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P E N I N S U L A
Wednesday, January 9, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 85
In the news PFD application system back online JUNEAU — The state has resumed accepting applications online for checks from Alaska’s oil-wealth fund after resolving what the Department of Revenue described as “software kinks.” The department in a statement said the system was brought back online late Monday after extensive testing. State revenue officials last Tuesday closed the online application system for what it described as technical issues that prevented applicants from submitting their forms. The department at the time said there were reports that some applicants had inadvertently seen personal information from other applicants who had already filed for their Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend. The department said the site would not reopen until officials were confident that submitted personal information is safe and secure. A counter on the dividend division website showed thousands of people had applied so far.
Names of Native teens added to plaque marking Denali summit ANCHORAGE — The names of two Alaska Native teenagers have been added to a plaque commemorating the first summit of North America’s highest mountain more than a century ago. Anchorage television station KTVA reports the plaque now bears the names of teens John Fredsen and Esaias George, who took part in the 1913 expedition led by Alaska Native climber Walter Harper on the mountain now known as Denali. The marker and accompanying photo are exhibited at the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. The two teenagers did not summit because they ran the base camp. But Hall of Fame director Harlow Robinson says adding their names was the right decision. He says the job they did was crucial to the expedition.
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Dunleavy stakes out priorities
Acting Fish and Game In 1st press conference, governor vows to reduce crime, restore PFD head calls for less federal control New Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy vowed to crack down on of wildlife crime and restore the full Permanent Fund Dividend during his first press conference in Jumanagement neau as governor on Tuesday. By KEVIN BAIRD Juneau Empire
Surrounded by his new cabinet members, Dunleavy outlined his administration’s priorities, chief among them repealing the controversial criminal justice measure known as Senate Bill 91. In SB 91’s place, Dunleavy plans to roll out a “serious package on public safety.” He said, criminals would be on the run, not law-abiding citizens. SB 91, enacted in law in 2016, strived to lower recidivism rates, but instead outraged many Alaskans who blamed the law for increasing crime rates while decreasing penalties for criminals. Dunleavy on Tuesday said he and his administration will make penalties tougher for those criminals who sell drugs
By DAN JOLING Associated Press
Gov. Mike Dunleavy meets with his cabinet members and gives attending media a list of his administration’s priorities at the Capitol on Tuesday. The 31st Legislative Session opens next Tuesday. (Michael Penn/Juneau Empire)
to others, especially those who prey on more vulnerable groups such as women and children. Dunleavy said that his team is working to restore the Permanent Fund Dividend in its entirety. “The PFD is not an appropriation, it’s a transfer,” Dunleavy said.
He added that this goes for the so-called “payback” PFD too. This payback PFD refers to his plan to get Alaskans the dividend money they missed out on in 2018 and 2017 due to the state using a portion of the Alaska Permanent Fund earnings to fund the state operating budget.
Dunleavy promised that his cabinet would work to produce a sustainable budget in which expenditures match revenues. He said he has already tasked each of his commissioners to rid their departments of archaic, ineffective practices and See GOV, page A2
Kenai River Brewing raises money for fire relief By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Soldotna’s Kenai River Brewing Company is joining thousands of breweries across the country in brewing up a Resilience Butte County Proud IPA to support Californians affected by the Camp wildfire. “We have a number of employees and customers who have friends and family that were affected by the fire,” Doug Hogue, owner of Kenai River Brewing Company, said. “We’re super excited to be able to participate.” The Resilience IPA is a beer made by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company out of Chico, California. Sierra Nevada shared the recipe with brewers across the nation as a way to fundraise for those impacted by the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which was the deadliest and most destructive
Patrons stand at the bar with their drinks March 31, 2017 at Kenai River Brewing Company in Soldotna. (Megan Pacer/ Peninsula Clarion file photo)
fire in the state’s history. Kenai River Brewing Company released their Resilience IPA Jan. 4, with 100 percent of
the proceeds going toward the Sierra Nevada Camp Fire Relief Fund, which will help rebuild the Butte County community. Hogue
said within the first three days, the brewery sold more than $700 worth of the beer. Kenai River Brewing followed Sierra Nevada’s recipe and made 15 barrels of the beer, Hogue said. “We brewed quite a bit,” Hogue said. “It will be available for a while, which will make a good, steady revenue stream into that fund account.” Several other breweries across Alaska are participating in the fundraiser, including Grace Ridge Brewing in Homer, 49th State Brewing in Anchorage, Anchorage Brewing Company in Anchorage, Bearpaw River Brewing Company in Wasilla, Arkose Brewing Company in Palmer, Midnite Mine Brewing Company in Fairbanks and Hoodoo Brewing Company in Fairbanks. Residents interested in tasting the Resilience IPA can find it in the Kenai River Brewing Company tasting room.
