Family

Amid months of uncertainty and pandemic disruptions, Anchorage restaurant owners say demand for Thanksgiving dinner to-go has been an unexpected boost for business.

“Everyone at first was perplexed, like, ‘What is it? Is it a fox? Is it a weasel? Is it a mink? Like, what could this be?’”

Bartlett’s emergency department has treated an unprecedented number of kids experiencing high levels of stress, thoughts of self-harm and suicide attempts over the past seven months. 

This is the latest proposal to come forward as the city continues to struggle with the lack of affordable childcare options.

This summer, Milagro Darby saw an opportunity to scale up her solo side hustle. She now runs a five-person tutoring business and thinks demand for private tutoring will keep growing as parents and students get frustrated with distance learning.

The mayor, a retired Alaska State Trooper, said discrimination against police officers was in his eyes “by far a greater problem.”

Students and their families are getting familiar with using Zoom, saying the word “asynchronous” and making other changes for school days without in-person classes.

Meanwhile, some parents are getting creative. More than 200 people have joined a local Facebook group where they’re matchmaking for small, COVID-19 learning bubbles and child care.

Recommendations include a new staff position responsible for designing a city-backed child care program for the duration of the pandemic. Another is to pay employers to run on-site child care programs.

Superintendent Bridget Weiss emphasized that the school district’s decisions around reopening could have wider community impacts.