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Legacy Former President George H.W. Bush dies Nation/A7
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Sizzling Seward swimmer meets Olympic time Sports/B1
CLARION P E N I N S U L A
Sunday, December 2, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 54
$1 newsstands daily/$1.50 Sunday
Eastern peninsula welcomes retail cannabis By KAT SORENSEN Peninsula Clarion
As of Saturday morning, the eastern Kenai Peninsula has a retail cannabis shop. Just a half hour after opening the doors, the employees of Good Buds were explaining their products and fielding “congratulations” from customers excited about the availability of retail cannabis just outside of Seward. “People have been asking for months when we would be open, just waiting for us to get there,” said Charles Spalding, who owns Good Buds with brothers Jared and Tekoa Wallace. The shop is adjacent to SAKTown Liquor, also owned by Jared Wallace, near Herman Leirer Road — landing the store under the jurisdiction of Kenai Peninsula Borough regulations. “There’s no retail cannabis shops on this side of the peninsula,” Jared Wallace said. “They’re all over on the Kenai and Soldotna side, but we’re the first in this area. We think we’re definitely tapping into an industry here that will hopefully bring more to Seward.” Wallace said that plans for the retail cannabis store had been in the works since last December, with final licensing approval coming in time for the Dec. 1 grand opening. Throughout the winter, Good Buds will be open from 12 to 8 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday with expanded hours to come in the summer months. Wallace said he hopes Good Buds will help add year round employment to the Seward area. “If we can create five yearround jobs, excluding the owners and managers, that would be really cool,” he said. “Seward knows there is a housing and winter employment shortage, See RETAIL, page A3
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This aerial photo shows damage on Vine Road, south of Wasilla, after earthquakes Friday. Back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.0 and 5.7 shattered highways and rocked buildings Friday in Anchorage and the surrounding area, sending people running into the streets and briefly triggering a tsunami warning for islands and coastal areas south of the city. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP)
‘Maybe this isn’t going to stop’ Hundreds of aftershocks shake Southcentral following 7.0 magnitude quake By RACHEL D’ORO and DAN JOLING Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — Chris Riekena was driving his 7-yearold son to school when his car started acting up. As he pulled over, he realized the problem wasn’t his car — it was a huge earthquake. Riekena turned around to calm his son in the back seat and when he looked forward again, the road ahead of him was sinking into the earth. He pulled his son out of the car as light poles along the road swayed. By the time the shaking stopped Friday, the car just in front of his on the freeway was marooned on an island of asphalt with a huge chasm on both sides. “It was probably a good 30
The road at Mile 19 of the Kenai Spur Highway cracked down the middle after Friday morning’s earthquake. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
to 40 seconds of slow-motion later returned to the site for his disaster,” said Riekena, an en- job. gineer with the Alaska Depart“Thankfully I pulled over ment of Transportation who when I did,” he said. “I’ve
More weather on page A10
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Homer residents abandon vehicle in quake chasm
walked around the site enough over the last few hours that I’ve replayed that a few times.” Back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.0 and 5.7 cracked highways and rocked buildings Friday in Anchorage and the surrounding area, sending people running into the streets and briefly triggering a tsunami warning for islands and coastal areas south of the city. No tsunami arrived, and there were no reports of deaths or serious injuries. Aftershocks Saturday continued to fray nerves. U.S. Geological Survey Geophysicist Paul Caruso said there have been 545 aftershocks, including the 5.7 magnitude shaker that came almost immediately after Friday’s big quake. Eleven have had magnitudes of 4.5 or greater. The aftershocks should be weaker and less frequent in the
By BECKY BOHRER and LISA BAUMANN Associated Press
Homer residents got a rough wake up call Friday morning in the form of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that rattled the Kenai Peninsula, Anchorage, and surrounding areas. Some Homerites, however, got a bigger shock as they traveled through Anchorage Friday morning. Tom Sulczynski, an IT analyst with the City of Homer, and Bekah Taylor, who works at the Rum Locker, were in a car on the way to the Ted Stevens International Airport when the quake struck. Sulczynski was driving on the off ramp leading from Minnesota Drive to Walter J. Hickel Parkway. “I thought I either had a flat
JUNEAU — Republican Bart LeBon has won an Alaska state House race by one vote after a ballot recount, officials said. Before Friday’s recount, LeBon and Democrat Kathryn Dodge were tied with 2,661 votes apiece. Recount results showed LeBon with 2,663 votes while Dodge had 2,662 votes, after LeBon picked up two votes and Dodge picked up one, according to the Alaska Division of Elections. A much talked about mystery ballot found weeks ago on a table in a voting precinct ended up playing no role in the race outcome. The ballot was tossed
tire…,” he said. “Then I real- driving, it didn’t feel like a flat See CHASM, page A3 ized, no, the way the car was
See QUAKE, page A7
Republican takes House race by 1 vote
By MEGAN PACER Homer News
A car belonging to Homer resident Tom Sulczynski is trapped on a collapsed section of the offramp of Minnesota Drive in Anchorage on Friday. Sulczynski and passenger Bekah Taylor escaped the car without injury. (AP Photo/Dan Joling)
coming days, but officials can’t say for sure when they’ll stop, Caruso said. The USGS said the first and more powerful quake was centered about 7 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, with a population of about 300,000. People ran from their offices or took cover under desks. The 5.7 aftershock arrived within minutes, followed by a series of smaller quakes. “We just hung onto each other. You couldn’t even stand,” said Sheila Bailey, who was working at a high school cafeteria in Palmer, about 45 miles from Anchorage, when the quake struck. “It sounded and felt like the school was breaking apart.” Anchorage Police Chief Justin Doll said he had been told that parts of Glenn Highway, a scenic route that runs north-
Friday after officials said it was determined to be a spoiled ballot from a voter who had made a mistake on it, told officials and then filled out a new ballot. If LeBon’s win holds up, the GOP will control the House, Senate and governor’s office. Dodge has five days to decide whether to appeal the outcome to the state Supreme Court. She didn’t make a definitive comment after the recount, saying she and her team would “think on things,” the Juneau Empire reported . “People kept calling it close,” Dodge previously said of the race. “I just didn’t know it was going to be squeaky.” For the candidates, it’s been a three-week rollercoaster ride marked by lead changes before the tie was declared and by the
See HOUSE, page A3