Contributed by The People at Alaska Raceway Park Club 1320 is being built, with each donation given, one patron at a time. The goal of the growing crowdfunding group is to build a concrete barrier to increase safety at Alaska Raceway Park, and also for the purchase of a new timing system and scoreboards. Alaska Raceway Park is ultimately looking for 1320 people to join and donate a minimum of $100.00. With each donation of $100.00 or more, the patron’s name (or a name of their choice) will be permanently placed on the wall - but Club 1320 gladly accepts donations of any amount! Alaska Raceway Park, nestled beneath the picturesque mountains of the Matanuska Valley, is a mainstay in the local community. It has grown with the community of Butte, Alaska, since 1964, when the 1/4-mile drag strip was
first built. The facility has seen many improvements since Earl and Karen Lackey took over in the late 1990’s, and this is the next step. By building a concrete barrier wall, Club 1320’s patrons will increase safety at the strip, replacing the current ¼-mile doubleguardrail at the NHRA strip.
but the new LED system is more energy efficient, too.
“When accidents do happen, the posts of the guard rail give way, and we run the risk of cars leaving the track,” said Michelle Lackey Maynor, daughter of the Lackeys and current owner and President. “Concrete barriers are much safer for our motorcycle racers and for our drivers racing at higher levels of speed.”
JOIN THE CLUB Those who would like to support this need can choose from multiple levels of support by going online, at www. RaceAK.com/club1320, or by calling 907-355-7223 to arrange cash or credit card donations. Donations can also be made using Venmo, @alaskaracewaypark.
In addition to the new concrete barrier, Alaska Raceway Park will also be upgrading their outdated timing system, which has been in use for 21 years, with a state-of-the-art Portatree brand system. Not only will this create a better experience for racers and fans,
Patrons can also mail a check to: Alaska Raceway Park S. Race Way Palmer, AK 99654
Most of the money for this project will come from Alaska Raceway Park, but Club 1320 is an opportunity for race fans from all over to make their mark at this iconic, Alaskan race track.
ABOUT ARP Alaska Raceway Park is a Palmer, Alaska,
motorsports complex, conducting races from Mother’s Day to Labor Day. Located near Butte, the Knik River, and Knik Glacier at Mile 10.4 of the Old Glenn Highway, it is about 41.5 miles northeast of Anchorage, Alaska. Nearby 6,398foot Pioneer Peak looms over the finish line, providing a scenic racing venue recognized worldwide among race fans. The complex, owned and operated by Michelle Lackey Maynor, sits at an elevation of 63 feet above sea level, offering excellent air pressure for racing. The 1/4-mile drag strip was opened in 1964 and operates in the NHRA Northwest Division 6. In 2016, ARP debuted a 1/3-mile asphalt oval track in the NASCAR All American Series. Emphasizing family and community spirit, ARP hosts multi-generation racing families and fans for food, fun, fast cars, and long weekends of quality time in a breathtaking Alaska setting in view of Matanuska Glacier.
COMMUNITY Contributed by Marlene Munsell One of the most popular exercise classes at Wasilla Area Seniors, Inc. is Bingozice. Bingocize was created by Western Kentucky University Associate Professor of Exercise Science Jason Crandall. Crandall says that it’s based on the game of bingo, with frequent intermissions for simple ex-
Contributed by Travis Sherrer Hi, my name is Travis and I work for Sleepy Hollow Golf Course in Wasilla. All of us here at the golf course wanted to invite the community down, Saturday April 16th 10am-1pm for our Easter Celebration! We will have egg hunts, bouncy houses, games and activities. We will have coffee, drinks and snacks for purchase from our cafe. Egg Hunts begin at 10:30 for ages 0-5 and at 11am for ages 6-10. All of the eggs at this event have been contributed by local businesses around our community. If interested in contributing to our egg hunt give us a call before April 16th at 907-5210151 or email us at sleepyhollowak@ gmail.com! What makes Sleepy Hollow Golf Course so different from the rest? Sleepy hollow Golf course is run by Nadon Family Home (NFH), which
Contributed by Lauralynn Robison We wrapped up our annual Hearts4Hunger Fundraiser on 2/25/2022 and, WOW, what an amazing event! We feel extremely blessed for the number of donations received, all the volunteers who assisted, but mostly for the support of our community, coming together to make this evening a huge success. Our “Thank You” list is long, however, we feel everyone deserves to be recognized for their commitment to our cause… Fighting Food Insecurity. We want to express our sincere gratitude to the following, for their generous donations: 49th State Brewing Company, AIH, Ace Knives, Alaska Airlines, Alaska Fur Gallery, Alaska Raceway, All About Herbs, All Season’s Clothing Company, Allen & Peterson, Amanda Rose Warren, Antigue Gallery, Cabellas,
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ercises to improve balance and range of motion, such as reaching upward, or rotating wrists or ankles. Health education is also built into the game. Feedback from seniors that take the class is very positive; a 94-yearold woman has stated that she has much more energy after attending our Bingocize class. Coming to class, working out and socializing makes her happy for the entire rest of the day. A 67-year-old woman has told us that she had lost the ability to tie her shoe, after attending Bingocize she has regained the ability to tie her own shoes. She is very happy. Bingozice classes are on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10 a.m. at WASI 1301 S. Century Circle, Wasilla. For more info you call 907-206-8807, or visit our Facebook page.
offers supported employment opportunities for individuals of ALL ABILITIES. They hope to instill confidence, courage, and encourage independence so that the individuals they support can live their lives to the fullest. The customer service here is unlike any other. All of us are happy to greet you with a smile and ready to help you in any way we can. We want to share our beautiful golf course with the community. Some of the other things we offer are, our new indoor golf simulator, a variety of homeschool and hands-on educational programs, kids’ camps, team building opportunities, and community events. Working at Sleepy Hollow Golf Course makes me so happy. Working at the course helps empower me to live a more independent life and as a bonus I love the sport. Being a part of NFH has helped me gain many friends, learn lots of life
Chimo Guns, Connie Perkins, Erika Bills, Escape Anchorage Escape Room, Flowers by Louise, Garcia’s Restaurant, Kim Erickson, Lowes, Matanuska Brewing Company, MatSu Miners, Pia’s Picture Framing, Settler’s Bay Golf Lodge, Sleeping Lady Farms, Sportsman Warehouse, Steam Driven Boutique, and Wholy Living. We wish to express “Thank You” to our event Sponsors: All About Herbs and Denali Refuse. Also, we wish to “Thank” our caterer, Alaska Catering & Events, who provided a most delicious dinner and desserts. A big “Thank You” to Justin Giles, G & G Sound and Lighting for their DJ services and microphones. It is with a warm heart we “Thank” Marty Metiva, our MC and Auctioneer! Marty delighted the guests with his talented personality and had us howling with laughter during the Live Auction. Lastly, but not least…our volunteers, Connie, Lynn, Melissa and Trudi.
& job skills. I have the best staff help here in the world. The opportunities they provide to not just me, but others that are employed here are endless. The love and support they give us all is unmeasurable. It is a joy to come and work at Sleepy Hollow Golf course every day. I know every day I will learn something new and my day will be full of fun! You can find out more about us by going to www.sleepyhollowgolfak.com or Like us on Facebook at Sleepy Hollow Golf Course
Community is at the heart and soul of our mission at MatSu Food Bank. We feel so blessed to be a part of this amazing community and “Thank” all of you for your continued support of the MatSu Food Bank! Remember - no one should go hungry! Please contact us at (907) 357-3769 if you have any questions about our programs, making donations or would like to schedule a time to volunteer. You can also call United Way’s Helpline at 211, which is a multilingual & confidential service that connects community members to vital local resources. We again thank everyone who helps support our mission and makes it possible for us to serve our local communities. We are honored and immensely grateful! We also invite you to visit and follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/MatSuFoodBank
COMMUNITY Contributed by Rabbi Mendy Greenberg Education is more than helping kids make a living. It’s about shaping life. Each year America observes “Education and Sharing Day” on the birthday of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M Schneerson, a global spiritual leader, who tirelessly advocated for the moral education of our youth.
