Mat-Su Valley

Wasilla man arrested at Anchorage courthouse on sexual abuse warrant

A 59-year-old Wasilla man was arrested Sept. 1 on an outstanding warrant and faces multiple counts of second- and third-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su explores building the troopers a new home and leasing it back

Mat-Su is exploring building troopers a $13 million facility and leasing it back. Troopers now work from six buildings never designed for police work.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska rent increases were the smallest in five years, but Mat-Su and Kenai set records

Alaska rents rose again this year, but the pressure shifted. Mat-Su and the Kenai set records while Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau saw their smallest rises.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A barge of secondhand equipment is bringing a military antimony refinery to Port MacKenzie

A barge of secondhand refining gear is headed for Port MacKenzie to start a $43.4 million military project for a metal the US stopped mining in the 1990s.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago3 min read

Matanuska Electric's next CEO inherits a gas contract that expires in 2029 and years of rising bills

Clay Koplin takes over as Matanuska Electric CEO on Jan. 7, 2027, as the cooperative braces for rising natural gas costs that could push member bills up 5% yearly for three years.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su assembly member puts possible school closures on Sept. 8 joint agenda

Mat-Su Assembly and School Board will discuss possible school closures Sept. 8 after enrollment dropped 2,153 students since 2018.

by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read

ENSTAR raised its gas line relocation estimates and Mat-Su road budgets absorb the cost

ENSTAR nearly doubled its estimates on eight Mat-Su road projects. The borough has to absorb it, and there is no other gas utility it could call.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su Assembly rejects lowering its property tax cap to 7 mills

Mat-Su's Assembly rejected lowering its tax cap to 7 mills after the borough warned it would force $22 million in cuts — schools and ambulances included.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Follows: A proposed cap would limit how high Mat-Su can set its property tax rate

Mat-Su sets aside Zero Lake Road land for a future shooting range

Mat-Su set aside land for a shooting range over a year of neighbor objections. One cabin owner's structure sits about 1,000 feet downrange.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Circle man arrested on first-degree murder charge in shotgun death

Alaska State Troopers arrested a Circle man on a first-degree murder charge after a fatal shotgun shooting at a residence Friday evening.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Trooper fires at armed man outside his Wasilla home after false report

A trooper fired at an armed man outside a Wasilla home Sunday after responding to a false 911 assault report, striking no one. The caller was intoxicated and had not been assaulted.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Frost advisory for Anchorage and the Mat-Su early Tuesday

Cover your plants Monday night. Frost is expected early Tuesday in colder pockets of Anchorage and the Mat-Su, a few days ahead of the usual first chill.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska's youth suicide rate reached a 10-year high in 2025, state data show

Alaska's youth suicide rate reached a 10-year high in 2025. The Anchorage Assembly takes up a resolution Tuesday marking Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

$5.5 million for Anchorage public health nurses, WIC and child care inspectors

The Anchorage Assembly takes up $5.5 million in state grants Tuesday for public health nurses, WIC clinics and child care inspections, without a hearing.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Troopers arrest Sutton man, 19, on DUI charge after car hits tree

Alaska State Troopers arrested a 19-year-old Sutton man on a DUI charge after his vehicle hit a tree and overturned on E Jonesville Mine Road early Saturday morning.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage's park rezone meets the Knik Arm bridge route

Anchorage wants a park where the state wants a bridge. The port land rezone is the newest round in a Knik Arm Crossing fight going back decades.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Wasilla golf course seeks state license to serve beer and wine on the course

Sleepy Hollow Golf Course in Wasilla wants to pour beer and wine across its grounds, range and deck. The state alcohol board takes it up Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

A Nome jury convicted a 78-year-old man on 28 counts of sexual abuse of a minor

A Nome jury convicted Isaac Ozenna Sr., 78, on 28 counts of sexual abuse of a minor involving nine children abused in Nome between 1984 and 2014.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Alaska's marijuana board will decide whether to erase a violation against its chair's own store

The Marijuana Control Board chair's own store is on its September agenda, and the agency's director wants her $100 violation wiped off the record.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Alcohol board denies a second bar at a Wasilla wedding venue

A Wasilla wedding venue was denied a second plumbed bar because state law requires fixed counters in the same building. The owner plans a rolling bar.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

