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P E N I N S U L A
Friday, January 25, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 99
$1 newsstands daily/$1.50 Sunday
Quick under scrutiny
In the news
Ninilchik Mayor’s former chief of staff faces accusations of falsifying resume man indicted Reynolds wrote that Quick was only with the company for for attempted a year as an employee and reThe validity of a commispeatedly asked for Reynolds to murder sioner designee’s resume came sign a contract that would make By ALEX McCARTHY Juneau Empire
By MICHAEL ARMSTRONG Homer News
The Kenai Grand Jury last month indicted a Ninilchik man for three counts of attempted murder stemming from an incident that happened at the Ninilchik American Legion parking lot in mid-December. In the indictment filed Dec. 19, 2018, the grand jury alleged that Ramonne E. Kirksey, 38, pulled the trigger on a .22 pistol three times while the weapon was pointed at Samuel Mireles while Mireles was trying to help two women Kirksey had confronted. The pistol did not fire and Mireles and the women were not injured. According to an affidavit by Alaska State Trooper Kevin Gill, Kirksey admitted pulling the trigger three times, but believed the safety was activated. The indictment charged Kirksey with a count of first-degree attempted murder for each pull of the trigger. Kirksey also was charged with first-degree assault, thirddegree assault, and third-degree misconduct involving weapons for being a felon in possession of a firearm (those are all felonies) and misdemeanor counts of second-degree stalking and two counts of fourth-degree assault. According to Trooper Gill’s affidavit, at about 9:05 p.m. Dec. 13, a woman called 911 reporting that Kirksey had approached her car parked at the Ninilchik American Legion. The woman spoke with Gill, and while on the phone with Gill, said Kirksey left. Another woman in the car had called Mireles for help to escort them home, Gill wrote. Kirksey then returned and confronted Mireles and left again. Troopers responded after Kirksey had left the second time. When Mireles showed up, he told Gill that Kirksey was “spitting up a storm.” Mireles told Kirksey to leave, according to the affidavit. Kirksey went back to his car, reached inside and grabbed something, and then said “all right, do something.” Mireles told troopers he went into his own car, and that when he tried to guide the women in the other car away, Kirksey blocked the cars with his own vehicle. Mireles told Kirksey to get away, and reported to Gill that Kirksey then came up to the driver’s side window, open about 3 inches, pointed a pistol at him and pulled it three times. Mireles said he heard the See MURDER, page A3
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into question Thursday in a letter from a Washington business owner. John Quick, Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s choice for Department of Administration commissioner, listed on his resume and stated during a Tuesday confirmation hearing that he owned a Washington business called Anthem Coffee & Tea/ Elements Frozen Yogurt. One of the registered owners of Anthem Coffee & Tea/ Elements Frozen Yogurt, Janie Reynolds, wrote a letter to the Alaska Senate Joint Finance and State Affairs Committee stating that Quick never had any ownership in the business.
Department of Administration Commissioner Designee John Quick, left, speaks with senators after talking to the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)
The Washington State DepartThe letter, which is dated ment of Revenue website lists Jan. 23, states that Quick was Reynolds as the co-owner, hired in July 2011 to “organize along with Larry Reynolds. and structure” the business.
Quick a part owner. Reynolds denied each time, she wrote in the letter. “After many months of promises to organize and bring structure to our company, we fired him in June 2012,” Reynolds wrote in the letter. “John never had any percentage of ownership. He had hopes of being part of the ownership structure, and would verbalize it as his reality.” Quick issued a response to Reynolds’ letter, sending a note of his own to the Alaska Senate Joint Finance and State Affairs Committee. In the letter, Quick explained that he entered into
See QUICK, page A2
Lawsuit filed against borough, mayor By BRIAN MAZUREK Peninsula Clarion
The former human resources director for the Kenai Peninsula Borough filed a discrimination lawsuit against the borough and Mayor Charlie Pierce on Monday, according to documents filed with the Kenai court. Sandra Brown alleged that she experienced disability discrimination by Pierce following her diagnosis with terminal breast
See SUIT, page A3
Borough faced little damage Soldotna school zone after November earthquake cellphone ban fails By KAT SORENSEN Peninsula Clarion
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Further assessments have found little damage to Kenai Peninsula infrastructure after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake rumbled Southcentral Alaska on Nov. 30 last year. Kenai Peninsula Borough Emergency Manager Dan Nelson said all borough buildings have been deemed safe to occupy. Initially, building managers and supervisors assessed immediate damage following the earthquake. Next, Nelson said seismic specialists conducted detailed screenings of borough buildings A crack runs through the center lane of the Kenai Spur Highand their final report was issued way near Nikiski. The highway suffered minor damage after to the borough last week. the Nov. 30, 2018, earthquake. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/ “We didn’t have damage com- Peninsula Clarion) pared to Anchorage or the MatSu, and the Kenai Peninsula was ment by an engineer, which the ski Community Center will all lucky,” Nelson said. borough will contract out. be receiving a further assessment In their report, three buildings Skyview Middle School, by an engineer in the following See QUAKE, page A3 were flagged for further assess- Kenai Middle School and Niki-