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This year, Tuesday April 12, the Rebbe’s 120th birthday, the Alaska state legislature, Mat-Su Borough, the City of Wasilla and the City of Palmer will issue proclamations in observance of Education and Sharing Day. Everyone can be an educator. Do more good. Give more charity. Spread good cheer. It will have a real impact on society and the globe.
Contributed by The People at Valley Recycling Valley Community for Recycling Solutions is happy to announce that Tamara (Tam) Boeve of Willow has been selected as the new Executive Director of VCRS. Tam brings a longterm interest in recycling due to her involvement in the Willow recycling effort, where she has been a volunteer for many years. In addition, Tam brings a wealth of management experience from her
previous nursing career. She is well known in the area for her tireless efforts on behalf of constituents in District 7 (the Northern Susitna Valley area) during her tenure on the Mat-Su Borough Assembly. We look forward to her leadership of the organization. The VCRS Board of Directors would like to thank Randi Perlman, longtime board member, for stepping up to fill the role of Interim Director following the departure of the former E.D. Tam will start her new position at VCRS on 3/7/22. Please stop by to meet her when you drop off recyclables at the facility. For more information, contact VCRS at 907-745-5544 or director@valleyrecycling.org.
Contributed by Clayton Allison When installing your own epoxy flooring, there are several critical things you need to know. Follow these important tips to make the installation a long-term success. Moisture Testing Moisture testing is highly recommended before you apply any coating to concrete. It is critical because with high results, a standard epoxy primer will fail to bond. Testing takes 72 hours and must be done before the first coating is applied. Moisture test results help identify if you need a moisture vapor barrier epoxy primer and how thick to apply it. Also, many epoxy manufacturers require moisture testing before they will provide a product warranty. Concrete Surface Preparation Improper preparation is a common reason why epoxy floors fail. Concrete surface profile or CSP is critical to how well the epoxy bonds to the concrete. The thicker the coating system, the higher the required CSP to get a good bond. When the concrete surface is too smooth, coatings bond poorly. To achieve professional quality results, use a diamond grinder or shot blaster to provide the correct CSP. It is also important to identify if your concrete is sealed, preventing the concrete from adhering. Another key factor to watch out for is oil and chemical spills on the concrete which can cause failures if left untreated. Epoxy Thickness “Mils” is the industry-standard measurement used for epoxy on almost all epoxy product data. Every type of epoxy will have different recommendations on the mil thickness required. This term is commonly mistaken for “millimeters”. That is NOT correct. A millimeter (mm) is 1/1000th of a metric meter. However, in the paint and epoxy coating world, the term “mil” is an English unit of measurement, meaning 1/1000th of an inch. Understanding what a mil thickness means is critical to installing epoxy correctly. For example, if an epoxy installer ap-
plies a primer coat at a thickness of 8 mils, it means the coating is 8/1000 inches thick or when converted to metric units, 0.2032 millimeters (mm) thick. From this, it’s easy to see that “8 mils” (0.2032 millimeters) is very different from “8 millimeters”! Newly Poured Concrete The moisture content in newly poured concrete will cause most coatings to fail, so it is recommended to wait at least 28 days before any epoxy flooring installation. New concrete must still have a CSP ground or shot blasted and cleaned surface prior to epoxy coating. Diamond grinding the surface before it is fully cured is not recommended. Choosing the Correct Epoxy System The epoxy system is chosen based on the desired function, characteristics, substrate, and flooring installation locations. There are dozens of different types of flooring epoxy available. The key is to ask, “What do I need here?” Are you installing on wood or concrete? Is it a garage, workshop, or bathroom? Residential or commercial? Do you need anti-slip properties? Was the moisture testing high? Is it a high-traffic area? Is it a metallic, flake or solid color floor? Do you need special characteristics like anti-static discharge (ESD) or antimicrobial? Does your clear topcoat need UV protection from yellowing? Carefully consider the specific needs of your installation location. KEY TERMS: Working Time or Pot Life, Cure Time (To Touch & Full Cure), Epoxy Recoat Window These terms are critical to know for every epoxy product you work with. Some terminology is different in the
Epoxy Product Data. Your working time or pot life is how much time you have once you have mixed the Part A (Resin) with the Part B (Hardener) before it hardens and cannot be manipulated anymore. This time can be shortened depending on many factors including: room temperature, mixing time, and humidity. It is important to plan for the working time of the epoxy used. Cure Time to Touch refers to how much time is needed before the surface of the epoxy is no longer wet or sticky. This time frame is important to protect the surface from contaminants like hair, dust, or bugs. Cure Time to Full Cure refers to the time needed before the epoxy surface has cured to full hardness. This time frame is important because the epoxy surface can be easily damaged or scratched until fully cured. The Epoxy Recoat Window is critical for epoxy systems that require more than one coat. This tells you how much time you have, to apply the next coat. If you exceed the epoxy recoat window, you must sand the epoxy surface before you apply the next coat. This is to create enough surface profile to make a strong bond. If you exceed the epoxy recoat window and do not sand, the bond on the next coat will be weak, causing disbondment. Refer to your specific epoxy product data for more information on all these issues. Contact Alaska Resin Supply today to learn more about your options. We have a full epoxy resin line available for DIY Projects. You can call us at (907) 671-9900 or visit us at 201 E. Swanson Ave. Suite #1 in Wasilla.
COMMUNITY Contributed by Lee Henrikson Community Conversation About Cultural Heritage Join us for a Community Conversation on April 2 at 2 pm at Turkey Red, 550 S. Alaska St. Palmer. After listening to Kenni Linden read her poem Salmonberries and Saag Aloo about her multi-cultural family, we will split into small groups to talk about our own cultural heritage(s) and how we choose to carry them with us. This conversation is free, thanks to sponsorship by the Alaska Humanities Forum. Light refreshments will be served. After this hour-long event, you can leave or stick around for the annual
meeting of Radio Free Palmer. All are welcome to stay for our annual meeting, though only current members will be able to vote for board members.
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radio. Listen at 89.7 in Palmer, Butte and parts of Wasilla; 89.5 in Sutton; 91.5 in Glacier View; and on the web at www.radiofreepalmer.org.
Springing into Action with our On Air Fund Drive! Big Cabbage Radio will hit the airwaves April 3 - 9 for our Spring Fund Drive. Our goal is $8000. A community radio station depends on its listeners to keep the lights on and the music playing. If you want to seed the fund drive, you can go to radiofreepalmer.org and donate today. Our mission is to build, inform and celebrate community through local
me as being akin to going to the dentist and having teeth pulled. But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made.
ing the first of several random phone calls I became a part of a community of local care-givers who in their super human efforts provide much needed emotional, financial, and moral support to those in need in the Mat-Su Valley. I first spoke with United Way representative Michele Harmeling and told her about the Bright Lights Book Project. We had a great deal in common. She was also a book lover, and like me, she had acquired her MFA from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Michele was personable, thoughtful, upbeat, quick to laugh. As importantly, she assisted me in opening numerous book project doors.
Colony High School Librarian Stefanie Haas with new BLBP bookcase. The bookcase was donated by long serving MSB School Board member Sarah Welton.
Contributed by Alys Culhane I didn’t have a long-term vision when I started salvaging books locally. I didn’t want to see local books get shredded, pulped, or sent to the landfill, which was then their fate. I felt compelled to end this practice because I am a life-long reader. My routine was then purposefully simple. I wrote in the morning, rode horses in the afternoon, and read in the evenings. My routine changed in December, 2020, when I began to salvage, sort, clean, and categorize discarded VCRS books. My father called his New
Contributed by Suellyn Wright Novak Come help the vastly enlarged Alaska Veterans Museum (AVM) celebrate its 11th birthday, and its grand reopening and dedication Saturday, April 23rd from 11 AM to 3 PM, with a ribbon cutting at 1 PM. After 10+ years in the blue Market Place Mall next door, we have moved to the yellow Sunshine Plaza. We boast an extra 1,000sf of exhibits, and many
Hampshire-based bookstore Country Lights, so in honor of his venture, I named mine the Bright Lights Book Project.
