Welcome to the site for news in the Mat-Su, where we’re surrounded by fantastic scenery – from Denali to Pioneer Peak to Tahneta Pass.
The Mat-Su View is a creation of the Valley staff of the Anchorage Daily News, and is updated frequently from the newsroom in Wasilla.
Check in for breaking news, advance word on upcoming ADN reports from the Mat-Su, for links to Outside stories with a Mat-Su connection and to read or post comments about hot topics in the Valley.
Keep your comments civil and on point. Avoid personal attacks. Do not use profanity. Posts that violate the Terms of Use will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be banned.
READER-SUBMITTED PHOTOS
Send in your photos of the beautiful Matanuska and Susitna valleys.
Sandhill Cranes at the Matanuska Experiment Station on Saturday August 22, 2009. The cranes have up to a 7 foot wing span and are among the tallest birds in the world. They gather into flocks for the migration south.
The Mat-Su Farm Bureau organized the first "Meet Your Alaskan Farmers" tour recently. Participants visited four farms in the Valley and were treated to a catered sit-down lunch of elk, buffalo, vegetables, produce, strawberries and ice cream - all Alaska grown products. The tour was organized to promote farmer's markets and the local products readily available at the markets.
Thousands of people attended the Governor's Picnic in Wasilla, Friday, July 24, 2009. Sarah Palin served up hotdogs, signed autographs and conducted a military appreciation ceremony.
We're famous! - 11/19/2009 5:31 pm
ACS moves into bigger digs - 11/18/2009 12:28 pm
H1N1 help - 11/18/2009 12:18 pm
Larson Elementary celebrates national award with cake - 11/6/2009 4:22 pm
Ski bus spots for sale - 11/6/2009 4:20 pm
Glow for it - 10/27/2009 10:48 am
Young swine flu shot seekers can visit center - 10/13/2009 2:32 pm
One last chance to meet the candidates - 9/29/2009 9:49 am
Mat-Su candidates at forum Friday - 9/17/2009 3:40 pm
Houston officer pens grievance letter to Council - 9/16/2009 7:13 pm
Assembly candidates talk tourism at MSCVB forum - 9/16/2009 6:35 pm
Legislators plan to listen to road woes - 8/21/2009 11:21 am
NYT says cockpit technology used in AK could prevent collisions - 8/12/2009 4:18 pm
Clammers from Palmer have close call on Kenai Peninsula - 8/7/2009 1:27 pm
Sales tax measure heads to ballot - 8/5/2009 5:42 pm
Search continues for missing Palmer teen - 7/29/2009 12:33 pm
Assembly passes sales tax, mayor vetoes it - 7/29/2009 12:31 pm
Sales tax talk prompts protest - 7/23/2009 7:04 pm
Glenn Highway near Palmer to be closed for paving - 7/21/2009 12:25 pm
Wasilla seeks input on city plan - 7/15/2009 12:28 pm
Walgreens opens new Wasilla store - 7/15/2009 12:11 pm
More leaks spell more road closures in Palmer - 7/10/2009 5:24 pm
NOVEMBER 19, 2009 - 5:31 PM
The Matanuska Glacier, Hatcher Pass and a few longtime Palmer residents are key figures in a New York Times article that for a while today had top billing at the Times' Web site and was high on the newspaper's "Most E-mailed" story list.
The story is part of the Times' American Journeys series, which has featured several small(ish) towns around the nation, such as Marietta, Ohio, where several political dignitaries have been born, and the Hanford nuclear reactor site in Washington.
The author, Diana Bletter, describes a moulin on Matanuska Glacier, recaps Palmer's Depression-era history, sips coffee at Fireside Books and spots dall sheep from Gold Cord Lake in Hatcher Pass.
Neither Wasilla nor its currently most-famous resident are mentioned.
Check the story out here.
