From the start, I had never planned on having live professional entertainment in Chilkoot Charlie’s. The entertainment was the bar itself, me, and my staff. It all started with a piano and banjo duo called the Rinky Dinks, accompanied by shaker cans and sing-along sheets to encourage customer participation. When it was time to replace the Rinky Dinks I placed a blind box advertisement in the Anchorage Times for entertaining acts.
Holiday party season has started and I always find that I end up comparing myself to my friends. Many of them are more successful than me, have had better luck with relationships, and seem to find time to do really cool things. I always start to wonder if I’m doing something wrong with my life because it doesn’t look like theirs.
“We’re putting billions of dollars in savings this year on top of the dividend,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy said on Oct. 19, five minutes into one of the few campaign forums he took part in while running for reelection.
The Press will continue on sans a permanent office because there is still work to be done. However, we will be leaving a piece of our heart downtown.
On September 7, 1994 the Anchorage Daily News broke the story of the brutal murder of Alexi O. Kaptanian, a 22-year-old UAA student who had only arrived in the state the previous month. He was killed by a paroled ex-con named Ray E. Rice who had been recently released after serving seven years for stabbing a complete stranger.
In a crude and tasteless diatribe, the party “leaders” of Wasilla called on Sen. David Wilson to resign his position from the Legislature by Friday at 5 p.m. or else. He “betrayed the voters” of his district, according to 10 GOP Mensa members. For some reason, he paid no attention to this nonsense.
My sister-in-law is fake and awful and now I don’t have a relationship with my brother because of it. He and I used to be so close. My sister-in-law tells my mother bad things about me just to make herself look better—and my mother believes her! I try to rise above it all, but I’m reaching a breaking point. This woman needs to be stopped. How can I handle this without alienating my brother even more?
This Thanksgiving was one of the worst with my mother. I could barely get through a moment without her criticizing me, from the way my hair was, to how I peeled the potatoes, to whether I was eating too much or not enough. I can't take it anymore; it's so draining. Is there anything I can do besides cutting her out of my life?
Every year, I spend the holidays with my family, which stresses me out. They make me feel bad about my life choices, and I can't stand their politics. It ends up being so stressful. I know I would disappoint everyone if I didn't celebrate with them—especially since we haven't had a normal celebration in two years. I always just suck it up and go. How can I not? They're my family, and isn't that what the holidays are about? Can you help me feel better about making other plans?
The cover of the May 2000 issue of Playboy magazine sported a photo and the headline “Hef’s Twins, Naked as Jaybirds.” The cover also touted an interview with Pete Rose, an article on “The Modern Mafia,” and one on “Tantric Sex Made Simple: She’ll be Screaming.” Not mentioned on the cover wa…
Thanksgiving is on its way. After two long years of being unable to be with family on the holiday, I am excited to be with mine. Truthfully, I used to dread it, but this time away has given me pause to think differently. It has also brought up for me that I really have not been very grateful in my life, and I would like to turn that around for myself and teach my children how to be grateful as well. Can you offer advice?
The first meeting of the newly reconstituted Climate Action Committee of the Fairbanks assembly was a disgrace.
During Tiny Tim's celebrity period women would shower him with tulips during his performances and, true to form, they packed the north side of Koot's and brought armloads of tulips for him. In the lead-up to Tiny Tim's performance, we held a variety show with customer participation called Stupid People Tricks, a take-off on the television show, Stupid Pet Tricks. He appeared on our stage with Tommy Rocker on one side, him on the other, and JoAnne in the middle.
The society is dedicated to encouraging a positive outlook on life through the sisterhood of local chapters. Offhand, I cannot think of anyone with a more positive outlook on life than Wanda. Her portrait should be plastered on one end of the batteries in place of the plus sign. No one who knows Wanda would be confused.
If you've been to the Bush Co., you already know about the fully nude dancers. But, as I had never been, I was taken aback by the sheer amount of vaginas happily on display.
“UAA cutting funding and closing down departments, it’s just closing opportunities for people our age,” Mallari said, referring to the University of Alaska Anchorage.
I wake up every day in a panic about how I am going to take care of my family. I am a father with two amazing kids and a beautiful wife. There was a time when I was able to take care of everyone, but now my job, which was based on sales, has been dwindling, and the bills are piling up. I want the best for my family, and I don’t know what to do anymore. I haven’t told my wife because I am so ashamed that I have let her down. My kids are 8 and 10, and I promised my wife she could stay home with them. I want to keep that promise to her. I am feeling hopeless. Please advise.
Dan Zantek (1935-2019), aka "Polka Dan," aka "Poke Her Dan," was my pal. To him I was "Mountain Man." We had a brotherly relationship that was intimate but respectful. It was fun but serious, but not too much of either; and it was seasoned with years of growth rings like a couple of old-grow…
Thanks to the Republican-led legislative redistricting board, two Anchorage Democrats, both progressive, are shoved into a new downtown midtown district and running against each other.
My daughter is getting married, and she wants to invite my sister, whom she is very close to. Many years ago, my sister betrayed me, and I have not spoken with her since. I really don’t want her there. I am torn because I want to make my daughter happy, but I will be miserable if she is there. What should I do?
The $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure law that Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan and the late Rep. Don Young crossed party lines to support a year ago has already brought nearly $3 billion to Alaska, but Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka said she would have opposed the bill because there’s…
I have been reading your advice column, and I find it really helpful, but I am struggling with the idea of “loving yourself,” something you talk a lot about. What is loving yourself, and what can I do to love myself?
Michael and Anne weren't the only beautiful people who have walked into my life, offered their hand in friendship, and freely shared their bounties. Another such was Nick Fuller.
