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AARP Alaska invites you to join us in celebrating the 90th anniversary of Social Security on Aug. 14. For 90 years, Social Security has provided a stable and reliable foundation for the retirement security of millions of Americans. We are committed to ensuring that this vital program remains strong for generations to come. A legacy of security Since 1935, Social Security has been a cornerstone for older Americans, enabling them to live and retire with dignity. It has supported people with disabi...
The Alaska Commission on Aging invites the public to an upcoming educational webinar designed to empower Alaskans with the knowledge they need to navigate qualifying for Medicaid long-term care. This free webinar, Long-Term Care Medicaid Eligibility with Alaskan Attorney Amrit Kaur Khalsa, will be held via Zoom on Monday, Aug. 18, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Alaska time. The Commission is offering this webinar in response to the enthusiastic feedback received after our June Estate Planning Webinar with Chelsea Riekkola, held in recognition of World...
In 1965 Bill Dunlevy was in the U.S. Air Force stationed in California. A friend taught him how to pan for gold. He was hooked. Bill and his family drove to Alaska in 1977. A few years later he retired from the Air Force and took a job in the private sector. He continued to mine for gold in southcentral Alaska and as far away as Nome. In 2008 Bill and five partners purchased a gold mining claim at a remote site in the Wrangell Mountains. Bill is 85 now. I interviewed him just a few weeks before...
On July 18, the Republican-led Congress agreed to roll back $1.1 billion already allocated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for the following two fiscal years. The funding serves as the basis for more than 1,500 public media stations around the country. In Alaska, there are 27 radio licensees. Both Rep. Nick Begich and Sen. Dan Sullivan voted in favor of the rescission bill. Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted against the rescission package. Sullivan was awarded the 2020 Champion of Public...
August is fair season in Alaska. The Tanana Valley State Fair is July 25-Aug. 3. It’s chock full of summer fun, from concerts to a beer pong tournament. It takes place at 1800 College Road in Fairbanks. https://www.tvsfa.org/... Next is the Kenai Peninsula Fair, Aug. 8-10. It draws about 7,000 people per year. https://www.kenaipeninsulafair.com/ … The biggest of them all is the Alaska State Fair, held at the fairgrounds in Palmer from Aug. 15-Sept. 1. It’s the place to see hard-working farm kids and the animals they raised, get delec...
Analysis of bowhead whale poop shows that more toxins from typically warm-water toxic algae species are entering Arctic food webs as northern oceans warm and lose sea ice. The findings are based on nearly 20 years of feces samples collected from bowhead whales harvested for subsistence purposes by Alaska Native people living on the Beaufort Sea coast. The study, conducted by an interdisciplinary team led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was published in July in the...
Technology might seem "extra" at first, but it can be your best friend during an emergency. Whether you're dealing with a winter storm, power outage, or medical crisis, the right apps and devices can help keep you safe and connected to help. Your smartphone is more than just a phone. It's a powerful emergency tool that fits in your pocket. Most phones come with built-in emergency features you might not know about. If you have an iPhone, you can press the side button five times quickly to call...
A free weekend shuttle for the Fairview neighborhood in Anchorage is running to the Midtown Carrs and the Fred Meyer grocery stores and back. The service began July 19. With the closure of the historic Carrs on Gambell, it is a major challenge for Fairview residents to get groceries or access a pharmacy without a vehicle. To help ensure food security and access to medicine for the whole neighborhood, the temporary shuttle service was organized through a partnership between the Municipality of Anchorage, NeighborWorks Alaska, and BAC...
What is Alaska 211? Alaska 211 is United Way's statewide help line for information, referrals and assistance finding vital, available health and human services, community resources, government, and tribal assistance in the callers' communities. How did 211 come about? The first 211 in the United States launched in 1997, a joint effort of United Way Worldwide (formerly United Way of America) and the Alliance for Information and Referral Systems, or AIRS, in Atlanta. Three years later, the...
With the Seeing AI app, users can hold their phone up to an individual, and it will audibly describe what the person looks like, including their hair color, estimated age, and emotional state. By pointing the phone towards a product, users will receive a description of the product, its expiration date, and other relevant details. The app can also read documents and recognize various structural elements, including paragraphs, headings, and lists. The Ava app transcribes spoken words into text,...
Even if you lose at the Alaska International Senior Games, you win. "If you like to laugh and you like to have fun," said Diann Darnall, the president of the Alaska International Senior Games board of directors. "This is for you." The AISG are coming up Aug. 8-17 in Fairbanks. And though the early-bird registration ended June 30, there is still time to enter. A qualifying event The AISG is a qualifying event for the National Senior Games, which this year takes place July 24-Aug. 4 in Des...
From July 1 to Oct. 31, low-income seniors in Alaska can access fresh, locally grown produce through the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program. The program is funded by the USDA and administered by the Food Bank of Alaska. Participants will receive a QR card or a QR code through an app that will automatically load with $40 on July 1, 2025. To be eligible you must be 60 years old (as of September 30, 2025), living in Alaska, and have income below 185% of the federal poverty level or you are...
The Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC) admitted three more harbor seal pups to the Wildlife Response Program in late May and early June, marking a busy start to the 2025 season. One of the pups was born prematurely, one was found severely malnourished, and another was rescued after it was found alone, likely due to maternal separation. These cases follow the recent admissions of another premature harbor seal pup and an orphaned northern sea otter pup, all requiring intensive rehabilitation and...
