By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

A group of 30 teenagers and three adults added 20 tons of gravel to sections of the Iditarod Trail this week—all by the bucketful.

Passing orange buckets in a 600-foot bucket brigade, the city-run "Youth Employment in Parks" team had completed by Thursday much of the middle portion of the Iditarod trail that runs adjacent to Crow Creek Road.

The group added 100-feet of turnpike—gravel beds enclosed by logs—over four days, according to Kyle Kelley, Girdwood's service area manager. 

See more photos at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/local-trails-get-love-by-the-buckets

By: John Gallup

Girdwood Resident

I’d like to address a neighborhood problem that is getting worse, at least here on Timberline.

We are seeing and unfortunately hearing an increasing number of unlicensed dirt bikes traveling up and down the street. Recently a smaller kid went by with no helmet, and that kind of pushed the issue over the edge for me.

The problem is worse on the weekends, but happens throughout the week as well, especially now that school is out.

I’m conflicted on this issue because growing up in suburban LA we did this kind of thing all the time in our neighborhood, and managed to survive the encounters with curbs, cars, and each other.

Part of the problem is that there isn’t anywhere in Girdwood for off-road motorized recreation, so the roads are the only venue that’s left.

I’ve contacted WPD on this issue and they have suggested that I contact the individuals myself, but at this point I really feel that it is a public safety issue.

Another complication is the arrival of very fast electric bikes, which are quiet but equally unsafe the way some riders use them. Without enforcement the 20 mph speed limit is a joke.

I’d be happy to discuss the establishment of some kind of off-road site in Girdwood for these kids, maybe at the industrial park, but the traffic on Timberline is crazy enough already without adding dirt bikes to the mix.

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

Levi Williamson and Teagan Kuber grew up together in Girdwood. For nine years, they attended the same small local school and graduated with only 14 others.

They both went to high school in Anchorage, Kuber to South and Williamson to West.

Four years later, they would find out, in October, that they would not only be going to the same school on the other side of the planet, but they would be dorming a couple walls away from each other.

More phot coverage to come later. Read the entire story at the link below..

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/for-local-graduates-longtime-friendships-continuenbsp

By Corinne Smith

Alaska Beacon

Alaska will recognize Hispanic Heritage Month under a new law signed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

The month recognizing Hispanic heritage will be September 15 to October 15 each year. The legislation encourages schools, community groups and other public and private organizations to honor the history and culture of Hispanic Americans.

Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage, is the bill’s sponsor, and said in a statement that the month is a time to honor and celebrate “the rich cultural tapestry that Hispanic and Latino Americans have woven into the fabric of our nation.”

There was no bill signing ceremony. A spokesperson for Dunleavy’s office said the governor signed the bill to acknowledge those contributions. “He believes it is important to recognize the rich traditions, history, and achievements of Hispanic Americans,” said Jeff Turner, Dunleavy’s communications director, by email Tuesday. 

The period also marks the anniversary of the independence of several Central American countries from Spain, including Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Mexico. 

“While Alaska may seem distant from the heart of Latin America, the contributions of Hispanic and Latino Alaskans to our state’s history, culture, and economy are undeniable. From pioneers and settlers to artists, educators, and business leaders, Hispanic and Latino individuals have made significant impacts in every corner of our state,” Gray-Jackson wrote. 

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://alaskabeacon.com/briefs/alaska-to-recognize-hispanic-heritage-month-under-new-law/

By Julien-Didier Stiassny

Commentary Contributor

Four and a half years ago Holtan Hills was proposed as an idea. Almost 100% of Girdwood locals opposed the idea. 

There was a phase of meetings and arguing over it. "Halt Holtan Hills" signs appeared and the town came together to stop the project. 

In January of 2023 the Anchorage Assembly decided not to go on with Holtan Hills. For Girdwood it was amazing that our forest was not going to be destroyed. 

But in January of 2024 all of a sudden Holtan Hills was happening because the developers had snuck the idea back in without Girdwood knowing. It had been denied, but a small group of people who knew they would make money from it decided that they wanted it to happen. 

