Heather McIntyre and her class have big plans.Zech Moody checks out the existing playground.Heather McIntyre's seventh and eighth-grade architectural design students took a walk during class Tuesday, May 3. The Clark Middle School students went north a few blocks and stood in a circle under the shelter at William B. Lyons Park, on Irwin Street adjacent to the Boys and Girls Club. In front of them were the plans drawn up for the park that they've spent much of the school year helping to create. Behind them was an aging playground set in gravel next to a flat, featureless grass lot.

Fifth-graders Houa Vang, left, and Kang Thao.Hours before the start of the Mountain View Elementary School talent show, Kang Thao and Houa Vang were already dressed in their traditional Hmong clothing and rehearsing their dance one last time. The girls, both 10, put a DVD onto an overhead projector and danced in the middle of a classroom to a Hmong-language song, mimicking the moves of the women on the screen.

A few items remain to be moved from the old Salvation Army store location.
The Salvation Army recently opened its newest thrift store location in the Mountain View Center strip mall on Bragaw Street. The store's location had been kitty-corner, inside the old Brewster's Clothing and Footwear store location.

Steve Easley has operated his auto repair shop, Northern Hot Wheels, for 15 years. It's at 4602 Mountain View Drive. On April 27, he and his crew were working on turning a late-model GMC pickup truck into a trailer.

Pastor Ciulisoe Savini speaks outside.Brenda Sialofia welcomes a church member.Pastor Eddie Lafaele sings with the choir.Saturday, April 23, was a day of celebration at the newly expanded Anchorage Samoan Assembly of God church at the corner of Richmond Avenue and North Bragaw Street.

Ginny Grupp, left.Selita Helm
Prospective entrepreneurs and current small business owners looking for some tips met with representatives from various resources at the Mountain View Branch Library on Friday, April 22. The Small Business and Resource Lending Fair brought together the pros from banking, training and government programs to help people get their plans on the right track.

Thul Chey, third from left.Inside Khan Meas place in Mountain View, the Cambodian New Years party was in full swing by 10pm on Friday, April 15. The living room floor was converted into a dance hall, complete with spinning colored lights. Two microphones were passed around as people shouted cheers and holiday greetings to one another.

Khan Meas and friends.Khan Meas prepared his home for a big party on Friday, April 15. He expected about 100 people would arrive by evening to celebrate the Cambodian New Year at his home on Mumford Street. Meas said Buddhist New Year celebrations would continue early Saturday at the Lao Temple in Mountain View.

Falis Abdi works with other students.Mohamed Assan gets help from Mustafa Ali.Members of the East African Community Center group gathered to help students with math and reading skills at the Mountain View Community Center on Saturday, April 2, 2011. The group, made up of members of Anchorage residents from Somalia, Kenya, Sudan and some other East African countries, meets weekly.

Eye-catching patterns on a sunny day in an alley in Mountain View. The scenes below come from the snowy weeks prior.

Photo on January 15.
People Mover bus route 45G traveled through Mountain View on Wednesday, February 23. This is the last week for the 45G, a route that supplemented route 45. Both served riders between downtown and Mountain View. The 45G made an additional stop at the largely-vacant Glenn Square Mall. That route was cut in Mayor Dan Sullivan's 2011 budget.

Lycan Thao leaps over one of his dancers.Vinland Yandall teaches some moves.Jacinda Meas laughs.
Two young dance instructors had their students focused on learning choreography at the Alaska Pride after-school program on Wednesday, February 17, 2010.

Trevor Alexander, left, and Tong Chang, both 15, head into the woods of Davis Park for a round of airsoft play on February 5. The game is similar to paintball, but airsoft guns fire a plastic projectile.

North Bragaw Street. Artist is Rafael Caraballo. Nine other contributing artists are also listed for this mural outside the Alaska Museumo f Natural History.Near entrance to Clark Middle School.Mt. View Drive and North Park Street.
Murals along Mountain View Drive are easy to spot. What's not as easy is figuring out who created them.

Mekong Restaurant.

Empty retail space gathers sunshine.In 2006, developers who spoke with the Daily News described their vision for the Glenn Square Mall as something that will look more like a quaint small-town scene than a strip mall. They may have achieved some of their goals, architecturally speaking. It features facades which vary in size, a clock tower, and pedestrian-friendly walkways - design improvements over many Anchorage strip malls.

What the Glenn Square doesn't have going for it, five years later, is tenants.

Anchorage family service organizations brought their opportunities to Mountain View on Friday, January 21, 2011. This was the first in a series of community fairs that organizers are planning for the third Friday of each month at the Mountain View Community Center. Check out the list of providers who participated at the bottom of this blog post, then mark your calendar for February 18 and March 18 when the event happens again.

Charlayna Stone and Karmen Wyche pair up for practiceThe team hits the mat for abdominal exercises.
The Clark Middle School wrestling team practices Wednesday afternoon, January 19, 2011, under the direction of second-year coach Adam Johnson. The team, which attracts about 30 participants, is preparing for their first meet of the year which is next week at Mirror Lake Middle School. The Anchorage School District is proposing making middle school sports intramural next year to save money on transportation as part of cuts in next year's district budget.

Jessie Outwater, top, and Nicholas Anderson didn't let the zero-degree weather keep them from some fun on the sledding hill at Mountain View Elementary.