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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 brochure explaining the ordinance (a link to the brochure is published below), current eligible seniors are offered up to $350,000 in property tax exemptions. The Kenai Peninsula Borough is one of the few municipalities in Alaska to offer an additional $150,000 property tax exemption to seniors along w...
Residents of Marlow Manor Assisted Living in Anchorage were joined by an unexpected guest during a day visit to Anchorage's Botanical Gardens in late July. At the entrance, a sign warned guests to beware bears, which prompted lively joking, says Marlow Manor activities director Maria James. "We asked the admissions lady if there were any in the woods. She said yes, but not that day, because they were all fishing." But while the group was walking the trail, taking in the gorgeous surroundings...
No one is immune from having their identity stolen, not even Better Business Bureau. Reports have been coming in to BBB offices and on Scam Tracker regarding individuals claiming to be working with BBB. An Alaska man told us he got a call from a man named “James Stewart” stating he was holding a prize package for him. The Alaska man reports the caller told him he was working with BBB to send him the package and requested he wire money in order to get the prize. In Washington, a woman reports she received a call from someone telling her she won...
The dust has finally settled from legislative session, with important budget items and pieces of legislation passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Walker of interest to seniors and other public members. Some positive news on funding Good news for senior programs! Restored funding was approved in the amount of $5.1 million for the Alaska Senior Benefits program, administered by the Division of Public Assistance, in the Governor’s signed operating budget. Payment assistance for the two lower income tiers in the monthly a...
Rep. Diane Black, a Tennessee Republican congresswoman, and Earl Blumenauer, a Democratic congressman from Oregon, don’t agree on very much about health care. Both sit on the powerful House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee and both tend to vote on the opposite side of most health care issues. Black, a nurse by training, has called President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act an “abject failure,” which she argues was “built on a grand deception.” Black’s dislike of liberal health care policies is well known. She’s best known on Capitol Hill...
Shakespeare chronicled the seven ages of man from infancy to old age in “As You Like It.” Anyone with adult children knows the Bard of Avon left out a critical stage – the stage when you zip your lip around your adult child, fearful of your words pushing them away. You don’t have to be a poet or a researcher to understand that parents and adult children experience tension long after the child’s emancipation. Here are a few caveats from a University of Michigan Institute for Social Research study, which examined adult children over age 22 wh...
What’s the point of progress? It’s to improve our quality of life. This is a push-me, pull-you process, balancing the frustration of the inevitable glitches of new technology as compared with the comfort of the familiar. Sometimes the time is ripe for a new way of looking at things, and other times we find there are excellent old-fashioned solutions to be revisited. This yin and yang of new and old progress applies to two intriguing ideas I came across recently in the parallel laboratories of the university and the household. In the past few...
Do you prefer flavored water to slake your thirst? Many folks are repulsed by water – your temple’s most important nutrient. Today, grocery store shelves moan and groan from the weight of a constellation of flavor-enhanced water and juices. They might help us stay hydrated, but convenience has its cost. Water is more than hydrogen and oxygen; it’s the source of all life. Without fresh, clean, hydrating water and nutritious fresh fruit, we’d perish. Please, read labels. Avoid artificial colors, chemicals, flavors and preservatives because...
Alaska Health Fair, Inc., kicks off their fall series of health fairs around the state this month, featuring free health screenings and education, low cost blood tests and more. These tests can help you learn about your health and detect potential problems early, when treatment or changes in personal habits can be most effective. A complete and comprehensive chemistry/hematology test is available for only $45; with 27 different panels for conditions ranging from diabetes, kidney and liver function, to anemia and tissue health, thyroid,...
September Morn, please stay for a while longer, for when you are gone it will be time for an introduction to snowflakes and a lonesome, cold winter. But for readers lucky enough to have a working fireplace, it will be nice to cozy up to it again. Please remember to get registered to vote, and I can’t stress enough the importance of voting this year. The next president will be selecting one or maybe two Supreme Court justices. Social Security Disability benefits Social Security pays disability b...
If someone is enrolled in a health plan (this can be a Marketplace plan through the Affordable Care Act, a private health insurance plan or an employer plan), when they become eligible for Medicare at 65 the plan they were in can seamlessly enroll them into one of their Medicare Advantage plans, if they have one. (A Medicare Advantage plan is one policy that covers Medicare Hospital Coverage A, Outpatient Medical Coverage B and Prescription Coverage D and sometimes vision or dental). Some people have health plans that have approval to...
Walking away from dementia Grab your walking shoes. Studies are continuing to show that the more physical exercise you get, the greater your chances of preventing dementia. Using the landmark Framingham Heart Study to assess how physical activity affects the size of the brain and one’s risk for developing dementia, UCLA researchers have found an association between low physical activity and a higher risk for dementia in older adults. The new findings suggest that regular physical activity could...