Another phase of meetings happened. I went to one of the meetings and can say that I was not happy with it. Connie Yoshimura, the developer, deflected challenging questions so that we didn’t get an answer about what is going to happen with the project. It just shows what people will do to get a second home or another car. 

Progressing with Holtan Hills will release around 12,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, according to my calculations. Although this is very small compared to large emissions from fossil fuels, all developments in the past five years make up around 35 percent of global emissions. That has warmed the earth by 0.063F or 0.035C. 

Read the entire commentary at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/holtan-hills-commentary-the-fight-is-still-not-over

By Jasper Fleming

TNews Contributor

This week's “scoop” of Girdwood was the local Ice Cream Shop's 25th Anniversary. There was a celebration on the weekend of April 18th-19th. The community gathered at the shop in old Girdwood for a free raffle, live music and, don’t forget, ice cream!

We came out to interview owner and longtime Girdwoodian, Carol Makar on her local shop.

“How did the idea of opening an ice cream shop materialize?”

“I used to work at a Dairy Queen, ” Carol said. Back when she was younger, Carol had a job working at a Dairy Queen. She would make different kinds of ice cream concoctions for the people that would come by. “Then I went into education and kept that in the back of my mind,” she says.

After she retired, Carol built a home with her husband but there were two things in life he didn't like: cottonwood trees and dogs. One day the spot where the ice cream shop is today became available and Carol noticed it was up for rent. After a day of running with a neighbor's dog, she came home to her husband and said, “You know Bud (her husband), I’m going to give you an ultimatum. Either we start an ice cream shop, or I get a dog.

”A couple days later her husband went to the place open for rent and not a week later Carol was signing a lease agreement.

“What efforts were put forth to make the ice cream shop part of the community?”

“We have partnered with Little Bears, Challenge Alaska, FVCS, Girdwood School, Alyeska Ski Club, Forest Fair, and probably a bunch more that I have forgotten” Carol says. “We hire as many local people as possible.

Read the entire story below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/ice-cream-shop-celebrates-25-years

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

Candidates for local and Municipal office had a chance to share their views Saturday night in a forum hosted by Turnagain News.

The forum, held in Girdwood's Community Center, gave an audience of around 50 insight into candidates' views on key local issues.

It was attended by three candidates for an Anchorage Assembly seat representing South Anchorage and Turnagain Arm as well as three candidates vying for two seats on Girdwood's Board of Supervisors. 

One of the two open positions on GBOS, Seat E, pits the sons of two prominent Girdwood families:  Nick Crews and Brice Wilbanks. There is only one candidate running for Seat D, Amanda Tuttle.

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/0rokiizb9y4x2g2f0glmsdkqfyiyk1

You can listen to a recording of the Candidate Forum at the below link:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6i2vgjlavu7hovar6w7ky/CandidateForum.m4?rlkey=4rqrusvlbdnd8zj6vpv63ygf0&st=lwjfsk3m&dl=0

By Allison Sayer

TNews Staffwriter

On February 19, Girdwood, Inc announced local artists Tommy O’Malley and Thalia Wilkinson will create a donor wall mosaic for the new Little Bears Playhouse lobby. The facility is scheduled to open this fall. Locals have seen Wilkinson and O’Malley’s mosaic work in Girdwood’s public spaces including on concrete culvert planters and Town Square Park.

According to a press release issued by Girdwood, Inc, “The design will feature a large tree made of stained glass with branches reaching out eight feet on either side of the trunk. Connected to the tree will be over a hundred leaves in dozens of shades of green glass. Names of donors will be etched into the trunk, branches, and leaves.”

Girdwood, Inc also shared much of the glass used in the project was donated by the late Jim Kaiser’s estate and thanked Kali Bennett for the gift. Kaiser created countlesscommunity stained-glass projects throughout Alaska, including making art with past Little Bears students. He also donated financially towards the new building before he passed away.

The artists have given a deadline of February 28 for a finalized donor list so they can go forward with crafting the tree’s components.

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/a-community-collaboration-gratitude-tree-donation-wall-mosaic-for-new-little-bears-playhouse

By Chase Berenson

TNews. Staffwriter

Dive Alaska coordinated with multiple organizations to plan the 2026 Whittier Harbor Cleanup Day on Saturday, February 7th.  This was the fourth annual event, and it brought out SCUBA divers and freedivers to scour the seabed of the Whittier Harbor and remove trash and marine debris.

