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AARP Foundation Tax-Aide is now recruiting for volunteers for the 2021 season. Free tax preparation is an important boost for individuals and families in Alaska working to improve their financial stability. Sometimes a higher refund means keeping the heat on or helping with rent for our most vulnerable residents. Becoming a volunteer tax preparer is easier than you think No prior tax experience is necessary, and all the training materials are provided. Volunteers should enjoy talking to people and feel comfortable asking questions, have basic...
The Alaska Commission on Aging will be holding a Zoom and teleconference meeting on Tuesday, November 10 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. to discuss updates and lessons learned during the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). This will be a free event. The featured speaker for this meeting will be Alaska's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink, MD, FACEP. Other presenters will include senior providers, senior center providers, and John Lee, director of the Alaska Div. of Senior and Disabilities Services. To Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/991...
Older Persons Action Group will hold its 2020 annual membership meeting virtually on Thursday, Nov. 19, at noon. The board business meeting starts at 11:15 a.m., followed immediately by the membership meeting. Due to COVID concerns, meetings will be conducted online via the Zoom web platform. Attendance will require a Zoom log-in link, provided by email to those who RSVP no later than Nov. 17. To RSVP, call 276-1059 or 1-800-478-1059, or email admin@opagak.com. Senior Voice wins awards Senior...
“Age Smart – Let’s Talk”, the series of forums sponsored by AARP Alaska, Older Persons Action Group and the Anchorage Senior Activity Center, returns virtually online Tuesday, Nov. 10, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. This month’s focus is on the Anchorage Museum. Museums house collections of the histories of civilizations and culture. The study of our past gives us a look at what we have been and what we still can be. The Anchorage Museum has developed ways to stay connected to our community as we age. Join us to find out how art/creativity is beneficia...
Enormous drug company profits are the primary driver of soaring prescription drug prices in America, according to an investigation that Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released recently. The report, based on an 18-month investigation which produced more than a million documents, was started by former committee chairperson Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md.., who died last year. But it was largely overlooked, with the nation focused on COVID-19 and the presidential elections – despite a congressional hearing with verbal fireworks i...
Editor’s note: The recent death of former Anchorage borough mayor and long-time community booster Jack Roderick brought back lots of memories and stories, including this one from Older Persons Action Group staff worker Sheila Abbott Patterson, whose father worked for Jack loading cargo at the Anchorage airport in the 1950s. Many years later, she herself worked for Jack in publishing, which brought about this story. Alaska in the early 70s, also known known as pre-pipeline. Everything and everyone was high. On optimism as well as trepidation. A...
Some call a booming economy a “rising tide that lifts all boats.” We’re experiencing the flip side of that now: a sinking tide that is wreaking havoc unequally. Age, income and circumstance have affected all Americans in the tsunami of this pandemic. Seniors are bearing the brunt of the crisis as it relates to serious infection and death, but the financial picture for most “boomers and beyond” has been a mixed bag. Short term, our age group is faring better financially than others. Most seniors are beyond the tethers of salary needs and depen...
As we conclude our celebration of LGBT History Month, we must recognize how LGBT history has been told. For decades, the trailblazing work of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) LGBT pioneers has been eclipsed by white and cisgender narratives. Names like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera have not always been at the forefront of our history. Far too often, we see the practice of whitewashing affect how history is told. This leaves the BIPOC community with the task of undoing this flawed storytelling. They cannot and should not do it...
Interested in learning more about businesses and agencies providing senior services in the Anchorage and Mat-Su area? Want to get the word out about your own service? The monthly Service Providers Breakfast (formerly known as the Interagency Breakfast), sponsored by Older Persons Action Group, Inc., is an opportunity for all the above. Informal, early and free, the monthly event is being continued virtually online via Zoom. The November meeting is Nov. 18, hosted by Providence Hospice. Begins at 8 a.m. RSVP by calling Older Persons Action...
November is here, which means the holidays are right around the corner. It also means that it is “Alzheimer’s Awareness” month. During the month of November our agency, Alzheimer’s Resource of Alaska (ARA) doubles efforts to raise awareness about the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. We believe that education is empowering. The more people know about and understand the disease, the more they are able to help people living with cognitive challenges at home and in their communities. Americans are living longer than ever...
4 has been an ever-evolving season of change. As we turn our calendars to the holiday season, I believe this will continue to be the case. For many, traditions will be modified or skipped for a year and I find myself with a heavy heart when I think about what is to come. However, it helps me to focus on the things that will never change and to embrace some positive aspects of things that have changed. A well-loved tradition every November here at Hospice of Anchorage is to partner together...
The Medicare Part D (prescription drug coverage) Open Enrollment Period is now in full swing. (See page 7 for details - Editor.) For those who don’t know, from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 each year, Medicare provides an opportunity for beneficiaries who have Part A (Hospital) coverage and/or Part B (Medical) coverage to: join a Medicare Part D plan, change their Medicare Part D plan or dis-enroll from Medicare Part D. Enrollment, disenrollment, and plan changes can also be made to Medicare Advantage (...
