Tales of the city

Former refugee describes flight from Vietnam with 6 children

Beginning in 2009, in stolen moments between lattes and Americanos, Bong Dunn wrote by hand, in her native Vietnamese, a 271-page account of her escape, along with six small children, from the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army.

UAA student helps Tonga gain a library

For Kato Ha'unga, too many books is not enough. The woman's a little obsessed. But then these are books with a purpose. If she can make it happen -- and she's confident she can -- these are books bound for Tonga. A tsunami of books inspired by a tsunami.

Aces lose to Salmon Kings in shootout

The Victoria Salmon Kings staved off an Alaska Aces rally and won a shootout Sunday night at Sullivan Arena to secure a 3-2 ECHL victory.

UAA students rally for right to carry guns on campus

George Hines, a UAA student in his 40s, gets nervous sitting in class without his .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol. He thinks everyone would be safer if more people were carrying guns.

Bingo makes even strange places feel like home

After long days at AFN meetings about politics and fuel shortages, the city's bingo halls are busy stages for reunions.

Audio Slide Show: Reconnecting over bingo

Fuel costs top the list of AFN village worries

Spenard garden has roots in Korean community

Behind the Spenard Motel and the Adults Only store, where four-plexes sag and magpies feast from trash bins, Sun-Ok and Kyong-Ye Yun have teased a weedy lot into a hidden green oasis.

Audio Slide Show: Garden Oasis

Gardening Blog: Talk Dirt To Me

TALES OF THE CITY

Juneteenth events celebrate freedom

Down at the Juneteenth celebration, past Fat Boy Ribs and a booth full of Democrats, right near the Hawaiian barbecue, Beulah George was cooking up curried goat and ox tail, pigeon peas and plantains, and sharing a little of herself.

Church constructs unusual building to attract converts

There's a curious landmark pushing skyward from a muddy lot on Fireweed Lane near Gold Cache Bingo and the Grab-A-Dab. The building is, in fact, a church for La Luz del Mundo, an evangelical nondenomination Christian group based in Mexico. It's built in a shape meant to funnel God's light -- in the form of rainbow-colored electric beams -- upon the faithful.

An earlier Anchorage lives on in Club Paris

Steeped in gritty history, a dimly lit hole in the wall on Fifth Avenue is a rare relic of Anchorage's formative years -- before we grew up and became a state, before it started shooting up oil and broke out in a rash of asphalt, condos and buildings tall enough to block the sun.

Audio Slide Show: Club Paris