This year was the largest event yet, with 158 volunteers participating.  The weather was cooperative by Whittier standards, as the temperature was in upper 30s with rain.  This was an improvement over previous years, where once the temperatures dropped below zero degrees and in another year the wind was whipping so strongly that it impeded cleanup efforts.  At the event’s introduction, JD Stimson of Dive Alaska summed it by saying, “The wind isn’t blistering and the temperature isn’t frigid.  If you did this before, you know this is a blessing.”

During a three-hour window, SCUBA divers and freedivers took to the water of Whittier Harbor to recover whatever they could find.  Divers collected marine debris from the harbor floor and brought it up the boat ramp or the harbor docks, where volunteers above the water picked it up and hauled the waste to a sorting area near the boat ramp.

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/seven-thousand-pounds-of-marine-debris-removed-from-whittier-harbor

By Brice Wilbanks

Commentary Contributor

Forty miles from City Hall, Girdwood property owners opened their 2026 assessments to find increases nearly double to those of their Anchorage neighbors. Assessed annually by the Municipality of Anchorage, the green-colored postcard describes what the Municipality assesses property owners’ land and building value to determine the basis of their annual tax bill.

 This year, similar to last, property owners were shocked and dismayed. The median Girdwood property owner saw an increase of 8.2%, more than double the increase for Anchorage-bowl property owners, according to data from the municipality’s property appraisal division. While slightly smaller than 2024-2025, the increases continue to compound, squeezing property owners across the valley and inflating rents

 Driving this variation is a major rework of the assessment methodology utilized by the municipality’s property appraisal division. Key changes included: removing the multiplier of building construction quality, utilizing publicly available sales data, and reducing the number of “market areas” from 400 to fewer than 20. Municipal Assessor Jack Gadamus, with the assistance of outside consultants, describes these reforms as “corrective in nature.”

Market Areas are abstractly defined by the Anchorage appraisal office as:

Not “Neighborhoods” in the traditional sense, but geographic areas where Cost-to-Comparable Sales “AV Ratios” are statistically aligned

 This significant methodology shift, triggered a reduction from 400+ market areas to fewer than 20, forced evaluations to compete against each other based on sales data and proximity. This led to varying evaluations between properties within geographically constrained and isolated communities.

 To understand how this major rework of assessment methodology affected Girdwoodians, let’s take a closer look at the data.

Read the entire commentary at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/commentary-how-did-property-assessments-affect-girdwoodians

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

Many Girdwood residents are fuming over a sharp rise in property values set by the Municipality of Anchorage that show up annually on light green postcards in mailboxes.

Homes in the Girdwood valley saw hikes in tax assessments that, on average, are nearly double those of the Anchorage bowl. 

Amanda Tuttle, owner of Coast Pizza, said her tax evaluation went up "136 percent in two years" on her home in Old Girdwood.

"This is why you have killed our local economy," Tuttle said during a Girdwood Board of Supervisors meeting last Monday.

Zac Johnson, who represents Girdwood and South Anchorage on the Anchorage Assembly, said the Municipality receives no benefit from tax rate assessments that have climbed as high as 30% in his district. 

Johnson said changes in property appraisals were made to conform to state standards, and, actually, the Municipality loses money for its budget due to the way funding for the Anchorage School District is calculated.

"There's no political motivation to all this. Increasing valuations don't actually increase the amount of revenue the Municipality gets. That's determined by the tax cap, so it doesn't do anything to bolster the Municipal budget," Johnson said at the GBOS meeting. "If anything it actually harms us a little bit because it increases our required contribution to the state for [Anchorage School District] funding."

Municipal officials have justified increases based on changes in methods for evaluating property values, such as evaluating values based on a "market area" approach and consolidating market zones from about 400 zones to less than 20.

"The grand result of all of this is that the average increase in valuation for the entire Municipality is around 4 percent," Johnson said, "which seems to roughly track with what we'd expect given the state of the housing market."