NOVEMBER 18, 2009 - 12:28 PM
Alaska Communications Systems has opened a new retail store in Wasilla --a more than 4,000-square-foot new building in front of Fred Meyer at 1733 E. Palmer-Wasilla Hwy. The company's old store, located at 1590 E. Financial Dr., closed last Friday. The new store opened Saturday, with more space and plenty of wireless handsets and other special offerings to check out, store director Janet Klatt said. ACS will hold a grand opening celebration Dec. 4.
NOVEMBER 18, 2009 - 12:18 PM
Looking for an H1N1 shot for someone in a "high priority" group? There will be a vaccine clinic Thursday at Mat-Su College from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. The clinic is for priority groups: pregnant women; youth ages 6 months to 24 years; health care/medical workers; caregivers for children under six months; and people aged 25-64 with higher risk of complications from the flu, according to the Mat-Su Borough. The entrance to the college is located off Mile 2 Trunk Road. The clinic is a joint effort of the borough, the state Department of Health and Social Services and the college.
The Mat-Su Borough School District will hold a separate clinic for students Saturday from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. at Colony High School. The clinic last week provided a reported 1,200 vaccines, the borough said.
NOVEMBER 6, 2009 - 4:22 PM
Annie Bill, principal at Larson Elementary School, called Friday to share the news that her school had won a pretty prestigious national award. Bill, who had just returned from Washington D.C. to pick up the honor in person, said Larson was recognized as a “No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.”
That’s a mouthful, but what it means is that Larson, because of high scores on national tests, was nominated as a “Blue Ribbon” school four years ago. But then the real work began, Bill said.
“We had to maintain and continue to do good in the three years since,” Bill said.
NOVEMBER 6, 2009 - 4:20 PM
The Mat-Su Ski and Snowboard program, run through Wasilla Middle School, is lining up passengers for its 2010 season.
The bus carries children age 12 and older to and from Alyeska Resort for eight skiing days between January and April. Four 50-passenger buses will depart Wasilla and Palmer Carrs parking lots at 8 a.m. on two Saturdays each month. After a full day of skiing, the children return to the Valley at 6:45 p.m.
A place on the bus costs $375, which includes transportation, lift tickets for a full day’s skiing and two skiing or snowboarding lessons. Add $100 more for rental equipment. The price covers the cost of tickets, rentals and transportation.
OCTOBER 27, 2009 - 10:48 AM
Some kids in the Mat-Su will get free glow sticks at school on Friday, courtesy of Operation Glow, a partnership of law enforcement and other agencies to keep little ones safe as they make the rounds for candy in the dark. Operation Glow, Phase One, happens tonight: community volunteers will meet at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center to assemble lanyards and glow sticks. Phase Two: Wasilla's police department, along with departments in Palmer and Houston and the Alaska State Troopers, deliver the lanyards to area schools Wednesday and Thursday. Phase Three: students from kindergarten through fifth grade get the goods on Friday.
OCTOBER 13, 2009 - 2:32 PM
Today is the first day H1N1 vaccines are available at the Mat-Su Public Health Center on Palmer-Wasilla Highway. Center staff describe the flow of people as steady but say they're not swamped. The doses are in nasal spray, and specifically for healthy 2- through 18-year-olds. They are free today through Thursday, from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m., and Friday from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m., depending on how long vaccines remain available.
Parents should bring their children’s immunization record because children who got some shots recently may have to delay the H1N1 vaccine, including nasal seasonal influenza or other live vaccines. The number of doses is limited, but more will be arriving, health officials say. Children under 10 will need two doses, at least a month apart. The second dose can be either a shot or spray.
SEPTEMBER 29, 2009 - 9:49 AM
Mat-Su College is hosting two candidate forums this week. They're the last we know of scheduled prior to the Oct. 6 election.
The college is splitting the forums over two nights: Mat-Su Assembly candidates will be at the college from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in room 205 of the Fred and Sarah Machetanz building; Mat-Su School Board candidates will be there from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday in room 202.
The candidates will field questions compiled by Mat-Su College students, faculty, staff and campus visitors.
