Peek at the Past: A look back in Mat-Su's history

As it appeared in the Dec. 2, 1982 Frontiersman

Parks Highway funded for four-lane expansion

Construction bids to change the Parks Highway from a two-lane to a four-lane road from Lake Wasilla to Spenard Lumber Yard will be open.

Plans for the four-lane highway includes curbs, dividers and a fifth center lane for turns.

A storm drain system will be built on the north side of the road and Wasilla City Parks Commission is planning to landscape several areas along the highway.

Beverly Cutler sworn in

After viewing many crowded courtrooms during her career, Judge Beverly Cutler was met by a crowd that had come for a different purpose last week.

The standing-room only court was packed with borough officials, well-wishers, members of the Alaska Bar Association and Judge Cutler's colleagues who came to see her sworn in as the Mat-Su Borough's first superior court judge

Cutler will preside over the newly created Third Judicial District Superior Court.

Cutler was named to the position by Gov. Jay Hammond, who picked her from three candidates recommended by the Alaska Judicial Council.

If you were going Christmas shopping 20 years ago this week, there were some "buys" out there -- including a portable AM/FM radio that was going for $99, or a Quasar VCR for $475.

Traveling for the holidays cost about as much as it does today, as plane fares averaged around $500 in 1982.

In the television listings, Facts of Life, Barney Miller, Three's Company and St. Elsewhere were ratings giants. Little House on the Prairie was also a hit television show at the time.

Cable television was still to come, as the giant ad for MTA-Northern Sights proclaimed. Basic cable service started at $24.95, which included 20-30 channels.

In real estate, homes were higher-priced than you might expect. A four-bedroom home on 1/4-acre lot was fetching $104,000, while a three-bedroom home cost $850 a month to rent.

Retail-wise, many of the things were priced as they are today, if not more expensive.