express our thanks for the gifts through the cash, the subscriptions, and the advertising opportunities that you have allowed Senior Voice to be part of. Your donations allow the Senior Voice to have skin in the game by cost sharing in the production of the newspaper with our corporate donors. Without you, meeting the terms of the grant would not be possible. Again, thank you for your choice to invest in the Senior Voice. In 2026, office hours will be weekdays from...
