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P E N I N S U L A
Monday, January 14, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 89
In the news Moderate aftershock hits Cook Inlet area ANCHORAGE — A 5.0 magnitude earthquake rattled Alaska residents through the Anchorage area and beyond. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries after Sunday morning’s earthquake. It was an aftershock of the magnitude 7.0 Anchorage earthquake that struck on Nov. 30. The Alaska Earthquake Center says the moderate quake in the Cook Inlet area was located at a depth of about 21 miles. The center says people felt the quake throughout south-central Alaska. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, people reported feeling weak-to-moderate shaking.
Bethel panel grants permit for first marijuana business BETHEL — The owner of a marijuana store in Anchorage has cleared the first hurdle in his goal to open the first cannabis shop in a western Alaska city. KYUK-AM reports the Bethel Planning Commission granted ALASKAbuds owner Nick Miller a conditional use permit last week, finding the application met the city’s land use requirements. About eight people testified against the business at the commission meeting, citing concerns about how marijuana would affect the area’s youth and health. Miller still needs final approval from the state Marijuana Control Board. If the business gets approved next month, the Bethel City Council will have 60 days to protest the decision.
Blood Bank of Alaska opens permanent facility in Juneau JUNEAU — The Blood Bank of Alaska has opened a permanent center in Juneau. The Juneau Empire reports the facility has operated for a week and plans a grand opening Jan. 17. Blood Bank of Alaska chairman Chris Mello says organization representatives have conducted mobile blood drives in Juneau for years. The organization has about 2,000 registered donors. Two phlebotomists from Anchorage are staffing the center and the facility is looking to hire two locally. Blood Bank CEO Robert Scanlon says none of the organization’s collected blood currently is used in Juneau. Bartlett Regional Hospital receives blood from the Lower 48. However, the Blood Bank of Alaska supplies blood to 21 different hospitals throughout Alaska and to the military. — Associated Press
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Lawmakers prep for 2019 session Pre-filed bills tackle sexual assault, gender pay gap and PFD By KEVIN BAIRD Juneau Empire
The second round of pre-filed bills was released Friday morning ahead of the upcoming legislative session, some of which are trying to tackle Alaska’s high rates of sexual violence. House Bill 33, proposed by Rep. Matt Claman, an Anchorage Democrat, would do two things. It would require sex offenders and child kidnappers with convictions out of state to register as such in Alaska databases, which right now is not required by law. Second, it would bar marriage from being used as a criminal defense in sexual assault cases in which a spouse is incapacitated and in the offender’s care. Claman said in most Alaska court cases, marriage cannot be used as a defense in
bill that seeks to tighten up criminal code that concerns sexual violence. Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna; Sen.-elect Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks; and Rep. Geran Tarr, D-Anchorage, filed bills Monday addressing sexual violence. More than a third of Alaska women have experienced sexual assault. That statistic is the highest in the nation. Claman said these bills that attempt to amend the criminal code in regards to sexual violence are likely a result of the Justin Schneider case. “Here in Anchorage in particular there was a real outcry about sexual assault after the Snow coats the William Henry Seward statue outside of the Justin Schneider case,” Claman Alaska State Capitol on Friday. (Angelo Saggiomo/Juneau Em- said. “Because of the plea deal pire) he got, there was a big commua sexual assault case, except for ocrat who helped Claman with nity response. They were apthis loophole. Claman and Rep. the bill, are trying to fix that. propriately dissatisfied with his John Lincoln, a Kotzebue DemThis is the fourth pre-filed See BILLS, page A3
Alaska regulators review BP wells after oil, gas leak ANCHORAGE (AP) — Officials say state oil and gas regulators are reviewing the mechanical integrity of BP wells in northern Alaska after a well released gas and a small amount of oil in manner that appears similar to a 2017 leak. BP in Alaska spokeswoman Megan Baldino tells the Anchorage Daily News that the leak at the well on the North Slope began Dec. 6 and was stopped after two full days. Baldino says BP immedi-
See LEAK, page A3
Trump pushes back on new Russia headlines By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and JONATHAN LEMIRE Associated Press
WASHINGTON — It wasn’t the weekend that President Donald Trump wanted: largely alone at the White House, irked by a pair of startling Russia headlines and baffled that he’s not getting more credit for staying put during the partial government shutdown. Trump surprised his aides by deciding, with just a few hours’ notice, to call in to Jeanine Pirro’s show on Fox News on Saturday night to push back against coverage of his presidency on multiple fronts, particularly published reports about his approach toward Russia. Even then, the president avoided directly answering when Pirro asked whether he currently is or has ever worked for Russia. The question came after The New York Times reported that law en-
President Donald Trump leads a roundtable discussion on border security with local leaders Friday in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
forcement officials began investi- newspaper said the investigation gating, in 2017, whether Trump came after the president’s firing had been working on behalf of of FBI Director James Comey. “I think it’s the most insultRussia against U.S. interests. The
ing thing I’ve ever been asked,” Trump told Pirro, a personal friend. “I think it’s the most insulting article I’ve ever had written, and if you read the article you’ll see that they found absolutely nothing.” Trump went on to assert that no president has taken a harder stance against Russia than he has. “If you ask the folks in Russia, I’ve been tougher on Russia than anybody else, any other … probably any other president, period, but certainly the last three or four presidents,” he said. White House aides expressed regret that the president did not more clearly and forcefully deny being a Russian agent when asked by the usually friendly Fox News host, according to three White House aides and Republicans close to the White House. The three spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss private conversations.