"But there were some exceptional cases where people saw their valuations increase by 20-30 percent, which is certainly understandable why people would be concerned about that," he said. He added that assessing home values is an "imperfect process" given, particularly, that Alaska is a "nondisclosure" state and can only acquire limited data.

Nevertheless, land being prepared for home building in a new, highly-contested development called "Holtan Hills" did not see a similar increase, according to an analysis by Brice Wilbanks, who serves as co-chair of Girdwood's Land Use Committee and is running for a GBOS seat.

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/girdwood-property-taxes-soar-under-recent-muni-assessment

By Chase Berenson

TNews Staffwriter

Chugach State Park is looking to invest in improvements to the Bird Creek Campground, the only campground located on the waterfront of the north shore of Turnagain Arm.  Chugach State Park is one of the four largest state parks in the United States, and it stretches from the Anchorage Bowl on the west side deep into the Chugach Mountains on the east side.  Much of the park’s southern border is the Turnagain Arm.  The park has multiple campgrounds, including the Bird Creek Campground.  Bird Creek Campground is known for its views of Turnagain Arm with its bore tides and beluga whales.  It is primarily located on the south side of the Seward Highway, but it also includes an overflow camping area on the north side of the Highway.

The campground improvements project has two key focus points, one which will be more visible to campground users and one which will improve campground operations.  Campers will see new signage throughout the campground which will update aging and outdating signage in the park.  However, the larger project work will be happening in a less visible context.

Campground users are typically familiar with the concept of a campground host who helps operate and manage the campground.  In Alaska State Park campgrounds, the campground host is a volunteer role for someone who will typically stay the entire summer season at the campground.  At Bird Creek, the campground host’s job duties include tasks such as interacting with campers, ensuring campers are following campground rules, performing janitorial services, and performing minor maintenance such as grass mowing.  Campground hosts are important volunteer roles to ensure that campgrounds are functioning correctly.

Chugach State Park has struggled in the past to fill Bird Creek Campground’s campground host role, and one cause is that there are no sites in the campground that feature the full combination of water, sewer, and power hook-ups for the volunteer’s RV.  The campground host role is particularly important for Bird Creek Campground, due to its proximity to the population center of the Anchorage Bowl and the campground’s high usage on holiday weekends and at prime fishing times on Bird Creek.  The current campground host location is in the campground’s overflow area on the north side of the highway because that is the only part of the campground with any utility service.

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/improvements-planned-for-bird-creek-campground

By Allison Sayer

TNews Staffwriter

The Girdwood Food Pantry could have had a tough year in 2025. According to figures provided by director Terry Sherwood, the Food Pantry has seen the highest demand for food since 2020.

Meanwhile, deliveries of non-perishable foods from the Federal Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which normally provides about one quarter of Girdwood Food Pantry food, have been “short.” Shelves at the Food Bank of Alaska Anchorage location, where Girdwood Food Pantry volunteers have often collected food, have been “empty.”

Even with these challenges, an increase in local donations enabled the Food Pantry to serve everyone who came through the door this year. “Girdwood residents have been generous,” said Sherwood, “It’s neighbors helping neighbors.”

In 2025, as of December 16, the Girdwood Food Pantry provided approximately 3370 food services. That figure comprises both one-time visitors and the sum of multiple visits by the same individual. Sherwood estimates 332 unique people from 195 households were served in 2025, as of December 16.

The 2025 figure is a 38% increase from 2024, during which 2442 individual services were provided.

Services include bimonthly deliveries to 28 families in Whittier and non-perishable food boxes for 48 Alyeska Resort employees.  

In a phone interview, Sherwood stated that not only were more people seeking food, but there seemed to be more anxiety about whether it would be available. “For the first time ever in Food Pantry history, we’ve had a line at the door before we’ve opened. That’s never happened before. People are starting to worry and get here early.”

Recently, the State of Alaska provided some additional funding to the Food Bank of Alaska. This provided statewide pantrieswith additional non-perishable food. This week, food from the Girdwood School canned goods drive lined pantry shelves. Other local agencies and individuals have held drives, contributed money, and donated food.

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/food-pantry-met-increased-need-in-2025-local-help-was-key