SEPTEMBER 17, 2009 - 3:40 PM
The Mat-Su Democrats are hosting a candidate forum for Mat-Su Mayor, Assembly and School Board races Friday. It starts at 6 p.m. at the Grand View Inn & Suites in Wasilla.
The races are nonpartisan, but partisan political groups aren't barred from hosting forums. Organizers said they forum is open to all candidates and anyone can attend. The buffet dinner costs $20.
Shannyn Moore, who writes the "Just a girl from Homer" blog and has a radio show on KBYR, is scheduled to speak at the forum before the candidate forum gets rolling.
SEPTEMBER 16, 2009 - 7:13 PM
Aaron Parker, a former employee of Houston Police Department, wrote a letter of complaint to the Houston City Council last week in which he announced his resignation. City Council met Thursday, the same day they received Parker's letter. Council members said the letter was received during a closed-door meeting but they did not take action on it.
Here's Parker's letter:
Subject: Resignation
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:42:23 -0400
Dear Houston Council Members,
This letter serves as a brief explanation relating to some of the conduct of the Houston Mayor and my subsequent resignation. My tenure with the Houston Police Department was approximately 4 months long. During that time, I made several observations relating to the Mayor. The Mayor has done many things that have directly benefited the City and its employees and residence. However, I have become increasingly aware of several issues that I can’t in good conscience ignore.
SEPTEMBER 16, 2009 - 6:35 PM
From Rindi White in Wasilla:
WASILLA – After a summer where Alaskans shared roads and restaurants with a lot fewer tourists, candidates for local offices last week offered their take on the tourist season and suggestions for improvement.
A forum for Mat-Su Assembly and mayoral candidates Friday kicked off the most active part of what has so far been a quiet local election race. Voters will be casting ballots for three Assembly seats and the borough mayor on October 6. City elections in Wasilla, Palmer and Houston are also scheduled for that day.
Speaking to an audience of bed-and-breakfast operators, tour guides and other members of forum host Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau, candidates shared their outlook on what, by most accounts, has been a slow summer tourism season.
AUGUST 21, 2009 - 11:21 AM
From Rindi White in Wasilla:
Three of the four most dangerous roads in Alaska are located in Mat-Su. State officials have designated two of them as traffic safety corridors, doubling fines and increasing traffic law enforcement. It’s helped, but some say not enough.
Members of the Alaska House and Senate Transportation committees will be on hand Monday in Wasilla to listen to residents’ road concerns and discuss solutions.
The Borough road bond, approved by voters last year, will also be discussed. Voters approved a $49 million road bond last year under which property owners would have paid 30 percent and the state 70 percent of costs. The bond passed, but legislators did not fund the state match.
AUGUST 12, 2009 - 4:18 PM
From Rindi White in Wasilla:
A story by Matthew Wald in the New York Times Tuesday says a communications system used by pilots in Alaska could prevent mid-air collisions if used more broadly.
The system, referred to in Alaska as the Capstone program and known Outside as "Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast" combines GPS features with a transponder. Planes equipped with the system have a “moving map” display in the cockpit which shows the plane’s location, surrounding terrain, weather and nearby aircraft. The system can warn pilots if other planes are headed their way.
AUGUST 7, 2009 - 1:27 PM
From Rindi White in Wasilla:
A story from the Peninsula Clarion Wednesday reported that three adults and five children from Palmer had a close call while clamming near Ninilchik in July.
"We were out there about an hour before low tide, and we had two buckets of clams," Palmer resident Melinda Briggs says in the article.
Briggs, her son Chad Edmonds and his girlfriend Pam Jeffrey, along with the couple's five children, were clamming on a sandbar they drove to with their four-wheeler and trailer. But the group failed to notice the incoming tide before the swift-rising water was upon them, disabling their four-wheeler and trailer. What followed was a tough slog back to shore, followed by help from on-lookers.
Read the full story here: 'God definitely spared our lives'
AUGUST 5, 2009 - 5:42 PM
The Mat-Su Assembly voted 6-1 Tuesday to overturn a veto issued by Borough Mayor Talis Colberg that would have kept a combination sales tax/property tax cap measure off the October municipal ballot.