Trump also objected to a report in The Washington Post that said he went to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin even from high-ranking officials in his own administration. The report cited unnamed current and former U.S. officials. In the Fox News interview, Trump questioned why the newspaper made such a “big deal” out of his discussions with Putin in Helsinki last summer. “Anybody could have listened to that meeting, that meeting is up for grabs.” The Russia reports came as Trump plays up his presence at the White House during the standoff with Democrats over funding for his long-promised wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. Large swaths of the government have been shut down for weeks while Trump and Democrats in See RUSSIA, page A3
New study renews interest in fluoride debate BY BEN HOHENSTATT Juneau Empire
After Juneau stopped adding fluoride to drinking water in 2007, Dr. David Logan says he quickly saw an increase in patients with cavities. Now executive director for the Alaska Dental Society, Logan practiced dentistry in Juneau for 28 years and his retirement came in 2013 — about six years after the City and Borough of Juneau stopped fluoridation.
“I saw almost immediate effects in the adult population,” he said in a recent interview. In many communities in Alaska and the U.S., the mineral fluoride is added to drinking water in an effort to promote better dental health. About two-thirds of the country’s population and half of Alaskans receive fluoridated water, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fluoridation stopped in Juneau back in January 2007. But even today, 12 years later,
the issue flares up. Right now fluoridation is receiving renewed scrutiny after a recent study that examined dental health in Juneau published in December in the journal BMC Oral Health “reaffirm(ed) that optimal CWF (community water fluoridation) exposure prevents dental decay.” Subsequent reporting on the study by KTOO found children under 6 are experiencing one additional cavity per year, which translates to an expense of about $300 per child.
Dr. Jessica Blanco, pediatric dentist, told the Juneau Empire she’s only been practicing in Juneau for the past three years but did work as a dental assistant when the water was fluoridated. “It certainly felt like it was a change,” Blanco said. “Studies show there is a correlation, and fluoride is an easy, kind of economic way to help strenghten teeth. I think understanding how it works is the most important thing.” Blanco, who is board-certified
through the American Board of Pediatric Dentists, said anytime someone eats or drinks something that isn’t water, even fruit, the mouth becomes acidic. That’s when cavities form. “When fluoride gets incorporated in the teeth, the Ph has to go down all the way to 3.5 before you have a breakdown of the teeth,” Blanco said. “Normally, a tooth that doesn’t have fluoride, at 5.5, you’re already getting demineralization of your teeth.” See DEBATE, page A2
Fairbanks still gets cold, but Alaska first lady makes Juneau speaking debut not for as long or as often FAIRBANKS (AP) — Temperatures in Alaska’s second-largest city dipped to the extreme last week but a weather expert who monitors them says legendary Fairbanks cold snaps are less frequent and less severe. Temperatures in some parts of Fairbanks reached -40, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported, but didn’t stay there long. Climate change and other factors have made cold snaps shorter and rarer. Rick Thoman, a climatologist at the University of
Alaska Fairbanks, said that the definition of a cold snap is somewhat “in the eye of the beholder.” When he mapped out the “great cold snaps” using the Fairbanks weather record, he defined it as weeks when temperatures averaged -40 or colder. “Cold, like so many other environmental hazards in Alaska, is often cumulative,” said Thoman. “So one cold day, OK, you just get through it. But after several days of deep cold, as things start to
really freeze up, the impacts grow.” Over the last 80 or so years, he said, there’s been a noticeable change. More recent cold snaps have been less frigid and less prolonged. Mary and Dick Bishop, who arrived in Fairbanks in the fall of 1961, experienced the city’s most intense cold snaps that December. The community averaged about -54 for the last week of the month. “Nothing’s bad after that,” said Mary Bishop, laughing. See COLD, page A3
By KEVIN BAIRD Juneau Empire
Alaska’s new first lady, Rose Dunleavy, gave her first speech in Juneau at the Reclaim Own And Renew (ROAR) Women’s Conference on Friday night at Centennial Hall. Dunleavy welcomed the women to the conference, at which Elizabeth Smart was the keynote speaker. She spoke about overcoming trauma to live her best life. Dunleavy is originally from Noorvik and has worked in the airline industry. She has been
married 30 years and has three children. Before Gov. Mike Dunleavy won the election, they lived in the MatanuskaSusitna Valley. Dunleavy’s hope for the women at the conference? She wanted them to feel empowered and know they can overcome life’s obstacles. “You’re not alone — ever. There’s a lot of women to help,” Dunleavy said before the conference began, as she gestured to the women gathered for the conference. “There’s a lot of resources, See DEBUT, page A2