Jewel's Luster Dims

12/04/1998 at 12:00 AM EST

Pop singer Jewel has pulled the plug on her scheduled New Year's Eve concert in Anchorage, Alaska, before home-state fans, citing, among other things, worries over possible Y2K problems. But some Alaskans say the real problem was jacked-up ticket prices, ranging from $65 to $99. As of this weekend, only 1,000 of the 8,000 available tickets (which had gone on sale Oct. 16) had been sold. Concert promoter Rick van Santen told the Associated Press that ticket prices have hindered sales but argues that the prices are low compared with millennium celebrations elsewhere. People are paying up to $2,500 to see Barbra Streisand in Las Vegas and $1,500 to hear Jimmy Buffett in Los Angeles, he pointed out.