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Museums statewide offer deals for seniors
Alaska has museums from Dutch Harbor, to Sitka, to tiny Anaktuvuk Pass in the middle of the Brooks Range. But the most striking-looking building in all of Juneau, and surely anywhere else in the...
New annex brings seniors back together in Fairbanks
Knowing all too well the effects of social isolation on the health of seniors, both mental and physical, the Fairbanks Senior Center has temporarily pivoted to a new rented space at Shoppers Forum...
Airline mask mandate: It's all up to you now
On April 13, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the Transportation Security Administration had issued an extension of the mask mandate until May 3 after the CDC’s “close monitoring of the COVID-19 landscape in the Unite...
COVID restrictions lift and travelers are raring to go
The planes and ships want you back - desperately. But only you can decide if you feel safe enough to go. I ping-ponged back and forth from Alaska to the east coast three times between late summer and...
Canada drops COVID tests
On April Fool’s Day, no kidding, Canada will drop the requirement that travelers entering Canada either through airports or land borders prove they have a pre-arrival COVID-19 test result. But only for those fully vaccinated. This is a big sigh of...
Federal deadline for a REAL ID is next year
Passed by Congress in 2005, the REAL ID Act enacted the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation that the federal government “set standards for the issuance of sources of identification, such as driver’s licenses.” The Act established requirements...
Clinical trials in Alaska focus on colon cancer
Editor's note: This story has been updated, with corrections. March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and there are ways you can help find a cure. We are at the age when we know of someone who is suffering or has died from colon cancer,...
Winter travel preparation could save your life
In early January, hundreds of travelers taking Interstate 95 through Fredericksburg, Virginia, ran into a winter storm and spent overnight in below-freezing temperatures. And in mid-November 2021,...
Travel is possible, but sometimes questionable
The recent COVID-19 variant Omicron is affecting travel as the pandemic shows no sign of waning. And for Alaskans, with winter coming on, the need for sun and fun as well as cultural stimulation...
Web, animal cams offer Alaskan escape
Chances are if you've lived in Alaska, you've resided in or traveled to different parts of the state. If not, well shame on you. But if you have and your life is not as mobile as it once was, there's...
Alaska's challenging travel is like 'Hotel California'
The big storm that blew through Southeast Alaska on Oct. 1 sure played havoc with my travel plans. On a Friday night the winds blew at storm force and it rained pell-mell all night long. Although I ch...
Supportive staff, programs at Alaska Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired
When my mother lost her sight at the age of 85, it seemed sudden but in fact it was a gradual loss with providers ignoring her complaints of floaters, flashes and jaw pain. A rare autoimmune disease,...
Travel gets more complicated, more technical
I have prided myself over the years on learning new technology, starting in 1992 when I first encountered a Dell computer at work and figured it out. Then through the years, from Boston to Alaska, I...
Senior housing springs up around Alaska
This story has been updated to correct errors in the earlier version. Since its inception 47 years ago, Cook Inlet Housing Authority (CIHA) has seen the state's elderly population skyrocket....
Temporary halt on evictions extended to Oct. 3
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new order temporarily halting evictions in areas with heightened levels of community transmission of COVID-19. The order makes it illegal to evict any individual who qualifies, and...
Ups and downs of flying during the pandemic surge
I am sitting in the Juneau "International" Airport waiting for the milk run from Juneau to Sitka to Ketchikan to Seattle, when an Alaska Airlines agent announces that, due to fog, our flight's...
Canada opens to American travelers
To the joy of Alaska border towns, Canada has reopened its customs checkpoints after 16 months due to the spread of COVID-19. As of Aug. 9, fully vaccinated foreign nationals are allowed into Canada for discretionary travel. But there are certain...
Traveling on British trains is just better
The English have always been keen to train travel, particularly during the days when they had private compartments and different classes. The Brits do love their classes. Today, while the trains are...
Pickleball brings seniors together for fun and fitness
Aging surely has its challenges and one is keeping up your physical health as your body slowly deteriorates. Add an injury or major operation and the road to recovery may be too hard to meet ...
Celebrate America, celebrate democracy
It was no time to celebrate in large crowds the past two years, so Independence Day celebrations across the state were canceled. But they're back now. In Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), the midnight sun...
Go on and soak your bones this summer
I hopped on my bike and pedaled to the hot springs toward downtown Tenakee Springs, only to be stopped by the sight of a couple frozen in fear, their faces blanched pale. "Luna (a neighbor's dog) is...
Confusion, bad snacks and shrieking cats
OK, so I haven't lived in Alaska since 2012, and we decided to return when real estate prices tripled in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and the streets of my mother's beloved working-class fishing...
Go fish! Sink your hook into senior savings
Alaska doesn't have a state lottery – but you could win the jackpot in one of our salmon or halibut fishing derbies. These fishing tournaments offer big fish winners cash and other prizes. Just...
Storm New England's Hammond castle
Come the time when we are able to travel freely, consider skipping Disneyland to visit a real castle on Cape Ann, just an hour north of Boston. Rising on the shore of Gloucester, Massachusetts, the...
Winter doesn't have to mean confinement
Cabin fever came early this year for sure. With a vaccine coming available within the next couple of months, once we can go outside with some safety it'll be like the gift of an early spring....
