You can always tell when winter is closing in – the whole valley smells of woodsmoke. If there’s anyone around here who doesn’t have a stack of firewood and a wood stove in their house, I don’t know who it is.
Also, here in the valley, we said no last Tuesday to a 7-cent-per-gallon gas tax. Now, the vote was a non-binding “sense of the voters” ballot issue, but when the Borough council lives right among us, in a community of only a few thousand people, well, they usually listen to us. As I always say, government governs best when it’s closest to the folks.
The Mat-Su Assembly should not approve a new 7-cent-per-gallon gas tax, according to preliminary results of a ballot question posed to voters during the general election on Tuesday.
Early returns show the motor fuel tax vote failing 8,012 to 3,465, according to information released by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough late Tuesday.
Tuesday’s tally includes early ballots but not 1,713 absentee votes. Full results are expected following a canvass board count Friday evening.
The Assembly, which will make the final decision on whether the tax is approved, placed the question on ballots as a way to gather a sense of the voters. If approved, the tax would apply to all gasoline and diesel sold at pumps in the borough and would sunset in 2027, according to the measure.
Now, we could argue that the gas tax, which would be applied to road repairs here in the borough, among other things, would also collect revenue for people passing through the Mat-Su – especially all those summer tourists. But the voters have spoken, our household among them, and Alaskans are seldom in favor of new taxes.
Alaska Man Score: 7 cents a gallon cheaper gas. Well done, Mat-Su voters.
Read More: Alaska Man Monday – Heroes, Dummies, and Dandelion Wine
On another note, Alaskans take pride in their self-reliance, but after a disaster, some generous help is still welcome. After a lot of people in western Alaska were hit in the recent flooding following Typhoon Halong, a Kansas couple has stepped up with a hefty donation of beef.
Jeremy and Nicole Sheffler started the nonprofit, Cow Team 6, a little after Hurricane Helene devastated part of the southeastern United States last September. The couple noticed the needs and made several trips to donate food and supplies. This outreach effort was successful enough for Cow Team 6 to build off of it, donating supplies and helping with recovery efforts in other parts of the U.S.
Now, they’re attempting their biggest undertaking yet, getting aid to Alaska, specifically, thousands of pounds of beef.
This will be a great boon to the people displaced by Typhoon Halong. Bear in mind that a lot of these folks may not even get back to where their homes once stood until late spring. Winter is setting in here in the Great Land. Here in the Susitna Valley, we already have about seven or eight inches of snow on the ground, and it’s not going anywhere until April or May.
Our winters are not to be taken lightly.
Alaska Man Score: 5 pounds of beef.
Read More: Alaska Man Monday: Heroes, Campers, and Daylight Savings
Two videos today: In this first, some enterprising Susitna Valley entrepreneurs of our acquaintance, but one of them misinterpreted what a “product launch” entails.
You can see the Chaga Chick’s website with all Alaska products here.
Now, a look at a rather unique piece of paraphernalia for the truck.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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