January 2020
In This Issue
The Marx Bros. Café
January 2020
Jack Amon and Richard “Van” Hale opened the doors of the Marx Bros. Café on October 18, 1979; however, the two had already been partners in cuisine for some time, having created the Wednesday Night Gourmet Wine Tasting Society and Volleyball Team Which Now Meets on Sunday, a weekly evening of food and wine. It was actually the end of the weekly event that spurred the name of the restaurant: hours after its final service, Amon and Hale were hauling equipment and furnishings out of their old location and to their now-iconic building on Third Street, all while managing arguments about equipment ownership, a visit from the police, and quite a bit of wine. “If you’ve ever seen the movie ‘A Night at the Opera” starring the Marx Brothers, that’s what it was like,” Hale explains.
January 2020
The Marx Bros. Café
Marx Bros. Café is an icon in the Anchorage dining scene, which is a result of both their long history of quality and their ongoing drive to innovate and surprise. Co-owners Richard "Van" Hale and Jack Amon are part of the 2020 class of laureates inducted into the Alaska Business Hall of Fame.
Backcountry Riding on a “Snow Pony”
Snowmachining is a truly exciting way to experience Alaska’s backcountry with its towering mountain peaks silhouetted against an immense expanse of sky; unmatchable shades of blue captured in glacial ice; and networks of trails winding through thick forests and over frozen lakes.
State and Federal Funding Contribute to 2020 Construction
The good news is that the majority of construction projects that take place in the 49th State are financed by federal funds; the bad news is that the state’s general fund, which is used to provide matching money to move these projects forward, has been reduced.
State’s Economists Weigh in on 2020 Outlook
Most experts indicate that the Last Frontier has turned the corner and in 2020 will claw its way out of the recession that started several years ago. However, the recovery is not expected to be uniform, as Anchorage remains in recession and many of the impacts of the state’s budget cuts have yet to play out.
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