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P E N I N S U L A
Wednesday, January 2, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 79
Avalanche warning for Turnagain Pass By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
The Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center is warning residents of a high avalanche risk for the Turnagain Pass in alpine areas, above 2,500 feet. The danger is also “considerable” at and below the treeline, according to the avalanche warning. Hurricane force wind and new snow triggered the avalanche center to pass a warning, saying that “human triggered avalanches are likely.” The warning recommends residents don’t travel in the alpine areas, above the treeline or in runout zones — the area where avalanche debris rests.
5.0 magnitude earthquake rattles Cook Inlet ANCHORAGE — A 5.0 magnitude earthquake rattled Alaska residents on New Year’s Eve but no damage or injuries are reported. The Alaska Earthquake Center says the quake occurred Monday around 6 p.m. in the Cook Inlet region. It was widely felt in Anchorage and the MatanuskaSusitna Valley. The center says the quake is an aftershock of a magnitude 7.0 Anchorage earthquake that struck on Nov. 30.
Man charged with attempted murder in Willow shooting ANCHORAGE — A man who fired shots after a road rage event nine months ago in Willow has been charged with attempted murder. KTUU reports 26-yearold William Stephens also is charged with felony assault. The April 3 shooting left 26-year-old Trent Wohlers paralyzed. Stephens is represented by the public defender’s office, which does not comment on pending cases. A message left with the Palmer public defender’s office Monday was not immediately returned. Alaska State Troopers say Wohlers and Stephens’ girlfriend at the time engaged in a road-road incident and the woman stopped at the Sunshine Clinic in Willow, where Stephens was parked. — Associated Press
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Residents rush to fill invocation slots Assembly By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Kenai Peninsula Borough residents have filled nearly all the available time slots to offer an invocation at Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meetings in 2019. April 16, when the assembly meets in Seward, and Oct. 8 are the only dates on which no one is assigned to give an invocation, according to the borough’s website. Kalliste Edeen will be offering the invocation at the Jan. 8 meeting. At the November meeting, the borough assembly voted to not appeal the Superior
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly stands in silence while Assembly President Wayne Ogle offers an invocation before the Oct. 23, 2018 meeting, in Soldotna. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
Court decision that cited the meeting, an updated invocaborough’s invocation policy as tion policy was passed to allow unconstitutional. At the same a more diverse group of people
the ability to give invocations at assembly meetings. In October, the borough lost a lawsuit against plaintiffs represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska in a fight over its invocation policy, which allowed certain groups and individuals to offer an invocation at the beginning of each meeting. The plaintiffs, Lance Hunt, an atheist, Iris Fontana, a member of The Satanic Temple, and Elise Boyer, a member of the Jewish community in Homer, all applied to give invocations after the policy was established in 2016. All three were denied because they did not belong to official organizaSee SLOTS, page A3
In 2019, Dunleavy’s promises on dividend, crime will be watched By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — Mike Dunleavy is heading into his first legislative session as Alaska’s governor, faced with trying to implement campaign promises involving politically thorny issues. During the campaign, the Republican former state senator said he wanted to reduce state spending and limit government growth. He said he wanted to pay residents a full dividend from the state’s oil wealth fund following years of reduced payouts and give them the amount they missed out on during those years. Dunleavy also said he wanted to repeal a sprawling criminal justice overhaul that he said the public had lost faith in. The legislative session starts Jan. In this Nov. 6, 2018, file photo, Alaska Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Dunleavy enters a campaign party as polls close on election day in Anchorage. (AP Photo/Michael Dinneen, file) 15.
