The Mat-Su View

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.

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PTA shrinking? - 9/4/2008 10:38 am

Press Call - 9/4/2008 10:33 am

RV Crash no, bash maybe? - 8/21/2008 5:11 pm

Live, from the Alaska State Fair - 8/21/2008 10:53 am

Crash and Bash called off - 8/18/2008 3:53 pm

Mat-Su schools hold steady with AYP - 8/8/2008 12:24 pm

School Board member Turner not running - 7/30/2008 2:40 pm

A peek inside Target - 7/30/2008 10:07 am

Termination dust: it's a perspective thing - 7/21/2008 10:46 am

Talkeetna toilet explosion - 7/16/2008 1:24 pm

No scolding for city employees - 7/14/2008 10:18 pm

Wasilla Council considers employee reprimands - 7/11/2008 2:30 pm

Glenn Highway Road Closure - 7/11/2008 12:12 pm

Wasilla Council votes out mayor, who says she ain't going - 7/1/2008 11:56 am

Palmer skateboard park nears completion - 7/1/2008 10:21 am

Knik river rescue - 6/30/2008 3:01 pm

VA opening a shop in Mat-Su - 6/26/2008 2:52 pm

Iron bar hotel for would-be hotel developer - 6/25/2008 2:18 pm

Su Vally bid process shut down - 6/25/2008 9:47 am

Sudden increase in the price of gasoline - 6/25/2008 9:21 am

Return of the native - 6/24/2008 1:32 pm

More handicapping the GOP VP candidate - 6/24/2008 9:27 am

Iron bar hotel for would-be hotel developer

From Mat-Su reporter S.J. Komarnitsky:

An Anchorage developer who lost his bid for permission to build a hotel in Denali State Park is in jail.

Dale Van Doren, 47, was arrested Monday night in Fairbanks after a cab driver reported he had refused to pay a $32 fare for a ride from the Big I Bar to 4th Avenue and Cowles Street downtown, said Fairbanks police Lt. Tara Tippett.

Van Doren was not charged with theft because the cab driver did not wish to press charges, Tippett said.

He was arrested, however, for violating his probation by refusing to provide a breath sample to check his blood alcohol level and for not getting permission to first travel to Fairbanks, she said. An officer described Van Doren as having slurred speech and bloodshot eyes, Tippett said.

Van Doren applied to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough for a permit to build a 60-room hotel on six acres in the Denali State Park. the borough planning commission turned him down in April. The board of adjustments and appeals rejected his appeal Monday.


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  3     July 8, 2008 - 12:04pm | lifewaters

Friends unite

Time to set the record straight, time for Mr. Van Dorens friends to stand up, he is one of the few people that would help anyone without asking for something in return. You people need to work on your own lives if you have one. Dale will prevail and set the record straight. his friends and associates who know him know the truth. All the rest will fade away to your miserable lives.

  2     July 8, 2008 - 11:43am | lifewaters

national inquirer at its best- lies

I have lived with Mr. van Doren for years and I have never seen a harder worker or someone who would help anyone more than him. He used to go out of his way to lend money, pull people out of ditches in winter, help anyone with gas or even a free place to stay. He is truley Alaskan and you people don't know anything about him other than malicious gossip and 80% lies, lies, lies. Do something with YOUR life.

  1     July 2, 2008 - 11:49pm | just_a_note

Is anyone suprised?

This creep ripped folks off on a daily basis when he operated a store on the Parks....helped himself to generator fuel from his neighbors when he felt like it, ran up big bills with small local merchants who had to eat it, had DV charges filed against him, etc. It is such a good thing that he didn't get that hotel permit!