Hometown, Alaska - Alaska Public Media

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 founder of Anchorage Independent Worker Alliance. They are dedicated to connecting like-minded entrepreneurs in the city together to change the way we live as individuals, and build as a society.

This week on Hometown Alaskan we will explore the purposes of their journeys, and the end result that will hopefully inspire a generation to step out of the shadows and into their dreams.

HOST: Justin Williams

GUESTS:

Segment 1:

"Sourdough" Dan Morris, Alaskan Footprints food tours

Segment 2:

Atlas Katari, Anchorage Independent Worker Alliance

LINKS:

Alaskan Footprints food tours

Anchorage Independent Worker Alliance Facebook page

AIWA co-working events

LISTEN:

• FIRST AIR: Monday, September 19, 2022 at 10 a.m.
• RE-AIR: Monday, September 19, 2022 at 8 p.m.
• PODCAST: Available after the program.

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 does. The annual fundraising event is free to attend and has moved from the old Conoco Phillips building to a new location, First United Methodist Church at 725 W 9th Avenue. Parking is also free.

Today’s program was prerecorded for scheduling reasons so we won’t be taking your calls. Join us to meet quilters and find out why this craft and art became their passion.

GUESTS:

Peggy Brewer, current president of the ALCQ

Pat Sims, charter member of the ALCQ, started in 1979

Lynne Seitz, Comfort Quilts program coordinator for ALCQ

Sheila Toomey, publicity, ALCQ

LINKS:

Contact email for Anchorage Log Cabin Quilters Guild:[email protected]

“It ain’t your grandma’s quilting bee anymore,” Senior Voice, Aug. 1, 2022.

Anchorage Log Cabin Quilters Guild blog, scroll topics at the top of the page.

ALCQ Meetings and Fun Page, blog page for details on their many local service projects.

ALCQ Facebook page

10 Decades and Counting, images of ALCQ 2015 centennial project, Anchorage through the decades in quilted images.

The history of quilting, Wikipedia.

PARTICIPATE:

Today’s podcast was prerecorded so we won’t be taking calls during the program.

Send e-mail to [email protected] before, during or after the broadcast.

Post your comment or question below.

FIRST AIR: Monday, September 12, 2022 at 10 a.m.

RE-AIR: Monday, September 12, 2022 at 8 p.m.

PODCAST: Available on this page after the program.

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 Germany. Towards the end of the war in 1944, as the Germans were retreating, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. And, as with events in Ukraine today, there was active resistance.

Some of Svaya’s relatives were taken to Soviet gulags. Her family left everything, walking behind a cart carrying their belongings, with a cow trailing behind. They spent years as refugees, finally coming to the United States — first New Jersey and then Illinois, where a relative resided. Svaya grew up there, graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and went on to graduate school in literature and teaching at the University of New Mexico. There, she met her future husband, a park ranger, who took her to Alaska.

The Little Lithuanian Museum & Library in Chugiak. It is open to the public free of charge June through September.

Today, Svaya curates a tiny museum celebrating Lithuanian history and culture located in the hills of Chugiak. It includes—among many historic and cultural artifacts—an old leather suitcase of family clothes from that cart in 1944. All is preserved in a tiny yellow house she bought and moved near her home in Chugiak. She opens her museum free to the public by appointment, June through September.

Lithuania’s history is rich. As her website explains, at one point in time, “Lithuania was the largest principality in Europe known as the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, extending from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea and to within 100 miles of Moscow. Lithuanians were the last Pagans to be converted to Christianity in Europe, and to this day Lithuania is a fascinating blend of Paganism and Christianity.”

Learn more on today’s program, when Svaya will relay her family’s story, her reasons for creating this museum, and much more about this Baltic state’s rich and independent history. Join us.

HOST: Kathleen McCoy

GUESTS:

• Svaya Worthington, curator of the Little Lithuanian Museum & Library in Chugiak
• Mary Kancewick, attorney, poet, of Lithuanian descent, links indigenous rights with Lithuanian drive for sovereignty

LINKS:

• Little Lithuanian Museum & Library website

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 question below (Comments may be read on air).
• LIVE: Monday, June 6, 2022 at 10 a.m.
• RE-AIR: Monday, June 6, 2022 at 8 p.m.
• PODCAST: Available on this page after the program.

