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

25 years ago, as it appeared in the Feb. 24, 1977 Frontiersman:

Kindergarten plan killed by board

The proposed Matanuska-Susitna school budget will go to the borough assembly without a kindergarten program this year, the school board has decided.

Kindergarten proponents have not given up yet, however.

They intend to ask the assembly to reinstate the money, according to Sandra Sheldon, who has spearheaded the current push for kindergarten programs in the Valley.

An all-day, half-time kindergarten program, for an added cost of $87,000, had been included in the draft budget.

Temporary capital defeated

Rep. Al Ose said the defeat of the "temporary capital" bill may be a blessing in disguise for the Valley.

Ose said the bill, which called for a two-year head start on moving the capital from Juneau, could have resulted in ammunition for opponents of the capital move by lulling the public into a feeling that progress was being made toward the final move to Willow, when it really is not.

The temporary capital bill, sponsored by Anchorage Republican legislators, would have created a modular-constructed state government establishment in or near Houston, to allow government functions prior the mandated 1980 move to Willow.

At the D&A Super store, which had Palmer and Wasilla locations, you could buy Ped's Pantyhose for 77 cents a pair.

For dinner, you could buy round steak for $1.39 a pound or halibut steaks for $2.89 a pound. Similar prices could be found at Koslosky's in Palmer.

In the classified section, you could rent a four-bedroom apartment, with all utilities paid, for $500 a month.

For the single guy, a one-bedroom apartment was only $260 a month, right in downtown Palmer.

A used 1975 pickup could be purchased for $3,500. A 1976 snowmachine went for $1,000.

And if you were an avid reader of the Frontiersman 25 years ago, you already know that a year's subscription cost $12.50.