Frontiersman top stories of 2020: July-December

MAT-SU — The 2020 calendar year brought highs, lows, a global pandemic and a renewed desire for accurate, timely local news coverage from Frontiersman readers spread all across the country. The residents of the Valley had more than enough practice in dealing with disasters by the time COVID-19 arrived in Alaska in March. Throughout the year, the editorial staff at the Frontiersman continued working from home, conducting interviews over the phone and grinding through hours of audio to be able to safely produce coverage of local issues from our home grown reporters. Here is a short summary of the top story that the Frontiersman reported on during each month of the 2020 year. Thank you for reading, and we will continue to work to print the best stories about Valley issues headed into 2021.

July

In what became a trend during 2020, court proceedings did not follow the schedule they originally set out to. In July, the sentencing of Erick Almandinger and Bradley Renfro was postponed. Almandinger and Barrett are two of the four teens who were charged with the murder of Palmer teen David Grunwald four years earlier on November 13, 2016. In November, Barrett was convicted of Murder and Kidnapping for his role and sentenced to 65 years with the possibility of discretionary parole after 15 years.

August

The City of Wasilla got a facelift in August. In preparation for the downtown couplet, the historic Wasilla Train Depot that had been housing the Wasilla Chamber of Commerce building was physically lifted up and moved to a new location. When 2020 started, the historic Wasilla Train Depot building stood at the corner of Main Street and the Parks Highway, but was moved in August onto 11 acres across from Newcomb Park.

September

Continuing with the trend, residents around the city of Wasilla spent 2020 beautifying their historical surroundings. Mike Mahoney in collaboration with Lisa Redington and a handful of neighbors along Knik-Goose Bay Road are working to restore the abandoned boat of Joe Redington, who helped start the Iditarod.

“One day he said the hell with it and left it there,” Mahoney said with a laugh.

“It’s not gonna last forever because we’re not reconstructing a boat, we’re just giving it a face lift.”

In 1967, Iditarod originator Joe Redington left his boat ‘The Nomad’ in a cove that now sits in a picturesque setting off of Knik-Goose Bay Road. Local residents including Mahoney and members of the Redington family are working to restore the boat closer to its former glory than it appeared, beaten by years around in the elements.

October

The Mat-Su Borough School District teachers, part of the Mat-Su Education Association, had not had a contract for 19 months up until October of this year. Operating under a status quo contract, the MSBSD School Board voted 5-1 in October to ratify a new contract for teachers covering 2019-2021 and providing a two percent increase for each of the three years.

“I’m happy that we’ve been able to come to a resolution and that we can focus on the thing that’s most important which is educating kids,” said MSBSD Superintendent Dr. Randy Trani.

The MSEA had conducted a vote of their membership asking whether or not they offered approval to strike after more than a year without a contract. The MSEA and Dr. Trani announced a tentative agreement late in September and the contract was ratified by the school board in October with Ole Larson casting the lone ‘no’ vote.

November

As the only local government to discuss a mask mandate in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Palmer City Council received comments from across the state and even some from the Lower 48 in response to the proposed mask mandate offered by Deputy Mayor Sabrena Combs. After three meetings specifically to address comments made by the public on the mask mandate Ordinance 20-016 and another unrelated meeting where comments on the mandate were given, the measure ultimately failed 4-3. The public comment period spanned 16 days, four and nearly one half hours. Despite sponsoring the ordinance, Deputy Mayor Combs voted against the mandate due to the overwhelming public comment in opposition.

“Whether you like this ordinance or not, three weeks ago the governor felt like we were in such an emergency situation that he had to send out an emergency alert to every citizen in the state of Alaska and that frankly scared quite a few people who came to councilwoman and asked her to do something about it and if we are doing anything in this job, it is listening to our constituents and what they have to say and follow through with it,” said Councilwoman Julie Berberich.

Over 600 comments were provided in written form to the council or in person, a record for the city of Palmer on any single issue.

December

Tragedy struck late in November as an 18-year-old that had just been released from prison was charged with five counts of Murder I after shooting four family members with a stolen weapon. 18-year-old Malachi Maxon is held on $10 million bail and charged with five counts of Murder I, Assault III, Theft II, Vehicle Theft I and Escape I after his November 30 shootings in Wasilla and Palmer.