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Neighbor appeals Mat-Su approval of a 300-person event venue at the Knik Bar
A neighbor is challenging the Mat-Su Borough's approval of a wedding and event hall at the Knik Bar, and a borough appeals board takes up the case Friday.
The planning commission approved the hall in August. Before the vote, it dropped a proposed rule that would have closed the outdoor deck and outdoor events at 10 pm, leaving the midnight closing time in the application.
Neighbors across Knik Lake worry about noise carrying over the water, parking, and drinking and driving on Knik Goose Bay Road. Six people testified against the hall. "Drinking and driving on One of most dangerous roads in Alaska," Jay Tucker, who filed the appeal, wrote in a comment to the borough.
Borough staff called the 10 pm limit "an added safeguard rather than an essential condition of approval." Douglas Massie, who applied for the permit, told commissioners that other venues he called don't have to stop at 10. His application says amplified sound would stay indoors.
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Stories on what’s next
Robert Hawes Sentencing
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.
Sentencing of Michael Melendez
A jury convicted a former employee in a Trapper Creek killing
A Palmer jury convicted a former restaurant employee of first-degree murder in the 2023 killing of a 21-year-old server at a Trapper Creek lodge.
Latest
Week of Nov 9
Troopers seek tips after moose found near Palmer with only its antlers taken
Someone took only the antlers from a moose near the Matanuska River in Palmer and covered the rest with brush. Wildlife Troopers want to know who.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2d ago1 min read
Week of Nov 2
Fish and Game's wildlife storytelling night returns to Palmer Nov. 13
Fish and Game's wildlife storytelling night returns to Palmer Nov. 13. Last year's had a bear hunt, a harrowing outhouse trip and real moose in the parking lot.
by Maggie AlaskaNews6d ago2 min read
Palmer will bring in outside counsel on ethics complaint naming the mayor and city manager
Palmer is bringing in outside counsel on an ethics complaint naming its mayor and manager. Also: a remark about the manager's child, and no library kitchen.
by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago2 min readFrom 
Palmer could lease Apron D for hangars without waiting on master plan, manager says
Palmer's airport chief says the city doesn't have to wait for its master plan to turn Apron D's open aircraft parking into a lease lot, possibly for hangars.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Palmer airport plans to ask FAA to approve golf course rent of at least $114,000
Palmer's airport chief wants FAA approval to raise the city golf course's rent on airport land from about $15,000 to at least $114,000 a year.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Palmer planners pick four downtown goals from a parking study instead of adopting it
Palmer planners passed on adopting a consultant's parking study and picked four goals instead, from safer walking to a 15 to 20 mph downtown speed limit.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read
Palmer planners deny downtown BBQ parking variance on two 3-3 ties
Palmer's planning commission split 3-3 and sank the parking variance Bear Naked BBQ needs downtown. The owner has until Wednesday to appeal.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readFrom 
Week of Oct 26
Troopers cite driver after red-light crash on Palmer-Wasilla Highway
Troopers cited a driver for running a red light and crashing into another vehicle at Palmer-Wasilla Highway and Equestrian Avenue Friday. No injuries were reported, but the highway briefly closed.