BUDGET
bated by low oil prices, blow- ings from the oil wealth Alaska while legislators had long been Lawmakers have struggled ing through billions in savings Permanent Fund to help fill the able to take money from fund earnings, the same pot used to in recent years with how best to amid gridlock before deciding hole. This was significant because, address a budget deficit exacer- in 2018 to begin using earnSee 2019, page A3
to dedicate borough chambers in honor of Betty J. Glick
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly will be dedicating the assembly chambers in honor of former assembly member Betty J. Glick in a ceremony before Tuesday’s assembly meeting, Jan. 8. At the November meeting, the borough assembly changed the name of the assembly chambers to the Betty J. Glick Assembly Chambers in honor of the former assembly member who served from 1982-1995 and then again from 20022005. The resolution was brought by assembly Vice President Dale Bagley, who wrote in the resolution that Glick “has selflessly served the constituents of the Kenai Peninsula Borough since her arrival to Alaska in 1961.” In 1981, Glick was recognized in the “Who’s Who of American Women” for her dedication to the community, the resolution said. Glick served on the Kenai City Council, and was vice mayor of Kenai, and the chair for the Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning and Zoning Commission. While serving on the borough assembly, she was elected vice president and then president. The ceremony is at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8 at the borough building in Soldotna.
Company wants state to ban hunting near its mine JUNEAU (AP) — A mining company has asked the state to prohibit hunting near its metals mine in southeast Alaska, saying hunters are putting its workers at risk. Hecla Greens Creek Mining Co. has recommended that
the state Board of Game close a road system and related infrastructure to hunting near its facility on Admiralty Island, CoastAlaska reported last week. Workers have reported hunters firing near the mine opera-
tion, creating danger, said Mike Satre, a spokesman for Greens Creek Mine. “They are putting our employees at risk by shooting in blind areas, by leaving carcasses in places that attract bears in our work areas,” Satre
Broke probation on accident? It doesn’t matter, court rules By ALEX MCCARTHY Juneau Empire
A judge can revoke a defendant’s probation for a violation even if the defendant didn’t mean to violate his probation, the Alaska Court of Appeals has ruled. The decision stems from a ruling which Juneau Superior Court Judge Philip M. Pallenberg revoked a defendant’s probation because the man didn’t show up to a polygraph appointment. The defendant, James Allen Charles, Jr. — a convicted sex offender — claimed that he didn’t miss the appointment on
purpose, according to the Court of Appeals decision written by Judge Marjorie K. Allard on Dec. 28. He argued that a court should only revoke a defendant’s probation if the defendant willfully violates his or her probation conditions. Charles also argued that courts can’t find a defendant guilty of violating probation if the defendant is not in a rational mental state, Allard wrote. Prosecutors argued that a defendant should be held responsible for any violation that occurs, Allard wrote. The Court of Appeals disagreed in part
with both Charles and the state, stating that this is not a black and white issue. A defendant’s mental state could be a factor in whether to revoke probation, Allard wrote, as could a defendant’s “blameworthiness.” The overarching question when it comes to probation is whether there is “good cause” to revoke it, Allard wrote. To find “good cause” to revoke probation, a judge must find that allowing the defendant to remain on probation would be a threat to society, Allard wrote. To find this, a judge must See COURT, page A3
said. “And they’re in places that heavy equipment are working on a regular basis, and they’re not a hazard that we’re used to having around.” The company also has documented several near misses between hunters on bikes and
mine trucks, Satre said. They both use a single-track dirt Forest Service road. “Juneau-based hunters are using skiffs to transport bicycles and bike trailers over to the mine facility and using the See MINE, page A3
Family calls for changes in police training after shooting FAIRBANKS (AP) — Friends and family of a man shot by Fairbanks law enforcement officers are renewing their call for changes in police training protocols. About a dozen people with connections to Cody Eyre gathered on the anniversary of this death to remember Eyre, seek additional documentation related to his death and demand changes in police training, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. “We believe that how you approach someone in a mental health crisis vastly affects the outcome. In Cody’s case it was life or death,” said Eyre’s sister Samantha Eyre-Harrison at a
candlelight vigil. Eyre, 20, was shot dead in a church parking lot on Dec. 24, 2017 after police say he repeatedly refused to put down a gun and pointed it at officers. Fairbanks police and Alaska State Troopers contacted Eyre after his mother called and expressed worry for him. She said he was having a bad day and walked out of the family’s home off distress. He wouldn’t come home when she followed him in a car. She mentioned to police that Eyre was armed. According to his family, Eyre frequently carried a revolver in a waist holster and they didn’t think he was a See FAMILY, page A3