🌱 People Mover + Hobo Jim + Father Frost Russian Winter Festival

Hey, neighbors! Miranda Fraraccio here with the latest Anchorage Daily.

First, today's weather:

Partly sunny and very cold. High: 6 Low: -3.

Here are the top stories in Anchorage today:

1. An advertisement on two Anchorage People Mover buses has been directing people to a website peddling false, disproven claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election. The ads have caught the attention of a few Anchorage Assembly members and members of the public who take issue with the advertisement's implications and the disinformation the website spreads. People Mover operates using federal dollars so the city can't take down the ad due to freedom of speech issues, however, the transportation department has been working with the Public Transit Advisory Board to update its restrictions on advertising policy and expects the new policy to be finished by Jan. 2022. (Yahoo)
2. Jim Varsos, better known as Hobo Jim, the folk singer and songwriter who became known as Alaska’s official balladeer, will be honored at an Anchorage event. The concert, which will be held on Dec. 21 at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage, is taking place on what would have been Hobo Jim’s 69th birthday. Proceeds of the event and a live auction will go to Hobo Jim’s widow, Cyndi Varsos. (The Cordova Times)
3. The Winter Queen, Snow Maiden, and Father Frost made an appearance at The Father Frost Russian Winter Festival, an annual event hosted by the Mission is Russian Parents Group, with support from the Parent-Teacher Association at Turnagain Elementary. Father Frost, the Winter Queen, and Snegurochka (the Snow Maiden) listened as groups of children in the Anchorage School District's Russian Immersion program sang in Russian and recited poems — a traditional act before receiving gifts from Father Frost. The program is available to students at Anchorage's Turnagain Elementary, Romig Middle School, and West High School through a lottery program, which will be open for applications in Jan. 2022. (Yahoo)

Today's Anchorage Daily is brought to you in part by our friends at Ring, the home security company. Ring does a lot more than doorbells: check out their full suite of smart home products at Ring.com. And thank you Ring for helping to make local news happen in Anchorage!

Today in Anchorage:

• Kids Book Club - Anchorage Public Library (4:30 PM)
• I Read What I Want Book Club - Anchorage Public Library (5:30 PM)

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That's it for today. See you all tomorrow morning for another update!

— Miranda Fraraccio

About me: Miranda Fraraccio is a born and raised Rhode Islander. She works as a freelance copywriter for content creation agency Lightning Media Partners and as an assistant producer for a live-lit storytelling show in Chicago. She holds a degree in Writing & Rhetoric and Communication Studies from The University of Rhode Island. In her free time, you can find her traveling, hiking, or photographing her neighborhood as a street photographer.