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 anniversary in Anchorage this year. Alaska-based musician Yngvil Vant Guttu has been pivotal in the scene for years and will be one of many artists gathering in Spenard to perform on the 4th of June. Here, she and fellow artist Corinthia Rabb help facilitate the discussion on the importance of Jazz on a national scale and a local one to support the culture and the Fest in the heart of Spenard.

HOST: Justin Williams

GUESTS:

Yngvil Vant Guttu, Corinthia Rabb, and Karl Wilhelmi

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 question below (Comments may be read on air).
• LIVE: Monday, May 23, 2022, at 10 a.m.
• RE-AIR: Monday, May 23, 2022, at 8 p.m.
• PODCAST: Available on this page after the program.

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 nurseries, Cooperative Extension Service, municipal composting, nonprofits like the Alaska Botanical Garden, Yarducopia (share your yard with a gardener who doesn’t have one), municipal community gardens and more.

On today’s Hometown Alaska, we’ll introduce you to a free garden mentoring service with high ambitions. It aims to build community by connecting new gardeners with “old” gardeners, right in the same neighborhood. Their goal is to have a coach or coaches in every community council district in Anchorage. So when you get home with your flat of veggie starts and flowers and don’t know where to begin, you know who to call. Or when you realize your soil needs enriching. Or when it’s time to put the garden to bed for the season.

Anchor Gardens also has a deeper mission. Its founders take Alaska’s food insecurity issues very seriously. They aim to make sure Alaskans know how to grow their own food, and how to keep their garden soil healthy.

We’ll meet a founder of Anchor Gardens, and several mentors. Your questions and comments are welcome throughout the program. Just dial us at 550-8433 to ask your garden questions. And check out our list of useful links on the page below.

Here’s to your gardening success!

HOST: Kathleen McCoy

GUESTS:

• Cindee Karns, Anchor Gardens cofounder, permaculture practitioner
• Stefanie Gorder, Anchor Garden coach, Sand Lake area
• Fred McLeary, retired service veteran, Anchor Garden coach, Russian Jack area

LINKS:

• Anchor Gardens on Facebook
• Anchor Gardens own website
• Anchor Gardens origin story web page
• Application to join Anchor Gardens web page
• Yarducopia, Anchorage-based support for organic, regenerative, neighborhood-based gardening, website

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 question below (Comments may be read on air).
• LIVE: Monday, May 16, 2022 at 10 a.m.
• RE-AIR: Monday, May 16, 2022 at 8 p.m.
• PODCAST: Available on this page after the program.

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. Oftentimes, however, it may simply mean they’re doing whatever it takes to survive.

On this episode of Hometown, Alaska, Zoryna Lealai, a youth advocate for the Anchorage Youth Task Force, and Julia Terry, co-director of the organization Choosing Our Roots, will be joining the discussion on exposing and combating youth homelessness, while providing a very personal perspective on the issue. What organizations are out there shedding light on, and actively engaging in, the fighting against youth homelessness?

HOST: Justin Williams

GUESTS:

Zoryna Lealai, Youth advocate, Anchorage Youth Taskforce

Julia Terry, Co-director, Choosing Our Roots

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 question below (Comments may be read on air).
• LIVE: Monday, May 9, 2022 at 10 a.m.
• RE-AIR: Monday, May 9, 2022 at 8 p.m.
• PODCAST: Available on this page after the program.

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 has been fighting inaccurate information on Facebook pages. Called the Alaska Public Health Information Response Team, it enlists UAA strategic communications students to spot the bad information, and local health professionals to intervene with posts on Facebook that introduce accurate information.

The effort is more than two years old, and continues. On today’s Hometown Alaska, we’ll meet some of the participants. They’ll offer insight into the fight against mis- and dis-information, how it so easily spreads on social media, and how you can navigate those troubled waters yourself, like how do you handle disinformation within your own family and circle of friends?

We’ll also hear from Steve Johnson, coach of the UAA debate team, on how disinformation is threatening democracy. He shares the best book he’s read on the topic, “The Constitution of Knowledge: A defense of truth” by Jonathan Rauch. This portion of the program was pre-recorded.