AIDEA commits $25 million to drill under the West Susitna road

AIDEA committed up to $25 million to drill under a road with no buildable design yet, and its resolution names the three resource projects it would serve.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage weighs surveillance rules 11 months after buying the system

Anchorage approved an $11.8 million surveillance system in 2025 and wrote no rules for it. The Assembly takes up those rules Tuesday, eleven months later.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago4 min readFrom Aug 18

Coho must go back in the water on the Susitna and Little Susitna

You can still fish for coho on the Susitna. You can't keep them. The Little Susitna is projected at 2,104 fish against a goal of at least 9,200.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A Wasilla company sweeps a Detroit dock and runs five border ports

A Wasilla company is getting $3,419 to sweep a Detroit loading dock. It also cleans four federal buildings there and runs five border ports in California.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read

Troopers arrest driver after semitrailer collapses onto pickup on Parks Highway

Alaska State Troopers arrested a Wasilla man after a stolen semitrailer he was towing on a makeshift rig collapsed onto his pickup truck on the Parks Highway, crushing the truck bed.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

FAA awards $79,899 to Palmer-based Port Graham Development Corporation for Cleveland radar power work

A company owned by the tiny Alutiiq village of Port Graham won a federal contract to keep an air-traffic radar's backup power running in Cleveland, Ohio.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read

Fish and Game teams up with Arctic Entries for a night of wildlife storytelling

Alaska Fish and Game is teaming up with Arctic Entries for a night of true wildlife stories in Palmer. Alaskans have until Sept. 7 to submit or nominate.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su voters will decide whether the borough can build roads anywhere

Mat-Su voters decide Nov. 3 whether the borough can buy right-of-way and build roads anywhere in its boundaries, across road service area lines.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Anchorage's next park would sit on the Knik Arm bridge route it has long fought

A cleaned-up fuel depot above the Port of Alaska could become a park — on the route of a Knik Arm bridge the state wants and Anchorage has long fought.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

It's going to be a windy one across Anchorage and Turnagain Arm on Tuesday

It's a windy one around Anchorage on Tuesday — gusts of 40 to 50 mph on the Hillside and Turnagain Arm, with a stronger system due late in the week.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

The Anchorage Assembly recognized September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

The Anchorage Assembly recognized September as Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. The region including Anchorage has Alaska's highest number of suicide deaths.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su assembly member proposes borough ban on license plate readers

Mat-Su would ban license plate readers outright, including querying outside networks. Nothing in the record names a borough program it would end.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su would sell a sinking public safety building for $13,176

Mat-Su would sell a condemned public safety building for $13,176. Repairing it is estimated at $139,150, and nobody has said who pays for that.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Anchorage businesswoman gets 3.8 years for nearly $1 million in COVID relief fraud

An Anchorage businesswoman spent nearly $1 million in COVID relief meant for struggling businesses on herself. Now she's headed to federal prison for 3.8 years.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Two rounds of rain this week could flood Susitna Valley gravel bars

Two rounds of rain this week could push rivers in the Susitna Valley toward bankfull. Gravel bars and low riverside camps may end up underwater.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Dunleavy names a fentanyl awareness day; Alaska recorded 339 overdose deaths last year

Dunleavy proclaimed a Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day. Alaska recorded 339 overdose deaths in 2024, down 5 percent, with fentanyl in about 73 percent.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Knik Tribe awarded $5 million to design fish passage fixes on Talkeetna Spur Road

Eight culverts on the Talkeetna Spur Road block salmon from more than 66 miles of stream. The Knik Tribe got $5 million to design the fixes.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

The State Fair is open now

The Alaska State Fair is back in Palmer through Sept. 7 — a stacked concert lineup, giant cabbages and pumpkins, carnival rides and fair food.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Manley Hot Springs surcharge would nearly triple under a filing before regulators

Manley Hot Springs electric customers face a cost-of-power surcharge nearly three times higher on Sept. 1. The state credit that offsets it does not move.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Palmer jury convicts Robert Hawes on four felony sex abuse counts

A Palmer jury convicted Robert Hawes, 72, on four felony sex abuse counts involving a 4-year-old child in 2021. He faces sentencing November 25.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read