Nearly 61 thousand households in Anchorage have pets. That works out to about 105 thousand dogs and 88 thousand cats. That’s a lot of animals — and a lot of animal waste. And pet ownership doesn’t just impact the people who live with the creatures. Caring for pets is both challenging and rewarding for veterinarians and their staff, too. This week on Hometown, Alaska, we’re talking to veterinarians about their mental health and pet care basics as well as taking a trip to the dog park to see how y...
May 08, 2023•59 min
Alaska education has predominantly aimed its resources at younger generations to build them up early. Unfortunately, this can leave out older citizens who may be yearning to re-engage education and discover new skills, activities, and friendships. Since 2007, OLÉ! has existed in Anchorage as a non-profit organization aimed at providing older Alaskans aged 50 and up an opportunity to continue their education in creative and engaging ways. President board Gretchen Bersch and curriculum committee c...
May 01, 2023•59 min
HOST: Dave Waldron GUESTS: Laura Atwood, Executive Director, Bird Treatment and Learning Center Katie Thorman, Rehabilitation Assistant, Bird Treatment and Learning Center Chandelle Cotter, Education and Behavior Curator, Bird Treatment and Learning Center Girdie, Crow, Bird Treatment and Learning Center LINKS: Bird Treatment and Learning Center Bird TLC Facebook Bird TLC Instagram ]]>...
Apr 24, 2023•59 min
HOST: O'Hara Shipe GUESTS: Robin “ Lamia Lexicon Monroe ” O’Donoghue, Drag Performer Zaide “ Dela Rosa ” Manzano, Drag Performer Kendra Arciniega, Owner of Arciniega Street Productions Mercedes Arciniega, Owner of Arciniega Street Productions ]]>...
Apr 18, 2023•57 min
There is a drink that some say is slowly but surely gaining popularity in America.That drink is sake. This week on Hometown Alaska we'll learn how to drink it, pair it, and even cook with it as part of sake week: a six day event taking place in Anchorage and Girdwood.
Mar 27, 2023•59 min
HOST: Justin Williams GUEST: Erin Baldwin Day , lead organizer of Mutual Aid Network of Anchorage LINKS: Mutual Aid Network of Anchorage website Facebook Instagram ]]>...
Mar 20, 2023•59 min
HOST: Anne Hillman GUESTS: Austin Quinn-Davidson and Meg Zaletel , Anchorage Assembly LINKS: Information on the upcoming election Ballot tracking Information on the Anchorage Assembly ]]>...
Mar 13, 2023•59 min
HOST: O'Hara Shipe GUESTS: JT West, 907 Pro Wrestling Academy Jared Cox, pro wrestler LINKS: 907 Pro Wrestling Academy WEBSITE 907 Pro Wrestling Academy FACEBOOK ]]>
Mar 06, 2023•59 min
HOST: Dave Waldron GUESTS: Melanie Cross and Christy Hedrick, Fur Rondy Melodrama co-producers LINKS: TICKETS Fur Rondy Events: Melodrama ]]>
Feb 27, 2023•59 min
HOST: Anne Hillman GUESTS: Carl Jacobs, Anchorage School Board member Andy Ratliff , Anchorage School District Chief Financial Officer LINKS: Anchorage School District Anchorage School Board ASD School Bond Information Contact Anchorage School Board ]]>...
Feb 13, 2023•59 min
HOST: Anne Hillman GUESTS: Rachel Bernhardt and Julie Raymond-Yakoubian , Alaska End of Life Alliance Kris Green , Death Cafe LINKS: Death Cafe, Anchorage Alaska End of Life Alliance : Death Doulas Funeral Homes Alaska Laws and Regulations Hospice and Palliative Care Advanced Directives Grief and Bereavement Support Home Funerals Other Alaska End of Life Alliance resources Five Wishes GUEST SUGGESTED READING: "Notes for the Everlost: A field guide to grief" by Kate Inglis "The Year of Magical Th...
