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P E N I N S U L A
Monday, February 18, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 119
$1 newsstands daily/$1.50 Sunday
House fills key roles
In the news
Calista Corp. shareholders protest Donlin gold mine BETHEL (AP) — More than 130 shareholders of Calista Corp. are protesting a massive open-pit gold mine proposed in western Alaska. The group of shareholders, all women, sent a letter to the Alaska Native corporation, citing concerns about how the Donlin Gold Mine would affect the Kuskokwim River, KYUK-AM reported Thursday. Calista owns the subsurface rights to the mine planned for the YukonKuskokwim Delta region. “We are Indigenous women of the Calista region with strong physical, emotional, and spiritual ties to the people and the land,” the letter states. “We are also Calista shareholders who are concerned with the development of the Donlin gold mine and how that will impact our salmon-spawning river.” The river is the primary food source for the region that heavily relies on subsistence. Bev Hoffman, a longtime mine opponent, led the effort to draft the letter and gather signatures. Calista signed the lease two decades ago without shareholder input, so this letter shows the corporation that not all shareholders support the mine, she said. “They say it’s going to be great for the region — I would welcome a vote from shareholders,” Hoffman said. Calista defended its support for the mine in a statement, saying its staff members also practice subsistence and have the same stake in the environmental health of the region. “We waited until science and data showed that (National Environmental Policy Act) protections and regulations worked,” the corporation said. “Further, Calista continues to support the public comment process so that concerns and questions can be raised, and more importantly, be addressed.” Donlin Gold declined to comment, saying the letter is matter between Calista and its shareholders.
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By KEVIN BAIRD Juneau Empire
Finishing kick Marly and Jeff Perschbacher finish the 20-kilometer classic ski at the Tour of Tsalteshi at Tsalteshi Trails on Sunday. For more, see Sports, A6. (Photo courtesy of Jenny Neyman/Tsalteshi Trails)
Local 4-H team competes nationally By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
A team of Kenai Peninsula teenagers represented the Alaska Livestock Team at the 2018 Western National Roundup in Denver, Colorado. The team was the first Alaska Livestock Team to compete at a National Livestock Quiz Bowl, which team member Colton Rankin describes as “family feud, but with livestock questions.” Questions test basic knowledge of livestock — identifying tweeds, breeds, hay, cuts of meat, meat equipment and other livestock-related information. Last year, the Alaska Livestock team attended another competition in Louis-
A team from the Kenai Peninsula were the first Alaska team to compete in a Western National Roundup Quiz Bowl competition, where they placed sixth among nine teams across the country. (Photo courtesy of Cassandra Rankin)
ville, Kentucky, which was Students are only althe first time the Alaska lowed to compete once in team had competed nation- each of the four segments ally. for the national competition,
which include quiz bowl, public speaking, skillathon and livestock judging. It was Destiny Martin’s first year competing with the team. She said competing nationally her first year was amazing. “I was doing what I loved,” Martin said. “It was awesome.” The team went three rounds into the double elimination competition. In the end, the team from Alaska lost to Colorado and South Dakota, but won in a landslide against Texas, eventually placing sixth out of nine teams. “We beat Texas and it was literally the best feeling,” Martin said. Cassandra Rankin, the team’s coach, said it was a See 4-H, page A2
The House of Representatives is not fully organized just yet, but several key leadership positions have been filled. It took the House a record 31 days to elect a speaker in Rep. Bryce Edgmon of Dillingham, on Thursday. He recently changed his party affiliation from Democrat to undeclared. Edgmon who chairs the Committee on Committees said he hopes to have leadership and committee assignments completed Monday. A couple assignments have been made. All of these members belong to the bipartisan House Majority Coalition: Republican Rep. Steve Thompson will be House Majority Leader. Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage will be House Rules Committee chair. Rep. Neal Foster, DNome, and Rep. Tammie Wilson, R-North Pole, will be Finance Committee cochairs. Once the committees are set, the House can start tackling legislation. For example, the House Finance Committee could start working on the budget. Kopp had been tagged as majority leader, but he switched positions with Thompson Friday morning. He called it a “mutual decision.” “I think it was a matter of preference, skill set for each position,” Kopp said. Kopp said he had more experience in dealing with “process intensive” side of things including Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure, the book of procedural rules the Alaska Legislature uses to conduct its See HOUSE, page A3
Homer mulls funding for treatment center By MEGAN PACER Homer News
The city of Homer is taking a step back after initial steps to help fund a nonprofit that wants to set up a residential treatment center in town. Set Free Alaska has been working with the Southern Kenai Peninsula
Opioid Task Force and approached the city about the possibility of establishing a center in Homer for treating addiction. It’s a faithbased program certified by the state that operates out of the Mat-Su Valley, where it already has a residential treatment program for women. The center in Homer
would be for men, Executive Director Philip Licht told the Homer City Council at a meeting last month. That’s because, in working with the opioid task force, Set Free Alaska identified residential treatment for men as the biggest gap in the Homer community. Licht told the council previously that Set Free
Alaska treats people of any religious persuasion. According to its website, “SFA provides group and one-onone counseling in conjunction with the Word of God to help guide people into a life of freedom.” This and other aspects of a proposal to help the nonprofit reach its goal through city dollars gave several council mem-
bers pause at their Feb. 11 meeting. An ordinance that would allocate more than $177,000 to Set Free Alaska so that it could apply for a state grant was set to be voted on that night, but the council voted to postpone taking action. That ordinance received extensive public See FUND, page A2
7 dead whales reported Fairbanks North Star on Kodiak Island in 2018 Borough to remove KODIAK (AP) — Seven dead whales washed ashore on Kodiak Island in 2018, according to officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The cause of death for two of the whales appeared to be predation, and blunt trauma for another two whales, including a fin whale that struck a state ferry, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported. The cause of death for the other three whales was not determined. Four of the animals were gray whales, NOAA officials said. Altogether, 18 dead
whales were reported across the Gulf of Alaska last year. That is far short of the 49 deceased whales reported in the region in 2015. The cause of that event remains unknown, but scientists have tied it to unusually warm waters in the gulf during that period. The first of last year’s Kodiak strandings was reported June 25 to the Alaska Region Marine Mammal Stranding Network. In that case, a Kodiak resident reported that the body of a gray whale calf had landed on a beach near Pasagshak Bay. The animal’s
tongue was missing, indicating it might have been a victim of a killer whale. A report of an adult gray whale washing up on another beach near Pasagshak followed June 28, with results of a necropsy suggesting blunt trauma as a possible cause of death. In early July, the body of a severely emaciated adult gray whale stranding was reported in another bay. A fourth dead gray whale washed ashore in Pasagshak Bay, with that stranding reported in early August. The head and jaws were missing, indicating it was likely killed by a killer whale.
CBD ads on buses FAIRBANKS (AP) — Advertisements for a cannabinoid commonly called CBD were mistakenly posted on public buses, said a Fairbanks North Star Borough official. The local store’s ads are being removed from the buses, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. The ads from Aurora Apothecary should not have been accepted, said borough transportation director Glenn Miller. The borough rejects potentially controversial advertisements, Miller
said. The borough does not accept ads that involve cannabis, alcohol, tobacco, politics or adult themes for borough buses, which are federally subsidized. “It’s not worth a lot of complaints,” Miller said. Miller said, however, that no one has complained about the CBD ads. CBD is credited with easing multiple health problems — a claim lacking scientific evidence. CBD is a non-intoxicating cannabis extract, unlike tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC,
See CBD, page A2