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P E N I N S U L A
Thursday, January 24, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 98
In the news Alaska jobs report shows some growth in oil, gas industry JUNEAU — Alaska’s oil and gas industry experienced modest growth last month as some sectors of the economy have continued shedding jobs, according to a state jobs report. December employment numbers released Friday by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development show some losses from the recession are slowing, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported. “The negatives have, generally speaking, gotten considerably smaller, especially in negatives like oil and gas, which was a big, big loser,” said state economist Neal Fried. More people were employed in the oil and gas industry in December than the same month in 2017, Fried said. Oil industry jobs have been falling since they peaked in 2015. The labor department had predicted some growth in the industry this year. Work in the oilfields could slow down if prices drop dramatically once again and remain low. Plans for this year on oil and gas projects are probably not going to be affected “unless something really dramatic happened with price,” Fried said. “If you get started, you’re probably going to finish it,” Fried said.
2 Anchorage schools to remain closed for 2019-2020 year ANCHORAGE — Two Anchorage public schools will stay closed next year for repair of earthquake damage. KTVA reports Eagle River Elementary School and Gruening Middle School stay closed for the 2019-2020 academic year. The decision was made following a review by structural engineers. Students from both schools were relocated to other buildings in early December because of damage from the magnitude 7.0 earthquake. Gruening students are at Chugiak High School. Eagle River Elementary students are split among three schools. Anchorage Schools Superintendent Deena Bishop says their future classroom locations present a more complex problem. In a letter to parents, Bishop says the district will evaluate the benefits of keeping families together in one school or dividing students by grade levels among elementary schools as is now happening. — Associated Press
Index Opinion................... A4 Nation..................... A5 Food....................... A6 Sports......................A8 Classifieds............ A10 Comics.................. A12 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
Building community connections Project Homeless Connect brings hope, dignity to those in need By BRIAN MAZUREK Peninsula Clarion
On Wednesday, Project Homeless Connect provided much needed services and supplies to the Peninsula community. Once a year, a coalition of organizations including the Independent Living Center, Love, INC, the Lions Club and many others come together for this allday event. During the event, people in the area who struggle with homelessness or financial insecurity could get a hot meal, stock up on nonperishable food or other supplies, get in touch with various counseling and housing services, and even get a fresh hair cut — all free of charge and in one centralized location. Project Homeless Connect was first implemented in San Francisco and has since spread to communities across the country. Currently, there are Project Homeless Connect events in Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks and Kenai/Soldotna, and this year representatives from Kodiak and Homer attended with the hopes of organizing similar events in
1.50 Sunday
Kenai area legislators question Board of Fisheries decision By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Gail Kennedy, left, Jennifer Waller, and Meiko, the therapy dog from Freedom House, offer their services during Project Homeless Connect at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Wednesday. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
said that the event is the result of kind of foresight is what enables their communities. Maggie Winston with the Sol- year-round planning, research Project Homeless Connect to dotna Independent Living Center and volunteer coordination. This See PROJECT, page A3
State lawmakers from the Kenai Peninsula have banded together to question a recent Board of Fisheries proceeding, according to a press release. An unexpected vote by the Alaska Board of Fisheries, which took place with little notice, decided to move the 2020 regulatory meeting from the Kenai Peninsula to Anchorage. The meeting was originally going to be held in Anchorage, but a March 2018 vote moved the meeting to the Kenai-Soldotna area, the Clarion previously reported. In a Wednesday letter, the peninsula delegation outlined concerns the “Alaska Board of See BOARD, page A3
Borough works to extend state grant agreement for K-Selo By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Efforts to build an appropriate school in Kachemak-Selo are still going strong. The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly passed an ordinance at Tuesday’s meeting to work on extending the state agreement for their grant share of approximately $10 million for the school. K-Selo has been in need of a new school for nearly 10 years. In 2011, the village petitioned the school board for a new facility. In 2016, the state appropriated $10,010,000 for construction of the school, but in order to proceed the borough needed to provide a match. Borough residents voted down the match bond package, which was nearly $5.5 million,
Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce speaks at the Tuesday, Jan. 8 assembly meeting in Soldotna. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
last October. expires June 30. Tuesday’s orThe $10 million grant the dinance allows borough Mayor borough received from the state Charlie Pierce to work with the
