VALLEY FRONTIERSMAN
Published each Thursday
Palmer, Alaska
Entered as second class matter on Oct. 21, 1947, at the post office
at Palmer, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
Subscription rates .50c month, $5 a yeai
Viola Daniels ..Editor
No printed material in the Valley Frontiersman may be
reproduced except by permission of the editor.
Mailed to all points in Alaska and the United States
DANIELS - In The Lion's Den
In a letter to the editor, reprinted elsewhere in these pages, Carl
Rasmussen has asked several questions with regard to school incor
poration. Some of these questions have been answered at numerous
P-TA meetings throughout the past two years: other questions will
be answered in the P-TA letter to appear in your postoffice box this
week: still some few’ appear to be unanswerable at this writing.
However, because the June 28th election is at hand, and there
apparently still are those among us who do not understand the rea
son for an attempted incorporation, nor the procedure to bring it
about, we will attempt to cover the points in Mr. R s letter here in
the Den.
Expected benefits, as outlined by a P-TA committee, in
clude the following points: (1) Local control of the school,
rather than the long-distance operation from Juneau now in
effect- (2) Retention of property tax money in the commu
nity where it will be returned directly to the school, rather
than to the general fund of the territorial treasurer at Ju
neau; (3) Long-range planning program for the improve
ment of the school’s physical plant, as well as for the broad
ening and improving of the school curricula: (4) Possibility
of emphasis on an agricultural program in the high school:
<5) Elimination of heavy turn-over in faculty through long
term program of improvement of teaching conditions: <6)
Retention of Palmer’s high school, which need not be op
erated in a school functioning under territorial rule only,
since territorial law requires only that a student complete
the eighth grade.
There can be no definite assurance of. and in all probability
there is no one who even hopes for. a larger faculty or a new school
plant in the next two years. The plant must be imprpved before
additional faculty members may be hired, and it certainly cannot
be attempted this year, nor probably even next.
However Dr. Ryan has given us even more definite assurance
that Palmer, fourteenth on a list of 14 territorial schools needing
new’ buildings, can hope for no building from the territory, eithe:
this vear or next. But as an incorporated district, the school board
can be<hn to plan and to earmark funds for the needed building,
and as an incorporated district can tap certain teriitoiial funds
set aside only for school buildings for incorporated school districts.
The figure vou quote, Mr. R., as necessary for the school’s an
nual operation,"is higher than any estimate made thus far The
most accurate sum to be looked for from Palmer appears to be
Smew here between $20,000 and $25,000 rather than the $30,000 you
mention. There is no one at this time, we believe, who can tell you
exactly how much money will be returned to the Palmer district m
taxes.
However the territorial law specincauy says uiut an ui
property- tax. levied by the recent legislature, collected by the tax
collector in an incorporated school district, lying outside of an in
corporated municipality, must be turned over to the school board.
A study of property lying within the proposed boundaries of the in
corporated city of‘Palmer recently placed the assessed valuation of
that property at two million dollars. Since this represented only
approximately one square mile of territory, and the proposed dis
trict will include 180 square miles, including the coal mining prop
erties in the Valiev, it is reasonable to suppose that Palmer district
will have a healthy sum earmarked for its building fund, almost
from the time the district incorporation becomes an actuality.
Nor can we afford to wait to incorporate, until we are offered
territorial funds, as you suggest. The legal machinery of incorpora
tion will require almost a year's span to put into force, according
to the advice of our lawyer. Any fund offered would have long since
found its way to other district coffers, while we were going about
the laborious business necessary.
There will be no increase in taxes through district incorpora
tion. The propertv tax must be paid, in any event. Incorporation
will keep that money in the Matanuska Valley, rather than allowing
it to go to Juneau.
fis for district incorporation for the purpose of sponsoring an
individual’s cause, that has never been considered. The P-TA, the
agency which has worked for incorporation, has never taken sides
in the Palmer teacher discussions. It never will. Furthermore, this
move for incorporation, most recent of several, began two years ago.
when the particular young man in question was unknown in Palmer.
And much as we hate to disagree with a guest in these columns,
Mr. R., we’ll have to dispute your final point. Incorporation WILL
help to solve the Palmer school problems. The six benefits outlined
in the opening paragraphs prove that. It won’t solve all of our prob
lems. for there’ll always be new ones ahead. And that is just as
well—he who has no problems is dead. We’re sure Palmer school
isn’t
Community
Calendar
Thursday
NORTHLAND Pioneer Grange at
Grange Hall at 8 p. m.
Friday
JUNIOR HOMEMAKERS.
Saturday
AMERICAN Legion Auxiliary
food sale at Koslosky’s.
Monday
PCRA at 7:30 p. m. at Soil Con
servation Service.
VETERAN'S farm class at for
mer library at 8 p. m.
HAPPY 4-H Club at Mrs. Ma^y
King at 2 p. m.
Tuesday
SCHOOL election in Gym lobby
from 8 a. m. to 8 p. m.
IMMUNIZATION clinic, Health
Center, at 1:15 p. m.
FAIR BOARD meets in former
library at 8 p. m.
LOYAL ORDER OF MOOSE to
meet at Moose Hut at 8 p. m.
WOMEN of the Moose meet at
Moose Hut at 8 p. m.
Works on Fair Book
Charles Dillon, manager of the
Matanuska Valley fair, has been
spending the past two weeks in
Anchorage, where he is busy
contacting advertisers for space
in the fair’s premium book. Mr.
Dillon said he is confident that
the premium book will be ready
for publication at a much earlier
date this year than it has in the
past.
COFFEY INSURES EVERY
THING—REMEMBER?
APARTMENTS
Surplus government-built, cut
in sections Wired, plumbing,
shower bath. Can be set up in
a week.
4 1-bedroom apartments
at less than $5,500.
4 2-bedroom apartments
at less than $6,000.
Delivered in Palmer
CHARLES BUSH
Palmer
Worms Are Costly
Increasing reports of cutworm
damage were being tabulated by
Parker Lester of the Extension
Office this week. Mr. Lester said
he still had placed no dollars
and cents value on crop losses,
but it was apparent there was
some loss on a number of farms.
Heaviest worm inroads are being
reported by farmers who suf
fered the most severe losses last
summer, it was stated.
Speeder Is Fined
One speeder, Clair W. McAr
thur of Anchorage, was tried
and fined S25 in the court of
Mrs. Dorothy Saxton, U. S. Com
missioner. this week. McArthur
was clocked at speeds up to 60
miles an hour by highway pa
trolman Stanley Laird, who
chased the offender from the
Hartley corner to Knik bridge.
Richard E. Demming
Registered Land Surveyor
Box 675 — Palmer, Alaska
M. D. SNODGRASS
Real Estate
Dairy and Vegetable Farms
City Lots — Acreage
GREEN'S
FLYING SERVICE
STUDENT INSTRUCTION
CHARTER FLIGHTS
Acreage-Houses
Dairy Farms
Pioneer Insurance &
Realty
Wright Bldg. — Palmer
— To end picnicking breakage problems —
Plastic Spoons, Cups and Glasses—Plastic Bowls for Packing
Picnic Foods — Also Plastic Baby Dishes
Clara's Variety fir Palmer Surplus
DAVID BRYANT
BULLDOZING — CARRYALL WORK
GENERAL LAND CLEARING
Box 1848
Plan your kitchen remodelling NOW
Kitchen cabinets built to your order
No charge for estimates — consult us with
your cabinet problem
— GLASS —
Severns Cabinet Shop