by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago1 min read
More from Palmer
Palmer airport advisers want to turn a tie-down apron into T-hangars
Palmer's airport advisers picked Apron D, where three planes are parked, as the first place to try T-hangars. None of the airport's T-hangars are for rent.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Central Mat-Su firefighters will hand out free reflective treat bags Saturday
Central Mat-Su Fire Dept hands out free reflective treat bags Saturday, 1 to 7 pm, at five stations. • Ester holds a free Halloween festival Saturday, Kodiak runs a haunted house Friday and Saturday for food bank donations.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Anchorage man charged with possessing child sexual abuse material
A 38-year-old Anchorage man was charged last week with possessing child sexual abuse material. Palmer police say they arrested him with APD's help.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Week of Oct 19
Palmer council may meet in closed session Tuesday on an ethics complaint
Palmer's council may close the doors Tuesday to discuss an ethics complaint. What it alleges, and about whom, isn't in the 212-page meeting packet.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Palmer council will vote on $960,509 more for new library's second floor and kitchen
Palmer's council votes Tuesday on $960,509 more to finish the new library's second floor and build a bigger kitchen. Shoppers already pay a library tax.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Fish and Game sets second Shaped by Wildlife storytelling night Nov. 13 in Palmer
Fish and Game hosts its second Shaped by Wildlife storytelling night Nov. 13 in Palmer. Proceeds support the Outdoor Heritage Foundation of Alaska.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Palmer's budget plan holds taxes flat and skips a required capital transfer
Palmer's 2027 budget plan holds property taxes and utility rates flat. It also skips $943,402 for capital projects that city code says must be set aside.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Week of Oct 12
Wisconsin-based super PAC reports $710K urging Alaskans to leave Sullivan blank
A Wisconsin super PAC with no named donors spent $710,000 telling Alaskans to rank Republican Gerald Heikes first and leave Sen. Dan Sullivan blank.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Coming up
Shaped by Wildlife: Stories of encounters, harvests, and traditions
Glenn Massay Theater, Palmer, Alaska
Performance
Skeetawk Season Premiere: Warren Miller's Days Off
Performance
Matanuska-Susitna Borough Planning Commission Meeting
Meeting
Board of Agriculture and Conservation Meeting
Meeting
Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly Special Meeting: Election Certification
Meeting
About Palmer
Palmer is a city in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in Southcentral Alaska and serves as the borough seat. It grew out of the New Deal Matanuska Colony farming settlement and sits along the Matanuska River and the Old Glenn Highway.
The city hosts the Alaska State Fair, the Palmer Courthouse and an aviation base of the Alaska Division of Forestry. Its council decides local matters such as airport leasing, while the borough assembly takes up questions for the wider valley, including land use and schools.
Palmer is a starting point for travel into Hatcher Pass and the surrounding mountains, and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway links it to Wasilla. Neighboring areas include Farm Loop, Gateway and the Matanuska Valley Moose Range.
More from Palmer
Troopers and fire crews pull duck hunter from the mud on the Palmer Hay Flats
Palmer Hay Flats mud 1, duck hunter 0. Troopers and fire crews had the hunter out a little over an hour after the call came in Friday morning.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Antimony refinery developer Nova Minerals says its cash won't fund a year of plans
The company building a military antimony refinery at Port MacKenzie says it lacks the cash for another year of plans, after losing $25.6 million last year.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago3 min readFrom 
State gives DOT Matanuska riverbed to armor the Old Glenn near Palmer
The Matanuska keeps eating the bank along the Old Glenn near Palmer, so the state gave DOT 65 acres of river bottom to fight back with rock. Indefinitely.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read
Air Guard rescues pilot with minor injuries after plane crash near Friday Creek
The Air Guard has flown four pilots out of crashes north of Anchorage since Sept. 10, two of them near Friday Creek, which is having a rough fall.