state on extending the grant deadline for up to seven years. Given the extension, the ordinance says the borough will have more time to find the 35 percent match funds required by the grant to construct the school. The current school in Kachemak-Selo is made up of three borough-leased buildings and serves about 46 students. A December memo from the borough community and fiscal projects manager, Brenda Ahlberg, told the assembly that the current school has deteriorated to the point that it is no longer viable as an educational facility. The proposed new K-12 school will be 15,226 square feet, the memo said. Some residents have expressed concern about the $16 million cost for the school,
given its remoteness and small student population. However, a state statute based on the number of students dictates the size of the school, and the borough does not have the flexibility to downsize the building. Shipping in materials is also expected to increase the cost. At Tuesday’s meeting, Jason Ross of Nikiski provided public comment expressing frustration over school’s price tag. “We could probably build a road that would go back and forth and make things a lot easier for education and give them more opportunity,” Ross said. “With a brand new building — getting supplies in and out to build the thing — it sounds like it’s going to be kind of an arduous
See K-SELO, page A3
Finance director warns of future budget ‘death spiral’ By ALEX MCCARTHY Juneau Empire
Two budget officials offered differing views on the state’s fiscal situation Wednesday morning, giving senators a look into the governor’s budget process while also providing them a reminder of how serious the state’s budget deficit is. During her presentation to the Senate Finance Committee
on Wednesday, Office of Management and Budget Director Donna Arduin said the governor’s amended budget will be released Feb. 13. The governor has 30 days from the start of legislative session to release a budget plan, and Feb. 13 is the 30th day of session. Arduin didn’t offer specifics about the budget, which is still in progress, and repeatedly said to expect full information when
the budget is unveiled Feb. 13. Dunleavy’s initial budget included a $1.6 billion deficit, in large part to allow for larger Permanent Fund Dividends. Arduin says that one of the guiding principles for putting the budget together is asking departments to “do less with less” instead of asking them to do more with less money. She said her office is currently identifying each department’s
Man, son sentenced in bear killings By RACHEL D’ORO Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — An Alaska judge sentenced a man to three months in jail for his role in the slaughter of a mother bear and her two cubs in their den — actions that were caught by a research camera. Andrew Renner was sentenced Tuesday while his son Owen Renner received 30 days of suspended time in the April 2018 killings. Prosecutors say the father and son skied to the site on Esther Island in Prince William Sound, and that the son killed the mother bear in front of her two cubs and then the older man turned his rifle on the
shrieking newborns. A motion-activated camera set up outside the den as part of a bear study by the U.S. Forest Service and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game captured the carnage. The men pleaded guilty to multiple misdemeanor counts, including the illegal killing of the bears. Aaron Peterson, an assistant attorney general who prosecuted the case, said jail time in wildlife cases is unusual. “My office believes and argued for active jail time in this case because of the egregious nature of it, and the necessity of letting the public know Alaska will not tolerate poaching,” he said
Wednesday. Peterson also prosecuted a case involving an Alaska man who was sentenced in December to nine months in jail and fined more than $100,000 for poaching three moose and leaving most of the meat to rot. Andrew Renner’s attorney, Scott Sterling, declined to comment Wednesday. An attorney for Owen Renner did not immediately respond to a request for comment. At their sentencing Tuesday, Andrew Renner, 41, was ordered to pay a $9,000 fine, forfeit a pickup truck, boat and trailer, weapons, skies and cell phones. His hunting license was revoked See BEAR page A3
core mission and figuring out if that department’s expenditures match up with that mission. “Rather than asking agencies to do more with less, we’re asking them to do less with less in many instances,” Arduin said. After Arduin’s presentation, Legislative Finance Division Director David Teal spoke frankly and directly to the committee members. Teal painted
the budget situation in a much more dire light than Arduin did. Teal said the state of Alaska’s finances has been masked by savings accounts, making the deficit seem smaller than it is because the state continues to dip into savings to balance the budget. “Larger deficits mean larger unplanned draws (from savSee BUDGET, page A2
Gov unveils 4 new crime bills By KEVIN BAIRD Juneau Empire
After promising to crack down on crime in his State of the State address, Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday unveiled four bills that he hopes will reduce crime in Alaska. The bills will address sex crimes, pretrial processes, parole and prison sentences. “The No. 1 priority of this administration is public safety. And it’s really the No. 1 priority for all Alaskans,” Dunleavy said during a press conference. “It is the No. 1 job for any governor in any state to make sure the people of their state is safe.”
Alaska has seen a dramatic increase in crime during the last five years. According to the Department of Public Safety’s uniform crime report, which Dunleavy cited, the overall crime rate has increased 26 percent during the last five years. Violent crime is up 35 percent and property crime is up 23 percent during the same time period. Dunleavy said the four bills are just the beginning of the total package of crime bills he intends to bring forward. He said these bills should “plug” some of the holes that Senate Bill 91 left See GOV, page A2