For 6 1/2 hours a day, 35 hours a week, 14-year-old Tori Choi goes to work at Arctic Gymnastics, where she has become one of Alaska’s best gymnasts. Last season she captured a Level 9 Western National championship in the uneven parallel bars, and Friday she will make her debut at the Junior Olympics National Championships in Minneapolis, where she will compete in the Junior B Level 10 all-around competition.

Take a tour of the Alaska Railroad corridor with Anchorage city limits. This video, recorded on May 8, 2013, starts at the historic depot near Ship Creek and ends at Potter Marsh. The view is from the upper-deck balcony of a passenger car. The 40-minute trip is sped up to twenty times its actual speed. This train trip was a private event hosted by the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.

Lucca swims after a ball.Sophia gets wet.Alaska K9 Aquatics opened in March in a plaza on International Airport Road. It includes an 18-by-35-foot pool that’s about 4 feet deep for people looking to give their dogs swimming exercise. “A tired dog is a good dog,” says business owner Martina Richardson. She says the inspiration for the business came from her experience with her own dog.

Maya Stackhouse and her cousin Michael Taylor.In front: Siavalua Lakisa, Frieda Vaaimamao, Frank Lakisa and Jason Ayala. In back: Alexander Lakisa, Aminta Ayala and Hellene Lakisa.Though the weather was mild and sunny on Saturday afternoon, dozens of students and families in Airport Heights made their way back to school. They gathered for fun activities, cooperative games and creative projects.

It’s a rite of spring for many cross-country skiers in the Anchorage area: a trip across Portage Lake to get a good look at the blue ice of the glacier. It can be a crowded place on a bluebird weekend day in late winter or early spring. Skiers can be seen streaming southeasterly from the parking lot at the Chugach National Forest’s Begich Boggs Visitor Center. Sometimes the path is so beaten down, walkers can also enjoy the trip.

Jan Newton in 2009.Ramey Smyth, Jan Newtwon and Jeff King in 2009.

Chenne Fratis joins in the vigil.A flash mob strikes a pose.About 75 people gathered at Town Square to light candles and show support for the cause of suicide prevention Friday evening, February 15. Sarah Gunkel organized the event with some of her friends, a group of 10 women who call themselves the Alaska Thick Mamis. They have been doing charitable work to support victims of domestic violence. Gunkel enlisted the group to put on an event that would reach out to people who may be at risk of suicide as well as people who have lost loved ones.

Erin King, Bradford Jackson and Aaron Bell work with makeup.Danielle Rabinovitch sits for Elle Janecek who demonstrates working with prosthetics.If someone were to thumb through the photographs on Elle Janecek's phone, they might get the wrong idea. Her collection is filled with images of cuts, bruises and stitches. The faces are distorted with blood and gore.

Jessica Cederberg and Tricia Kozler raise a glass for inspection.Don Goldmann doesn't want you to think of wine as just alcohol. He wants you to think of it as a well-preserved fruit with tremendous health benefits.

Anchorage barber Willy Ruiz has been attracting attention for his creative haircuts at Maritza's Beauty Shop in Fairview. Ruiz uses a straight razor to shave designs into his clients' hair. He talks about his style and shows some examples in the above video.

Fireman Thomas Upchurch helps Santa with his belt.Santa rides down 13th Avenue in Fairview.When any noisy fire truck rolls through the streets of Anchorage, people tend to notice. Instead of getting out of the way for this one, people tend to honk and wave and smile. This is the Santa Claus Express, and its crew is trying to let the fun spread uncontained. Overseeing all is the one-and-only holly-jolly incident commander.

Girdwood Nordic Ski Club completed work on a hilly 5-kilometer loop recently. The club is hosting a grand opening event on Friday, December 21, 2012. Hear more about it and take a tour in the above video.

Kellen, left, and Cade Harris.Brothers Kellen and Cade Harris will turn 12 years old on 12/12/2012. Cade calls it their golden birthday. "The sad thing is we were born at 11:30," said Cade, who is half a minute younger than Kellen. The boys' mother, Pam Giammalva, said that the coming numerical coincidence occurred to her just before the boys were born. "Wow, this will be cool," she says she remembers thinking.

The icy bank of the Matanuska River.Along the Bodenburg Loop Road in Butte, a barn has seen better days.It seems like it's been an unusually long stretch of high pressure weather across much of Southcentral Alaska these last few weeks. Though it's been cold, I'm not complaining. Clear winter days can be stunning. Nonetheless, Wednesday's temperatures might have made the day better suited for a scenic drive than a long walk.

Jim Crockett's son Justin Crockett and daughter Jaime Blikre watch a slide show during the service.Mementos of Jim Crockett were on display at City Church.Hundreds gathered at Anchorage City Church on December 4, 2012, for a memorial service for Jim Crockett who died of pneumonia on November 29.

Curtis Da Tortoise mixes music as images swirl.Before the start of AudioDome on Friday night, media designer Charles Rowell had some warnings for the audience: If they started to feel dizzy, look down from the ceiling of the UAA Planetarium screen. No one has gotten sick yet from the experience, so don't be the first. And understand, the volume is part of the experience.

Rita Woodard stocks up on bread.Joan Grundhauser checks out.With the activity this week inside a small Spenard store, one might think there's a looming carbohydrate crisis in Anchorage. Lines have been forming up and down the partially empty store inside the Hostess bakery on Spenard Road. People have been gathering armloads of Wonder Bread, and Twinkies by the basketful.

It's hard to resist the magnetic draw of the moon sometimes. Over the last couple days I've been darting around town trying to capture its dramatic rise over classic Anchorage scenes. Conditions have been just right: a full or nearly full moon rising at sundown in a clear sky.

These days, where there's a lot of basketball players, there's bound to be a lot of tattoos as well. Here's a closer look at a few works of ink on display at this years Great Alaska Shootout.
Northeastern's Chris Avenant.Damen Bell-Holter shows Alaska pride.

Moments before taking the stage for their opening night performance, the dancers of Momentum Dance Collective breathed deep and brainstormed to solve the best kind of last-minute problem: not enough chairs for their sold out audience.