by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read
After ending builder's contract, Mat-Su weighs $573,155 to finish Academy Charter design
Mat-Su terminated the contractor on Academy Charter's new high school in August. Now it wants to pay the designer $573,155 to finish the job's plans.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Palmer swears in Bruce Brown after election with under 5% turnout
Palmer swore in its newest council member Monday after an election that drew fewer than 5% of voters. Alison Collins is the new deputy mayor.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
State closes Unit 14A Chugach goat registration hunts Tuesday night, weeks early
Fish and Game is closing Chugach goat registration hunts in Unit 14A at 11:59pm Tuesday, cutting short a season set to run through Oct. 31.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Week of Oct 5
Mat-Su Assembly to revisit lake and river setback rules in a special meeting
Mat-Su Borough Assembly special meeting Oct. 20 on waterbody setbacks, the 75-foot rule for lakes and streams, after an earlier advisory board's recommendations.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Alaska Supreme Court rules early ICWA errors don't undo a later termination that followed the law
The Alaska Supreme Court held that ICWA errors in the early removal stage of a child welfare case don't undo a later termination that followed the law.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read
Southcentral weekend brings ski swap, winter prep and fall festivals
Southcentral Alaska hosts a ski swap, winter prep fair, half marathon, pumpkin festival and Indigenous Peoples Day celebration Saturday through Monday as cool, wet weather moves in.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Bethel council holds hearing Tuesday on leasing six city lots to Alaska Directional
Bethel City Council holds a public hearing Tuesday on leasing six city lots to a Palmer fiber contractor for $16,800 a month without taking competitive bids.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Wasilla man, 71, faces five counts of possessing child sexual abuse material
Task Force Dawnbreaker arrested Dale Weeg, 71, of Wasilla on Oct. 6 on five counts of possessing child sexual abuse material.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Crowley Alaska recruits mechanics and drivers Thursday at Mat-Su Job Center
Crowley is hiring mechanics and line drivers in Palmer, with $3,500 sign-on bonuses. Recruiters are at the Mat-Su Job Center Thursday afternoon.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Air Guard helicopter rescues pilot after crash 35 miles north of JBER
A pilot had minor injuries after his single-engine plane crashed north of JBER on Oct. 1. A Guard helicopter crew flew him to an Anchorage hospital.
by Alaska News1mo ago1 min read
Ship Creek moose permits available online only starting Tuesday
Fish and Game opens 100 Ship Creek moose permits online Tuesday at 8 am. Last year the hunt closed after 12 days; in 2015, after four. Bring your legs.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Troopers arrest Anchorage man after 100 mph pursuit in Wasilla
Alaska State Troopers arrested Anchorage man Xavier Cropley after he drove over 100 mph and fled on foot in Wasilla, facing a felony charge of failure to stop for an officer.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Week of Sep 28
Palmer forestry base holds memorial for helicopter pilot Greg King
The Alaska Division of Forestry held a memorial at its Palmer aviation base for helicopter pilot Greg King, who died Sept. 20 in a crash on the Dome Fire in Yosemite National Park.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Kenai parks commission puts tennis and pickleball courts ahead of shop design
Kenai's parks commission wants to shift $150,000 from a parks shop design to fixing tennis and pickleball courts. The pickleball crowd wants concrete.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Dense fog advisory for Lower Matanuska and Southern Susitna valleys ended early Thursday
Dense fog that cut visibility to a quarter mile in the Matanuska and Susitna valleys Wednesday night cleared by early Thursday, ending the National Weather Service advisory ahead of schedule.
by Alaska News1mo ago1 min read
Palmer man, 54, dies after 15-foot fall from scaffolding
A 54-year-old Palmer man died Wednesday after falling about 15 feet from shifting scaffolding at a home off Buffalo Mine Road, troopers said.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Man held without bail after indecent exposure arrest in Palmer
Troopers say they arrested a man near Seward Meridian Parkway early Thursday on a first-degree indecent exposure charge. He's held without bail.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Registration permits open Friday for Chugach mountain goats after drawing hunt falls short of quota
Chugach goat hunters who struck out in the drawing get another shot: Unit 14A registration permits open Friday after drawing hunters took just 7 of 12 goats.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Mat-Su Assembly member moves to reconsider the pricier Engstrom-Trunk road route
The Mat-Su Assembly picked the pricier northern route for the Engstrom-Trunk road 4-3. Now Maxwell Sumner wants a do-over, and it's on the Oct. 6 agenda.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Mat-Su resolution would ask school board to start classes after Labor Day
Mat-Su Assembly will vote Tuesday on a resolution asking the school board to start classes the day after Labor Day instead of earlier in August.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read