An accomplished female track star and Alaska record holder has now publicly challenged the state’s governing athletic board over its decision to allow male athletes to compete against females in high school state championship events.
If we are not careful, we can fall into the habit of thinking negatively of ourselves because of the gifts others have been given.
Creed Mamikunian was already a medical doctor when he volunteered in 1991 to work in Kolkata, India, for three months with the global icon Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity. What he experienced during those months compelled him to honor Mother Teresa by attending her Sept. 4 canonization at the Vatican.
Alaska Right to Life is hosting a former Planned Parenthood clinic director for four nights as part of their annual Fall Banquet series. Pro-life activist Abby Johnson will speak at venues in Kenai, Anchorage, Palmer and Fairbanks.
Father Fred Bugarin, a long-time pastor who celebrated his 40th anniversary of priesthood for the Archdiocese of Anchorage last year, has officially retired to devote part of his time to working in his native Philippines with an environmental project called “Eco Genesis.”
Father Nelson Marilag died suddenly and unexpectedly on Sept. 20 while serving as a priest in the Diocese of Fairbanks.
A native of the Philippines, he served in the Archdiocese of Anchorage from the time of his arrival from the Diocese of Butuan in 2002, until 2010 when he transferred to serve in the Diocese of Fairbanks as part of an innovative program to share priests across Alaska’s three Catholic dioceses.
“They’ll tell you funny stories and sad stories, and all they really need is someone to listen,” 14-year-old Angela Houser said of her regular visits to the Alaska Veterans and Pioneers Home in Palmer. “Just to see them light up when they tell their stories makes me happy.”
Burke, 19, is the oldest of 11 siblings and the son of Toby and Laura Burke of rural Kenai. A product of life-long home-schooling, he is an avid Alaskan hunter and fisherman.
Archbishop Roger Schwietz, who first invited the Korean Missionary Society to Alaska, said he thinks their presence in the state could also benefit the dioceses in Fairbanks and Juneau.
“I was determined to be true and authentic to the ethnicities of these saints,” Swalling said. “I wanted images people would recognize.”