On Wednesday night, I found myself in a dark room surrounded by sweaty people all gyrating to Nelly’s “Ride Wit Me.” I know what you’re thinking. Is Tinderella giving up her search for love and turning to group sex instead? I wish I could say that my sex life has magically turned from nonexi…
Despite her calm demeanor, Kendra Arciniega is not the kind of person who likes riding in the passenger seat of life. Instead, she prefers to floor the car, expertly dodging a slew of obstacles that try their best to slow her down. Arciniega is on a mission to bring Latin X and queer artists…
I hate my job. I am ready to quit, but I'm a single mom, and I don't see any options other than staying where I am. Beyond hating my job, I don't even have a hobby. It seems like everyone has one but me. I'm finding life so unfulfilling. What can I do?
The IRS filings show that A Stronger Alaska hasn’t received any money from the RGA, which means that it doesn’t have any money to spend. Which means that the unregistered RGA is calling the shots and that A Stronger Alaska is a political scam.
My friend David White was attending a community college in Hayward, California. He had just finished a cooking course, in the fall of 1976, when he decided to drive up the Alcan Highway to Anchorage. At the time he knew only one person in the entire state of Alaska—Michael Kerr, and although…
More than a year ago I first wrote of the 2011 federal fraud investigation of U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka.
I could almost see those tiny wheels furiously laboring away in Mayer’s melon-sized skull as he ordered and threw down a straight shot. He ordered another drink in a pint-sized glass while I watched him leering at us out of the corner of my eye, explaining to Gaylene that we were about to experience some real excitement of the dangerous, unpleasant, and thuggish kind.
After having his state-paid spokesman announce his refusal to answer written questions from news organizations in July, Gov. Mike Dunleavy or his spokesman, Andrew Jensen, reversed their decision and replied to the questions from four Alaska news organizations.
I have two kids and a busy job. I feel exhausted all the time. A friend suggested I get a massage, but I feel so guilty doing that. To me, it feels so selfish to take time for myself when I should be giving that time or money to something for my kids.
For the last two weeks, I delved into every corner of the Anchorage arts scene, and it was an eye-opening experience. I have been ensconced in the city’s music scene for almost a decade – I actually got my start as a photographer by photographing Local Roots shows at Koot’s. However, as the last 14 days showed me, I have only been scratching the surface of what is a bigger scene than I could ever imagine.
Talent runs deeply in the Sharify bloodline. Before his passing in 2013, Sharify’s father was awarded the American Library Association Award, the Kaula Gold Medal, which is given annually to a single international leader or scholar in the world, and The Shah’s Crown Medal. He is also considered the father of International Librarianship. Of course, having a famous father came with a caveat.
On May 31 this year the Anchorage Daily News and the Associated Press revealed that Gov. Mike Dunleavy had quietly given a no-bid $50,000 state contract to his friend Brett Huber, who was working to reelect Dunleavy.Huber and Dunleavy defended the no-bid deal in the news as legal, necessary …
I’ve been hearing reports about the high turnover rate of key positions over the past two years at the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority and the Alaska Energy Authority, two state-owned corporations led by political appointees and top Dunleavy administration executives.
Alaska was on a roll. Anything was possible and money was no object. Banks were lending money by the truckload and real estate developers with limitless credit were building shaky empires on Anchorage's unstable, earthquake-prone soil. There was only so much property to be had in the Anchorage bowl, and conventional wisdom held it would never be worth less. No one had ever lost money investing in Anchorage real estate—and never would.
I am seven months pregnant with my second child. My first child and I have always been close, and he has always been such a good boy. But in the last couple of months, he has become so difficult to deal with. I am already feeling a little nervous about having two children, and now my once easy child has become uneasy, and it's making things worse. What can I do to help my son?
I want to commend four of the state’s major news organizations for agreeing on written questions to ask the candidates for governor, but complain about their decision to wait until the end of the month to release them.
Every year, would-be suitors seem to follow a pattern I like to call “the boomerang.” In the early spring, as the winter thaws, the hearts of serial Tinder daters grow colder while they prepare to dump the one they’re with in hopes of an upgrade. The key is securing as many dates as possible during this period so you can hone your ideal dating sales pitch. By the time that’s locked in, it’s summer, and a veritable smorgasbord of horny tourists is ripe for the picking. After a summer of hookups, the boomerang dater circles back to their spring dates to find a suitable one to pass the winter with. And you guessed it, the cycle repeats.
How can you love yourself when you feel you made the wrong choice or feel unlovable?
The sorry tale of this callow, delusional twenty-seven-year-old’s crime was well-covered in the local press: He murdered a hapless Loomis guard while attempting to rob the Carr’s Aurora Village grocery store located in Spenard between Northern Lights and Benson Boulevards. What was not covered was that before Woodard’s fateful grocery store misadventure he had tried to rob Chilkoot Charlie’s.
My husband has been out of work for a year and has taken little action toward getting a job. I recently asked a friend if he would hire my husband, and he said yes. When I came to my husband to let him know the good news, he was angry at me for getting in the way. I'm just being helpful. Shouldn't he be grateful I helped him?
I was cheated on in my last relationship, and I am worried I am not doing right by myself by being in this relationship. My values say that people in monogamous relationships should not have so many friends of the opposite sex. What should I do?
Singer of English rock band Oasis, Noel Gallagher, gave sage advice in the band’s 1996 smash hit ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’. “Please don’t put your life in the hands of a rock ‘n’ roll band who’ll throw it all away,” wails the singer.
Max, an Internal Revenue Service investigator, had a kind of face you never forgot. Not because it was characteristic in any way—just the opposite. It was a face devoid of anything remotely resembling personality. He had a saturnine countenance that ran straight through. You could have given Max a million dollars or stuck a hot poker up his ass and his reaction would have been equally unremarkable.
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