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P E N I N S U L A
Vol. 49, Issue 123
In the news Borough extends school district employee contract The Kenai Peninsula Borough and the employee union have negotiated a one-year extension of the current collective bargaining agreement for the period of July 1 to June 30, 2020. Changes to the agreement include a .5 percent increase of base pay, which will be effective after July 1 this year. “With this bargaining agreement, the health care will remain the same with no increases to the employee’s contribution and no increases to deductibles,” Brent Hibbert said at Tuesday’s borough meeting. “The benefits will remain the same.” — Victoria Petersen
Anchorage man's death now a homicide investigation ANCHORAGE — Anchorage police have reclassified the death of a man last weekend as a homicide. Police say the man found Sunday behind a business on west 36th Avenue had suffered trauma to his body. The man's name has not been released. Police took a call shortly after midnight that a man had been found dead at the business between Spenard Road and Arctic Boulevard.
Man dies under suspicious circumstances in house fire ANCHORAGE — Anchorage police and fire officials are investigating the death of a man inside a burned house. Police say the circumstances of the death are suspicious. Firefighters at about 4:30 a.m. Thursday were called to a home on Twining Drive a block east of Russian Jack Park. Witnesses said smoke was billowing from the home. A man inside was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was not immediately released. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Homicide detectives are investigating and have asked people with information about the fire or surveillance footage to contact them. — Associated Press
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Sullivan speaks at Capitol Senator to introduce legislation that would help victims of sexual assault By MOLLIE BARNES Juneau Empire
Alaska’s junior senator will attempt to bring a statewide initiative from Alaska to the national level. Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan spoke to the Alaska legislature on Thursday in his annual address, in which he mentioned his plan to introduce bills in Congress that would reinvigorate the “Choose Respect” public awareness campaign addressing sexual assault. The initiative was started during former Gov. Sean Parnell’s administration when Sullivan worked as attorney general. “Working together with
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to a Joint Session of the Alaska Legislature at the Capitol on Thursday. (Michael Penn/Juneau Empire)
all of you, with members of both parties…we need to re-energize our efforts to tackle this issue,” Sullivan said in his address.
One of the main things this campaign would do at a federal level is introduce a bill that would entitle victims of sexual assault
to legal representation. Currently, the constitution entitles anyone accused of a crime to legal representation. His bill would entitle victims that same right, through statute rather than constitutionally. That way if someone was charged with criminal sexual abuse, both the accuser and accused would receive representation. “One of the best ways to help survivors of assault break the cycle is to get a lawyer. Then they’re empowered to say, get a protective order or boot the guy out of the house,” Sullivan said in an interview with the Empire. He said when he was attorney general of Alaska,
ing our ride to all of those we’ve lost to cancer, including those who have survived and those who are fighting See WOW, page A2
See FEMA, page A3
See SEN, page A2
By JOEY KLECKA Peninsula Clarion
A snowmachiner participates in the Way out Women (WOW) ride in February 2018 in Ninilchik, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Lopeman said each year, the organizers commemorate the ride to someone who has either survived cancer or is currently deal-
ing with it, but this year’s event will recognize any and all that have been affected by cancer. “This year we’re dedicat-
By BRIAN MAZUREK Peninsula Clarion
Local representatives from FEMA have set up shop at the Nikiski Community Recreation Center to help residents register for disaster relief. Many people across Alaska are still feeling the effects of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Southcentral Alaska on Nov. 30, 2018, so FEMA has sent a Disaster Survivor Assistance Team down to Nikiski for two weeks to guide people through applying for aid and filling out all the necessary forms. Within a week of the initial quake more than 2,500 individual requests to FEMA had been submitted, but more Alaskans could still be in need of assistance, and some have chosen to delay registering for relief until after the spring thaw. Howard Higgins with FEMA said that he and his team would be in Nikiski to answer any questions people might have about the application and registration processes. Higgins said that they can look up individual cases to let people know what their next step in the process is and to identify and correct any errors they may have made while filling out the forms themselves. Higgins can also assist in registering with Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, which
WOW snowmachine ride celebrates 15th year It’s always a good day to be playing in the Caribou Hills, particularly when it helps raise funds for cancer patients. This weekend marks the 15th consecutive year for the Way Out Women (WOW) ride in the Caribou Hills, a charity snowmachine event that raises funds for cancer patients on the Kenai Peninsula. Starting from Freddie’s Roadhouse, located at Mile 16 of Oil Well Road near Ninilchik, the ride will take snowmachiners approximately 50 miles around the scenic hills of the Kenai Peninsula, and WOW founder Kathy Lopeman expects this year’s ride to raise more than $120,000 in funds that will go directly to cancer patients.