Michele’s two most important bits of advice were to partner with other organizations and to apply for a 501(c)3. In quick succession I spoke with Connect Palmer, Valley Art Alliance, Connect Mat-Su, and Mat-Su Youth Housing (My House) representatives. All welcomed book donations. And all provided me with names of like-organizations. In making these connections, yes, I forged partnerships with these individuals and their nonprofits.
The question that surfaced after I amassed a few thousand books was, what do I do with them all? The answer materialized in a serendipitous fashion. I was one day flipping through a copy of Make a Scene Magazine and noticed the resource listing entitled Non-Profit Directory.
In time, I was also providing books to Kid’s Kupboard, Family Promise, Alaska Family Services, and The Palmer Senior Center. In addition, the Mat-Su Health Foundation gave us a grant and continued to provide us with administrative support and feedback.
I thought that perhaps that these community-based organizations would welcome free book donations. In mak-
The representatives of these organizations also suggested that I apply for a 501(c)3. This first phone calls seemed to
more rooms. Come help us celebrate! We will have music, tours, and light refreshments. We have exhibits to thrill anyone, and even a timeless love story to share. We have been tirelessly moving, designing and working our tails off to bring you a better experience, and to display more of our collections. Come be a part of us. See exhibits on: The Last Shot of the American Civil War (fired in the Bering Sea);
The 90 year career of the Revenue Cutter Bear; The early Territory Days and the role of the US Army in exploring, mapping, and creating infrastructure; The key role World War I (the Great War) played in the current world as well as in Alaska; 5) Military Aviation’s role in Alaska; The loss of the USS WORDEN DD-352, The Aleutian Campaign, the Battle of Attu, and the invasion of Kiska; The Alaska Scouts;
The BLBP would never be a profit-based organization. However, future growth would be dependent upon funding. Last November Pete Praetorius (husband) and I did the numbers. We’d need money for additional bookcases, office supplies, gas reimbursement, and a larger storage building. We agreed that the acquisition of funds would have to come from outside sources. Pete filled out the innumerable forms required by the state and the IRS. In the meantime, I continued to handle the now more than 20,000 books that had come our way. The state approved our request for nonprofit status last December. The IRS was slower on the uptake. And time was a wasting. We’d miss out on upcoming grant deadlines unless we got the nod. Amy Petit at Alaska Farmland Trust suggested that I contact Lisa Murkowski’s office and see if our nonprofit status might be expedited. Congressional approval was the ticket. We received our nonprofit status on February 21, and we received a letter from Murkowski’s office verifying this on February 25. We have since formed a BLBP board and put up BLBP website. We’re now applying for grants, thus assuring that the Bright Lights Book Project will continue to grow and prosper. Most importantly, we are now identifying ourselves as being a part of a socially-responsible non-profit network, which is one that provides readers locally and state-wide with free books. For more information about the Bright Lights Book Project, check out our website: www.brightlightsbookproject. org. Or contact Executive Director Alys Culhane at director@brightlightsbookproject.org.
The Alaska Territorial Guard; The Cold War and Alaska’s being on the front line; The Korean War; The Vietnam War; Operation Desert Shield/Storm; Operation Iraqi Freedom; Afghanistan’s Operation Enduring Freedom; And more! We tell Alaskan Servicemen and Servicewomen’s stories through oral histories, posters, photos, prints and original paintings, models and dioramas, DVDs, action figures, uniforms, accoutrements, and weapons. Come be a part of celebrating Alaska’s military history on the northern frontier. See you there, and you will be amazed at our stories!
POLITICS & OPINION
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Literacy is equity.
gartners know the ABCs and the sounds they make. Throughout early elementary school, teachers continue this focus and rely on research-based methods, until by third grade each student can read with ease, understand the material and think critically. Easy-to-use diagnostic tests are used to help teachers identify which students are having difficulties and what solutions will help them. For those students, a series of interventions is provided, such as one-on-one tutoring, and at-home support from kindergarten through third grade. We want each Alaskan child entering fourth grade to do so with the confidence and skills they need to learn and succeed. Contributed by Quinn Townsend and Bethany Marcum An entire decade. That’s how long Alaska’s public schools have ranked in the bottom five states for fourth-grade reading, regardless of income level. The pandemic has only exacerbated the struggles of Alaska’s students. All of our children deserve the best lives possible, and they need to be strong readers to succeed in today’s world. Regrettably, Alaska’s public schools are failing to teach our children to read. Learning to read before the age of nine (typically fourth grade) is imperative for our children. If we fail to prioritize learning to read, so that our children can read to learn, long-term implications on our economy and the fabric of Alaska are unavoidable. Students who can-
Contributed by Katherine Baker The Russian Warship has sunk, slowly spiraling and descending into the deep dark abyss of the Black Sea as the whole world watches. The Russian Military, on the world stage, in broad daylight, evidently considering it acceptable behavior among their leadership, proclaimed and defined themselves as blood in tooth and claw predators. It was witnessed by the entire world’s eyes and ears. The Russian Military looks weak, unprofessional and cowardly, but also vicious and sadistically heavyhanded. A symbolic sinking of their own ship and crew. The Russian Warship sought to destroy thirteen (13) border guards isolated on an island in the Black Sea. But at the very moment the Russian Warship
not read by the end of the third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school; high school dropouts make up 75 percent of citizens receiving food stamps and 90 percent of the Americans on welfare. Nearly 85 percent of teenagers in the juvenile justice system cannot read to learn and seven out of ten adult prisoners cannot read above a fourth-grade level. Some in Alaska simply call for more education funding. But Alaska already spends more per capita on education than the majority of states. Look what that money has paid for – the bottom of the educational barrel, so to speak. Clearly, throwing more money at public schools is not the answer. A strong reading initiative, such as Read by Nine, could make the difference. Read by Nine starts by ensuring kinder-
callously fired to silence the voices of their opposition-the Russian Warship symbolically sunk itself. The world could only wonder-what is Russia thinking? And subsequently, is Russia thinking? It is that far off the charts of acceptable, professional military conduct. Russia has ‘blurred the lines’ between 21st Century battlefield casualties and psychopathic slaughter of civilians. Is this a planned genocide? Or what is this? Putin’s sanity has been called into question. The Ukranian border guards, who are said to have survived the attack, have not been silenced but will instead, forever in history have the last word. They did not allow Russia to redefine them as something they are not. Russia was unable to misrepresent them and/ or control them. Those Ukrainian border
Since 2013, a policy like Read by Nine has been introduced in every single Alaska legislature, to no avail. That’s nine years of lost reading skills for our children. In 2013, Mississippi passed a strong reading initiative, the year both Mississippi and Alaska ranked 49 out of 51 (including the District of Columbia) for fourth-grade reading. But by 2019, the most recent year with data, Mississippi’s low-income students rose to third in the nation. If Alaska had passed Read by Nine legislation the year it was first introduced, our children could be performing as well as Mississippi and the national average, if not better. That’s nine years of progress, lost. Others claim that reading standards are too abstract for children that come from different backgrounds. They are wrong.