Colberg issued the veto last week after the Assembly voted 5-2 in favor of putting the measure on the ballot. At the time he said he didn’t believe the measure accomplished the goal of being “revenue neutral,” meaning most voters would pay the same total amount of tax. Colberg said it might remain revenue neutral for the first year, but as property values rise, benefits of a property tax cap and rebates on assessed value would fade.
JULY 29, 2009 - 12:33 PM
From Rindi White in Wasilla:
Palmer Public Safety Director Jon Owen said emergency responders are still searching for missing Palmer teen Trenton Tunohun.
Tunohun, 17, was last seen near the Matanuska River early Monday morning wearing black and yellow shorts, a black hooded sweatshirt and Nike shoes. He's 5 feet 6 inches tall and about 140 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, according to Palmer police.
Between 35 and 40 people searched for Tunohun for five hours Tuesday after a friend of the teen reported him missing Tuesday afternoon. Owen said the search was suspended after 10 p.m. Tuesday night because it was too dark to see. The search resumed Wednesday afternoon.
JULY 29, 2009 - 12:31 PM
From Rindi White in Wasilla:
The Mat-Su Assembly Tuesday night agreed to put a 3-percent sales tax/property tax cap measure on the October ballot.
The measure passed after a few tweaks. What began as a property tax cap of 7.8 mills - that's $780 for every $100,000 of property value - ended up as a 7.3 mill rate. And instead of a $10,000 reduction in property assessment, homeowners would get $20,000. So for the average home, valued at $209,000, homeowners would pay taxes on $189,000, a savings of about $146. The changes were made in an effort to avoid asking voters to pay more tax. The assembly members who sponsored the tax measure, Cindy Bettine and Pete Houston, said their goal was to diversify borough revenue. The borough depends primarily on revenue from property taxes.
JULY 23, 2009 - 7:04 PM
More than 50 people turned out Tuesday in Wasilla to speak against putting a sales tax measure on the October Mat-Su Borough election ballot.
The three-percent sales tax proposal would also cap property taxes below where they are now and cut property assessments by $10,000. It’s not on the ballot yet – Mat-Su Assembly members postponed discussion on the measure until a special meeting set for 6 p.m. June 28 in Palmer.
The residents who spoke against the measure said they don’t want two types of tax – either sales tax or property tax, but not both, they said.
“Dr. Frankenborough wants to come along and replace that large leech that is sucking my lifeblood out of my wallet and replace it with two smaller leeches,” said James “Lazy Mountain Jim” Garhart.
JULY 21, 2009 - 12:25 PM
From S.J. Komarnitsky in Wasilla --
WASILLA - An eight-mile stretch of the Glenn Highway just south of Palmer will be closed nightly for the next week and half for paving work. The closure between Mile 34 and Mile 42, starts July 22 and runs from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Crews are expecting to wrap up the $1.7 million resurfacing project by Aug. 3. Local access will still be available through the intersection of the Glenn and Palmer-Wasilla highways. For more information, contact the state Department of Transportation at 376-9001 or Granite Construction at 373-6048.
JULY 15, 2009 - 12:28 PM
From Rindi White in Wasilla:
The city of Wasilla is seeking public input today to help develop a new city plan.
Wasilla Mayor Verne Rupright said in a press release that the city is at a crossroads, and the new plan can help guide future development.
"We have enjoyed and benefitted from the growth and development, yet are dealing with growth pains, increasing traffic congestion and new demands for public services," Rupright said. "How we plan for future growth, resolve current issues, improve quality of life and maintain our small town character will, in large part, be determined by this planning effort."
Read the adn.com updated privacy policy | 
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.
© Copyright 2009, The Anchorage Daily News, a subsidiary of The McClatchy Company 
Contact Us | Newsroom Contacts | Communication Forms | Subscriptions | Advertising | Featured Advertisers
Daily News Jobs |
RSS Feeds |
|
ADN Store |
Newspapers in Education
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | About our ads | Copyright