TURNAGAIN NEWS

By Deb Essex

Girdwood Trails Marathon Race Director

The Girdwood Nordic Ski Club held the 10th annual Girdwood Trails Marathon on Sat, Oct. 4, from the Alyeska Resort Daylodge.  This event has grown considerably as we added Half Marathon and 5K Race options for participants. The sold out event showcased the varied trails throughout the Girdwood Valley including the popular Winner Creek and Iditarod Trails. This year, 331 runners from all around Alaska, seven U.S. states, and Canada, braved the 39 degree temps and rain to run the connected trails in Girdwood. This event was created by Girdwood trail enthusiast, Brian Burnett, who is constantly cruising along trails for a fun day outside and who currently serves as the Chief of Stoke for all things trail related in Girdwood.  

The marathon and half marathon race switch direction every year, and this year ran in a counter-clockwise loop. The participants start at the Alyeska Resort Daylodge and follow pink flags along the trail route set by one the 60 volunteers of this event. The trails were in excellent condition, and Glacier Creek had a low flowrate so the marathon runners could cross without incident. This trail race would simply not be possible without the funding dedication of the Anchorage Parks and Recreation - Girdwood Staff, Kyle Kelley and Margaret Tyler, who annually apply for grant funding and hire trail crews to repair and maintain the valley’s trails.  They also coordinate with the Friends of Girdwood Trails to host trail work parties for smaller maintenance tasks.  Moreover, the USFS perennially sends a crew up Winner Creek Trail with the enormous task of hardening the trail surface.  The combination of these trail maintenance efforts mean that Girdwood trails can handle year-round visitors and participants of this race.

Read the story, pictures and results at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/girdwood-trails-marathon-continues-to-grow

By James Brooks

Alaska Beacon

Reporters and editors at the Homer News and Peninsula Clarion announced their resignations on Monday, citing a decision by the papers’ corporate owners to bow to political pressure to amend an article about a vigil for the slain far-right activist Charlie Kirk.

The resignations, which include two editors and two reporters based in Homer and Kenai, were scheduled to take effect in two weeks, but managers at Carpenter Media Group fired all four immediately. 

Carpenter Media Group, an international chain, owns the News, Clarion and the Juneau Empire, as well as the Yukon News and hundreds of other newspapers in the Lower 48 and Canada.

The resignations follow a similar mass resignation at the Juneau Empire earlier this summer. 

When combined, both actions leave Carpenter Media Group with a single in-state Alaska reporter among its three newspapers.

Mary Kemmis, senior vice president of Carpenter’s publications in Alaska and Canada, did not return phone calls seeking comment on Tuesday, nor did Chloe Pleznac, the reporter who authored the original article.

Jake Dye, a former reporter for the Peninsula Clarion and one of the people who resigned this week, said by phone that Carpenter’s handling of the story was “problematic in a lot of ways.”

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/mass-resignations-at-two-alaska-newspapers-after-out-of-state-owners-bow-to-political-pressure

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

When city planners and the developer of a contentious "Holtan Hills" subdivision come to town Tuesday they will likely face questions on a construction project plagued with mishaps.

From the beginning, construction of an access road off Hightower and near the school saw issues. A worker on site said a water main, installed decades ago, was not identified. Then, the construction company, GMC, ran into refuse from a forgotten dump.

The finding, testing and disposal of decades-old garbage set the project behind by at least a week.

And, recently, local police have been called to monitor the road after close calls and fears of pedestrian accidents by construction vehicles.

Girdwood Fire Chief Michelle Weston wrote on Facebook that she raised concerns at a Girdwood Board of Supervisors meeting about "commercial vehicles traveling down the center line and swinging into opposing lanes of traffic." She and others said they personally witnessed dangerous situations near the school involving children and construction vehicles. 

There have been no flaggers and few safety precautions sought by municipal officials, nor GMC despite calls by local officials. 

A spokesperson for the Municipality said in late July a traffic study was determined by the planning department to be unnecessary and that a traffic control plan would be "submitted and available for public review prior to disturbance and reconstruction of (affected) portions of Hightower Rd."  So far, no such plan has emerged.

And even though contractors have worked extensively near the road and bike path to patch in gas, sewer and electric utilities, the municipality has not followed through on its commitment for safety measures on the bike path, a section of which was partially torn up and diverted. 

"A traffic control plan will be further developed once the construction schedule gets closer to (the) bike path and road demolition so utilities may be connected to mains along Hightower Rd. Temporary chain-link fencing is currently onsite to delineate the active construction zone," the Muni's spokesperson wrote in July.

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/tuesday-holtan-hills-meeting-comes-on-heels-of-construction-complications