guards ARE brave, decent, inspiring everyday people doing their jobs. For many days the life-or-death status of the border guards went unconfirmed. It can be assumed the Russian Warship realized if there were any Ukrainians still alive on that island-those survivors may be locked and loaded and looking for any Russian sailors. So perhaps, the Russian Warship decided to go elsewhere on its hunt for working class Ukrainian citizens to shoot. It was disgustingly like watching an orca play with a seal. The Russian army has since found an even more vulnerable target-little Ukrainian children and the playgrounds they play in. The globalist, the worldwide Communist People Infrastructure, want a one world, psychopathic paradise, where they are in charge & the rest of us are
Science-backed standards set by Read by Nine legislation would make it clear which students are struggling or falling behind, so that teachers, administrators, and parents can better jump to their aid. This is particularly important for our vulnerable children – those learning English as a second language, those needing special education, and those living in poverty. Mississippi has the highest poverty rate in the nation, where 74 percent of students are eligible for free and reduced lunch and 56 percent of students are non-white. Yet Mississippi students across the racial and income spectrums have seen rapid progress in reading proficiency since implementing a reading initiative in 2013. And in Alaska, schools with Yup’ik immersion programs generally have English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency rates much higher than nearby programs with no Yup’ik instruction. Now is the time for Alaska to implement a strong reading initiative. Not next year, not nine years from now. Every child – regardless of their income level, race, or first language – deserves a fighting chance to reach their potential and to fully embrace their dreams. Quinn Townsend, Policy Manager at Alaska Policy Forum Bethany Marcum, CEO at Alaska Policy Forum Kymyona Burk, Ed.D., Senior Policy Fellow in Early Literacy at Foundation for Excellence in Education Madeleine Ashour, Senior Advocacy Associate at Foundation for Excellence in Education
their inferiors, punished violently into submission and compliance, and governed under their thumbs of oppression against our wills. That’s the Communist People Infrastructure’s version of social justice. Ukraine’s people are nationalists. They are proud of their country and their heritage. The spirit of the Ukrainian people has already won. Many Americans & Westerners have great admiration for them & don’t want to see such a wonderful people slaughtered on their own soil in a genocide. Russia has already lost. The Communist People Infrastructure clearly has only one solution to non-compliance. A final solution of death and destruction. The West has seen this before. And let’s not forget to follow the money! Invading other countries takes CASH. Who’s funding this madness? Turns out - ka-ching - the West is. Putin intends to overtake European countries with the West’s money! What an insidious money scheme! It is the Biden manufactured Putin monopoly of fuel. Just what Putin needed to fund his dream of destroying the Western Christian based form of government and philosophy. They want a Pre-Constantine Western world.
POLITICS & OPINION Contributed by Mayor Edna DeVries Important Mat-Su Borough Assembly Up-Coming Meetings: Tuesday, March 22 Joint School Board and Assembly – School District Building – 6 pm Tuesday, April 5 – Regular Assembly Meeting Thursday, April 7 – 10 AM – Assembly Special Meeting – Department budget presentation – assembly chambers Tuesday, April 19 – 6 pm – Regular Assembly Meeting – assembly chambers Tuesday, April 26 – 6 pm – First Budget Public Hearing – assembly chambers Monday, May 2 – 6 pm Assembly
special meeting at Menard Center in Wasilla on Budget Public Hearing. Watch the Borough Facebook page and website for other meetings. If you are unable to attend the Assembly meetings in person – you can attend in any of the following ways: IN WRITING: You can submit written comments to leg.com@matsugov.us TELEPHONIC TESTIMONY: - Dial 1-855-225-2326; You will hear “Joining conference” when you are admitted to the meeting. - You will be automatically muted and able to listen to the meeting.
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- When the Mayor announces audience participation or a public hearing if you would like to speak to, press *3 ; you will hear “Your hand has been raised.” When it is your turn to testify you will hear “Your line has been unmuted.” - State your name for the record, spell your last name, and provide your testimony. OBSERVE: observe the meeting via the live stream video at: - https://matanuska.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx www.facebook.com/MatSuBorough
dence speaks of this standard using the label “natural law”. Christianity refers to it as “the law written on man’s heart”. Contributed by Wes Keller Are you a victim? Have you ever been? Do you expect to be? Thoughtful answer/s elicit an interesting insight and discussion of our world view. State and Federal laws confirm something government called “victim rights” to address harm caused by crime, but the most noble services imaginable for victims fall far short of governing to avoid victimhood. If we only knew how to govern in a way to allow for no one to ever be a victim! Victims are a result of another having free-will. Humans do terrible harm to other humans and government services cannot restore life, virginity, a child’s innocence, or even entirely restore the values and consequences of destroyed or stolen property! There is another level of the meaning of “victimhood” not easily analyzed in the context of criminality or the virtue of human government because it elicits philosophical and/or religious thoughts
Contributed by Cal Pappas I would like to add a bit of educational experience to the political statements in How To Bring Down America that Doug Ferguson submitted for the January 2022 issue. Yes, it’s all about change. As a public educator for 40 years, here is a brief summary of the fall from grace of America’s education. PART I. When we were when ranked no.1 in world education: I began junior high school in the fall of 1967. Middle and high school was a new world to me. I remember many things: boy’s hair could not touch the ears or the collar, no blue jeans or tshirts, girl’s dresses (no pants) could not be higher than two inches above the knee (the female gym teacher would be at the bus stop with her ruler), and each day began with the pledge and a prayer. No mini skirts, hot pants, halter tops, etc. Girls took Home Economics and boys took shop. College bound students studied foreign languages including Latin. Neighboring schools had Greek in the curriculum. Suspensions and expulsions were the result of bad choices in behavior.
about the source of good and evil. We can be a “victim” (suffer much harm) from cancer, other diseases, or accidents! We are victims of our own bad choices, and worse, we are victims of the free-will choices of our ancestor’s, back to Adam and Eve! Secular government tries so hard, but can’t do much to mitigate victimhood! No amount of human government, wealth, or power can address our human condition. There is an answer, but our founders appropriately chose to prohibit government from “establishing” it. America’s founders came as close as anyone in history to setting up a government where righteousness could prevail. Freedom, prosperity, and security expanded exponentially because of the acknowledgement of a superb “standard” for justice! They did not create or discover the standard, they simply applied what had been distilled from ancient scholars and philosophers – such as Aquinas, Augustine, and Blackstone. The Declaration of Indepen-
the norm, no prayer and the pledge was optional. The progressive educational philosophy was just beginning. I recall my science teacher telling us the imperfection of the human body was proof there was no Creator God. The brain, he said, would be better protected within the rib cage and would have been done so if intelligently designed. Another science teacher taught to the class as fact that the African giraffe once was a much shorter animal with huge antlers or horns on its head. As the giraffe evolved into a taller animal it no longer needed the horns so they shrunk down to the bony stubs that are seen today. There was no fossilized proof of this, of course, just the theory of evolution taught as fact. And, of course, we evolved from monkeys and apes.
Changes began with the progressive philosophy:
Attending the University of Massachusetts, the School of Education instituted a progressive grading system. No longer would grades be the standard A-B-C-DF. Grades of F, D, and even sometimes C could damage the student’s self image. Rather grading became Pass or Fail. Do nothing and you fail; same as before. However, any work from the bare minimum to outstanding achievement would be a Pass. The best of the best were now in the same class as those who did the absolute minimum. The same philosophy as giving varsity letters to those who sit on the bench for the season (which is also done across America).
