Headlines featured an Olympic medalist, political scandal, urban development and the gift of life for a 10-year old hero. Soldiers returned from Iraq, a pioneer celebrated her 100th birthday and the Iditarod skipped town.

The Anchorage Police Department announced they had selected a 35-acre parcel located adjacent to the Birchwood Recreation and Shooting Park and the Birchwood Airport as the best location to construct a public safety training facility and shooting range.

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race officials dropped a bombshell on the Chugiak-Eagle River community in a Jan. 9 press release that said, “For the foreseeable future, the ceremonial start of the Iditarod will not finish in Eagle River and the official restart will take place in Willow instead of Wasilla.” Lack of snow and poor trail conditions had kept racers from finishing the ceremonial start of the Last Great Race at VFW Post 9785 in the previous four years.

Gruening Middle School assistant principal Mario Toro Jr. captured the spotlight on Jan. 17 when he surrendered to police for three charges of possessing a Schedule IIA narcotic on school grounds. The charges originated from Toro's suspected drug use and possession while attending a training seminar at Wendler Middle School Jan. 15. Toro was immediately placed on administrative leave. He has since been released from the district and is awaiting trial.

Ending four years of negotiations, officials with the Chugiak Volunteer Fire Department and the municipality of Anchorage agreed to a 10-year contract that allows the all-volunteer CVFD to continue providing fire, rescue and emergency medical services.

Efforts by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to balance its construction budget for 2008 put one long-awaited local project on the chopping block: the Old Glenn Highway Rehabilitation. DOT project design engineer Jim Amundsen said it would likely be delayed until the summer of 2009.

Local assemblyman Bill Starr found himself in the middle of controversy after getting a ride to the airport from fellow assembly member Dan Coffey. During the ride Coffey's new iPhone inadvertently placed a call to Assemblyman Allen Tesche's phone, and his answering machine captured a vulgar and revealing conversation between Starr and Coffey.

KUDO-1080 AM radio personality Aaron Selbig broadcasted the conversation Feb. 26. The recording captured Coffey's claims to have raised money for other assembly candidates, and Starr voiced frustration with an organization's refusal to support him in the upcoming election. A week after the tape surfaced Starr was cleared by the Alaska Public Offices Commission of any wrongdoing.

With the scandal behind him, Starr was re-elected to the assembly in April.

Mayor Mark Begich negotiated with Hickel Investments to cut its asking price from $3 million to $1 million for Building A of the Valley River Center. The municipality and the Alaska Club formed a partnership to purchase and renovate the vacant mall into a revitalized Eagle River Town Center that would be home to the Chugiak-Eagle River branch library, other municipal offices and an expanded fitness club.

Developer Connie Yoshimura unveiled her plans to redevelop the former Lazy Mountain Trailer Court into a pedestrian-friendly urban village during the Eagle River Community Council's April 10 meeting. According to Yoshimura, the development, called Coronado Park, would feature 220 condos on a 10.65-acre lot.

Late in the afternoon of May 2, officers from the Anchorage Police Department and agents from the FBI descended on the Wells Fargo Bank branch after a teller set off an alarm, but there was no robbery. The clerk misinterpreted a note handed to her by the suspected bank robber.

“A man entered the bank and he was intoxicated and there was some confusion as to his intent, but there was no bank robbery,” said FBI spokesman Eric Gonzales.

Plans for an Eklutna psychiatric youth care facility were put on hold after federal funding dried up. Plans called for a cottage-style facility. The facility was part of the “Bring the Kids Home” initiative, which the state introduced in 2004 with the goal of providing in-state treatment for some of the 700 children a year who travel outside Alaska medical services.

The two-year, $12 million reconstruction and redesign of Eagle River Loop Road broke ground on what would be a lengthy construction season. Crews from Wilder Construction, working under a contract with the Alaska Department of Transportation, added shoulders, a center turn lane, pedestrian paths, lighting and landscaping.

