~Jim Minnery of the Alaska Family Council By Shannyn Moore I don’t know how many hours I’ve spent in church, but it’s a lot. I guess it doesn’t matter since they’re not counted as frequent flier miles for admission into heaven. Some of my greatest life lessons were learned at the foot of a pulpit. [...]

  By Shannyn Moore Ever wonder what the world will look like when you’re 95? It’s hard, but I got a little help with it last week when Superior Court Judge Sharon Gleason ruled that the producers on the North Slope have enough proven reserves to keep the Trans-Alaska Pipeline pumping until 2065. I know, [...]

By Shannyn Moore A friend of mine has a “driving teenager.” I know my time is coming, so I’ve watched their interaction closely. “Be home by 11. Wear your seat belt. Call or text me to check in at 10. You can’t give rides to anyone. Don’t bring the car back on empty. Don’t drink [...]

By Shannyn Moore Many of us sat through parent-teacher conferences this week, poring over the progress of our children. I remember the anxiety growing up. I fretted over what they would tell my parents. Was I living up to my potential? Would I end up in a padded room talking to myself someday? Oh, wait, [...]

By Shannyn Moore “Go out and preach the gospel. And if you must, use words.” – St. Francis of Assisi   This week I watched the GOP round-table debate. It still startles me to hear words and moral claims from candidates who must believe we’ve never seen their deeds. I’m a big believer in the [...]

By Shannyn Moore We take the 49th star on our nation’s flag for granted. That was a hard fight, and statehood wasn’t won on the first pass or even the second. The tipping point and fuel came in large part from the “We-don’t-like-being-bossed-around-by-outsiders” attitude of Alaskans. It’s a bit ironic when we look at ourselves [...]

~Troy Davis By Shannyn Moore My Pop has always said there’s a big difference between grace and mercy. Grace is when you get something good you don’t deserve. Mercy is when you don’t get something bad you do deserve. I’ve been blessed to have been afforded both in my life. It’s difficult to pass it [...]

By Shannyn Moore As much time as we spend watching movies, it’s easy to believe that actors take jobs because they identify with some part of a film. The wool was ripped from my eyes this week. I’ve watched actor Wes Studi in films for years — “Geronimo,” “Dances with Wolves” and “Avatar,” to name [...]

I wrote this last winter but didn’t post it then. Sadly, it still stands. By Shannyn Moore It’s hard to describe how surreal it was to meet the man who wrote a book I grew up with. I remember the cover. Joe McGinniss had written one of the best books about Alaska, though controversial in [...]

I will argue with people about voting. More vehemently if they don’t vote than if they vote for someone different than me. No, candidates aren’t all the same, and it’s a form of freeloading if you don’t vote. If democracy were a religion, voting would be the sacrament. Alaskans have an amazing record of being [...]

~The original Captain Zero Before I go off on some rant about how my forefathers fought the British to birth a country that could VOTE, and how siding with the British to take away the right of Americans to vote should be called treason, I’ll take a deep breath and explain a few things. Since [...]

In the light of Anthony Weiner resigning over a personal problem affecting his professional life, it would seem that someone actually guilty of a professional misdeed affecting her professional life might be called to account. If Mark Begich had been faced with the situation Lisa Murkowski was faced with this week, we’d likely hear the [...]

  By Shannyn Moore My sister and I were doing homework and talking about a boy in our junior high school. We were laughing about the dirty high-water pants he seemed to wear every single day. I looked up to see a tight-faced Pop. I was confused until he said, “There was a time I [...]

By Shannyn Moore I should have a disclaimer on this column. I am the daughter of two retired educators. Their story is simple, but serendipitous. Two college graduates from depressed communities in the South had an opportunity to come to Alaska as teachers — for one year. It has now been well over 40. As [...]

By Shannyn Moore It’s summer in Alaska. Days are long and the fish are running. For most of us, it’s the season for rain-gear and fleece, fishing tackle and clam shovels, not torches and pitchforks and recall petitions. That’s lucky for Gov. Sean Parnell. A few weeks ago, Attorney General John Burns addressed a federal [...]