Join host Mike Chmielewski and his guests, Michele Girault, Executive Director of Hope Community Resources and Kathy Allely, a local parent of a person with a disability with Herb Bischoff, a retired psychologist with long ties to the Palmer community. Listen as they discuss the planning of Ptarmigan Commons. Ptarmigan Commons is envisioned as an intentional, life-sharing neighborhood in the Palmer area where adults who experience intellectual and developmental disabilities can enjoy the stability of a permanent home while remaining connected to the broader Mat-Su community. The goal is to create a community on approximately 10–20 acres that balances shared living, meaningful activity, and the beauty of Alaska’s natural landscape.

Image Credit: Hope Community Resources

Your phone could help protect a salmon stream.

Freshwater bodies with anadromous fish receive special protections. Anadromous fish are born in streams, go to sea, and return to streams to spawn. Salmon, lamprey, cut-throat trout, and steelhead are anadromous fish.

Fish that spend their entire lives in freshwater, like rainbow trout, are called resident fish. Streams and lakes that only have resident fish do not get special protections.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has mapped over twenty thousand anadromous streams, rivers, and lakes. Alaska law gives them special protections.

That may be the tip of the iceberg, though. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of waters in Alaska that probably should have protections. Some streams have only been mapped in the lower sections, even though fish may use the higher reaches as well. Or maybe a beaver dam is providing fish habitat where there wasn’t any before. Or a new tributary developed out of thawing permafrost.

Fish and Game is reaching out to people that go out on the land. They created the Fish Map App in collaboration with the Aleut Community of Saint Paul and others. Fish and Game wants to know where anadromous fish are seen, what species they are, and what they are doing. Are they swimming or spawning? Are they juveniles, eggs, or adults?

Whether you are headed out to fish, packraft, or exercise your dog, the app will help you document the fish. You don’t need cell or internet connection. Once you are back in wi-fi range, the information will be sent to Fish and Game.

They then begin the process of nominating the waterbody for the state’s Anadromous Waters Catalog. If validated, the waterbody will be put on an interactive map where you can see it.

You can look at the map online. If you see that it is missing places, make a plan to head out there when the fish are running.

You can also provide information about the habitat with the Fish Map App. Is the water level high? What is the air temperature? How wide is the stream? Is it muddy or clear? Is there a culvert nearby?

Sometimes culverts get blocked or eroded out from below leaving them too high for fish to reach. Fish and Game wants to know about these places.

You may think that the Mat-Su Borough has been pretty well mapped out by fisheries biologists. But even here there are unmapped areas.

Last year a fish biologist from Chickaloon Village nominated thirteen salmon streams in the Matanuska Valley as new locations, new species, or new fish life stages.

So, head over to the App Store or Google Play store and download the Fish Map App before your next outdoor adventure. You may be the next person to get a new section of stream designated on the map.

Page 2 airs weekdays at 7 a.m., 9 a.m., 11:50 a.m., and 6 p.m.

Tune in at 89.7 in Palmer, 89.5 in Sutton, 88.3 in Chickaloon and Glacier View or online at bigcabbageradio.org.

Please support Page 2 News and Big Cabbage Radio. Become a member: Donate today at bigcabbageradio.org.

Kendra Zamzow reported this Page Two article and yours truly, Lee Henrikson produced it. If you have an idea for a Page 2 topic, please email us at page2@radiofreepalmer.org.

That’s it for today and the news on Page Two on Wednesday August 12, 2026.

Anadromous Waters Catalog

Fish Map App/interactive map

Image is from the Fish Map App in Google Play

Join host Mike Chmielewski and his guests, Kelley Shoemake, Executive Director of the Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce, and Jim Cooper, Mayor of Palmer. Listen in as they discuss how the Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce and the city of Palmer work with each other to help make Palmer “Alaska At Its Best”.

Image Credits: Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce and the City of Palmer

If you didn’t know the Mat-Su Sentinel now publishes obituaries, you’re not alone. You probably didn’t know they cost less than you’d expect either.

A standard obituary starts at $250 in the Anchorage Daily News. It can cost more depending on the package and length.

An obituary at the Mat-Su Sentinel costs $100. A short death notice costs $30.