Feb 06, 2023•59 min
GUEST HOST: Dave Waldron GUEST: Cody Carver, Program and Events Manager at the Anchorage Museum LINKS: Anchorage Museum Pass the Mic exhibit ]]>
Jan 30, 2023•59 min
HOST: Anne Hillman GUESTS: Barbara and Ethan Jacko Atwater , mother/son writing partners, authors of multiple children’s books and more Sara Juday, co-president of the board, Alaska Center for the Book LINKS: Alaska Center for the Book Read Alaska Native reading challenge resources The American Indian Library Association ]]>...
Jan 23, 2023•59 min
HOST: Anne Hillman Guests: Abdelqader "Abdoo" Ezzedine , New Habitat for Humanity homeowner John Frommer , Consruction Manager, Habitat for Humanity Jasmine Boyle , Chief Operating Officer, Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc. (RurAL Cap) Colleen Dushkin , Association for Alaska Housing Authorities LINKS: Habitat for Humanity, Anchorage RurAL Cap Association for Alaska Housing Authorities ]]>...
Dec 05, 2022•59 min
HOST: Justin Williams GUESTS: Dr. Elizabeth Whitney , executive director, Alaska Museum of Science and Nature Dr. Kristine Crossen , president, board of directors, Alaska Museum of Science and Nature LINK: Alaska Museum of Science and Nature ]]>...
Nov 07, 2022•59 min
Host: Anne Hillman GUESTS: Gail Fenumiai , Division of Elections Jeannette Lee , Sightline Institute Links: Division of Elections website Make a Plan to Vote Learn about ranked choice voting Candidate Comparison Tool Alaska Public Media elections coverage PARTICIPATE: Call 550-8433 (Anchorage) or 1-888-353-5752 (statewide) during the live broadcast (10-11 a.m.) Send e-mail to [email protected] before, during or after the live broadcast (E-mails may be read on air). Post your comment or q...
Oct 31, 2022•59 min
HOST: Justin Williams GUESTS: Tiffany Hall, executive director of Recover Alaska Dr. Vivian Gonzales, professor of psychology at the University of Alaska Anchorage LINKS: Recover Alaska Rethinking Drinking : Website created by National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Provides information on drinking to help people assess their drinking and tools to change drinking habits. Checkup and Choices : Offers check-ups (assessment with feedback) for alcohol, opioids, cannabis, and stimulant us...
Oct 17, 2022•59 min
This week Hometown Alaska hosts three writers telling significant parts of Alaska’s story. The idea for our show began with the hope of bringing Alaska’s current writer laureate, Heather Lende, to the mic, and picking her brain for what we should be reading this winter. We called, she agreed, but we have ended up with so much more. Since Heather took the state writer mantle for 2021-23, she has made her mission to bring forward other voices from Alaska. When I called to invite her to Hometown Al...
Oct 03, 2022•59 min
The Last Frontier is known for its appreciative beer subculture. The craft has been honored here and its processes mimicked in garages and storefronts alike. Alaska Beer Broads is an all-female, Alaska-based group consisting of beer enthusiasts from all over the state who connect and meet up at beer events to support local businesses and talk beer. D’Lany Nichols is their creator, and between podcasting, event coordination, taste tasting and leading the group, she always has her toes dipped into...
Sep 26, 2022•59 min
Business and the economy are ever-changing in Alaska. As life becomes more expensive and old models of creating revenue streams are met with apprehensive resolve, two local entrepreneurs set out to change the business landscape of the Last Frontier. Sourdough Dan Morris is the owner of Alaskan Footprints food tours. He offers historical insight, humor and delicious delicacies in his treks, setting a fun pace for both local Alaskans and tourists to experience downtown on foot. Atlas Katari is the...
Sep 19, 2022•59 min
With winter coming on, maybe you need a cozy, creative activity you can do with friends that adds up to something beautiful? Poster for this year’s Great Alaska Quilt Show, their first after a 2-year absence. Photo courtesy of ALCQ. Today’s Hometown Alaska introduces the Anchorage Log Cabin Quilters Guild. Their unjuried annual Great Alaska Quilt Show is Sept. 17-18. With something like 100 quilts on display, and another 50 small quilts up for auction, you can get a good idea of what this group ...
