On Jan. 3, 1959, Alaska became the 49th state, and we raise a toast today to President Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican, for signing the Alaska Statehood Act months earlier, on July 7, 1958. Many feared at the time that Alaska would not be able to support itself, but the Statehood Act granted Alaska the right to develop millions of acres of federal land.
Sen. Josh Revak will present a legislative memorial citation to the family of Aylett Hanson, who was slain in a parking lot in Spenard in 2014. The presentation is at the Kaladi Brothers coffee shop on Brayton Drive at 2 pm on Monday. The killer or killers have never been found.