At-home testing for COVID infection Researchers have developed a new type of multiplexed test with a low-cost sensor that may enable the at-home diagnosis of a COVID-19 infection through rapid analysis of small volumes of saliva or blood, without the involvement of a medical professional, in less than 10 minutes. One feature of the COVID-19 virus that makes it so difficult to contain is that it can be easily spread to others by a person who has yet to show any signs of infection. The carrier of...
With senior centers still closed, the Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold all November peer support meetings on Tuesdays, 1 p.m., at its office at 44539 Sterling Highway, Suite 202 in the Blazy Mall in Soldotna. Social distancing will be respected, and masks will be worn at the meetings, and virtual attendance via Zoom can be arranged for those who can’t make it in person. Different topics will be discussed at each meeting. Bring your questions and ideas. You may also schedule one-on-one appointments and if you have q...
Alaska Health Fair is almost at the end of the fall season. During November, we will offer services on certain dates in Anchorage and Fairbanks, and will continue to provide services until the second week of December. Our offices will be closed for some days in late November for Thanksgiving, and from Dec. 21 through Jan. 1, for the holidays. We will reopen on Jan. 4 to start preparing for an active spring 2021 season. We continue to work through COVID, providing Alaskans affordable, comprehensive, private blood tests, as safely as possible....
Never before have there been so many tools available to older adults in Alaska for improving the safety of their home. Alaska has one of the fastest aging populations per capita in the nation, and the majority of Alaskans want to age in place like the rest of the country. However, the challenges are different in Alaska and they can make growing old in a single-family home especially difficult, according to Karla Zervos, who is a volunteer coordinator for the North Star Council on Aging Fairbanks Senior Center’s Helping Hands Home Modifications...
Dear Savvy Senior: I’m interested in tracking down some old friends I’ve lost touch with over the years but could use some help. What websites can you recommend that can help me find them? - Tracking Tom Dear Tom: Thanks to the internet, tracking down long-lost friends from many years ago is relatively easy to do and, in most cases, it won’t cost you a cent. Here are some tips and online tools to help you get started. Remembering the details Before you begin your search, a good first step is to jot down any information you can remember or fi...
Thanksgiving means different things to different people. For me as a child growing up in Glennallen, it meant a big turkey dinner that we always ate with just our family of six. Dinner was served at the usual time in the evening because Dad worked at the Copper Valley Electric power plant during the day, even on Thanksgiving. As I got older, I helped more each year with food preparation. We set the table with the real silverware out of the wooden chest, but used our everyday dishes. Most of Mom'...
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will sponsor the November 2020 Lecture Series in honor of Native American Heritage Month and Walter Soboleff Day. The series this year will be offered virtually and will focus on citizens and shareholders in Alaska Native corporations and tribes. All lectures will be live streamed on SHI’s YouTube channel at noon and are free to everyone. Here is the schedule: Nov. 3, “ANCSA Selection of Corporate Model and its Business/Non-Business Investments,” with Greg Razo Nov. 5, “A Review of Tribal Governm...
The Alaska Association for Historic Preservation (AAHP) will hold their annual membership meeting virtually via Zoom on November 5 at 6 p.m. to celebrate the announcements of the Historic Preservation Award Recipients and the Ten Most Endangered Historic Properties Grant recipients. The meeting is open to members, prospective members and the general public. Due to the nature of the meeting being held via Zoom, an RSVP is required so that those attending can be sent the login information and...
Technically speaking, Anchorage was born in November 1920. According to information gleaned by the League of Women Voters many years ago, it was eligible to become a first-class city because it had a population in excess of 400 – provided that two-thirds of the voters were ready to assume responsibilities of city government for its 2,500 residents. A group of interested citizens filed a petition with the U.S. District Court at Valdez, which was the headquarters of the Third Judicial Division. T...
With the holidays approaching, seasonal movie favorites will soon be inching their way into television schedules. While considered perennial Christmas entertainment fare, the opening scenes of "Miracle on 34th Street" actually take place at Thanksgiving with the annual Macy's parade. The 1947 movie and Thanksgiving festivities hold special significance for actress Natasha Gregson Wagner. "I don't recall the first time my mother showed me 'Miracle on 34th Street,' but I remember as a child...
How about a novel that features characters "of a certain age"? And how about a book that is entertaining, totally engrossing, and makes you smile at least some of the time? Perhaps something that will help you forget about the depressing news program you just saw? Well then, take a look at these: The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill -- "Laos, 1976: Dr. Siri Paiboun, a 72-year-old medical doctor, has been unwillingly appointed the national coroner of newly-socialist Laos. Though his lab is unde...
Veterans and active duty military can count on Social Security Every year on Veterans Day, we honor the people who risk their lives to protect our country. Our disability program is an important part of our obligation to wounded warriors and their families. Social Security is an important resource for military members who return home with injuries. If you know a wounded veteran, please let them know about our Wounded Warriors webpage. You can find it at www.ssa.gov/woundedwarriors. The Wounded Warriors webpage answers many commonly asked...
The most stubborn myths usually start with a kernel of truth, which is then taken out of context. For instance, this is true: “You can give up to $15,000 away each year, tax-free”. But from that true statement, a number of untrue conclusions have risen up. To start with, this is a true fact only if you’re looking at the federal estate and gift tax. Gifts of up to $15,000 each year don’t count. By the way, this is not $15,000 total from one person; it’s $15,000 from any one person to any one o...