Sep 12, 2022•59 min
So, here’s one new thing: This fall, UAA, our hometown university campus, is offering its first marijuana information class, open to students and community members. How and why did the university decide now was the time to bring this topic to campus? We’ll meet the professor who successfully made the case. She’ll curate the course, using local subject experts to do the teaching. We’ll also meet a regulator, the new director for the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office (AMCO). We’ll learn how muc...
Aug 30, 2022•59 min
The night of Soviet killings of January 13, 1991 in Vilnius, Lithuania. An unarmed Lithuanian citizen stands against a Soviet tank. Wikimedia Commons image by photographer Andrius Petrulevicius, Lithuanian Central State. Svaja Worthington was only five years old in 1944 when her family walked away from their Lithuanian home in the face of Russian brutality. During World War II, Lithuania had been occupied first by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi German y . Towards the end of the war in 1944, a...
Jun 02, 2022•59 min
The Spenard area of Alaska is known for its eclecticism and diversity amongst its people, businesses, and artistic sensibilities. Long has it been the host of Tommy’s Burger Stop, Chilkoot Charlies, Center Bowl, and more currently The Drip, the city’s first black-owned coffee hut. It’s no wonder that this area specifically also openly celebrates American jazz culture, and has instituted an event to partake in its music. Established in 2008, the Spenard Jazz Fest will celebrate its 15th anniversa...
May 23, 2022•59 min
Used with permission from Anchor Gardens, a free mentoring service for gardeners aimed at building tighter neighborhoods and folks who know how to grow food. Depending on where you live, the snow is finally mostly gone. The sun is back, the earth is warming, we’ve had a little rain. The seed starts on the dining room table are about to climb out of their tiny four-packs and walk to your back yard or patio. It’s time to garden. Anchorage is abundant with garden resources, from commercial nurserie...
May 14, 2022•59 min
Photo via Pexels The fight against youth homelessness oftentimes feels like an invisible war. We see adults commonly wandering the streets in makeshift families, on the path to survival and, ideally, long-term aid and access to shelter. Rarely, however, will we see teenagers on those same streets, as a lot of cases of homeless individuals under the age of eighteen go untracked and unreported. In Alaska, we hope that means they’ve found help in the form of Covenant House or other organizations. O...
May 09, 2022•59 min
Graphic from World Health Organization in its public campaign against disinformation. Here’s a new word for you: infodemic. The World Health Organization coined the term and centered a recent global conference around coming to terms with a glut of mis- and dis-information that is harming public health. Click here for a full-size version of the poster . From the News Literacy Project. While this is a global issue, and links below will take you to the WHO’s many universal resources, a local group ...
Apr 23, 2022•59 min
Image from Flickr The month of April is many things to many people: Aries season, Easter eggs, spring cleaning. To a lot of people in Alaska, though, April is also Sobriety Awareness Month. Alaska’s history with alcoholism and recovery runs deep, and three local recovery heroes join host Justin Williams to share their encouraging experiences. HOST: Justin Williams GUESTS: Wes Brewington Blaze Bell Ralph Sara PARTICIPATE: Call 550-8433 (Anchorage) or 1-888-353-5752 (statewide) during the live bro...
Apr 13, 2022•59 min
Community Health Workers with the Alaska Primary Care Association are deeply involved in the communities where they work. As such, they can be trusted guides to help under-served communities find better access to healthcare. With each client, CHWs educate and offer information and access to Covid vaccines. (Photo courtesy of Alaska Primary Care Association) Community Health Workers are relatively new to Alaska. They come from the communities they serve. They get specialized training in communica...
Mar 28, 2022•59 min
The Fairview Community Recreation Center recently opened an indoor playground (Photo courtesy of Anchorage Parks and Recreation). The Fairview Community Recreational Center has been a community staple in the city for many years. The team behind the center bring a shining light into Fairview, and the recent inclusion of a new indoor playground is sure to leave an even brighter legacy for its residents. This episode discusses the impact, history, and legacy of the Center. HOST: Justin Williams GUE...
Mar 22, 2022•59 min