Numerous Tricare fee change proposals in the FY 2017 Dept. of Defense budget are galloping our way. If you are like me, one of the elite group that in the 1960s received an invitation from the local draft board to join the Army, these new changes aren’t anything like the deal the military said our retirement benefits would be. We all realize we all have to do our part in tough budget times. I can’t speak for all retirees, but I wish the hit squad at the DOD would pack up and move to another dep...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in September. This month’s focus is “Substance Use, Misuse and Abuse Among Older Adults,” in support of National Recovery Month. Sept. 6, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. Sept. 13, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Sept. 20, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. Sept. 27, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Support meetings allow you to share your...
If you let it, your dog's nose can lead you to the fun and rewarding dog sport of canine nose work. Yes, it's called a sport but it doesn't require the rapid-fire pace of flyball or agility, just you following silently behind your dog as your dog's nose and brain work together to solve the question "where is that smell coming from?" And all that's required from your dog is her nose and eagerness to find the source of that smell. K9 Nose Work was developed by Ron Gaunt, Amy Herot and Jill Marie...
"There wouldn't have been a CROP Walk for many years, if Kristi Johnson hadn't volunteered to chair it," says Paul Boling, senior minister of First Christian Church. Paul and his brother, Dave, associate minister at the church, stepped up to chair the Walk this year and last year, when Kristi needed a break. She'd been chair or co-chair for 10 years. "It's such a good event for the whole community," Paul states. "It's a fundraising walk to alleviate hunger, here and around the world. I know how...
Two of the most colorful governors of Alaska ran against each other three times. They were very different in philosophy and temperament but wanted the best possible Alaska for its citizens. “The Ticket” is a world premiere by Cyrano’s resident playwright Dick Reichman and is about an imaginary meeting between Wally Hickel and Jay Hammond. The play opens Sept. 9 at the award-winning historical Cyrano’s Off Center Playhouse at 4th and D in downtown Anchorage, and will continue with 7 p.m. showings on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays...
The Alaska Commission on Aging will hold its quarterly meeting Sept. 15. Due to budget cuts, the meeting will be held via videoconference and teleconference, available at sites listed below, or statewide via toll-free telephone. The meeting takes place 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and public comment is scheduled from 11:30 to 11:50 a.m. For more information, contact the host agency in your area (from the list below) or call the commission office in Juneau at 465-3250. Videoconference sites Anchorage Senior and Disabilities Services, 550 West 8th Ave.,...
What Alaska connection do England's King Edward VII, Al Capone's chief legal counsel, Albert Fink, and American presidents Warren G. Harding, Theodore Roosevelt and William McKinley have in common? They are all honorary members of the Arctic Brotherhood club. This fraternal club, which at its height boasted around 10,000 members in the early 1900s, was the brainchild of sea captain William Connell, a hospitable man who had a reputation for keeping company with his passengers aboard the steamer,...
Two decades ago, Barbara Bain embarked on a mission many might have considered impossible: to convince children that books and reading could be fun. "I volunteered in a daycare and just started reading to the kids one day as we sat on the lawn," said Bain, who starred in the TV series "Mission: Impossible" and "Space: 1999." "They seemed to really enjoy it and were very responsive." The actress soon recognized the potential of her simple act of kindness. "I thought of all my acting colleagues in...
There’s no shortage of commercials urging you to buy gold and silver and other precious metals. The idea is that it’s a smart way to diversify your portfolio and protect your retirement funds. But of course everyone’s situation is different. Before you sink money into any new investment product, talk it over with your accountant or financial advisor. It’s a good idea to talk with an advisor who has specific knowledge about this type of investment but who is not also trying to sell it to you. If you decide to buy, the Federal Trade Commiss...
We Alaskans pride ourselves on being independent. But despite our “we don’t give a darn how they do it Outside” attitude, most of our state laws are the same as just about everywhere else in the U.S. One reason is that many of those laws are tightly governed by federal law (such as Medicaid, which is based on state statutes, but those statutes have to meet federal requirements if the program is going to be funded). But even beyond that, an awful lot of our statutes are written elsewhere. When...
Q. My cable bill went up last month. I only watch a few shows regularly – can I ditch my cable box and watch shows online? A. I cut the cable years ago. My wife and I knew we were ready after noticing how often we watched Netflix. At the time, our monthly bill dropped from $90 to $8. Before making the switch, consider what you watch now and see if you can find it online. Local news is difficult to replace. The same goes for live events like sports and award shows. The easiest to find are TV shows and movies. In many cases, shows can be w...
I'm not watching the Olympics in Rio this summer. And yes, I know that these athletes have trained and competed since childhood to be able to represent their country and gain lasting glory. I understand this because as a child I wanted to be the next Sonja Henie. That is, until I understood what her sympathies with Hitler and Nazi ideology meant. I still have routines and costume designs playing in my head. Recent Olympics have caused massive inequities in host countries that have affected...
As of July 1, about 2,100 Heating Assistance Program (HAP) participants across the state no longer qualify for assistance. Although HAP uses the same application and process for both of its programs, the Alaska Affordable Heating program (AKAHP) and Low Income Home Energy Assistance program (LIHEAP) are not the same, says HAP Coordinator Susan Marshall. “LIHEAP covers the lower income residents with incomes 150 percent or less than the federal poverty income level, and AKAHP covers higher income residents that are between 151 percent and 225 p...
