Alaska State Trooper, Sergeant Bryan Barlow, has arrived at his new post in Girdwood. Barlow replaces Sergeant William Welch who was transferred April 1 to the Alaska Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Enforcement in Anchorage. Barlow previously worked in Ketchikan. He joins troopers Jeff Simpson and Tim Lewis. Prior to Sgt. Welch’s departure, Girdwood trooper Ron Hayes was also transferred Feb. 1 to the Matsu West Post, leaving the local post with only two full-time troopers.
In an executive session, the Girdwood Board of Supervisors appointed two new members. Nick Danger and Jake Thompson were appointed to fill two vacant seats on the board of supervisors. Danger was elected to the seat last year, but left the state last year for eight months to work in Las Vegas as a Superintendent for a large construction project. He returned April 12. GBOS chair John Gallup said Danger’s past experience as an elected board member figured into their decision to appoint him. Thompson, who lives in the Crow Creek neighborhood, has expressed a great interest in Crow Creek development and land use issues, Gallup said. He’s lived in Girdwood for 13 years. The GBOS now has a full board of five members. Danger and Thompson will hold their seats until the April 2008 election.
Girdwood’s city wide clean-up begins May 5 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. It’s also the last free dump day of the year. Volunteers will meet at the Girdwood Elementary School and will provide bags, some gloves and a prize for the most bags collected. This year, the prize in an I-Pod Shuffle. Here are the rules: The clean-up is designed to clean common areas like school yards, parks, street corners, wooded areas, riverbeds and other outside areas. No household trash, no appliances, no yard clippings, no hazardous waste, and no large items. If it can not fit in the orange bag it will not betaken. Last year Girdwood won the mayors trophy for the most trash collected for the first time. For information call Nick Danger, clean-up coordinator, at 783-0166.
The Anton Anderson Memorial tunnel from Bear Valley to Whittier has switched to its summer schedule as of May 1. The tunnel is now open from 5:30 a.m. to 11:15 p.m. The tunnel is open on the half-hour on the Bear Valley side starting at 5:30 a.m. with the last opening to Whittier at 10:30 p.m. On the Whittier side the tunnel opens at the top of the hour starting at 6:00 a.m. with the last opening to leave Whittier at 11:00 p.m.
(For summer schedule see “useful stuff” at TurnagainTimes.com).
Girdwood resident and Attorney Tracey Knutson of the law firm Knutson & Associates was recently appointed to serve a two year term on the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC). Knutson has been working in the developing commercial human space industry. DOT Secretary Mary Peters wrote of Knutson’s appointment, “You represent the best example of industry expertise and leadership through your high-level management experience in the private and public sectors, and you have first-hand knowledge of the global commercial launch market and comprehensive technical capability. I believe that your service as a member of COMSTAC will be a significant benefit to the Committee.” Knutson’s appointment is for two years and started April 2. She will attend her first COMSTAC meeting as a seated member May 17-18 in Washington D.C.