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I came across the Polish word przedwiosnie recently. The meaning is something like "pre-spring" or the time before spring. That's a perfect word for what we experience in the north, when the calendar says it's spring officially and our friends and family in the Lower 48 are showing off their daffodils or peonies or whatever happens to be blooming in their backyard. Up here, we have to look for more subtle signs of change as we endure more days of gray or decaying snow. Sure, the days are...
When my Direct TV service quit working in March 2025, I was quite sure it was a tree problem. The technician sent to my house confirmed my thoughts. I decided to call a tree service that years earlier had removed a huge broken branch stuck high in an old birch tree, which might have fallen on any person or vehicle parked in our driveway. The guy came that afternoon to do a free estimate. During our conversation, I mentioned that it seemed strange to be inquiring about his service, when I had a...
A highlight of the spring calendar is the Alaska Folk Festival in Juneau. The festival is April 6-12. There are two main venues, the main stage at Centennial Hall, 101 Egan Drive, and the dance stage at JAHC, 350 Whittier St. The guest artist is Willi Carlisle, who recently released his fourth album... Katie Orlinski, National Geographic photographer and explorer, will speak on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus at 7 p.m. April 16 at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium. Orlinsky will share her powerful photographic work detailing her...
April 1-30 National Poetry Month April 1-30 National Jazz Appreciation Month April 1 International April Fool’s Day Evening of April 1-April 9 International Passover April 5 International Easter April 7 Anchorage Municipal Election Day. Most voters vote by mail in Anchorage for the municipal election. This is the last day you can submit your ballot. There are 12 propositions, ranging from school bonds to a new street light service area, on the ballot. Six seats on the Anchorage Assembly are up for grabs, while two seats on the Anchorage S...
Kevin Whitley came to Alaska from Baytown, Texas, in 1972 at the age of 9. His father was drawn to Alaska to work on the transcontinental pipeline. So, the family packed their bags and moved more than 3,000 miles away to start a new life in Alaska. The move was anything but easy. Kevin had to adjust from the hot, humid plains of East Texas to the cold, mountainous landscape of Alaska. But little by little, he adapted. He swapped his football for a hockey stick, embracing the northern lifestyle,...
This is the first in a series about people finding or rediscovering creative pursuits later in life. The reporting project is funded by a grant from the Alaska Center for Excellence in Journalism. If you have a suggestion of a person who has explored their artistic or creative impulses upon retirement or when other life demands lessened, email editor@seniorvoicealaska.comeditor@seniorvoicealaska.com. David Brown looks like he is headed for a day of fishing when he takes a seat in a Midtown...
I hung up the phone totally devastated. That morning back in April 2023, I was ready to spend $800 for an item I'd wanted for years, and I'd just learned shipping to Alaska was impossible. I don't spend much money on myself and now that I was ready to, ironically, I couldn't. I wanted to replace my 1950s era Gardener's Supply brand grow light shelf system. My old system was so big and heavy, it was a two-person job to drag it (the tiny wheels were not much help) from storage across the...
On the evening of March 27, 1964, soldiers assigned to Battery A of the 4th Battalion/43rd Air Defense Artillery (ADA) Regiment had just finished dinner. Members of the 6–Midnight crew were preparing for shift while off-duty soldiers were starting the nightly games of spades or finding other activities to avoid the 28-degree weather. Duty logs indicate that planned activities were interrupted at 5:36 p.m., by seismic activity of magnitude 9.3 and that aftershocks lasted for at least five m...
As Iditarod mushers and their teams head out of Willow on Sunday, March 8, and race toward Nome, they will follow a path steeped in history-a story written by Native traders, gold rushers and the evolution of the Alaska frontier. The northern route, used during even-numbered years like 2026, passes through remote villages and towns that each tell a unique tale of adaptation, ambition, and survival. After leaving Willow, teams thunder past checkpoints at Yentna Station, Skwentna, Finger Lake,...
Tax season already brings enough stress...so the last thing you need is a scammer pretending to be the IRS sliding into your texts, emails or phone calls. Every year, scammers try to scare people into acting fast and thinking later. Consumers reported losing $789 million to government impostor scams in 2024, including IRS impostor scams, according to the Federal Trade Commission. If the IRS really needs you, they won't text you at midnight or email you with flashing warnings and emoji-filled...
My husband and daughter are avid cross-country skiers, but somehow my love of running never turned into a similar enthusiasm for snow sports. But one spring I decided I would sign up for the 25-kilometer Tour of Anchorage ski race. My sister-in-law, an adventurous young woman who pledged to do one thing outside her comfort zone every year-skydiving, stand-up comedy, trapeze artistry-had died a few months before. And maybe I was honoring her legacy by registering for an athletic event I had...
As Alaskans, we take great pride in our unique culture and the breathtaking beauty of our state. Yet, hidden within this beauty is a pressing issue that affects a significant part of our population: our seniors. Today, I want to address the multifaceted challenges they face, including voting rights, economic security, access to quality health care, social justice, and educational opportunities. We must unite to advocate for meaningful changes that ensure our seniors receive the respect and support they deserve. Voting rights: Alaskans must be...