Luke Mrugala, 13, of Chugiak, lived life full-throttle. He died June 14 during a motocross race at an Anchor Point track when he crashed his motorcycle after making a jump. His parents said they believe Luke hit his head and chest on the handlebars during the landing and was killed on impact. Luke's parents, LaVon and Mike Mrugala, said he liked to do anything with speed. He skated, skied, surfed, biked and raced as fast as he could. He liked being on the edge.

Eagle River's Lois Lester was named the new chairman of the Matanuska Electric Association board of directors. A retired University of Alaska Anchorage professor, Lester has served on the board since 2000.

News came out of Orlando, Fla., that longtime resident and teacher at Chugiak High School, Ed Loescher, died in a two-vehicle accident July 25. Loescher, a 1970 graduate of Chugiak High School, and his wife, Debbie, were returning home after a vacation when a vehicle driving in the wrong direction on a highway ramp struck the front of their car. Orlando Police launched a traffic homicide investigation after the accident, but there have been no charges filed to date.

The month ended with the gift of life for 10-year-old Eagle River resident Shawn Stockwell. After waiting nearly two and a half years for a heart transplant, doctors called his family with the news that a donor heart had been located. Shawn spent eight hours in the operating room. He returned home to Eagle River Dec. 23 to continue his recovery.

Eagle River's Corey Cogdell, 21, realized her Olympic dream Aug. 11, winning a bronze medal in trapshooting at the games in Beijing. Cogdell edged out three other competitors who had a short at third place in the nail-biting competition.

Chugiak High School football coach Duncan Shackelford led his team onto a new turf field at Chugiak Football Stadium for the season-opening contest against Wasilla High School. The field cost $1.35 million and was paid for with a legislative grant and a contribution from the Eagle River-Chugiak Park and Recreation Department.

Devon Rees, 18, survived a nighttime brown bear attack near VFW Road in Eagle River. He fought the sow off, getting only a few scrapes, scratches and puncture wounds during the attack.

The Chugiak-Eagle River community got caught up with the rest of the nation in the buzz generated by John McCain's selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate.

After spending 46 days in the Lucille Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., 10-year-old Shawn Stockwell, who had a heart transplant July 31, walked out the doors on his own.

Birchwood Community Council chairwoman Bobbi Wells reported a burglary problem in Birchwood, citing nine burglaries between North Eagle River and Peters Creek between Sept. 24 and Oct. 20. But the Anchorage Police Department did not believe there was problem. If burglaries are happening, no one is reporting them to police, said detective Sherry Price.

Richard Roiland, 61, of Wasilla died when his experimental Challenger II aircraft crashed near the railroad tracks behind the Alaska Aggregate gravel pit adjacent to the Native Village of Eklutna. Witnesses reported the aircraft was flying westbound about 200 feet above the treetops, when it nose dived toward the ground, crashing into trees.

The Eagle River Walmart held its official grand opening of the new Supercenter. The Supercenter features a full line of groceries and more than 30 merchandise departments. It also features a liquor store, which the Anchorage Assembly approved a week prior to the grand opening.

A fire in a Peters Creek four-plex killed Leroy “Lee” Levshakoff, 62. The fire is believed to have started in Levshakoff's apartment on the lower level of the building.

Opal Paul celebrated her 100th birthday on Thanksgiving Day with friends and family. A resident of the Chugiak-Eagle River Senior Center, Paul was treated to a gala celebration Dec. 1 at the center.

The $4.1 million remodel of the new Eagle River Town Center kicked off with an official groundbreaking ceremony that featured Mayor Mark Begich and local assemblywoman Debbie Osiander knocking down a wall.

Chugiak sled dog racer Jennifer Sterling was selected to be a part of the Team USA contingent competing at the 2009 International Federation of Sleddog Sports World Championships in Daaquam, Quebec, Canada, Jan. 6 to Jan. 25. She will compete in the 6-dog and 8-dog sprint races during the world championships, which also includes mid-distance sled dog, polka and skijoring races.

A record number, 56 businesses, participated in the annual Chugiak-Eagle River Chamber of Commerce Merry Merchant Munch.

Two nights before Christmas, 10-year-old heart transplant survivor Shawn Stockwell returned home for the first time in two years, eight months and nine days.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Wednesday, December 31, 2008.