FEMA comes to Nikiski to help with earthquake relief
Assembly OKs funds for ACLU bill By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
A lawsuit between Kenai Peninsula Borough and the American Civil Liberties Union is finally over after the assembly approved on
Tuesday appropriations of $70,400 to pay toward the balance of ACLU-Alaska’s legal fees. The borough has now spent $120,400 defending the Hunt et al. lawsuit, and at least $134,000 in legal and other fees relat-
ed to the invocation policy, according to Homer News. The borough received a bill of $80,000 in attorneys’ fees after the borough failed to defend its former invocation policy. At Tuesday’s borough
assembly meeting, Greg Andersen of Kenai spoke to the assembly in his public comment, saying that the invocation saga was finally over. “A bill has been received for ACLU’s lawyer fees
and the invocation saga can finally be closed,” Andersen said. “Over $165,000 in taxpayer money was spent and countless hours wasted.” Andersen said he hoped See ACLU, page A2
Kenai approves animal control ordinance By KAT SORENSEN Peninsula Clarion
The city of Kenai hopes to address animal control concerns with a new ordinance approved at Wednesday’s Kenai City Council meeting. The ordinance requires
that animal owners who violate control and treatment of animal ordinances three times within a 12-month period have a mandatory arraignment before a judge. Currently, owners are just required to pay a fine. “We feel that if you’ve
been cited three times and you’re not doing anything to change the behavior, we need to take an additional step,” said City Attorney Scott Bloom. “That additional step is to make the person go to an arraignment before a judge. Oftentimes, the judge will
talk to people and sometimes they will listen to the judges more than they’ll listen to animal control officers.” The ordinance also clarifies the definition of a “vicious animal” as an animal that has done unreasonable harm to a human or another animal in
a hostile manner or has been found to be a dangerous animal by the court twice. A dangerous animal is defined as an animal who has done harm to somebody, whether it was in a playful or hostile manner. Bloom said the clarification is See KENAI, page A3
Gov. proposes redirecting money Troopers looking for from fishing communities to state suspect in car theft
By KEVIN BAIRD Juneau Empire
The governor is proposing taking fishing tax money from municipalities and directing it to the state to help balance his budget. Senate Bill 63, backed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, would repeal a revenue sharing provision that is written into the state’s fisheries business tax.
Should the bill pass, the state coffers would gain an additional $29.1 million in 2020, according to a fiscal note attached to the bill. Every year, 50 percent of the fisheries business tax revenue is distributed to Alaska’s fishing communities. The amount each community receives hinges on the how much fish was taxed in that community. If SB 63 passes,
the revenue sharing program would end. It is one of many bills that are being proposed to change Alaska statutes so that Dunleavy’s budget proposal is feasible. The City and Borough of Juneau receives about $400,000 annually as part of this fisheries tax revenue sharing program, according to CBJ Finance Director Bob
See FISH, page A3
By BRIAN MAZUREK Peninsula Clarion
Alaska State Troopers are currently searching for a man suspected of stealing a woman’s 1998 Ford Expedition, according to an affidavit filed at the Kenai courthouse on Feb. 20. Bryon Polkoski, 32, allegedly stole a woman’s car
after agreeing to fix it for her. On Feb. 18, the woman reported her car stolen to troopers only to discover it had already been towed and taken to a location in Sterling. According to the affidavit, she had discovered her car was missing on the morning of Feb. 11 and believed that Polkoski had See CAR, page A3