Frances Perkins was tough as nails. She had to be. She was the first woman ever to serve in a presidential cabinet. Perkins was Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Her beat was workers, immigrants, and the creation of Social Security. She was determined, focused, and did not suffer fools. According to her Wikipedia entry, one time she got in a spat with Alfred P. Sloan, the chairman of the board at General Motors. During a United Auto Workers strike, she...
After months of heating our homes through Alaska's long, cold winter, now is the perfect time to check that everything works safely. Your heating system has been working hard, and a little attention now can prevent fires and keep you warm through the rest of the winter and into spring. Wood stoves and fireplaces need regular cleaning to work safely. Creosote builds up inside the chimney when you burn wood. This black tar-like substance is dangerous because it can catch fire. If you've been using...
My husband, Gary, passed away in December 2025 at the Palmer Veterans and Pioneers Home -his residence for almost four years. The staff graciously told me to take all the time I needed to remove his belongings from his room. Above his bed was a beautiful quilt made by his grandmother-a lady I never met. It is a requirement that only lightweight items be placed on the wall above a bed at the Pioneer Home...a precaution for earthquakes. On the wall in his bathroom was a lovely Alaska-themed lap...
Anchorage's oldest unsolved murder happened 105 years ago this month when the town's first police chief was gunned down as he tried to get a handle on illegal activities like prostitution, bootlegging, and gambling. An eyewitness account of crime in the railroad town founded in 1915 comes from Kenneth Gideon, author of "Wandering Boy," who visited the town as it began to grow along Ship Creek. Along with describing the proliferation of prostitution, Gideon noted: "The government had decreed...
The light is coming back, and that's a good thing. But if you're not instantly heartened by the returning light and are dreading the next few months of cold and dark, this is what I've learned about coping with winter. Get outside. It doesn't matter what the temperature is or how strong the wind is blowing. Make it a point to get outside. Ideally, you'll spend 20 minutes walking or doing more vigorous exercise. If you're less than mobile, can you stand on your porch and look at the stars on a...
Welcome to 2026. As this new year starts, on behalf the Senior Voice Team, I express our thanks for the gifts through the cash, the subscriptions, and the advertising opportunities that you have allowed Senior Voice to be part of. Your donations allow the Senior Voice to have skin in the game by cost sharing in the production of the newspaper with our corporate donors. Without you, meeting the terms of the grant would not be possible. Again, thank you for your choice to invest in the Senior Voice. In 2026, office hours will be weekdays from...
My cell phone rang late (9:45 p.m.) on a 2025 November night. I did not recognize the number, but have learned to pick up as it could easily be in regard to my husband's health. The voice at the other end said he was so and so with the Palmer Police Department. My mind immediately warned "scam." But I didn't hang up. The "officer" wanted to know if I was missing anything. "Not that I know of," I replied. "Did you do any shopping at the Palmer Fred Meyer store this evening?" Yes. "Did you get...
Emily Morgan, a 47-year-old Red Cross public health nurse, played an instrumental role during the deadly diphtheria outbreak in Nome, 101 years ago this month. The crisis began when children with sore throats and tonsillitis symptoms rapidly succumbed to the illness. Morgan, drawing on her experience with diphtheria from her nursing work in Kansas, was among the first to recognize the telltale signs of the disease after being called to attend 7-year-old Bessie Stanley. Despite the family's...
Editor's Note: National Centenarian's Day was Sept. 22. The day honors those who've celebrated 100 birthdays or more. We're publishing several profiles of people who have hit this milestone this fall. The Alaska Commission on Aging is working with the Governor's Office, Pioneer Homes and Long Term Care Ombudsman to celebrate Alaska's centenarians. This interview was made possible thanks to the Alaska Commission on Aging. A lot of Alaskans of a certain era can recall driving up the Alcan, their...
Do you have fond memories of hanging out and listening to vinyl records when you were young? Maybe you still have some in a box in your attic, collecting dust. Or perhaps you still listen to them. Records are back in style. And they're not just popular with people who are nostalgic for days gone by. Introduced in 1948, the "long-playing" (LP) record format dominated the music industry until the late 1980s when they were largely replaced on store shelves by compact discs (CDs). Long forgotten by...
The only reason I attended the 2024 Colony High Christmas Bazaar was to purchase the most recent Tundra comic book. I had tried in August at the Alaska State Fair, but at the Tundra booth, Chad Carpenter told me they weren't back from the printers yet. So, when I learned that Tundra would be one of the vendors at that bazaar, I circled the date on my calendar. As I drove to the school shortly before the 10 o'clock opening time, the sun was peeking out to the left of Pioneer Peak in all its...
Elementary school students will get to enjoy cross country skiing thanks to an initiative of the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage and the Anchorage School District. The nonprofit created a kit called the Ski Mobile that was built to be shared among 60 Anchorage schools. The Ski Mobile includes 30 sets of skis and boots to fit children in grades 3–5. The kit was inspired by a group that organizes NSAA ski events. It was championed by 2018 Olympic gold medalist and cross country skier K...
Following the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and the American retaliation strike on Tokyo by the Doolittle Raiders in April 1942, Japanese leadership began searching for ways to ext end their bombing range across the Pacific Ocean. Soon, Alaska found itself on the front lines of an unusual, silent, aerial assault. From late 1944 to 1945, Japanese fu-go balloon bombs found their way to the Last Frontier's shores. The fu-go ("fūsen" is the Japanese word for balloon and...
