Mat-Su Valley
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Week of Aug 3
Heat advisory covers Lower Matanuska Valley through Monday
I'm gonna be hot if you in the Matsu, don't be surprised if heat stroke finds you.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
A hiker was carried off a Hatcher Pass trail, the second rescue there this summer
An incapacitated hiker was carried off a Hatcher Pass trail Thursday by four agencies — the second rescue on the same demanding route this summer.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Palmer man arrested on DUI, refusal and 2021 warrant after Palmer-Wasilla Highway report
State Troopers arrested a Palmer man on DUI and refusal charges after a swerving report on Palmer-Wasilla Highway, and also served a 2021 warrant for DUI and weapons misconduct.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A sockeye surge doubles the Fish Creek salmon limit for a week
A strong sockeye run means Fish Creek anglers can keep six salmon a day through Aug. 15 — double the usual limit — before it drops back to three.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Matanuska Electric goes on taproom tour as members absorb rising rates and a looming gas cliff
MEA's CEO is hitting the taprooms to meet members — right as they absorb a rate hike, brace for 5%-a-year increases, and face a 2029 gas cliff.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Big Lake man charged with 21 theft counts after Mat-Su traffic stop
Big Lake man Jonathan Meeks faces 25 criminal counts after troopers found stolen credit cards, IDs, checks and prescription drugs in his impounded vehicle.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Wasilla woman charged in storage-unit burglary that netted stolen firearms
A Wasilla woman faces 14 counts in a December storage-unit burglary that took multiple firearms, troopers say — with an accomplice still at large.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A proposed cap would limit how high Mat-Su can set its property tax rate
A proposed ordinance would cap Mat-Su's areawide property tax rate at 7 mills, or $700 a year per $100,000 of value, capping what future assemblies could set.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
More from Mat-Su Valley
The Legislature let local voters decide school board term lengths — and Mat-Su is first in line
Mat-Su asked the Legislature to let it extend school board terms, and got it: SB 143 becomes law by Aug. 12 unless vetoed, just before a borough vote to use it.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
Fewer than one in twenty Palmer voters turned out, the city's own packet shows
Fewer than one in twenty Palmer voters turned out in either phase of a municipal election, the city's own packet shows, though the figures are preliminary.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Magnitude 5.6 quake northwest of Skwentna felt across Anchorage and Mat-Su
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake near Skwentna was felt across Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley on Saturday night, with no damage reported so far.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Big Lake man arrested on seven sexual assault counts in Wasilla case
A 62-year-old Big Lake man was arrested Thursday on seven sexual assault counts stemming from a case first reported in May 2025, more than a year before the grand jury indictment.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Alaska's arts council is between directors as grant deadlines roll on
Alaska's arts council is hunting for a new executive director while its fiscal 2027 grant deadlines and free application workshops roll on this month.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
In Talkeetna, a debate over whether weather or a bridge is eroding the riverbank
Weather, or a rebuilt railroad bridge? As Talkeetna's bank erodes, one river-watcher says the bridge choked the river — and that's the fixable cause.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Landowner gets variance to split land off Wasilla-Fishhook Road
A landowner near Wasilla-Fishhook Road, a route to Hatcher Pass, got a variance to split his land after the state barred new lots from tying directly into the road.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
New law ties Anchorage's federal housing grant to how fast it builds
Anchorage's biggest federal housing grant will now rise or fall with how fast the city builds, raising the question of whether it'll be punished for constraints it can't control.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Coming up
Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly Regular Meeting
Assembly Chambers, 350 East Dahlia Avenue, Palmer, AK 99645; testimony by phone at 1-855-225-2326
Meeting
19th Annual Mat-Su Salmon Science and Conservation Symposium
Conference
Marijuana Control Board Meeting
Meeting
Alaska Supreme Court oral argument: Leif S. Backlin v. Matanuska-Susitna Borough
Hearing
Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly and School Board Joint Meeting
Meeting
About Mat-Su Valley
The Mat-Su Valley is a region of Southcentral Alaska that takes in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Its communities include Wasilla, Palmer, Big Lake, Houston, Willow, Talkeetna and Trapper Creek, and it is known for agriculture, Hatcher Pass and the Iditarod.
The Mat-Su Borough Assembly, its Platting Board and Planning Commission decide on land use, subdivisions, grants and library policy, while the Wasilla and Palmer city councils run their own towns. Port MacKenzie and its rail line draw industrial proposals such as a mineral refinery, and the Wasilla airport plans to lengthen its runway.
The Parks and Glenn highways carry traffic through the borough, and crashes along them recur. The region shares Southcentral Alaska with Anchorage, Cook Inlet and the Susitna River.