Midnight Sun Home Care and Alaska Dinner Factory are having the fourth Senior Fun Day from noon to 4 p.m. on July 19 at Eastchester Park at 900 E. 20th Ave. in Anchorage. Food, games and family fun are in store. The event is the brainchild of Eden Lovejoy, the owner of Midnight Sun Home Care. The first one, in 2021, was to mark the 20th anniversary of Midnight Sun Home Care, and it’s continued every year since. The company employs 28 people, most of whom are professional caregivers helping s...
ACoA estate planning webinar slide deck and recording An estate planning webinar held in June with attorney Chelsea Riekkola is available as a recording. You can watch the recording here: http://bit.ly/4k3UtV8. If you need a copy of the webinar transcript to read, please email us: doh.acoa.info@alaska.govdoh.acoa.info@alaska.gov. Other free webinars are in the works. Elder listening sessions in Nome, Shishmaref and Unalakleet July 8-11 Alaska Commission on Aging's Program Coordinator will be traveling to Nome, Shishmaref and Unalakleet July...
Marijuana use among older adults in the United States has reached a new high, with 7% of adults aged 65 and over who report using it in the past month, according to an analysis led by researchers with the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR) at the NYU School of Global Public Health. https://www.cduhr.org/ Their findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine in June, also show that the profile of those who use cannabis has changed in recent years, with pronounced increases in use by older...
Laurel Downing Bill is early for a coffee date. She announces that she has already had two cups, even though it's only 9 o'clock. She takes a seat and waits for her less caffeinated companion. But it's not coffee that keeps Bill cranking out books about Alaska history. She brims with her own stores of energy and innate curiosity. Her secret? Listening to true crime shows while she writes. "I don't pay attention to it. But words come flowing out. Murder works." Last spring, Bill published her...
Amid the "No Kings" signs at the June 14 protests across the country were many seniors marching and holding signs about Social Security and Medicare. Bill Hall was one of them. "I worry they are going to reduce or destroy it," Hall said about Social Security. He lives in senior housing in Anchorage. "Everyone there is worried because everyone depends on Social Security." Others held up signs defending Medicaid, a program that supports adults with low incomes, older adults, people with...
The Pew Research Center conducted a survey in 2024 that found 79% of U.S. adults said Social Security benefits shouldn’t be reduced in any way. But the program, which marks its 90th anniversary this year, faces multiple challenges. Most significantly, the trust fund that helps pay retirement benefits is forecast to run out by the end of 2033. The Trump administration also has made staff cuts to the Social Security Administration, the independent agency that manages the program. Those cuts reportedly have left the agency struggling to serve m...
July 1-31 Nationwide National Ice Cream Month July 1-31 Nationwide Disability Pride Month July 4 Nationwide Independence Day. You can read the Declaration of Independence here. Events across Alaska, from parades to fireworks to baseball games. July 6 Worldwide Islamic holiday Ashura, which begins at sundown on Saturday, July 5, and lasts through the evening of Sunday, July 6. July 11 Homer The Pratt Museum in Homer has an exhibit that runs through Sept. 26 by artist Sharlene Cline. "Connected" i...
Anchorage bird feeders came down this April heavy with uneaten seed and unresolved questions. Throughout the winter, local birdwatchers remarked on the absence of small passerines-an order of perching birds that includes more than half the world's avian species. Where were the redpolls, the pine grosbeaks, and white-winged crossbills? Last year these birds mobbed feeders and fir trees across the city. How could the flocks vanish like so many melting snowflakes? Science offers important clues....
Wildland fire danger is growing across Alaska. A warm and dry winter has put fire officials on high alert and prompted residents in zones where wildland meets urban development to take precautions. "The wilderness surrounding us presents a significant fire risk," said Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance at a recent town hall about fire prevention efforts across the Municipality. "Our beautiful green spaces, while cherished, also mean that the risk of fire is ever present, even in our urban core. We...
-Sign up for text alerts by texting “Anchorage” to 67283. In Fairbanks, you can text FPDALERTS to 67283. -The Municipality recommends bookmarking trusted sources’ information outlets via website or social media. These organizations are committed to providing timely, accurate information to the public: Anchorage Police Department Anchorage Fire Department Municipality of Anchorage Office of Emergency Management Anchorage Health Department: https://www.muni.org/Departments/health/Pages/default.aspx State of Alaska: https://rea...
Firewise Alaska Alaska Interagency Coordination Center Municipality of Anchorage Comprehensive Emergency Operations Plan (available in several languages) Anchorage Fire Department Wildfire Division Alaska Wildland Fire Information A comprehensive website with regular updates on fire activity. Wildland-Urban Interface Community Action Team Organizations like Access Alaska offer specialized emergency preparedness information and toolkits tailored for individuals with disabilities and seniors. The "Get Ready! Toolkit" includes checklists and...
David Washburn received the 2025 Ron Hammett Award from the Municipality of Anchorage Senior Citizens Advisory Commission on May 7. Washburn, the long-serving editor of the Senior Voice who retired in March, was singled out for his service over the course of a three-decade career at the Senior Voice. The award was presented during Older Americans Month in May. "My community work has been your community work," Washburn said in receiving the award at the Anchorage Senior Activities Center. In 2005...
