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With the approach of the year’s end and a new one beginning, many of us frantically compile lists of things to finish up or initiate. Mine include holiday gift-buying, card-sending, planning a family dinner, household chores to complete before the arrival of guests, places to go and people to meet, not to mention activities related to my writing career. It’s enough to make me long to immediately take a nap. Or, if I actually try to accomplish everything, by Christmas Eve at 2 a.m., I’m cranky, exhausted and depleted of cheer. However, a secre...
Older Persons Action Group and Senior Voice Alaska recognizes and honors veterans every day for their service to our nation. But on Veterans Day, November 11, special thanks are needed. A reprint from the VFW’s website on the origin of the well-known red poppy is appropriate for this edition. Buddy Poppy The VFW conducted its first poppy distribution before Memorial Day in 1922, becoming the first veterans’ organization to organize a nationwide distribution. The poppy soon was adopted as the...
Anyone interested in the Klondike gold-rush era has heard of the infamous Klondike Kate, a dancehall gal who mesmerized miners with her moves. Kathleen Rockwell earned quite the reputation for her flirtatious dancing. But there was another girl named Kate who also traveled north and gained some notoriety as a cook, nurse and jailer. Ill-fated love led this Canadian girl to set out for the Klondike in 1898. When Katherine Ryan heard newspaper boys shouting out the headlines about gold found in...
American audiences were introduced to British actress Stephanie Cole when she portrayed grumpy, sharp-witted Diana Trent, a resident of the Bayview Retirement Village in the 90s sitcom "Waiting for God." A decade later, Cole was back on U.S. Public Television playing a more congenial matriarchal character in another popular British comedy import, "Doc Martin." Turning 75 last month, Cole's current work schedule might be the envy of many actors. "I'm in two popular series ('Man Down' and 'Still...
Winston Churchill once said that democracy was a crappy system, until you consider the alternatives (I’m paraphrasing of course). When I hear that, it reminds me of the controversy over powers of attorney (POAs, for short). I mentioned in last month’s column that the legislature recently gave us a new statutory power of attorney. It cleans up a number of problems from the old version. One of the most maddening issues we had before was that you were not supposed to check the boxes for the pow...
Q. My Windows 7 PC is showing its age and will need to be replaced soon. But I’m not sure which direction to go. Should I stick with Windows? Switch to a Mac? I think I might like a laptop. Any recommendations? A. Upgrading your PC will require considerable effort. Even the move from Windows 7 to Windows 10 comes with a significant learning curve. A new computer will be easier to use and more secure. Laptops are extremely popular. Yet despite four decades of improvements, I think computers are still needlessly complex for most tasks. Too m...
Editor’s note: This press release was received Sept. 14, 2016. The need for family caregivers in the U.S. is rapidly increasing, yet demographic shifts are causing the pool of potential family caregivers to decrease, according to “Families Caring for an Aging America,” a new report from The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Currently, nearly 18 million people in this country provide some form of care for loved ones age 65 or older. The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) — the nation’s largest interdisc...
Suns, skies, clouds and flowers of June together cannot rival for one hour, October’s bright blue Alaska weather. – H H Jackson. If you think your prescribed meds are getting more expensive each time you get another order in, you are absolutely right. Just a couple of questions to my friends: Wouldn’t the world be a far better place if there were no insurance companies? Why do the people on Medicare Part D have to buy into an insurance company? When I saw my doctor last week, he told me his e...
You have decided you need a change of scenery and want to explore our wonderful country. You pull out the Rand McNally (I am aware I have just dated myself) and pick a section of the country on your bucket list. Then, reality strikes. You have VA medical appointments, meds about to run out and a lab test scheduled. Your next logical step would be to wait until all of those little situations are sorted before leaving. I have a news flash: There will always be some little appointment, event or...
When John Green Brady, governor of the District of Alaska, was asked to create an exhibit to publicize the Great Land for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904, he decided to showcase one of Southeast Alaska's most recognizable features: totem poles. Brady thought a display of poles carved by Alaska's Native people would draw crowds to the exhibit where they then could learn about the real Alaska – not an icebox, but a land that offered much for tourism, settlement and developme...
There was a time when Burt Ward would leap dramatically across our TV screens in green shorts, beige tights and a gold cape masquerading weekly as 'Robin, the Boy Wonder,' one-half of the crime fighting Dynamic Duo in the popular television show "Batman," which first aired 50 years ago this year. Today, you'll find Burt more comfortable at home in jeans, rescuing dogs, although he hasn't abandoned the citizens of Gotham City entirely. "I was the Caped Crusader, but now I'm the Canine Crusader,"...
All right, I gripe about the legislature as much as the next guy. On the other hand, I am also happy to give credit where credit is due. And this last session, the legislature passed a bill which is really helpful. Actually it passed two bills I like. The smaller one involves revisions to the statutory form power of attorney. It’s nothing dramatic, but there were several oddities in the old format which grated on me. But now, no more will people have to figure out, from the instructions, that i...
Q. I have collected photos on my computer for years, but they are not organized. Now I have a mess on my hands. I would like to sort them out and keep them safe. Where do I start? A. We are spoiled by too much choice when it comes to photo management tools. But there is a way to cut through the noise: think long term. I have used image catalogs for years. Most of them have eventually been discontinued. Today, there are only two services I expect will still be around in 10 years, Apple iCloud Photo Library and Google Photos. Most organizing...
Staff from Alaska’s Social Security office will be available for questions via videoconferencing at the following locations and times: Kodiak Job Center, on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month (Oct. 11 and 25), 9 a.m. to noon. Kenai Senior Center, on the first and third Wednesday of each month (Oct. 5 and 19), 9 a.m. to noon. Ketchikan Job Center, every Thursday (Oct. 6, 13, 20, 27), noon to 3 p.m. Social Security provides toll-free telephone service to all of Alaska. Residents in Alaska’s southeast communities can call the Juneau Soc...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Do not go back to what you loved in August, for you will see the near ending of the times you loved. August is the beginning of the end of the year, the times when the lush green leaves start turning to rust and yellow. But if you are a happy outdoorsman and can’t wait to see the first snowdrop, you will be coming into your own, waxing your skis, sharpening your skate blades. Taking your heavy wool sweaters out of mothballs and checking to see where you left your snow shovels. I am not one of t...
In addition to federal VA benefits, veterans shouldn’t overlook the State of Alaska benefits. Following is a partial list of Alaska Veteran benefits. Veteran license plates The State of Alaska Legislature has designated several special license plates for veterans: recipients of the Purple Heart Medal, veterans who have been a Prisoner of War (POW), veterans who are survivors of Pearl Harbor, and Gold Star Families. Plates are issued free of charge after proof of service or family loss is validat...
