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P E N I N S U L A
Tuesday, February 19, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 120
In the news Bystanders rescue children from freezing water BETHEL — A pair of bystanders helped rescue two young children who fell through thin ice in western Alaska. Cory LePore Sr. heard screams coming from the slough that runs near his Bethel home and behind a convenience store last week, he told KYUKAM. “I happen to look over and there was a young lady and a small boy sitting in the middle of the slough, waist deep in the water,” LePore said. LePore went over to the children and examined the ice. The freezing water was running fast underneath the surface. He didn’t know how deep it was, so he instructed the children to get to a patch of ground nearby, he said. “So I instructed them to roll and stand on some solid ground, and stand and wait,” LePore said. LePore was running to his truck to grab a pallet when saw the girl falling back into the freezing water, but then Joseph Joekay appeared. Joekay ran from the nearby store to help. “And when I was running up to my truck I heard screaming and turned around, and the young girl was started to go through the ice,” LePore said. “Right then, Joseph took off his shoes, socks, and pulled up his sweat pants and made a beeline for the young lady.” Joekay dashed into the water and carried the girl on his back. “That poor girl, she was the first one I brought up, and I slipped,” Joekay said. Joekay held the girl up as the water went up to his neck. He made it to stable land and went back for the boy. An ambulance responded, but both men said the children seemed fine after the ordeal. Mark Leary, a volunteer with Bethel Search and Rescue, said parents need to keep their children off the ice, especially when there are warm periods in between cold ones. — Associated Press
Read the latest police reports inside ... See page A11
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Knopp hosts Soldotna town hall Constituents call for resignation, recall vote By BRIAN MAZUREK Peninsula Clarion
Rep. Gary Knopp, RKenai/Soldotna, briefly returned to the peninsula from Juneau on Friday and held a town hall at the Kenai River Suites where he responded to questions and criticisms from his constituents. Knopp has been at the center of the leadership and organizational hurdles facing the Alaska House of Representatives since their session began in January. The House recently broke the record for most consecutive days without leadership before finally nominating Rep. Bryce Edgmon, NPA-Dillingham, on Thursday. Many of the citizens who spoke at Friday’s town hall questioned Knopp’s allegiance to the Republican Party based on his refusal
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Constituents listen to Rep. Gary Knopp, R-Kenai/Soldotna, during his town hall at the Kenai River Suites in Soldotna on Friday. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
to join with the other Republican representatives for what would have been a 21-person Republican
caucus. Knopp defended his recent decisions in a brief opening statement at the town hall before taking
questions from the audience. “What I did after the See KNOPP, page A3
Over coffee, educators discuss school funding, contract issues By KAT SORENSEN Peninsula Clarion
Kenai Peninsula educators are facing issues left and right. At an open meeting hosted by Kenai Peninsula Education Association President David Brighton at Resurrect Art Coffee House in Seward on Friday, local teachers, district staff and the community were invited to discuss issues facing the school district. The three main issues, Brighton said, are the state budget, the borough budget and contract negotiations. At a state level, the school district is facing cuts of nearly $325 million for education and early childhood development in Gov. Dunleavy’s proposed budget.
School board focuses on capital projects in K-Selo, Nanwalek
KPEA President David Brighton speaks to a group of educators, community members and district employees at Resurrect Art Coffee House on Friday, in Seward. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)
“That works out to 200 teachers on the peninsula,” Brighton said. “Right now we have 650 teachers. I don’t know what programs we
could keep … We don’t want to consider this; we need to fight back … I don’t want to live in Mike Dunleavy’s Alaska.”
The Kenai Peninsula Borough also plays a role in the school district’s budget, Brighton added. Each year, the borough decides how much to budget for the school district. The borough has the ability to fund up to a certain amount, called the cap, but has been funding below this cap in recent years. Brighton urged educators and parents to reach out to borough assembly members, state legislators and board of education members to reiterate the importance of funding education. He also urged teachers and the community to reach out to the district about contract negotiations. District teachers and staff are in the second semester of See COFFEE, page A11
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education revisited their six-year Capital Improvement Plan at last Monday’s school board meeting. Two projects at the top of the priority list included facility concerns with schools in K-Selo and Nanwalek. The six-year plan outlines the most important infrastructure projects in local schools from 2021– 2026. After a $5 million bond package failed at the polls, a new school for the Old Believer village of Kachemak Selo was added back to the top of the district’s capital project priority list. Currently, the district is leasing three buildings to use as the school. The buildings are not codecompliant and in disrepair, according to the project description in the six-year plan. A state grant worth more than $10 million was awarded to the borough to help offset costs for the new school, but without the $5 million in matching funds, the grant expires in June. The borough is pursuing an extension of the state’s grant to allow more time to find matching funds. At last Monday’s school board work sessions, Vice President Zen Kelly asked district director of planning and operations, David May, what building options See K-SELO, page A2
Senate Finance grills OMB, Education Commissioner By KEVIN BAIRD Juneau Empire
Sen. Lyman Hoffman called Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed cuts to education “unacceptable,” setting the tone for the Senate Finance Committee meeting Monday at the Capitol.
The committee went through a budget presentation on the Department of Education and Early Development, grilling members of the Office of Management and Budget, as well as Education Commissioner Michael Johnson. “It’s one of the key com-
ponents in the state’s budget that everyone says they support,” Hoffman, D-Bethel, said at the start of the meeting. “The budget reduces (the education budget) by over $300 million. But, to put that into perspective of what is really happening, you’re proposing to cut one
fourth of the funds … 25 percent of the budget in education. … From my viewpoint I find that completely unacceptable.” Sen. Click Bishop, RFairbanks, asked OMB Director Donna Arduin how these cuts would improve education outcomes for stu-
dents. “We’re doing this because the state is out of money and we need to balance our budget,” Arduin said. She explained how additional education funding in the current year was allocated from the Constitu-
See OMB, page A3
Murkowski knocks Green New Deal, Dunleavy eyes repeal wary of ‘PFD over everything else’ of alcohol, pot boards By MOLLIE BARNES Juneau Empire
By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski is in Juneau to address the Legislature in a joint session. She met with the Empire for an interview, where she talked about Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget, Alaska’s recession, the Green New Deal, oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, her relationship with President Donald Trump and the future of federal shutdowns. Her main point to Alaska’s legislators today? People are important. It was the same motto she
JUNEAU — Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants to repeal the boards tasked with regulating alcohol and marijuana in Alaska, according to documents from state officials. The plan was outlined in a letter to commerce department employees by commissioner Julie Anderson and in a memo from Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office director Erika McConnell. The documents say Dunleavy wants to repeal the Marijuana Control Board and the Alcoholic Bever-
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks during an interview at the Juneau Empire on Monday. (Michael Penn/Juneau Empire)
pushed to Trump in her movement to end the government shutdown last
month. “If you don’t have a See WARY, page A2
age Control Board and transfer authority and responsibilities of the boards to the commissioner. This is billed as a way to reduce the “regulatory burden in efforts to expand entrepreneurialism.” Dunleavy spokesman Matt Shuckerow said further details will be released when legislation addressing the boards is introduced. But he said Dunleavy is looking at ways to find efficiencies in government. Shuckerow said other states regulate these industries at the agency level and allow for public engagement. Mark Springer, chairman See POT, page A11