When I graduated in the spring of 1973 boy’s hair could be down to the shoulders, blue jeans, miniskirts, fish net stockings, ripped and torn clothing was
With the departure of tradition, a belief in a Creator, dress codes, came a falling away of patriotism. We (the United States) were becoming the bad guy:
If we hope to continue to prosper as a nation, something must be done about the modern competing lie that each person is entitled to his or her own, independent, and unique “designer version” of truth. For example, we must be able to decide, and then actually declare, Putin and Russia are WRONG. It is simply WRONG to make millions of Ukrainians victims, just as it was and continues to be WRONG to buy and sell slaves! Just as it is WRONG to take the life of innocent pre-born! Just as it is WRONG to lie, cheat, and steal... Judgements like this are only possible if we have consensus on the “standard” we are using to make those judgements. Justice based on what has been called “natural law” profoundly decreases victimhood because it is always there for consistent application. Justice based on “anything goes” will make us all victims! America’s greatness can be restored if we acknowledge the fact we were created and made with an ’instinct’ for justice based on the “law written on our
first to the world with overseas wars and colonialism, then at home with the treatment of Native Americans, slavery, and women’s subrogation. As I progressed as a public school teacher (four years in New England, 22 years at Anchorage’s Dimond High, followed by substituting for a bit over thirteen years mostly at Su Valley Middle and High School in Talkeetna) I noticed what followed the above was a lessening of personal responsibility and accountability coinciding with a disrespect of the country. Some examples: The 10th grade US History textbook covered the Civil War in two pages and all the battles of WWII’s Pacific Theater were covered in a short paragraph. However, the story of a black woman who opened a laundry business in San Francisco took nearly a page and a half. And each chapter covering the Twentieth Century had a section of how the US discriminated against, women, Blacks, Asians, Hispanics. The Anchorage School District won public admiration and accolades around the late 1990s when the superintendent announced that fights were down 90% among students. Were the kids better behaved? Were social programs and school counselors making serious headway? Was a new moral code taking effect among the young people? None of the above. The answer was not made public knowledge: the school district simply renamed fights to altercations. There was still the same number of fisticuffs among the hotheaded boys. But, now called altercations “fights” were down 90%.
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Road Service Area Task Force 2022 The assembly approved that a Task Force be selected by the Mayor and confirmed by the Assembly. The Task Force will consist of five members and two alternates. Any resident of the Mat Su Borough is welcome to apply. Applying is easy – go to Borough website – matsugov.us – and in the middle of the first page you will see New Road Task Force – click apply for membership, read the information, complete and submit an application by 5 pm on Friday, March 18. Our roads have been a challenge in the last few weeks so your input, ideas and suggestions are welcome. As always, you can reach out to me, Mayor Edna DeVries, 907-861-8682, edna.devries@matsugov.us.
hearts”, or “Natural Law”, derived from our Maker. The Pew Research Center recently determined, “Self-identified Christians make up 63% of U.S. population in 2021, down from 75% a decade ago”. This is a factoid derived from counting how people identify religiously when filling out forms, so it is an unreliable indicator of populous opinion on the source of truth and righteous judgement. In my mind, the populous opinion is the current American source of the “standards” of law. It does however, confirm most of us are likely aware of the alignment of “natural law” with Christianity as well as awareness of Jesus’ claims to have completely defeated the source of victimhood and provision of the only way to eliminate its consequences. I am hoping we are on the cusp of something similar to what happened in the Great Awakening when institutional church attendance dropped just before a profound moral or religious “reset”. In the meantime, God have Mercy!!! Wes Keller WesKeller.com
Over the years discipline has gradually disappeared in public schools. There is no penalty for excessive absences or tardiness. Kids come and go as they please. When I addressed the attendance issue to a politically correct administrator his reply was I needed to change my teaching methods so kids would want to come to my class. To solve the issue of being late to school, of which the majority of tardiness were on Mondays, the educational geniuses at Dimond High came up with an innovative plan to combat tardiness. The educational Einsteins simply changed the school hours to open an hour late Monday mornings. “Late Start-Get Smart” was the catch phrase. Those who wanted to come to school late could do so and now be on time and those who wanted to come in at the regular time could do so and study if they wished. The first day of Late Start Get Smart saw few if any students come in to study. And, a new record was set with tardiness as kids just slept in and came in now over an hour later. How about the High School Graduation Exam? So many kids failed the simple basic skills the first year the exam was discarded and all graduated. The next year, and each subsequent year, the exam was both dumbed down and exemptions granted to make such a joke out of the process. This continued yearly until the exam was completely scrapped several years later. How many millions did that cost? Cal Pappas AA, BEdu, MA, MS 26 years certificated public school teacher 14 years certificated substitute teacher
From the Journal of Joshua Fryfogle
Liberty, Liberally Volume II - Issue III
March 2022
Ed. Note: The People’s Paper, and Make A Scene Magazine, are celebrating 15 years in print in May of this year. It’s entirely written by local people like you. Josh Fryfogle owns the People’s Paper, and last year began publishing Liberty, Liberally as an insert.
By Joshua Fryfogle When I see a stack of pages, perfectly cut and bound, And know that knowledge lies within, waiting to be found All those symbols stacked in lines of letters written down Written for the willing soul that’s seeking the profound
Over the years I’ve endured a few attempts to polarize the People’s Paper. My sincere effort to defend free expression and to facilitate it with free access to a free press for the past 15 years has been pressured from both sides of the partisan divide. If I’m being honest with myself, it’s been mostly from the left, but never from liberals.
I’m inspired by the effort someone had to make And how they were not wary of the time that it would take Writing what they had to say, for our futures’ sake Risking ridicule and rancor, knowing what’s at stake
(Liberal literally means to believe in liberty. Liberty has the same root word as Liberal. If you’ve read my writing recently, you know that I’ve written about this misuse of language many times. If you’ve studied our nation’s founding you already knew before I wrote about it. I clarify here it here in case someone new is reading.) The liberals on the left have not complained about the public access platform, because how could they? They are liberal. It has been those on the left who often refer to themselves as “progressive” who have regressed into attempting to silence their neighbors’ in the People’s Paper.
In those paper pieces pieced together for this time Blessed are we with knowledge now of their paradigm Philosophy to be reasoned, poetry to rhyme Timeless wisdom hidden there, subtle and sublime
I’ve also had a couple of incidents from people on the Right, but not the ones who truly love Liberty and Justice for all. These folks on the right have been largely ideologues who believe fervently in their beliefs, zealots for their cause, and they are usually on the right as a result of religion. However, there are clearly people on the Right who do not expect me to safeguard their sacred cows from sacrilege. The silent majority are, of course, less expressive. On both the left and the right, there are those who do not believe in freedom of the Press - not really. These are the same people who think that ‘The Press’ is a reference to a group of powerful corporations that are supposed to tell us ‘The Truth (TM)’. Those same corporations are divided, conveniently, into two sides, reflecting the partisan rhetoric of the Republicans and Democrats. Those who are the few, but true believers in the leftright paradigm are the loud minority though. Most people, no matter which way they lean, understand that freedom of the press shouldn’t be neatly divided into an A/B decision, but that it should allow each individual the ability to affect
Alaska
the American experiment in their own, small way. This is how a consensus is gauged, in a free (or liberal) society. I’ve had more than a few confrontations with passionate partisans, ideologues and activists, who think that I shouldn’t print certain content. However, I’m of the opinion that burying a seed is how you get more of the same. Instead, let those seeds remain above ground, don’t stomp them down. Let them be seen for what they are: nearly nothing. Bad ideas when allowed to be will always wither away, but when virulently opposed they become emboldened. This is the wisdom of free expression - that talking about a heinous thing is preferable to doing that thing. Writing about why a dangerous thing isn’t dangerous is better than letting everyone’s particular, partisan perspectives slowly erode our liberty. The truth is, the silent majority is grateful for my evenhanded stewardship of the People’s Paper over the last 15 years. I hear from them, calmly and in passing, on a regular basis. The vast majority of people, they don’t complain because they’re not bothered by freedom. It’s the few, true blue believers and the red-in-the-face rhetoricians that seek to amplify their voice above others, not only in their attempt to silence others, but in their own untempered selfexpression. This is a good thing, too. I’m glad that they use their self-expression to attempt to silence that of others. In fact, those ideas of ideologues, and progressive programming, are both allowed in the People’s Paper, too. Of course they are. It hasn’t been easy, to be honest. If it weren’t for the constant encouragement that comes from liberty-minded (liberal) people in the community, I might be overwhelmed by it. Corporations don’t actually exist in the community, so they are always overwhelmed by it. We, the People, have a right to the printing press, and every other form of media, too. This is what we do at my company these last 15 years. Unlike our corporate counterparts, we’ve never sought out a story, so we never have the chance to sensationalize anything. We’ve never paid for an article to be written, so we haven’t had the opportunity to further polarize some partisan problem. Our mission is to allow more than two opinions, to cultivate culture and allow the community to communicate in a healthy, open way. First Amendment freedoms belong to each individual, as do the pages of The People’s Paper.
