Peek at the Past

Here’s what made in the news in the March 28, 1990, edition of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman:

Better roads at top

of Valley wish list

Improvement of roads is the issue closest to the heart of Valley residents, according to a questionnaire issued by state Rep. Curt Menard. The Glenn Highway project is No. 1 among seven projects residents were asked to rank. Road safety has been an issue this winter, as unusually heavy snows taxed reserves available for snow removal. Menard said the public would have to make a choice soon regarding road maintenance funds. “We’re doing the best we can with the funds we have. If we can do more, we will, but if not, the people will have to decide whether they are satisfied with the way the roads are being taken care of now,” he said. “If they’re not happy, that’s when we’d have to start looking for local contribution.”

Assembly, school board

review new ethics ordinance

The Mat-Su Borough Assembly will hold a public hearing on an ordinance that would change its conflict of interest code. There has been some debate recently over whether the borough’s code of ethics should cover school district employees. School board member John Fairfield said the borough’s policy should not cover school district employees, “There should be an ethics code, but it should be the one that is generated by the school board, (it) is an entirely separately elected body,” he said. Borough Mayor Dorothy Jones said all elected officials should be under the same code of ethics. The major difference between the two conflict of interest codes is the way in which suspected violations are enforced. On the assembly side, charges are brought before an ethics committee appointed by the assembly. The school board polices its own ethics questions.

Exxon spill leaves legal mess

With more than 150 civil lawsuits on file and federal criminal charges pending against Exxon, Alaska court calendars will be clogged with motions and briefs for years to come. The civil suits are not scheduled for trial until 1992, and Gov. Steve Cowper said that if Exxon does not settle all valid spill-related lawsuits, litigation could drag on into the next century. The governor called on Exxon to settle and put an early end to the flood of lawsuits filed by an assortment of defendants including fisherman, native Alaskans and environmental groups. The state of Alaska has also sued Exxon. “We have to make it unprofitable to pollute,” said attorney Macon Cowles, one of seven lawyers working on the litigation. Exxon has also been indicted by a federal grand jury on five criminal counts stemming from the grounding of the Exxon Valdez last March, dumping nearly 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound.

It cost what?

According to advertisements, in 1990, you could:

• Purchase a round-trip plane ticket to Seattle for $192.

• Enjoy bacon, eggs, hash browns and toast for $1.99 at Frontier Café.

• See a movie at Mat-Su Cinema for $3.

• Purchase a dual cassette boom box for $230.