Amy Bushatz is founder and editor of the Mat-Su Sentinel. She purchased the longtime local newspaper, the Frontiersman in June. Bushatz was researching how the Sentinel would approach obituaries, also called obits, weeks before the sale was final.

“I wanted to run obits on day one,” she said.

It took longer than she expected. The third-party service for obituaries needed a few weeks to transfer the archived obituaries from the Frontiersman to the Sentinel.

Bushatz notes that obituaries have been a reliable source of income for print newspapers. They are a community service first and business second for her.

Publishing obituaries does cost money. The fee helps cover the third-party services that verify a death before the obituary is published.

There are a lot of costs involved in a print paper. Digital news sources cost less to run. This means the Mat-Su Sentinel can publish obituaries. And it can charge less than a traditional newspaper,

The Sentinel charges a flat fee of $100. This includes photos and a generous word count.

The platform at the Frontiersman had bundled the obituaries with a paid Facebook promotion. Bushatz dropped it. She says families should have full autonomy over how, or whether, they publicize a death. They shouldn’t be upsold on extras. This could mean fewer obituaries, which do bring in a small amount of income.

Bushatz stated, “How you honor your loved one’s legacy is completely up to you. You should publish an obituary exactly the way you want to.”

That philosophy is rooted in something more personal than pricing. Bushatz doesn’t remember what she wrote for her grandmother’s obituary over twenty years ago. She only remembers wishing she had known her grandmother better.

Writing the obituary created a bond of its own.

“It was a memorable connection with her that I otherwise would not have had,” she says.

Bushatz has written many obituaries since penning her grandmother’s. She considers an obituary an opportunity to get to know someone. It’s an act that honors a life.

As a journalist, Bushatz mostly writes obituaries about public officials.

She notes that public service is hard. The public figures could do really anything they wanted to, but they decided to do this hard thing instead.

Bushatz is prepared. She keeps a running file of draft obituaries in her back pocket.

She says, “I’m always very impressed by the lives of these people.”

Obituaries and death notices can be submitted via the link at the top menu of the matsusentinel.com. All obituaries published in the former Frontiersman online portal are available.

Page 2 airs weekdays at 7 a.m., 9 a.m., 11:50 a.m., and 6 p.m.

Tune in at 89.7 in Palmer, 89.5 in Sutton, 88.3 in Chickaloon and Glacier View or online at bigcabbageradio.org.

Please support Page 2 News and Big Cabbage Radio. Become a member: Donate today at bigcabbageradio.org.

Emily Forstner reported this Page Two article and yours truly, Lee Henrikson produced it. If you have an idea for a Page 2 topic, please email us at page2@radiofreepalmer.org.

That’s it for today and the news on Page Two on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.

image from matsusentinel.com

Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins

Jonathan S. Kreiss-Tomkins (born February 7, 1989), also known as JKT, is an American politician who was a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 2013 to 2023. As a Democrat, he represented the state’s 35th district, 

photo/text credit: Wikipedia

Join host Kenni Psenak as she interviews Shelley Hughes candidate for Alaska’s Governor.

Shelley Hughes

Shelley Hughes (born January 6, 1958) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Alaska Senate from 2017 to 2025. Hughes represented Palmer and other parts of the southern Mat-Su Borough. She was a member of the Alaska State Representatives from January 18, 2013, until January 22, 2017.

Tom Begich

Thomas Scott Begich (born October 31, 1960) is an American politician and a former Democratic member of the Alaska Senate. He represented District J from 2017 to 2023.

photo/text credit: Wikipedia

Join host Kenni Psenak as she interviews Edna DeVries, candidate for Alaska’s Governor.

Edna DeVries

Edna B. DeVries (born July 12, 1941) is an American realtor and politician from Alaska, who has been mayor of the Mat-Su Borough since November 2021. DeVries served in the Alaska State Senate from 1984 to 1988. She has previously served as mayor of Palmer from December 2016 to November 2021, and was a member of its city council from 2010 to 2016 and 1996 to 1999.

Photo and text credit: Wikipedia

Join Dr. Jill Valerius and host Lee Henrikson as they continue a 3-part discussion on keeping healthy bones.

Simple steps can help protect your bones as you age. However, prevention also involves understanding your risk. Talk to your doctor about bone density and strength screenings you may need to help detect changes early and keep your bones strong for years to come.

Image and Text Credit: Clinch Valley Health