You can respond to what you’ve read, or write what matters to you. WWW.MAKEASCENEAK.COM
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www.LibertyLiberally.com
From the Journal of Joshua Fryfogle
Volume II - Issue III
Liberty, Liberally
2
they get, even when it doesn’t make any sense at all. For example, Rittenhouse didn’t shoot any black people, and Smollett wasn’t attacked by white people. In both instances, the corporate media, in lockstep mind you, pushed a perception on the populace. Think about just how damn disingenuous you’d have to be to lie about something like that! Think how shameless and sociopathic you’d have to be to insist on something that is patently untrue, even ignoring the evidence to the contrary! All while claiming the mantle of objective journalism!
By Joshua Fryfogle If I could go back and do things differently I would Not because it’s the smart thing to do, but because of regret We all look back at the past and wish that we could Redo what we did and then see what we get But who is to say that any other way would be good Never has anyone successfully changed the past We’d all like to think that we’d have done what we should Revisiting those decisions that happened so fast
I’ve written elsewhere that so-called self-proclaimed “progressives” are exploiting racism to push their agenda, and that they need to keep racism alive, like a workhorse to pull their stage coach of staged hate crimes. These people don’t care about racism. In fact, you’d have to be pretty damn racist to exploit racism falsely. You’d have to really look down on other races to insist that racism exists every time your political goals are at stake. You’d have to be a damned racist to think that white progressives are the “white saviors” of the “noble savages”. (Look up those terms if you’re unfamiliar.) I loathe writing about Rittenhouse of Smollett. They were both used as divisive distractions, and even those exposing the falsehoods and fraud of those two cases only contributed to the distraction. I only write about them here, after the corporate media has lost interest, to point to the real story. The fact that White Supremacy is trotted out every time it benefits the corporate masters, and the way it’s shoved into the narrative so sloppily, in spite of the plot holes, shows real contempt for the people. It’s like a bad movie, with all these bad actors.
Because it’s the human condition, a falsehood No one is smart enough to always make the right call We’ve all always had this condition since childhood Reliving our mistakes, since the fruit and the fall
They do this, over and over, and all in one voice. They collude. Are we to believe that in the Smollett and Rittenhouse stories, a jury could see what every corporate media outlet, every politically active celebrity and every progressive politician couldn’t?
From Smollett to Rittenhouse They need white supremacy to be a real threat. Look at the Rittenhouse debacle. The corporate media and even the President are going to pay dearly for their lies about that kid. Seriously, he’s going to sue them all and be very rich as a result. All of their lies were exposed, proving that Rittenhouse has zero connection to white supremacists. Then consider the Jussie Smollett hoax. Smollett, too, needed white supremacy to be the boogey man. Still, when the evidence was shown to a jury, white supremacy was but an apparition that disappeared when the lights came on. Now, I should pause to say that white supremacy is not fake. It exists. White supremacy as an ideology is alive and well in America’s prison system, where segregation along racial lines is
distinct and undeniable. In our prison systems, white supremacy is kept on life support. But the idea that it is widespread and common in our communities in a fable, and the fabulists have been exposed twice in the last few months. Why, then, do these corporate media outlets and progressive politicians continue to terrorize our otherwise peaceful society with lies? Why do they perpetuate the perception that white supremacy is still a vital threat in our nation? I would venture to say that there is nothing more derided in our society today than white supremacy, with the exception of pedophilia. In our culture, as it is today, Hitler is synonymous with evil itself. But they need that boogey man. It’s a shame that these corporate shills throughout our institutions are willing to exploit these historical fears of our people, all to bring about political change, but that’s certainly what they’ve done. They exploit racism every chance
It’s such an absurd premise to think that the media corporations, with all their investigative might, couldn’t have figured out what a jury of Smollett’s peers clearly did. It’s irrational to think that Rittenhouse - who was under their media microscope for a long time - was not exonerated by the evidence that the media should have uncovered. Instead, they reinforced it with constant coverage of their raggedy, rickshaw sideshow. In both cases, the truth was uncovered by the People themselves, even made a mockery by comics of the highest caliber, lampooned on late night shows, long before the corporate media was proven to be wrong. And where were the riots? BLM even threw their support for Smollett after he was exposed as a fraudster in court which everyone already knew. Still, that organization couldn’t rally the support of the community, and without the community at large, how could Antifa thugs infiltrate and instigate chaos? So what does that tell us? It tells us what we already know: that we already know. All of us, we’ve figured out the nonsense, that these (mostly) white “progressives” have been making a mockery of racism to advance their agenda. It’s disingenuous and forced. And there were no riots after the Rittenhouse verdict, either. Zilch, nada. But not for lack of trying. The media wanted the riots, they needed the riots, and their desperation against the backdrop of the accurate public perception was made more apparent. I write about Rittenhouse and Smollett, not to add to the distraction, but to take stock now that the distractions are
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done. I want my readers to understand that I publish these letters in this ‘Liberty, Liberally’ publication, out of love. Love of Liberty is love of the Individual. My love for Self itself, something each individual has in common, is what drives me to do this. And liberty, as a topic of discussion, is first and foremost a philosophical topic. It began as philosophy, and against all odds, served as the guiding light of a new kind of government, one that we’ve yet to fully command. Freedom is the ship of state, and we are passengers, in this together. And there are those who, for millennia, have owned us all. Whether slave or serf, all through history monarchs, masters, and more recently totalitarian tyrants, have used the old model of power and control, to manipulate the masses into submission. We are just now, as a species, beginning to fully command Liberty and captain our own lives. Time will tell if we’re ready, and in time we’ll be made ready. The odds are against it, but the odds were against the serfs of the British monarch when they rose up in revolution in the American colonies. There’s nothing new about lying to the people. Kings and tyrants do that. Kingdoms, totalitarian superstates, they all putrefy with time. Their rot shows in the faces of their people. Liberty of the individual completely contradicts white supremacy. The idea that every individual has the responsibility and the right to exist as an individual is simple and perfect. It nullifies collectivism - or, as the founders referred to it, congresses and was to be protected from collective action. This they called Justice. You know where white supremacy got it’s start? Alongside it’s fellow totalitarian tribes of fascism, communism, Maoism, Marxism, Nazism, et al. White supremacy is the child of that system, which is completely the opposite of our own Liberal society. Totalitarianism is about controlling large groups of people. It’s a science, you might say. The systems of control must be stealthy and strong, if the tyrant or monarch would like to keep from being mobbed by the masses. White supremacy falls apart in a liberal society like ours. We are all activated in our freedom, serving as a solvent, dissolving ideas like that one. Over time, we’ve seen exactly that. Our eroding of these old edifices has all but disintegrated those ancient orders of power and control, so much so that constant, corporate-controlled media manipulations are necessary to keep the specter of White Supremacy in our view. The truth is, we are the Vanguard and Victory of Liberty. Even now, as we’ve been filled with foolish, fascist tendencies, our foundation is Liberty. We can simply take it back, each one of us, by removing from them what’s left of the public trust. The fact that they exploit racism, when race is not an issue, shows us that they do not actually care about racism. They know that racism, in reality, is universally rejected in our society, otherwise it wouldn’t be a good whipping stick. If racism were as widely practiced as they suggest, calling someone a racist would lose all power. Still, they invoke racism whenever they want to push some agenda item, because it’s effective. It’s effective, because no one wants to be called a racist. No one wants to be called a racist because we have culturally rejected racism. The specter of White Supremacy today is nothing more than a contrived controversy, depending on the dark and distant past. We must turn on the light of Liberty in each of our lives to make these imaginary monsters disappear.
