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“What gets measured gets managed.” (Peter Drucker). Please take a few moments to complete this survey and help the Senior Voice to improve. Your feedback will provide staff with a solid understanding of what our readers and friends would like to read. For your convenience, the survey is online, is only 13 questions and should take less than five minutes to complete. A print version is available upon request. Please share your name and email address with the completed survey to be entered int...
I came across the Polish word przedwiosnie recently. The meaning is something like "pre-spring" or the time before spring. That's a perfect word for what we experience in the north, when the calendar says it's spring officially and our friends and family in the Lower 48 are showing off their daffodils or peonies or whatever happens to be blooming in their backyard. Up here, we have to look for more subtle signs of change as we endure more days of gray or decaying snow. Sure, the days are...
I got a lot of emails like this one in the early 2000s. Maybe you did too. "Dear Friend, "Please this is important and very urgent i have an urgent transaction of US$20.6 million, used to transfer to your nominated account,I am Mr Abubaker Yaro. The Auditor, with Accounting Department of the BANQUE ATLANTIQUE-OUAGADOUGO BURKINA FASO. "No other person knows about this account or any thing concerning it,the account has no other beneficiary and my investigation proved to me as well that his...
Q: How can I respond calmly to my adult child when they say something disrespectful or upsetting, instead of reacting with hurtful words? A: In times of high emotional volatility, an immediate verbal response often feels like the most instinctive approach. A strong reaction can occur with an adult child, but also a sibling, caregiver, medical professional, friend, frontline employee or co-worker. The STOP Method provides a framework for responding thoughtfully rather than clapping back instincti...
With everything it takes to stay healthy-primarily making good choices about food and attitude every day-contemplating the molecules that facilitate our mind-body connection may seem academic. Hopefully, some readers will derive pleasure and awe thinking about how human cognition and physiology evolved over the millennia. This column will feature an essential triad of sophisticated chemical structures generated within our bodies, without which we would not be able to live the lives we enjoy (and...
Receiving home health care can be available for some Medicare recipients. To be eligible for Medicare coverage of home health services, you must be homebound. In other words, it must be difficult for you to leave your home and doing so requires significant effort. The help you need can be from another person or from medical equipment such as crutches, a walker, or a wheelchair. You are also considered homebound if your doctor believes that your health or illness could get worse if you leave...
In 1994, when I reported for the Arctic Sounder in Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), I was catapulted off a freight sled on the way out to a whaling camp. My left knee swelled and was strained by insulated overalls. Because I was a cyclist, I manage for decades to avoid surgery, save for a meniscus repair (a C-shaped piece of tough, rubbery cartilage that acts as a shock absorber between the shinbone and the thighbone). I got to watch the surgery on a video screen as I requested a spinal. Hardly any...
Each spring in Alaska, as the snow softens and the light returns, something else begins to stir across our communities. Stories. At Alzheimer's Resource Alaska, we hear them every day. A daughter describing the first moment she realized her mother was forgetting familiar places. A husband learning how to become a caregiver after decades of partnership. A friend who simply refuses to let someone they love face dementia alone. These are the stories that bring people to Amblin'. If you have never...
New research is showing that adults who engage in lifelong learning such as reading, writing and learning languages have a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease and slower cognitive decline. The study does not prove that lifelong learning decreases the risk of Alzheimer's. It only shows an association. The study looked at 1,939 adults and examined cognitive enrichment including access to newspapers as children and having library cards in middle age. People in the top 10% of lifetime cognitive...
March and April bring welcome signs of spring and the soon-to-follow summer. Days grow longer, temperatures rise, and the snow melts. For many of us, this is a joyful time after a long, dark winter. But the spring thaw also brings serious dangers that every senior should understand and prepare for. One of the biggest concerns during snowmelt is flooding. As the snow melts quickly, the water has nowhere to go. Streets, yards, and low-lying areas can flood with surprising speed. If you live near...
Alaska Health Fairs, a nonprofit that provides education, has several health fairs coming up in April and May. You can see the full schedule and make an appointment at this link Wasilla - April 4, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Fyzical Therapy, 650 N Shoreline Dr., Wasilla, 99654 Kodiak - April 10, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Kodiak Senior Center, 302 Erskine Ave, Kodiak, 99615 Anchorage - April 15, 8 a.m.-noon, Hope Community Resources, 570 W 53rd Ave., Anchorage, 99518 Houston - April 18, 8 a.m.-noon, Houston Mid-Valley Senior Center, 1975 W. Midvalley Way,...
The Fairbanks North Star School District will lengthen the academic year by three days to account for snow days in February. School’s out for the 2025-26 year on May 27. In Anchorage, administrators decided to make April 19, previously an in-service day, a regular school day to account for earlier bad weather. KTOO, the public radio station in Juneau, reported that students there missed four days because of bad weather, but won’t have to make them up. The district was able to get some of the lost days waived by the state, due to ext...