So, join us with your questions and comments by dialing 550-8433 during the show, Monday April 25, 10 am-11 am.

HOST: Kathleen McCoy

GUESTS:

• Dr. Jennifer Meyer, assistant professor in the College of Health, UAA
• Dr. Joy Mapaye, professor in Journalism and Public Communications, UAA
• Dr. Tom Hennessy, epidemiologist, Affiliate Faculty, College of Health, UAA
• Alexandra Edwards, research professional and project manager, Center for Behavioral Health Research and Services, UAA
• Steve Johnson, UAA debate coach

LINKS:

• Links that explain the infodemic
• World Health Organization’s 2021 conference on infodemiology, website with resources
• US Surgeon General’s Advisory on Building a Healthy Information Environment, report and 1-page summary
• WHO video discussion with experts on the evolving issue of disinformation, 1-hour video discussion
• The Debunking Handbook, created by academics around the globe
• Vaccine Misinformation Management Guide, from Unicef, First Draft, Yale Institute for Global Health, and The Public Good Projects
• Practical tips when dealing with disinformation
• How to speak up without starting a showdown, poster, from newslit.org
• 7 tips on dealing with disinformation, WHO
• When Your Family Spreads Misinformation, The Atlantic Magazine
• WHO information on common myths around Covid, webpage
• Calling BS, a free online course from University of Washington on how to detect and deal with disinformation, course syllabus
• First Draft News, a nonprofit working with journalists and the public on managing disinformation, website
• Shots Heard Round the World, nonprofit organization supporting community organizations experiencing public backlash when they present accurate information; includes a toolkit
• Local, national coverage on responding to disinformation
• Alaska public health experts are taking the fight against COVID 19 misinformation to Facebook comment threads, ADN, 2.9/2021
• UAA students and faculty collaborate to curb the spread of COVID-19 misinformation, Green & Gold News, 4.19.21
• Covid Mythbuster! Dr. Todd Wolynn takes on anti-vaxxers with science, singing and a dose of silly, People Magazine
• About “The Constitution of Knowledge: a defense of truth” by Jonathan Rauch, The Brookings Institute

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 question below (Comments may be read on air).
• LIVE: Monday, April 25, 2022 at 10 a.m.
• RE-AIR: Monday, April 25, 2022 at 8 p.m.
• PODCAST: Available on this page after the program.

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 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 question below (Comments may be read on air).
• LIVE: Monday, April 11, 2022 at 10 a.m.
• RE-AIR: Monday, April 11, 2022 at 8 p.m.
• PODCAST: Available on this page after the program.

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 communication and health systems, and their mission is to help guide people toward the health care they need.

Today that includes helping clients overcome COVID vaccine hesitancy. That resistance exists for many reasons: misinformation, mistrust and even indifference. Community Health Workers, or CHWs, talk through those issues.

On today’s Hometown Alaska, we meet two local workers in Anchorage. We’ll learn how they use “motivational interviewing” to have those difficult conversations with their clients.

This program is a part of Alaska Public Media’s Talk to Your Neighbor initiative, bringing trusted voices and good information to the community about the coronavirus.

As always, your questions and comments are welcome. Please join our conversation by dialing 550-8433.

HOST: Kathleen McCoy

GUESTS:

• Chahrlie Crooms, Community Health Worker – Certified Peer Support Specialist
• Linda Tulimasealii, Community Health Worker – Certified Peer Support Specialist
• RJ Fontaine, Health Promotions Coordinator, Alaska Primary Care Association

LINKS:

• Alaska Primary Care Association, website
• Anchorage Project Access website
• Motivational Interviewing explained, website
• How the virus is contagious, site recommended by CHW Chahrlie Crooms, website
• Common questions about the coronavirus, answered in plain English, another site receommended by CHW Chahrlie Crooms, website
• How can I talk to my friends and family about getting vaccinated for Covid 19, recommended by RJ Fontaine, website
• Health Misinformation Toolkit, recommended by RJ Fontaine, website
• Facebook, APCA Community Health Workers site
• Linked In, APCA Community Health Workers site

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 question below (Comments may be read on air).
• LIVE: Monday, March 28, 2022 at 10 a.m.
• RE-AIR: Monday, March 28, 2022 at 8 p.m.
• PODCAST: Available on this page after the program.