Soldotna City Council rejected an ordinance that would prohibit the use of hand-held electronic devices, like cellphones, while driving in school zones and on school property. At Wednesday night’s meeting, the ordinance failed with a 5 to 1 vote. Council member Jordan Chilson, the sole ‘yes’ vote, introduced the ordinance as a response to House Bill 333, which gave cities the ability to regulate the use of cellphones while operating a motor vehicle in active school zones and on school property. “This is kind of an issue at the high school level,” Chilson said. “They do deal with some high school students texting while driving, but it was not nearly as much of an issue as it
was at an elementary level with parents coming and sitting in these pick up lines and not necessarily putting their eyes above the wheel while moseying forward.” Other council members agreed that it is an issue, but cited a lack of ability to enforce the proposed ordinance. “I don’t see the need for another ordinance to tell people they can’t do this when they probably know by common sense that they shouldn’t be doing it,” council member Paul Whitney said. “They’re just going to continue doing it.” Several schools throughout the district have addressed the issue by putting up bright signage warning against cellphone use. Council members said the signage and further action from the school district to educate against these types of See CELL, page A3
Dunleavy picks shake up board regulating marijuana By BECKY BOHRER The Associated Press
The board that regulates Alaska’s legal marijuana industry could be shifting right, with appointments by Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy of a marijuana critic and a law enforcement officer who
would like to revisit onsite use rules. Dunleavy’s appointments of Vivian Stiver and Lt. Christopher Jaime are subject to legislative confirmation. Stiver replaces Brandon Emmett, an industry representative on the Marijuana Control Board. Jaime, an
Alaska Wildlife Trooper from Soldotna who also has worked as an Alaska State Trooper, replaces Sitka Police Chief Jeff Ankerfelt. Ankerfelt was appointed by former Gov. Bill Walker but had not yet been confirmed. The law establishing the
Sea lion bites fisherman, tries to drag him into sea By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ANCHORAGE — A sea lion lunged onto a fishing boat off the Aleutian Islands last weekend, biting a crew member on the leg and trying to pull him into the water, officials said. It marked the third time since 2017 that Steller sea lions have bitten fishermen from the community of Sand Point on their legs. Crew members on the boat Sunday afternoon when the latest attack happened took the man to a medical clinic, where he was treated for his injuries and released, Sand Point police officer David Anderson told the Anchor-
age Daily News. The newspaper reported that the crew member was helping pull up a net when the sea lion lurched up the stern ramp of the boat and bit him, attempting to drag him into the water. The newspaper said it could not immediately reach the injured man for comment Wednesday. Such attacks by sea lions are unusual, but not unheard of in recent years. In early 2018, a sea lion bit a woman in the knee as she swam in the San Francisco Bay. That followed at least two other attacks on swimmers in the San Francisco Bay in late 2017. In one of those, a sea lion bit a man’s groin area and in the other,
a sea lion bit a man’s arm. In Sand Point, a fisherman was attacked by a sea lion last fall, suffering similar injuries as the man in the Sunday attack, Anderson said. In another Sand Point attack in January 2017, a fisherman was bitten on the calf while he worked on a boat. He reported the animal tried to drag him into the water. Sand Point Harbor Master Richard Kochuten Sr. said he has no idea why sea lions have bitten people in his community. He said, however, that it’s far more common for sea lions to get on boats to grab a fish and then go back into the water without harming anyone.
five-member board calls for up to two members who are actively involved in the industry though one of those seats could go to a member of the general public. Nicholas Miller retains an industry seat. There is also a public health seat, held by Loren
Jones, and a rural seat, held by Mark Springer. Ankerfelt voted with Emmett and Miller last month in approving rules for allowing onsite use of marijuana at authorized stores. Dunleavy spokesman Matt Shuckerow has said the recent decision See BOARD, page A2
Kenai man accused of stealing laptop, truck By BRIAN MAZUREK Peninsula Clarion
A Kenai man has been charged with stealing a laptop from Walmart and a pickup truck, according to a Jan. 18 affidavit filed by the Kenai police. Jacob Darrell Snyder, 24, allegedly went to the Walmart in Kenai on Jan. 13 and took a laptop from the store without purchasing it by cutting the security cable. According to the affidavit, the loss prevention supervisor at Walmart reported to police that Snyder then returned to Walmart on Jan. 17 in a distinct pickup. The vehicle was described as a green Ford F-150 with its passenger window busted out and taped over,
and which was reported stolen on Jan.17, according to the affidavit. An officer identified the pickup in the Kenai Safeway parking lot on Jan. 18, which matched the description given. The officer confronted Snyder, who was driving the truck at the time, and questioned him about the vehicle theft and the laptop theft. According to the affidavit, Snyder claimed that he bought the truck for $200 but would not give the name of the individual who sold it to him. After further questioning, Snyder requested to speak with an attorney. Snyder faces one charge of first-degree vehicle theft, a class C felony, and one charge of second-degree theft, also a class C felony.