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From the Journal of Joshua Fryfogle
ACCESSIBILITY & MOBILITY 101 Mobility ........ 521-7101 ANTIQUES & VINTAGE The Estate Sale ........ 357-7050 APPAREL & CLOTHING All Seasons Clothing Co. ........ 357-0123 ART & CRAFTS The Gallery ........ 745-1420 AUTO REPAIR Fairview Loop Automotive .. 887-6137 BOOKSTORE Black Birch Books ...... 373-2677 Fireside Books ........ 745-2665 CANNABIS RETAILER Matanuska Cannabis Co. ...... 745-4211
POLITICS & OPINION
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COFFEE & CAFÉ Alaska Artisan Coffee ........ 745-5543 Gathering Grounds Cafe ........ 376-4404 Vagabond Blues……..745-2233 EDUCATION Gille Learning Center ..... 357-1100 Learning Essentials ........ 357-3990 EPOXY SUPPLY & INSTALL Alaska Resin Supply ........ 671-9900 FOOTWEAR Northern Comfort Shoes ........ 376-5403 HOME DÉCOR Peak Boutique ........ 746-3320 The Wagon Wheel ........ 671-0189 MUSIC LESSONS Wood & Wire Guitars .... 745-7457 ONLINE CLASSIFIEDS www.alaskamarketplace.com www.gunsalaska.com PRINT SERVICES L&B Color Printing ........ 376-2081 REPAIR & RESTORATION Alaska Resin Supply ........ 671-9900 Comtronics ........ 373-2669 S&S Drilling ...... 746-0225 Steve’s Toyostove Repair ..... 376-9276 The Powdercoat Shop .... 841-1300 Wood & Wire Guitars .... 745-7457 RESTAURANTS Locals Pub & Pizzaria ........ 357-3100 Mekong Thai Cuisine ........ 373-7690 SNOW REMOVAL SERVICES Mr. Plow ........ 521-2376 SPECIALTY GIFTS Alaska Midnite Scents ........ 357-7364 Non-Essentials ........ 745-2258 The Wagon Wheel ........ 671-0189 TAXI & TRANSPORTATION Mr. Taxi ........ 707-6011 THRIFT SHOPS Steam Driven Boutique ........ 376-4404 Turn-A-Leaf Thrift Stores ........ 376-5708 TOOLS & WEAPONS Polaris Security & Conult ........ 764-7643 TOYS Just Imagine Toys ........ 357-1543 Learning Essentials .......... 357-3990
Contributed by Emily Lawton The term mental health embodies our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. These factors influence how we think, feel, and behave. Not only has this generation of children been exposed to a global pandemic and impending world conflicts, but these children are also left to navigate through the natural highs and lows of life. An individual’s mental health contributes to their ability to handle stress. Children are expected to be resilient, but how can these children build their resilience if they have not been shown how to overcome hardships? The human brain has been labeled the most complex and sophisticated organ within the human body, yet children are not educated upon its functions. A new bill titled HB60-Public Schools: Mental Health Education has been introduced to the Alaska House of Representatives, highlighting mental health education needs in schools. This bill is strongly supported throughout Alaska’s mental health community; however, it currently remains within the finance committee. While conversations revolving around mental health have gained traction in recent years, these discussions are not yet being implemented into a system where students spend a substantial portion of their time. Current public education curriculums focus exclusively on the physical health of students. Mental health components have been continuously absent despite the growing rates of mental health disorders and suicides in children across all ethnicities and genders. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that in 2019, 16% of adolescents created a suicide plan in the past
Contributed by Doug Ferguson As the world watches the Kyiv situation and many pontificate on it, while many others watch and are affected by our skyrocketing gasoline prices, vast unpunished crime in our cities and other distractions from their daily life, very few seem to comprehend the approaching end of the “Great American Experiment”. One who does is scholar and writer Victor David Hanson, who has had a non-stop barrage of articles in various venues pointing this obvious turning point in the world’s history for those who pay attention. In a recent one, published on the website “American Greatness” titled “The Crowded Road To Kyiv”, he gives us a deadly accurate summary of how we got to this rapid collapse of our country’s culture and standing in the free world leading to the Ukraine invasion by Russia. He starts out by asking “----- But why in the world should the 21st century be exempt from the pathologies of the past 20 centuries? Are we smarter than the Romans? More innovative than the Florentines? Do we have
year, a 44% increase since 2009. In Alaska, the rate of self-harm suicide among adolescents has long been among the highest in the country, with self-harm deaths among 12–19-year-olds averaging three times the national average between 2016 and 2018. According to a recent report by the CDC, the number of high school students with persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness has increased by 40% since 2009. Additionally, the number of African American students who attempted suicide increased by almost 50% in 2019. All members of society need to become familiar with the signs and symptoms of mental illness. Expanding the publicschool system’s curriculum to include mental health literacy will normalize conversations around mental health and save the lives of children. This new curriculum is to be created through a collaboration with the Department of Health and Social Services, regional tribal health organizations, and representatives of national and state mental health organizations. As students learn more about mental health from qualified professionals, they will be better equipped to identify challenges in their peers and themselves. The inclusion of mental health education will allow students to share their feelings, develop coping skills, and practice self-care. Educators will also be able to detect students experiencing difficulties and in need of additional support. It has been revealed that some groups do not support this push for mental health education as it will not fix the systematic issues that can be observed within our educational, healthcare, child welfare, and justice systems. Does the fact that our systems are not perfect mean that we should not try to improve
more savvy leaders than Lincoln or Churchill? Are they more mellifluous than Demosthenes? Does anyone now remember that some 130,000 were slaughtered just 30 years ago in the former Yugoslavia, as NATO planes bombed Belgrade and nuclear America and Russia almost squared off?” He then goes on to show how globalization, the Russian Agenda, the questionable survival of the Ukraine, have all been the logical results of past and present policies on fossil fuels, military deterrents, national debt, border controls (or lack of ), immigration, NATO, China and a host of other such subjects have led to where we are now and where we are going. He ends the article with “What a crowded road to Kyiv.” Other articles of the day talk about the massive protest truck convoy starting to form around our capital from its crosscountry journey to Washington, D.C., the Biden administration’s fencing off the capital and sending National Guard troops to the scene prior to and now still after the State of the Union address, a jury convicting the remaining three Minneapolis policemen of “violating George Floyd’s civil rights”, Russia’s
them? It is not suspected that introducing mental health literacy will dissolve these systematic issues. However, it will allow our children to speak about these struggles in an open and supportive environment. Children and families navigating these dysfunctional systems may experience negative mental health symptoms and should learn how to cope with the stress. Several individuals have voiced their opinion that educating our children about mental health will cause children to self-diagnose, which could cause more harm than good. However, a recent study conducted in 2020 by the American Psychological Association (APA) focused upon stress levels in Americans. Ultimately, the APA study concluded that stress levels had been steadily increasing through each generation, impacting mental health. While children can experience stress through multiple sources, mental health education can differentiate between healthy stress levels and anxiety. Additionally, mental health education in schools is not expected to diagnose and treat students but to reduce stigma, learn coping mechanisms, and connect students with necessary resources. Education curriculums need altering to fit the current needs of society. Failing to address mental health concerns will negatively impact a child’s education as they may have difficulty concentrating in school, making decisions, sustaining relationships, and maintaining their physical health. For decades, schools have prioritized physical education as society is cognizant of the benefits. Society needs to prioritize the health of our children and advocate for an expansion in our definitions of health to include mental wellness.
new “Super-EMP” Nuclear bomb that could wipe out all electrical grids in an enormous area below where it is detonated, “January 6th” government prisoner trials about to begin including the story of the suicide death of one of those innocents charged, and a host of other clear indicators of the complete breakdown of our democratic system. Yet even at that, friends and members of our own family talk about the last two years of “Covid” bad times being over and will be getting “back to normal soon”! I guess all past history has shown that until the average person directly gets their “posteriors kicked” by revolution and chaos, they don’t see it coming. However, this time a different outcome is possible as the new era of nuclear weapons could wipe us all out either directly or by mass famine due to EMP induced power failure over huge regions of the earth. From that point of view, perhaps the extreme gasoline prices are just the “posterior kick” needed to get people’s attention to rally and avoid “The End of Times”. We can only hope! Doug Ferguson is a retire engineer living in Palmer, AK and has had a life-long interest in gardening, science, history, and both wild and human nature.
