Anchorage Daily News

Murder trial starts Tuesday in Palmer

At the end of a chase on the Glenn Highway in July of 2007, police found the badly beaten body of a 42-year-old woman in the backseat of a car driven by Frank Adams.

Corrections

The Daily News promptly acknowledges all factual errors. If you believe an error has been made, please call 1-907-257-4301.

Target hits bull's-eye

Wanda Waldon-Gardner peered into Wasilla's not-yet-open Target store with one thing in mind.

Movies

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Wasilla bans smoking in city-owned vehicles

Ashtrays in Wasilla city vehicles are now for holding spare change or chap stick, not ashes and butts.

Turner will not seek re-election

Cheryl Turner, Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District Board member for four years, will not run for re-election.

Mat-Su community datebook

Events this week in the valleys

Three Hatcher Pass trails get a fresh look

A trio of the most popular trails in this Talkeetna Mountains recreation hub are in the midst of a makeover.

Mat-Su births

New arrivals in the valleys

Nine teens help restore habitat

The Upper Susitna Youth Conservation Corps last week celebrated the end of its 2008 season of trail and restoration work.

Tonight's 'vampire prom' cashes in on books' popularity

Fireside Books in Palmer hosts its first-ever "vampire prom" tonight in honor of the release date of "Breaking Dawn," the fourth book in the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer. Hailed by critics as the first series since Harry Potter with mass appeal, hundreds of similar parties are taking place in the Lower 48 as teens line up to find out what happens between teenager Bella, and her boyfriend, vampire Edward Cullen.

In brief: Mat-Su

Short news items from the valleys

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Mat-Su crime reports

Voorhis guilty of 11 charges

PALMER -- A Palmer Superior Court jury has convicted Donald Voorhis of 11 of 13 charges, including one count of attempted murder against an Alaska State Trooper.

Memorial for airmen killed in crash is stolen

WASILLA -- It was 1956 when the KB-29 refueling tanker crashed and exploded in flames on the side of Mount Baldy, killing eight men flying a Cold War training mission from Elmendorf Air Force Base.

Musher fined $5,600 over dog care charges

Doug Bartko was fined $5,600 Tuesday in a Palmer court as a consequence of charges that stemmed from complaints in May about his care of dogs.

30,000-pound experiment turns into cheesy ordeal

Some 30,000 pounds of cheddar cheese made from raw milk is sitting in coolers, aging and taking up space at Matanuska Creamery, the dairy industry savior trying to fill the void left by the death of Matanuska Maid.

Costco in Wasilla looks likely

Jim Sawhill, president of engineering firm Lounsbury & Associates, told the Wasilla City Council this week that Costco plans a store at the Creekside Town Square shopping center his client Meritage Development Group LLC is building on the Parks Highway.