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The People’s Paper MATANUSKA VALLEY, ALASKA
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Wasilla Family Loses Home, Dogs In Fire
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ON THE INSIDE By Josh Fryfogle Folks have expressed great interest, and some concern, about the changes to our print format.
What does the future hold for Make A Scene? We are excited to have this new section, The People's Paper, in addition to our 7-year-strong Make A Scene Magazine - two ways for our community to communicate.
By K.T. McKee Wasilla residents Mandy Cross and her fiancé, Freddie O’Connell haven’t always had an easy life since first getting together 14 years ago.
They’ve been homeless in Los Angeles in their younger years. O’Connell then suffered a traumatic brain injury and PTSD after being beaten with a baseball bat by four thugs in L.A. And in 2008, a moose crashed through Cross’ windshield, leaving her with a broken neck, a shattered knee, and a broken ankle. But all that pales to the recent loss of their home and six of their beloved dogs in a fire that caught them completely unaware as they headed home with children Eli, 14, and Alex, 8, and Cross’ mother from a fun night in Anchorage at the Luis Palau Love Alaska evangelical event June 7. “As we hit Northern Lights to head home, we received a phone call from a couple neighbors who told
us about all the fire trucks and sirens on our street and something about the dogs,” Cross, a Mat-Su Health Services Case Manager about to give birth to her third child, wrote through a private Facebook message June 11. “When we left home earlier in the day, we had fed all of our dogs, kenneling eight and leaving two loose upstairs and two downstairs. This is really hard to write about as we considered each and every one of them a part of our family and now our family has lost six of its members to run free in the fields across the Rainbow Bridge.” Now, as they pick up the pieces and do what they can to preserve as much normalcy as possible by making sure the boys get to their summertime activities, Cross and her family have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from friends and strangers alike. Cross’ mother, Sue Ann Kelly, was the actual owner of the greyhounds and whippets that’d been trapped in crates when the electrical fire broke out in the kitchen on E.
Fireweed off Bogard. And even she has found some silver linings. “As tough as this has been, it could have been far, far worse,” Kelly said. “There were a couple of miracle escapes that absolutely should not have been possible. A neighbor on the scene immediately after the fire crews arrived got the remaining dogs out and took them home with her once they had been checked out by an absolute angel from Animal Control. She also drove me around until 4 am, searching for the one Whippet unaccounted for. Angel Nick (from Animal Control) called first thing in the morning. He had our last dog!” And although they thought Cross was going to go into early labor Saturday night because of all the stress and heartbreak, baby Naomi is holding tough as her parents and grandmother collect donations of dog kennels and children’s clothes coming from all over the Valley through Facebook exposure and recent media attention.
COntinues on PAGE 11
“There were a couple of miracle escapes that absolutely should not have been possible.”
The People's Paper gives local community members a chance to share what they care about, in print. It also gives your public servants an opportunity to report to you, their constituent. Politics, charity, social issues, religion, practical matters that matter to most. This is beneficial in two ways. On one hand, this new section creates a space for these types of topics, and on the other hand, Make A Scene Magazine is given room to focus on arts and events. When we first started printing non-arts, nonevents content in Make A Scene Magazine, there was some concern from our readers. There was concern that this might take away from what Make A Scene Magazine was all about. It's been several years, and that content has been growing, now to a point that it needs it's own vehicle. Make A Scene Magazine can return to it's roots. Sure, The People's Paper is a little more serious in content. A little more down to earth than Make A Scene Magazine. But it's the imagination and creativity, reflected in the pages of Make A Scene Magazine, that drive it. The motive force is still the same - to give average people the ability to express themselves, seriously, artistically. It's a serious world out there, filled with serious issues. You look outside your circle, your sphere, into the community, and everyone has struggles. We can't ignore the outside world. The People's Paper is a better way to acknowledge these types of things. But remember, no matter how serious things seem on the outside, we're still Make A Scene On The Inside.