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P E N I N S U L A
Wednesday, January 23, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 97
State of the State
In the news Woman held on suspicion of manslaughter after fatal shooting ANCHORAGE — A 26-year-old woman is being held on suspicion of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide after a fatal shooting in Anchorage. Anchorage police arrested Marilyn Tilo-Maiava early Tuesday morning. Police around 12:30 a.m. took a report of a suicide at an apartment and found a man with a gunshot wound to his upper body. He was transported to a hospital, where he died. Investigators say the man had brought a handgun to the apartment, where adults and juveniles were present. The gun was passed around and handled by multiple people. As the gun was handled my Tilo-Maiava, it fired, striking the man. His name has not been released. Police say alcohol and drugs are factors in the case. Online court records do not list an attorney for TiloMaiava.
Anchorage bicyclist seriously injured in crash with car ANCHORAGE — A man on a bicycle suffered lifethreatening injuries after a crash with a car in midtown Anchorage. Police just before 8 a.m. Monday were called to Tudor Road and Arctic Boulevard. A car driving east crossed through the intersection on a green light and struck the cyclist. Police say the cyclist was pedaling south against traffic and ran the red light. Police say impairment was not a factor in the crash. The bicyclist was transported to a hospital. — Associated Press
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Dunleavy declares ‘war on criminals’, talks budget, PFD By ALEX MCCARTHY Juneau Empire
Early in his first State of the State address, Gov. Mike Dunleavy took perhaps his most aggressive stance yet in his desire to improve public safety across the state. “We’re going to declare war on criminals,” Dunleavy said, listing it as his top promise to Alaskans. A loud “woo-hoo” rose from the back right of the gallery of the House chamber at the Alaska State Capitol. Dunleavy spent a sizeable Gov. Mike Dunleavy delivers the State of the State address on chunk of his speech talking about Tuesday in the Alaska Capitol. (Michael Penn/Juneau Empire) the state’s budget, saying he wants to stop spending so freely and to create a budget that the av- honest budget,” and said the state everything is just too important erage person can understand. He has spent too freely for too long. not to fund, and where politicians talked about striving for a “real, “The days when anything and spend their time looking for ways
for you to pay for it? Those days have got to be over,” Dunleavy said. “We can no longer spend what we don’t have.” Dunleavy said he was also planning on unveiling a trio of constitutional amendments next week with the goal of building a foundation for his fiscal plan. The first, he said, is a spending limit and savings plan to limit how much money the Legislature can spend. The second is to ensure that the Permanent Fund Dividend can’t be changed without a vote from the people. The third is to make sure that taxes can’t change without a vote from the people. Immediately after Dunleavy’s speech, multiple House Democrats provided statements through a press release expressing their See STATE, page A3
Irish music concert doubles as food drive By BRIAN MAZUREK Peninsula Clarion
Next month, Musicians John Walsh, Rose Flanagan and Pat Broaders will be performing together for the second time at Kenai Peninsula College for the annual Winter Concert of Traditional Irish Music. This year the concert will also be a food drive to support the college’s food pantry, which was recently revitalized thanks to two student volunteers. Originally from Ireland, Walsh plays the tenor banjo and currently travels the country with his wife, “living freely and playing music when he can.” Before hitting the road in his RV, Walsh lived in Alaska for 30 years
been the cornerstone of the Winter Concert since its inception. Flanagan was also born in Ireland, but grew up in the Bronx, where she and her brother learned to play the fiddle from a young age. She currently teaches the fiddle at her own music school in New York. Flanagan and Walsh first got in touch 10 years ago when Flanagan taught at the Alaska Fiddle Camp. Last year, Walsh invited Flanagan to perform with him at the Winter Concert, and it was such a sucAriane Jasmine, Brett Knighten, Skyler Diehl and Diane Taylor cess that the invitation was expose inside the residence hall at Kenai Peninsula College’s tended this year as well. Kenai River Campus on Tuesday. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/ Broaders is from Ranenagh, Peninsula Clarion) Ireland, very close to where Walsh grew up. The two did where he raised his family and man. Walsh returns to Alaska to not meet, however, until both See IRISH, page A2 worked as a commercial fisher- play music frequently, and has
Board of Fisheries meeting moves from KenaiSoldotna back to Anchorage By KAT SORENSEN Peninsula Clarion
The 2020 Upper Cook Inlet Board of Fisheries meeting will convene in Anchorage after all. In an unexpected vote taken without much formal notice, the Board of Fisheries 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. At the start of the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim finfish meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 15, Board chair Reed Moriskey mentioned that the Upper Cook Inlet meeting location would be discussed. On Friday, the board reversed their March 2018 decision with a 4-3 vote, bringing the 2020 meeting back to Anchorage. Local peninsula officials, including Soldotna’s City Manager Stephanie Queen, were surprised by the sudden reversal. “After the board made the decision back in March of last year to come down to the Peninsula for the 2020 meeting we’ve been planning and making preparations to host the meetings in the Kenai-Soldotna area,” Queen said in a recorded statement to the board. “We’ve See FISH, page A2
House Speaker nominations fail on 8th day By KEVIN BAIRD Juneau Empire
The Alaska House solidified plans for a joint session to hear new Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s State of the State Address with ease, but electing a permanent Speaker
of the House remains elusive. Tuesday marked the eighth day of the 31st Legislative Session, and the rules require Speaker Pro Tempore Neal Foster, DNome, to ask for nominations. With no majority caucus, and no House Speaker and no commit-
tees formed, the House has not been able to conduct its business. Typically, House organization is completed on the first day of session. Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, nominated Healy Republican Rep. Dave Talerico for
Senators, commissioners gear up for budget challenge By ALEX MCCARTHY Juneau Empire
It’s not clear when Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s budget will be released, but budget talks are already dominating conversations at the Capitol. Two of Dunleavy’s commissioner designees — Commissioner of Administration Designee John Quick and Com-
missioner of Revenue Designee Bruce Tangeman — sat in front of the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday and answered a barrage of questions from the senators. One question, from Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, was about the $1.6 billion deficit in Dunleavy’s initial budget proposal and what Tangeman made of that. Tangeman explained that
the deficit stems from having $3.2 billion in revenues forecasted (projecting oil prices to be about $64 per barrel), and from former Gov. Bill Walker’s final budget being at $4.8 billion. Tangeman said oil revenue is projected at about $2.2 billion, and revenue from the Earnings Reserve (via a percent of market value appropriation) is projected See BUDGET, page A3
Speaker of the House. House Republicans tagged him for the position in November. His election eventually failed with the House splitting the vote 20-20. Anchorage Democrat Rep. Chris Tuck nominated Rep. Bryce Edgmon. The Dillingham
Democrat led the mostly Democrat House Majority Coalition as Speaker of the House during the previous legislative session. The House never voted on Edgmon, because Tuck eventually rescinded his nomination. See HOUSE, page A3
Proposed sex ed bill would emphasize abstinence, bar discussion of contraception By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
A bill filed in the Alaska State Legislature by Rep. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, aims to regulate sex and human reproductive education in schools across the state. House Bill 7 would encourage teaching abstinence to stu-
dents and prohibit instruction about “erotic behavior” like homosexuality, gender identity, the use of contraception and sex before marriage. The legislation would also require Alaska instructors to teach that life begins at conception. In his bill, Rauscher said people who stay abstinent preSee BILL, page A2
Nominate your favorite teacher. Now accepting nominations for the statewide BP Teachers of Excellence program. You can also nominate a principal, school nurse, teaching assistant or other school staff member for the Educational Allies Award, recognizing the unsung heroes in our schools. Nominate at bpteachers.com by February 1.
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