COMMUNITY Contributed by Ryanne Ori Consign49 Spring 2022 Consignment Event April 14th-19th Raven Hall, Alaska State Fairgrounds Do sunny, longer days have you in the mood for warmer weather along with a seasonal closet refresh? How would you like to shop from a selection of thousands of high-quality items at 6090% off retail prices, while also directly supporting local community members! Spring is just around the corner, and so is the 18th semi-annual Consign49 Consignment Sale! Consign49 hosts a community consignment event each spring and fall, in which over 200 local community members bring new and gently used clothing, accessories, and home décor items together to form a large-scale resale pop-up. Each consignor individually prices and prepares each item, and items are dropped off approximately one day before the sale begins. Consign49 Team Members work to organize all items, so everything can be easily shopped according to category and size. There is also a dedicated boutique section, in which local boutiques have discount and clearance items for sale. In addition, there is a “vendor row” where local businesses will have booths for sharing their products and services.
Consign49 is a smart, sustainable way to shop, earn money, and extend the lifecycle of high-quality items! Consignors are motivated to do some spring cleaning, while also earning some extra cash. Shoppers get to browse a large selection of brand names, or much needed seasonal items, for a fraction of retail prices. Additionally, many items that go unsold at the end of the event will be donated to local charities in need. For the spring event, a large portion of donations will be going to the MyHouse homeless youth center. The Consign49 Spring 2022 Event will be held April 14th-19th at Raven Hall at the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer, Alaska. Admission and parking are free, all major credit cards are accepted, and dressing rooms will be available for trying on clothing items. This spring event does coincide with Easter and thus the event will be closed on Easter Sunday, April 17th, but will continue the following week with a special extended 2 day half price sale. The specific hours for the upcoming spring sale are Thursday the 14th, 9am – 8pm, Friday the 15th and Saturday the 16th from 9am – 6pm, Monday the 18th from 9am – 8pm, and Tuesday the 19th from 9am – 4pm. All day Monday the 18th and Tuesday the 19th, many re-
MAT-SU VALLEY, ALASKA
maining items will be marked half price, depending on whether the individual consignor has chosen to put the item into the half-price sale. If you are interested in becoming a consignor at the event, please go to www.consign49.com for more information. Consignor spots are limited and will be on a first come basis. Please send an email to info@consgin49.com for more information.
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PETS & ANIMALS
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Contributed by Angie Lewis President of Alaska Animal Advocates When a dog becomes overly possessive of items or people, problems can escalate. Dogs can be overprotective of people, food, toys, furniture, etc. which can lead to aggression. Often, the item may not seem to be of sufficient value to cause a problem, but it is valuable to your dog. Resource guarding is a normal behavior in dogs and is affected by things such as genetics, stress level, environmental factors, and the actions of the other animal or humans involved. The reaction of the human can greatly impact the dog’s behavior. It can either start to resolve the problem or make it a great deal worse. What does resource guarding look like? Growling, lunging, biting, or chasing are some of the more serious displays. Milder signs can be eating food faster, blocking the item, body freezing or staring.
sectioned off from the rest of the house. This will provide your stressed dog a safe place to go when he needs a break.
Treating resource aggression between your dog and other animals is vital. Feed your pets separately and do not leave toys or treats randomly laying around. If a piece of furniture or a particular space is the problem, then block these areas when you are not around to intervene. Create a safe place for your dog, such as a crate, exercise pen, or a small area
Resource guarding issues that include a human are best addressed by finding a treat that is more valuable to your dog than the item he is protecting. Usually this would be a moist, smelly treat. These strategies work best when your dog has an understanding of basic commands such as “sit”, “come”, “stay” and “leave it”. Figure out the distance that your dog would typically start to get stressed
and just before that distance, toss a yummy treat in his direction. Continue to do this, lengthening the distance each time. If your dog shows signs of resource guarding, go back a step. In this way, your dog will begin to associate good things at your approach. This could take quite a while, so be patient. Remember to teach and practice the basic lessons that we talked about earlier. Also, working with a certified behavior specialist is well worth the money it costs and can help you address a number of behavior issues.
Contributed by Laurie Mixter I was so upset when I read the February 2022 story, “Don’t Feed the Moose.” I cannot believe that someone who has lived in Alaska for 22+ years would even consider feeding wildlife. The outcome could have been so much worse. Imagine if you tried to feed a young calf and momma came after you. This story is like the visitors to Yellowstone who think getting closer to the bison for a better picture is a good idea. Hopefully the writer of the previous story will think long and hard about the harm they could be doing to the moose. Please don’t “like” posts on social media when you see someone feeding wildlife. Educate that person instead.
An excerpt from the Anchorage Daily News: “Alaska wildlife officials have a message for residents: Please don’t feed the moose. ‘People like to think they’re helping out when that’s not the case,’ said Tim Peltier, the Fish and Game biologist for the Palmer area. The animals survive winter mainly by eating twigs. Feeding them foods they aren’t used to does more harm than good, according to biologists.
What’s more, moose accustomed to handouts can become aggressive to the next person they encounter who doesn’t feed them.” Intentionally feeding moose is illegal and can result in a misdemeanor violation of state law. Unintentional feeding based on negligence can result in a $300 ticket from Alaska Wildlife Troopers.
COMMUNITY bag trash. It’s been almost 4 years now, but many of us probably remember what the Valley used to look like after a windstorm. Well, we sure had our share of wind AND storms this winter and people are commenting on how, in spite of so much wind, we are no longer wincing at the sight of plastic bag trash everywhere, waving from trees and caught in the brush. Thanks go to our elected officials and the Plastic Bag Committee for taking the initiative to ensure the cleaner environment that we enjoy today.
Contributed by Carol Montgomery As we continue down the evolving path of recycling, another major historical development was the passage of local ordinances in the Mat-Su Borough that greatly reduced the specter of plastic
Now that local merchants in the cities of Wasilla and Palmer have replaced plastic bags with paper ones, it’s important to keep in mind that those paper bags, along with all the cardboard boxes many of us seem to be receiving in the mail these days, are recyclable. Much of this recycled material is used by Thermo-Kool of Alaska, a local manufacturer, to produce cellulose insulation, hydro seed mulch,
MAT-SU VALLEY, ALASKA
and livestock bedding. An even better way to reduce waste is to reuse those paper bags next time you shop, or better yet, bring your own reusable shopping bag to the store. During the pandemic, many shoppers got out of the habit of bringing their own bag, but now is a good time to revive that habit. Carrying groceries from the store is so much easier when using a permanent sturdy bag with good handles. Reusable bags hold much more than paper or plastic ones, necessitating fewer trips from the car to the house. And nowadays, reusable bags come in so many colors, themes and designs, you can bag your groceries in style! Can’t remember to bring your reusable bags to the store? Try leaving them in your car, or using bags you can crunch into a small pouch that fits in your pocket or attaches to a key chain. Can’t
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remember to bring your bag from the car into the store? I get it. We’ve all got a lot on our mind these days, but no worries. If you get to the cashier and realize you forgot your bag, just have them load the groceries back in the cart, and when you get to your vehicle, organize the groceries into your own bags, collapsible boxes, or whatever arrangement you have, just like people do when they shop at Costco. Remember to have your receipt in sight as you leave the store, as you would at Costco. Residents of the Mat-Su Borough have made so much progress in the last 22 years to reduce the burden on our landfills by recycling and reducing waste, so we can continue to enjoy all the natural beauty of our great Valley. It is a legacy to be proud of. Pick up next month’s edition of The People’s Paper/Make a Scene Magazine for Recycling Repeats Itself, Episode 5