More from Mat-Su Valley
Anchorage ties its wettest July on record as Southcentral soaks
Anchorage tied its wettest July on record and Talkeetna saw its wettest since 1922, part of a cool, soggy stretch and a recent run of unusually wet Julys.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago2 min read
A landslide cut rail service to Denali after record Talkeetna rain
A landslide from record July rain cut off Alaska Railroad service to Denali north of Talkeetna, in a corridor already under a flood-and-erosion emergency.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago1 min read
Troopers detain 49 people at one Wasilla house during a drug-warrant search
49 people, one Wasilla house, one very eventful drug warrant: an arrest on scene, a runner nabbed on a federal warrant, and more charges on the way.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A separated path toward Hatcher Pass would get walkers and cyclists off Palmer-Fishhook Road's dangerous shoulders
A planned 8.5-mile path would finally get walkers and cyclists off Palmer-Fishhook Road's white-knuckle shoulders — if the Mat-Su Borough can pull together the $4.5 million to build it.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Wasilla resident gets gas station to study sidewalk on school bus route
A Wasilla resident got a new gas station to study building a sidewalk on a street where kids walk to the bus. The commission also OK'd a youth mental health facility.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
70 homes, one way out: Wasilla weighs fixing a risky railroad crossing on Lucille Lake
Over 70 Lucille Lake homes share one risky way out — a steep rail crossing that's also the only path for fire and ambulance. Wasilla eyes $5.25M to fix it.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Mat-Su voters will decide whether the borough can tax valley-wide for big road projects
Mat-Su voters will decide Nov. 3 whether the borough can use borough-wide taxes to build big road projects no single service area can afford — with debate over whether it shifts money from urban to rural areas.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Weak coho run cuts Little Susitna limit to one fish, bans bait
A weak coho run cut the Little Susitna limit to one fish and banned bait through Sept. 30, with just 438 fish counted against a goal of over 9,200.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A free hut near Snowbird Glacier could get a new 10-year state lease
A free backcountry hut near Snowbird Glacier — no membership, just get yourself there — could keep going under a new 10-year state lease.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Legislators to hear the case for a gas line as the effort stalls
A minority caucus will host an Anchorage gasline listening session with only supporters, as the effort sits stalled in a third special session with no bill.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Troopers and corrections officers recruit at the Mat-Su Job Center
Two Alaska public-safety agencies are recruiting at the Mat-Su Job Center in Wasilla — State Troopers on Wednesday, corrections officers every Friday.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Gold-exploration filings cluster in a historic Interior district
Three gold-exploration applications landed within six days in the historic Valdez Creek district, a small rush in an area that's produced gold since 1903.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Governor's disaster declaration unlocks state aid for Talkeetna flooding
Talkeetna flooding washed away a home and damaged others, and residents want a permanent fix, not another study. The state has authorized disaster assistance for the immediate response.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Parks Highway delays ease on one stretch, but not the next
Parks Highway traffic control is gone between MP 322 and 325 after a haul-truck crossing opened, but the next stretch south still has speed limits and diversions until 2028.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Mat-Su commission backs the $9 million road route over the $30 million one
Mat-Su's planning commission backed a $9 million southern road route over a northern one pegged at up to $31 million, overruling a staff recommendation. The assembly decides next.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Utility warns of rolling blackouts in Southcentral as soon as this winter
At a Municipality of Anchorage press conference last week, MEA's CEO warned that Southcentral could see rolling blackouts as soon as November if Cook Inlet gas falls short — the first time in 45 years he says he can't guarantee power.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Troopers arrest three Fairbanks-area drivers on DUI charges
Fairbanks troopers arrested three impaired drivers over the weekend, all well over the limit — including one who blew 0.248 with cocaine allegedly in his truck.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Wasilla man cited for motorized vehicle use in Palmer Hay Flats refuge
A Wasilla man was cited for driving a motorized vehicle in Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge, where off-road use is restricted to permitted activities in specific seasons and terrain.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Week of Jul 27
Seven face sex trafficking charges tied to seven Alaska spa businesses
Seven people face felony sex trafficking charges after a year-long investigation of massage businesses in Wasilla and Anchorage that identified 11 victims.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
A neighbor found the missing Butte woman walking near his home
A missing elderly Butte woman was found safe nine hours after she wandered off, spotted by a neighbor walking near his own property late Friday night.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Heavy rain now expected in the Mat-Su, with rivers set to crest Wednesday
Heavy rain is now expected in the Mat-Su, 3 to 5 inches, with rivers cresting Wednesday. The Yentna and Talkeetna corridors hit weeks ago are most exposed again.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Court upholds detention for teen who killed another boy, even at low risk
An Alaska court says a judge can detain a teen for a serious crime even when a psychologist calls him low risk. The case: a boy who killed another teen.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
The state may give 20,000 acres near Houston to a development authority
The state may give a development authority nearly 20,000 acres north of Houston for data centers and industry. DNR sees jobs — but also reduced trail access.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Wasilla is borrowing $6 million to expand its sewage plant
Wasilla is expanding its sewage treatment plant with new equipment, funded largely by a $6 million state loan that ratepayers will help repay over time.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
