Alaska News

In brief: Mat-Su

Palmer hotel and restaurant reopens

After being closed for months and then undergoing a massive remodel, the Gold Miner's Hotel and Restaurant is back in business.

The downtown Palmer landmark had its grand reopening Friday with several hundred people in attendance, said hotel official John Bahn. He estimated the renovation costs at $1 million. The state fire marshal's office had closed the place down in mid-January for safety reasons.

The first meals were served July 7, but Bahn said the big opening last week drew Palmer Mayor John Combs and other local leaders.

He said some of the highlights include two sushi bars and a karaoke bar. There is also a buffet that serves all-you-can eat crab in the evenings, Bahn said. In the future he plans to have a sushi menu online that people in the Palmer area can order from and have delivered. He said that may be available by the end of summer.

The hotel and restaurant is at 918 South Colony Way

State revokes license of child-care facility

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PALMER -- The state Division of Public Assistance confirmed Tuesday morning that a child-care business here has had its license revoked.

Director Ellie Fitzjarrald said the state received two complaints against Cay's Playhouse on Jepson Court, but she wouldn't go into detail.

A Palmer police report on July 7 indicated that a 28-year-old woman from Palmer reported her 1-year-old child was assaulted by 55-year-old woman at a day care in Palmer. No names or business was cited.

Cay's license was suspended July 10, and the day-care facility is under investigation, Fitzjarrald said. She expected to have a report ready by the end of the week, but later found out the day-care owner is appealing the decision, which means the appeal gets a hearing before a judge who makes a ruling. The ruling then goes before Bill Hogan, the Health and Social Services commissioner for a final decision. Hogan can approve the judge's decision, modify it or require more evidence in the case.

That means the public report won't be available for up to a month, said Wilda Laughlin, public relations officer for the division. Calls to Cay's Playhouse were not returned Tuesday morning.

Alaska Club putting in two swimming pools

WASILLA -- The Alaska Club in Wasilla is putting in a pool.

Make that two pools.

The club, in a major $3.1 million expansion, plans to open a five-lane 25-yard lap swimming pool, according to spokeswoman Denise Brown Robinson.

But plans also call for a splash park with a warm water wading pool, 100-foot double-loop water slide, and a series of water cannons, ropes, waterfalls, a slide and a "large random dump water bucket" as described in a press release

The project will make Wasilla only the fourth Alaska Club location in the state with aquatic facilities, Brown Robinson said. Other lap-swim pools are located in Anchorage -- at the club's South and East clubs -- and in Fairbanks.

It also adds a place to swim to the relatively pool-challenged Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The borough operates public pools at Wasilla and Palmer high schools, which offer lap swims only at certain times of day. The lanes can be crowded.

The Alaska Club will only allows members to use pools, though guests can accompany members for free once a month, Brown Robinson said. The club will not offer a separate, pool-only membership. The club now has about 2,000 members, she said. The expansion, under way now behind the main building, will add 12,700 feet to the facility, bringing it to 53,000 square feet.

The pools should be finished by the end of the year -- just in time for winter to set in.

Wasilla group gets Rasmuson grants

The Rasmuson Foundation on Friday awarded two grants totaling $466,976 to the Wasilla-based nonprofit Mat-Valley Community Charities Agency.

John Rozzi, executive officer of Mat-Valley Community Charities, said most of the grant money, $450,000, will pay off construction costs for the new Treasure Loft thrift store building. The balance will be used to purchase needed equipment.

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Mat-Valley Charities is a sponsored agency of Valley Christian Conference, a coalition of eleven Valley churches.

The agency operates two thrift stores in Wasilla. The Treasure Loft, which this summer opened in a new building at Yenlo Square next to the Wasilla Post Office on Nelson Avenue, sells used clothing for nominal prices. The charity's second store, Hidden Treasures, sells used furniture and household goods at its Henning Street location, next to Chimo Guns.

Rozzi said net proceeds from stores are used solely to support Valley residents and organizations.

Rozzi said Mat-Valley Charities has distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to community needs in the organization's history, including the American Red Cross, Daybreak Inc., Wasilla Food Pantry, Special Olympics and other organizations. Individual clients have also received assistance for dental and other services from the group.

-- Anchorage Daily News

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