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CLARION
Showers 39/30 More weather on Page A2
P E N I N S U L A
Monday, December 31, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 78
In observance of the holiday, the Clarion will not print a Tuesday, Jan. 1 edition. We wish you a happy New Year!
In the news Alaska arrest rates down for most drug crimes ANCHORAGE — A report says arrest rates in Alaska have decreased for most drug crimes in the past three decades. Alaska Public Media reports the recent fact sheet from the Alaska Justice Information Center looks at arrest data reported through Alaska law enforcement agencies between 1986 and 2017. The report shows arrests for narcotics sales and manufacturing have fallen for both men and women. In 2017, the female arrest rate was the lowest recorded in the period reviewed, while the male arrest rate was at its second lowest. Marijuana arrest rates also declined over the three decades. Arrest rates for the sale and manufacture of synthetic drugs peaked in 1998. But the Justice Information Center says there has also been a general increase over the period that was reviewed.
Judge clears the way for appeal of ruling against health law
$1 newsstands daily/$1.50 Sunday
DNR What’s your New Year’s resolution? approves In celebration of New Year’s 2019, the Clarion spoke with members of the community on their plans for 2019 and what they hope the new year Furie’s has in store for them. 2019 plans By KAT SORENSEN Peninsula Clarion
“Spend more time with my kids.”
“I want to be a better person for my upcoming son.”
“I want to be a better person.”
“I’m going to try to attend church more.”
— Danae Haley, Kenai
— Christopher Rose, Kenai
— Millynda Parbin, Soldotna
— Logan Lee Schrader, Soldotna
“Going for less sugar in my life. I’m going to be a little smarter shopping, cut things out like sweetened drinks.”
“Stop drinking so much coffee!” — Morgan Mallory, Kenai
“I want to save enough money to get a car. My job is in Kenai and I live in Soldotna.” — Chris Blair, Soldotna
— Ty Grenier, Soldotna
Photos and interviews by JOEY KLECKA
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas has approved Furie Operating Alaska’s plan for 2019, allowing the company to continue exploratory drilling in the Cook Inlet. The company’s operating plan, known as Kitchen Lights Unit 6th Plan of Development and Operations, lays out Furie’s plans to continue drilling throughout the 83,394-acre unit in the Northern Cook Inlet. The company has committed to drilling and acquiring a new development well from the Julius R. Platform and continue operations on two other wells. The plan was approved Dec. 11. In a release from the Department of Natural Resources, the company also states that by February 2019, “It will mature two prospects for exploration wells outside the Corsair Block and present them to DNR along with evidence that commercially reasonable efforts are underway to drill these wells in either See FURIE, page A2
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Texas who recently declared the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional has stayed his ruling to allow for appeals. That means “Obamacare” remains in effect while litigation continues. In a ruling issued Sunday, Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth wrote that he stands by his earlier conclusion that the entire law is invalidated by congressional repeal of its fines on people who remain uninsured, like a house of cards collapsing. However, because “many everyday Americans would ... face great uncertainty” if that ruling were immediately put into effect, O’Connor issued a stay to allow for appeals. A group of Republicanled states brought the lawsuit. A coalition of Democratic state attorneys general, led by California’s Xavier Becerra, intends to appeal. Congressional Democrats also plan to appeal.
In Juneau, residents take erosion into their own hands By ALEX MCCARTHY Juneau Empire
Some residents along a stretch of the Mendenhall River are taking the erosion on the river into their own hands. Multiple neighbors who live on Meander Way in the Mendenhall Valley are working to shore up their riverbanks to save more of their property from falling into the river, neighbor Nico Bus said Thursday. Bus estimated that around eight homeowners are pursuing some kind of solution. This has been an ongoing problem for years, as neighbors have watched the river claim more and more of their backyards. To stop this erosion, homeowners will have to pay to have contractors install netting and rocks to pro-
The view from the Staton residence on Meander Way shows the erosion caused by the Mendenhall River. (Alex McCarthy/ Juneau Empire)
tect the riverbank. This kind of installation is usually referred to as rip rap. Bus had rip rap installed on his property a few years
ago, and said that as people’s yards are disappearing, they’re becoming more compelled to go through state permitting processes to stabilize
their banks. The process involves having an open comment period where the public can weigh in and state officials can review the possible effects of installing rip rap. “The mood is, we’ve got to get it done,” Bus said. “Whoever feels the urgency is trying to go through the loops. The big question is, what will the estimate be from the contractor to do the work?” Bus said that when he installed his rip rap, it cost about $25,000. For others, it might cost more. Norm Staton, whose property has seen the worst effects, is one of the neighbors planning on installing. He’s hoping to get a project started in February along with his neighbor, and said he estimates he’ll have to pay between $40,000 and $50,000. He has been adamant that all
of the neighbors should be shoring up their riverbanks as a group effort instead of them all doing it individually at different times. “I was just hoping that I didn’t have to do this,” Staton said Thursday in reference to having to do a project of his own. “I don’t believe (doing it property by property) is the long-term solution.” The erosion has sped up in recent years in large part due to glacial flooding known as the jökulhlaup. These floods began in Juneau in 2011, as a large depression in the Mendenhall Glacier known as Suicide Basin filled with rain and meltwater and released the water into Mendenhall Lake and Mendenhall River. It’s happened every year since then, sometimes coming multiple times in a year. See EROSION, page A3
— Associated Press
Index Opinion .................. A4 Nation .................... A5 World ..................... A6 Sports .....................A7 Classifieds ........... A10 Comics................. A12
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Winter tourism gains popularity ANCHORAGE (AP) — Winter tourism is growing in Alaska. Visitor volume grew 33 percent for the fall and winter season over the past decade, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Winter business also has been up for the Alaska Railroad for the past few years, including a rise in visitors from Asia coming to see Alaska’s night sky. Ridership on winter passenger trains grew 33 percent between the winter of 20152016 and the following year, according to railroad spokeswoman Meghan Clemons. The railroad has added more Northern lights shine over Diamond Ridge on Nov. 4, in Homer. See WINTER, page A3 (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Alaska Aerospace Corporation proposes Hawaii launch site HILO, Hawaii (AP) — An Alaska-owned aerospace corporation wants to build a satellite launch site in Hawaii. An environmental assessment is being drafted for a proposed small satellite launch facility on the east side of the Big Island because the Alaska Aerospace Corporation wants to build its next site for launches closer to the equator, Hawaii TribuneHerald reported. The state of Alaska established the corporation to develop an aerospace industry. It operates the Pacific Spaceport Complex, a launch facility on Alaska’s Kodiak
Island. Mark Lester, the corporation’s president, said he’s aware other spaceport proposals have been kept grounded on the Big Island because of environmental and safety concerns from the community. He said he doesn’t want to force it on the community. “If one piece of this doesn’t make sense, this process can come to a close,” Lester said. Payloads would be between 110 pounds and 220 pounds, he said: “This is reSee SPACE, page A3