Articles written by mackenzie stewart
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 55
Senior program funding in the state budget
During the last Alaska Commission on Aging legislative teleconference of the legislative session on May 17, members of the Alaska Commission on Aging (ACoA), helmed by ACoA Executive Director Denise Daniello, and ACoA health and social services plann...
Aging and Disability Resource Centers offer various levels of assistance
Are you looking for resources that will allow you to maintain your independence as you age? Look no further than your local Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC). Servicing locations all over...
Legislators work on senior services budget
The Senate Finance Health and Social Services Subcommittee closed out the operating budget for FY18 for the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) on Mar. 14. The Senate Subcommittee was able to reduce the DHSS budget by an additional 5...
No further cuts to Pioneer Homes – for now
Governor Bill Walker’s new operating budget for FY 2018 brings welcome news for the Alaska Pioneer Homes – no budget cuts for the homes. Since FY 2015, the Department of Health and Social Services, which includes services like the six Alaska Pio...
Get ready for competition with a smile at Kenai Peninsula Senior Games
The 14th Annual Kenai Peninsula Senior Olympic Games will take place Feb. 21to 25 and will feature 12 events ranging from pinochle to ping pong and basketball toss to 8-ball pool, to name a few. The...
Kenai Peninsula vote keeps senior tax exemption
After being put on the Oct. 4 ballot, the Kenai Peninsula Borough’s plan to phase out the additional $150,000 property tax exemption offered to Kenai Peninsula Borough seniors was voted down by the public. “Three-to-one turned it down, with 6,8...
Longer waitlists for state's Pioneer Home facilities
With more budget cuts from the state forcing the loss of numerous staff positions, the state’s Pioneer Homes assisted living facilities have begun to further limit the number of residents the homes are able to receive. Vickie Wilson, director of t...
Kenai Peninsula Borough to vote on senior property tax exemption
After meeting on July 26 to decide whether or not to put Ordinance 2014-24 on the Oct. 4 ballot, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly voted to move forward with the ordinance’s senior property tax exemption phase out plan. According to a borough b...
Senior Benefits funding restored
Last March, the Senior Benefit program’s top tier beneficiaries – those who qualify for the program at the highest income levels allowed – saw their monthly payments drop from the program’s initial $125 to $47. As of Senior Voice press time for the...
Senior hunting license rules will not change
There were a lot of moving parts to House Bill 13, says Michelle Kaelke, Finance and Licensing Supervisor at the Department of Fish and Game (DF&G). Last month, Senior Voice reported that the bill dealing with the DF&G’s senior licenses set out to r...
Higher property tax for Kenai Borough seniors?
After meeting on June 21 to discuss Ordinance 2014-24, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly has proposed that the borough do away with the optional $150,000 senior property tax exemption as the senior population in the Kenai Peninsula increases. The...
State plans to raise age for senior hunting licenses
Update: Last minute changes in the legislation changed these particulars. As the bill reads now, the new rules are: - 65 year age limit - no three-year renewal is required. Please stay tuned, as there is confusion among sponsors and the above...
Kenai Peninsula senior task force nixed
Citing low public interest and little need, Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre vetoed a resolution to create a senior task force on Feb. 23. The resolution, brought forward by senior advocate Peter Zuyus and Kenai Peninsula Borough assembly...
Plans are coming together for a Skagway Senior Center
After years of planning and feasibility reports, Skagway’s senior center is getting closer to a reality. Since being appointed by Mayor Stan Selmer in March 2013, the Senior Ad Hoc Committee has been overseeing the project, guided by the committee m...
State explores privatizing Pioneer Homes
With the state anxiously seeking ways to cut costs, one idea being discussed is privatizing its Pioneer Home assisted living facilities. The state recently took another step in exploring this possibility, and issued a request for letters of interest...
Pioneer Home rates to increase
Ketchikan Pioneer Home’s administrative director, Julie Sande, has been around the home long enough to see various rate increases. Sande was a social worker when the first big rate increase was implemented, when residents went from paying $700 a m...
Ride sharing program starting up in Fairbanks
Tired of forgetting to start your car before you head to work on a chilly morning? Looking for a stress-free way to make your daily commute more manageable? Look no further than ridesharing. The Fairbanks North Star Borough has partnered with Zimride...
Sterling's Angel Tree program brings holidays to kids
The goal of the Sterling Christmas Angel Tree program, says program chairman Shirley Lowe, is that no child in Sterling be without a present to open on Christmas morning. The Sterling Senior Center...
Juneau cuts senior sales tax exemption
To the dismay of many, the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) Assembly voted at its Sept. 20 meeting to severely curtail the city’s senior citizens sales tax exemption. The vote was 7 to 2. The sales tax exemption will no longer apply to purchases o...
September is a good time to clean out the medicine cabinet
This year’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is set for September 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. nationwide. The DEA-sponsored program has collected hundreds of pounds of leftover medications from Alaskans alone since the program’s premier in 2010...
Chore, handyman service planned for Fairbanks area
Village to Village, the ever popular program for seniors throughout the Lower 48, will soon be making its way to Alaska. The planning committee along with North Star Council on Aging are planning to open a similar program in the Fairbanks area by...
Gala fundraiser is a hit
With a guest list of 310 that included Governor Bill Walker and current and upcoming Anchorage mayors, Dan Sullivan and Ethan Berkowitz, the June 10 "Evening at the Atwood Estate" signature...
Stories at the Cemetery
Stories at the Cemetery will be an Official Anchorage Centennial Event this year, and to celebrate the year 2015, the theme will be “Fifteen for 2015… And A Leg!” says Audrey Kelly, along with her husband Bruce. “One of the character’s legs was...
Anchorage wants to hear from its seniors for lifestyle survey
Anchorage seniors, your input is needed to help the Anchorage Economic Development Corp. complete its “Live. Work. Play” report on quality of life and making Anchorage the number one city to live, work and play in by 2025. The survey is short and...
Insurance can protect your pet – and wallet
From rocks to socks and toxic foods to scissors, pets manage to get into anything and everything. But what happens when you rush your pet to the emergency room only to find out that Buster's surgery...