Port official charged with trying to drown daughter By RACHEL D’ORO Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — A highranking port official in Alaska’s largest city has been arrested, accused of twice trying to drown his 8-year-year-old daughter in a bathtub after telling her they would play with her rubber duckies. Todd Cowles is charged
with two counts of attempted murder in connection with a Jan. 2 incident at his family’s Anchorage home. Online court records don’t list an attorney for Cowles, who was arrested Jan. 4. Cowles, 46, told police he had been in great despair because he was having trouble at work, according to a criminal complaint.
Cowles is the engineer for the Port of Alaska in Anchorage. He is in charge of the port’s modernization project, which includes replacing aging and corroding docks, port spokesman Jim Jager said Tuesday. Almost half the cargo coming into Alaska goes through the port. “This is a personal and a private tragedy,” Jager said,
adding he was not at liberty to discuss the allegations. He said Cowles remains employed, but added the port is monitoring the case and will respond as appropriate. According to the complaint, Cowles twice tried to push his daughter’s head in the bathtub while his wife was out mailing a package, stopping both times
See PORT, page A3
ANCHORAGE — The U.S. Department of the Interior in September asked states what it could do to “restore trust and be a good neighbor.” Alaska’s acting wildlife commissioner has provided a long list of suggestions. In a 41-page memo, acting Fish and Game Department Commissioner Doug VincentLang took aim at the administration of federal laws and regulations that govern endangered species, national wildlife refuges and marine mammals in Alaska. Federal agencies have intruded into Alaska authority to manage fish and game and misinterpreted federal law, he said. “The majority are long-held issues that we have repeatedly sought resolution to without success, and that have been compounded by increasingly complex and overlapping DOI policies from previous administrations,” Vincent-Lang said in the memo to acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. Vincent-Lang was appointed by Alaska’s new governor, Republican Mike Dunleavy. In an email response to questions Tuesday, he said Bernhardt wanted comprehensive responses. “It is my hope that this letter opens a constructive dialogue and that we can build a meaningful partnership with our federal partners that respects state authorities and roles,” he said. Vincent-Lang’s suggestions were strongly criticized by a representative of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Rick Steiner said the list could have been compiled by Exxon, the Resource Development Council of Alaska or the Safari Club, an organization that promotes hunting. “The state has litigated many of these issues over the year, and lost,” Steiner said. “Now it is asking the Trump administration and Congress to fix all of this.” State and federal officials have clashed over whether Alaska’s “intensive management” practices would be extended to federal lands. State officials have conducted extensive predator control, exterminating wolves, black bears and grizzly
See FEDS, page A2
— Associated Press
Index Opinion................... A4 Nation..................... A5 Food....................... A6 Sports......................A8 Classifieds............ A10 Comics.................. A12
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Rep pre-files contraceptive access bill Guide pleads guilty to
herding bears toward clients
By BRIAN MAZUREK Peninsula Clarion
On Monday, Rep. Matt Claman (D-Anchorage) filed HB 21, which aims to provide greater access to reproductive health care and prescription contraceptives for women across the state. HB 21 requires health-care insurers, including Medicaid services, to provide coverage for prescription contraceptives and medical services necessary for those products or devices, according to a press release issued Monday. HB 21 aims to give a woman access to the contraceptive
See BILL, page A2
By DAN JOLING Associated Press
Rep. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, speaks during a legislative session at the Capitol in January 2017. (Michael Penn/Juneau Empire file photo)
ANCHORAGE — An Alaska hunting guide who instructed employees on snowmobiles to herd grizzly bears toward clients has lost his master guide’s license for life. Brian Simpson of Fairbanks, operating as Wittrock Outfitters, also was fined $35,000 and sentenced to a year of probation Thursday in Nome District Court. He also was ordered to pay $2,600 in restitution for the killing of two grizzly bears.
In a plea deal, Simpson pleaded guilty to two counts of “aiding in the commission of a violation” for using his employees to turn bears toward his hunting clients. He also pleaded guilty to three counts of guiding within the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, where hunting is allowed but guiding without a federal permit is not. The illegal actions took place on the Seward Peninsula north of Nome. Simpson, 57, conducted spring bear hunts from Shishmaref, a Chukchi Sea village See BEARS, page A2