When my Direct TV service quit working in March 2025, I was quite sure it was a tree problem. The technician sent to my house confirmed my thoughts. I decided to call a tree service that years earlier had removed a huge broken branch stuck high in an old birch tree, which might have fallen on any person or vehicle parked in our driveway. The guy came that afternoon to do a free estimate. During our conversation, I mentioned that it seemed strange to be inquiring about his service, when I had a...
Some of the most important investigative reporting by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Richard Mauer to this day is having an effect on many Alaskans. He was on The Anchorage Daily News team that investigated alcoholism and suicide among Alaska Natives. Mauer also exposed political corruption, reporting on the local Roman Catholic archdiocese not punishing an abusive priest, and the oil-field services company, Veco, that put funds behind Big Oil political candidates in the state....
A highlight of the spring calendar is the Alaska Folk Festival in Juneau. The festival is April 6-12. There are two main venues, the main stage at Centennial Hall, 101 Egan Drive, and the dance stage at JAHC, 350 Whittier St. The guest artist is Willi Carlisle, who recently released his fourth album... Katie Orlinski, National Geographic photographer and explorer, will speak on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus at 7 p.m. April 16 at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium. Orlinsky will share her powerful photographic work detailing her...
April 1-30 National Poetry Month April 1-30 National Jazz Appreciation Month April 1 International April Fool’s Day Evening of April 1-April 9 International Passover April 5 International Easter April 7 Anchorage Municipal Election Day. Most voters vote by mail in Anchorage for the municipal election. This is the last day you can submit your ballot. There are 12 propositions, ranging from school bonds to a new street light service area, on the ballot. Six seats on the Anchorage Assembly are up for grabs, while two seats on the Anchorage S...
Kevin Whitley came to Alaska from Baytown, Texas, in 1972 at the age of 9. His father was drawn to Alaska to work on the transcontinental pipeline. So, the family packed their bags and moved more than 3,000 miles away to start a new life in Alaska. The move was anything but easy. Kevin had to adjust from the hot, humid plains of East Texas to the cold, mountainous landscape of Alaska. But little by little, he adapted. He swapped his football for a hockey stick, embracing the northern lifestyle,...
Dear Savvy Senior, After watching the coverage of the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping case, I'm worried about my own elderly mother who lives alone in another state. I want to make sure she's safe without being intrusive. Are there simple, affordable ways to check in on her from afar? - Concerned Son Dear Concerned, You're not alone. High-profile cases like this often heighten fears, especially for adult children whose parents live alone and may be vulnerable. The good news is there are several free...
Impostor scams were the most common form of consumer fraud in Alaska in 2025, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Many impostor scams involve criminals pretending to be bank fraud investigators, who first send a text questioning account activity. Read on to see how this plays out. How it works You receive a text message that appears to be from your bank, asking for confirmation that recent activity on your account was legitimate. When you reply "no," you receive a call, seemingly from you...
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. Forgive Shirley Gordon if she doesn't tell you she's fine if you ask. "All my life people...
This is the first in a series about people finding or rediscovering creative pursuits later in life. The reporting project is funded by a grant from the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism. If you have a suggestion of a person who has explored their artistic or creative impulses upon retirement or when other life demands lessened, email editor@seniorvoicealaska.comeditor@seniorvoicealaska.com. David Brown looks like he is headed for a day of fishing when he takes a seat in a Midtown...
John Wood, 78, holds his own with teenagers on the ski trails. At the Tour of Anchorage ski race on March 8, he earned a seventh-place finish in the 25-kilometer classic event. "Youth will be served," Wood said, a day before he left to go to Talkeetna to ski the 50-kilometer ski race known as the Oosik. "My intent was to ski within myself," Wood said. "I'm not getting any younger." Because Anchorage had received a lot of fresh snow in the 48 hours before the race, times were slower than normal...
Jacob Marunenko, better known as "Russian Jack," remains one of Anchorage's most colorful historical figures-a bootlegger, homesteader, and notorious character whose name is now attached to parks and streets throughout the city. He also was a convicted killer. Marunenko emigrated from the Ukrainian village of Parevka in the early 1900s, leaving behind a wife and two children to seek fortune in Alaska. He entered the United States in 1915 via Blaine, Washington, and by 1920 settled in the...
Q. Are Instagram posts that ask for a direct message some sort of privacy hack? A. Some Instagram posts ask you to send them a direct message, and it promises more information in the reply to you. Sometimes this works, and sometimes silence. A direct message might be read by a real person, or more likely by a robot. The whole auto-reply robot mechanism is fragile. It is not surprising when it fails. Social media, especially when it comes to commerce, has the same problems that have been long standing challenges on the web. Anyone can post...
It was just over a year ago that Gene Hackman died. He had given us many great performances, including in “The French Connection,” “Hoosiers,” “Unforgiven.” In fact I’m going to stop because there were so many, that listing a few leaves out too many others. But most of the news stories focused on the mysterious circumstances of his death. He was 95, and he and his wife lived in a house in New Mexico that was nice enough to have been featured in Architectural Digest. Sadly, he had developed Alz...
