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P E N I N S U L A
Monday, December 3, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 55
Peninsula schools to start late due to weather conditions Weather conditions have prompted schools across the peninsula to delay school times on Monday, Dec. 3. All Kenai Peninsula Borough School District schools will have a twohour delay. A two-hour delay means that buses run two hours later than normal, school begins two hours later than normal, and staff arrives at school two hours later than normal. Parents and guardians who decide — based on weather conditions — to keep their child at home, should call schools to let them know. Absences will be excused. If weather and road conditions warrant a full closure, an announcement will be made by 7 a.m. The Kenai River Campus in Soldotna will also have a two-delay in start time Monday, Dec. 3, due to unsafe road conditions. This delay applies to students, staff and faculty. Director Gary J. Turner will announce any additional information as conditions change. At this time, the Kachemak Bay Campus in Homer will be open for regular hours, Monday, Dec. 3. — Staff
In the news Walker to skip Dunleavy swearing-in Alaska Gov. Bill Walker says he and his wife will not attend Monday’s swearing-in of Gov.-elect Mike Dunleavy in the rural Alaska village of Noorvik. Walker, in a statement, says he and Lt. Gov. Valerie Davidson will stay in Anchorage to assist in ongoing recovery efforts following Friday’s magnitude 7.0 earthquake that rocked the city and surrounding areas. Walker says he discussed this with Dunleavy on Friday. Walker says he wishes Dunleavy well as Dunleavy takes office and control of recovery efforts. Walker’s term ends at noon on Monday. — Associated Press
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Officials: Food, fuel supplies not disrupted by earthquake By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — The supply chain of food and other goods delivered to the Port of Anchorage from the Lower 48 has not been disrupted by the powerful earthquake that caused widespread damage to roads in the Anchorage area. “The ships are coming in on schedule, the supply lines are at this point uninterrupted,” Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz said Sunday at a news conference. The magnitude 7.0 earthquake rattled the state’s largest city early Friday morning swaying buildings and fraying nerves. There were no reports of deaths, serious injuries or structural damage to buildings. Roads, however, took the brunt of the damage, especially the scenic Glenn High- Empty shelves where bread is normally located are shown at a grocery store in Anchorage on way, which links Anchorage to Sunday, two days after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake was centered about 7 miles north of the suburban communities to the city. Anchorage officials urged residents not to stock up and hoard supplies because the supply See QUAKE, page A3 chain of goods was not interrupted. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Resurrection Bay-based R/V Sikuliaq connects scientists to a sea of research By KAT SORENSEN Peninsula Clarion
After over a month spent docked in Seward, the R/V Sikuliaq set sail last Wednesday. The vibrant blue-hulled, 261foot oceanographic research vessel left on a 10-day trip out to the Gulf of Alaska and then down to Seattle, taking a roundabout route to pick up scientific instruments along the way before it pulls into port for a winter of maintenance. As one of just five global class ships in the University of National Oceanographic Laboratory System, the R/V Sikuliaq, pronounced see-KOO-lee-auk, can be found in waters across the world, but calls Resurrection Bay home. “The fact that we’re global class allows us to go worldwide,” said Third Mate Arthur Levine, who has been working on the R/V Sikuliaq for nearly three years. “Generally, though, we stay around here to support Alaska research… Some of the other global ships are comparable to us, but they’re not up here as much. They don’t have that inherent Alaska connection, our ability to operate in the Pacific Northwest, and up here in Alaska is our bread
The R/V Sikuliaq’s Third Mate Arthur Levine scans the entire vessel on Nov. 27 for safety concerns before the ship departs for Seattle via the Gulf of Alaska. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/ Peninsula Clarion)
and butter.” Levine has travelled north, south, east and west with the research vessel, spending a majority of the year away from his home
in Massachusetts to help facilitate the scientific research conducted with the R/V Sikuliaq. The vessel is owned by the National Science Foundation, but operated by the
University of Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, which provides logistical support from its office, the UAF Seward
See SEA, page A3
Troopers apprehend armed man on highway near Ninilchik By MICHAEL ARMSTRONG Homer News
Alaska State Troopers on Sunday took into custody an armed man involved in a stand-off near Mile 131 Sterling Highway near Ninilchik. Except for minor injuries to the suspect, no one else was injured in the incident. Troopers shut down the highway about 6:30 a.m. Sunday, after receiving reports of an armed man stopped in a green Toyota 4-Runner SUV in the middle of the northbound lane. No shots were fired in the incident. As of 12:30 p.m., troopers had opened one lane of the highway as they examined the suspect vehicle in the other lane. According to Alaska State Trooper Capt. Maurice Hughes of E Detachment, Soldotna, at about 6:30 a.m. trooper dispatch received reports of a man stopped in a car with weapons. Hughes said troopers are still investigating if the man aimed or brandished weapons at anyone. Troopers responded and saw that the man was armed. They attempted to contact the man, but backed off when he became noncommunicative. Troopers then brought in a Bearcat tactical response vehicle, an armored truck that allowed troopers to get in closer to the man so they could talk to him safely. Hughes said the man seemed to be having some sort of crisis. Troopers were unable to talk the man into coming out of his car. “That didn’t work,” Hughes said. “We deployed gas into the vehicle … He put his weapons down. We took him into custody.” Hughes said the man had blood on his hands, but he didn’t know how the man had been injured. Medics treated the man at the scene and took him to Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna. The incident remains under investigation. No charges have yet been filed and troopers have not named the suspect. At least eight officers responded, including an Alaska State Parks ranger.
Homer pot shop gets Gov. Walker discusses how fiscal crisis dominated tenure city’s OK on license By ALEX MCCARTHY Juneau Empire
Gov. Bill Walker knew he’d leave office with unfinished business. Every elected official does. But he just wishes he didn’t have to spend almost his whole four-year term as Alaska’s governor dealing with one issue. Navigating the state’s fiscal crisis took most of Walker’s time in office. As he sat in a third-floor conference room at the Alaska State Capitol and spoke to the Juneau Empire about his time in of- Gov. Bill Walker talks about his four years as governor during fice, he said that was one of an interview on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018. (Michael Penn/ See GOV, page A13 Juneau Empire)
By MEGAN PACER Homer News
A new cannabis operation in Homer is another step closer to having all the licensing it needs in order to open. 420 on Main, if fully licensed and approved by state inspectors, will be a cannabis retail, cultivation and manufacturing business located in the same building as Red Door Laundry on Main Street. It joins Uncle Herb’s in the retail market, but would be Homer’s first licensed manufacturing facility. At its Monday meeting on Nov. 26, the Homer City Council approved a memo regarding the business’ standard mari-
juana product manufacturing license. An application for the license has been submitted to the Marijuana Control Board and is up for approval at the board’s next meeting on Dec. 20 in Anchorage. Council members voted unanimously to not protest the manufacturing license. Council member Rachel Lord pointed out that the city cannot actually approve licenses, only protest them or do nothing. The establishment’s owner, Robert “Bob” Bornt, was at the meeting and thanked the council members for their decision. Hailing from Southern California, Bornt came to the area
See POT, page A13