Dirk Fast, age 53, of Talkeetna was shot and killed inside the restaurant bar.

The Latitude, known as a family restaurant and  local hang-out is also the host of concerts throughout the winter. Many nationally recognized artists have played there over the years.  Well-known vocal artist Cheryl Wheeler was performing in concert when the shooting occurred.  She was performing in front of a sold out crowd, and the packed house of northern valley residents heard the shot from the adjacent room.

Troopers were called and the Talkeetna ambulance responded to the scene. Fast was pronounced dead at the scene.  Reporter John Moses, owner of the Alaska Pioneer Press, was one of those at the scene and described it as traumatic, especially for those that were friends of the victim. According to second hand accounts, there was no argument.  *They appeared to have a friendly conversation.  Bartender Ruby Fortner looked up when the shot was fired and saw Fast fall to the floor.  Clark said “the f…. killed my family” and he left the bar via the back door. *

Troopers caught a suspect on the Talkeetna Spur Road within 15 minutes of the call. Talkeetna resident Samuel Clark, age 40, is charged with first degree murder in connection with Fast’s death.  He has been remanded to Mat Su Pretrial where his bail is set at $500,000, plus a third party custody requirement.

Latitude owner, Nancy Trump, declined to talk about the incident, leaving it to the AK Bureau of Investigations to do their work. Her establishment is closed until Monday.

Mike Sterling, neighbor of Fast, described him as generous to a fault,  a devout Christian who loved his son more than anything.  Fast’s adult son and wife are expecting a baby soon and Fast was thrilled about becoming a grandfather. Sterling said Fast loved fishing as much as he did his son and would be fishing every day if he could.  Others that knew him well describe him the same way and say he was full of humor, great to kid around with and that he loved the fishing and hunting life.

Fast was a union longshoreman and made his living unloading ships in Anchorage, but spent the majority of his time at his cabin in Talkeetna.

People who know the suspect, say he had challenging mental issues. Those that were in the bar have said that the words that the suspect spoke to Fast as he pulled the trigger made no sense. Some that know both men say that Fast was an innocent victim of senseless crime.

The case has been turned over to the Alaska Bureau of Investigations, the unit that handles major crimes in Alaska.

Editors Notes: Concert goers were kept for about an hour inside the concert hall while EMTs and Troopers attended to the crime scene in the adjacent room. Some saw the suspect run out the back door, but didnt know exactly what had happened.   There were several eyewitnesses to the crime.  The Troopers have a list of over 40 people that were at the concert and inside the bar when the crime occurred. We leave out all eye witness names for the sake of the investigation.

*the story has been corrected to reflect Trooper and investigators findings.

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LIVE IN CONCERT

7:30 PM

Saturday, July 17th

at The Sheldon Community Arts Hangar

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Join the Weeping Willies

for a

Susitna Summer Celebration Dance Party

presented by KTNA Talkeetna.

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KTNA presents: A Susitna Summer Celebration Dance Party featuring The Weeping Willies live in concert, Saturday, July 17th beginning at 7:30 pm at the Sheldon Community Arts Hangar.

This group features the original music of local Talkeetna performers Steve and Jon Durr, Doug Geeting, Carl Besece and Geoff Pfeiffer.

This promises to be a great night of dancing to Home Grown music with a Talkeetna flavor on Talkeetna’s largest dance floor.

Come out and enjoy a night of great music and bring your friends and your family out for a good time. Beverages will be available for purchase. Tickets will be available at the door. Doors open at 7 pm.

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The SF Music Award-winning ALBINO! is a ten-piece Afrobeat ensemble that honors the fiery legacy of Nigerian musical revolutionary Fela Kuti. ALBINO!: high-energy grooves and an explosive stage show thick with hypnotic percussion, a heavy horn section, African dance, outrageous costumes, and infectious group choreography.

Albino! plays LONG sets, so be prepared to dance!

Our concerts are presented in the Sheldon Community Arts Hangar, in downtown Talkeetna.

Doors open at 7 PM; show begins at 7:30.

Admission: $20.

Purchase your tickets online HERE!

. . . or by phone at 907-733-1700, or at the KTNA office on Second Street in Talkeetna.

This concert is made possible in part through generous support from the Alaska State Council on the Arts, Matanuska Telephone Association, Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union, Moose’s Tooth Brewery, and people like you.

KTNA is proud to join with the Denali Arts Council to host the famed world music band Baka Beyond for a concert and two days of workshops in Talkeetna.

 Photo by Matt Collins

The concert will be held at the Sheldon Community Arts Hangar in downtown Talkeetna. Doors open at 7:30. Further details about the workshops can be found HERE!. These activities are supported, in part, with funds provided by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), the Alaska State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

If you’d like to read more about the band and its members, you can read this Baka Beyond biography. And below is a great review from Bristol Rocks of a recent Baka Beyond performance in Bristol, England.

Baka Beyond @ Fiddlers 15th May 2008; review by Leilani Winslade

Let’s be honest here…How many of you have actually heard of Baka Beyond? Seriously? You have? Well, I definitely had not. World music has never been my full cup of tea. If we are even more honest it’s never been my lukewarm, quarter dregs of a cup of tea either.

Before leaving for the gig, I had a quick review of their website, listened to about two seconds of the live video and I resigned myself into the idea that I would need a pint or two to get me through the cultural assault my ears were about to take.

Baka Beyond were originally inspired by Martin Cradick & Su Hart’s visits to the Baka Forest People in Cameroon. While there they played music with and recorded the Baka. Baka Beyond currently consists of musicians from 6 countries in the Celtic fringes of Europe and the West coast of Africa who have joined together to play the most energetic fusion sound I have ever heard. On their website they say, “The spirit of the music lives in the rhythm.” But after seeing them on stage, I’d say the spirit of the music is not only the rhythm and beat, but within the energy of all of the band members.

You can’t help repeating over and over that they were amazing. I challenge anyone to sit through a show of theirs and not want to dance. Before you know it you’re bopping along to the beat, feet wildly wanting to be set free.

The energy of the band, let alone the crowd was astonishing. I did wonder if we should have had some ambulances on standby just in case the aged got a little too worked up. As one young punter told me while gyrating and flailing about to the music, “Baka Beyond is a guaranteed good night out!”