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P E N I N S U L A
Thursday, November 29, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 52
In the news Alaska Air National Guard rescues 2 on Montague Island ANCHORAGE — The Alaska Air National Guard rescued two men who crashed in a small airplane on Montague Island. Anchorage television station KTVA reports the men crashed shortly after takeoff in a Cessna 172 on the island’s southwest corner and were picked up Tuesday night. The men were able to grab a tent and supplies before the airplane burned. Air Guard spokesman David Bedard says the plane’s emergency locator transmitter went off after the crash. The men also carried a satellite phone and called family members. A Pave Hawk helicopter from Joint Base ElmendorfRichardson flew through poor weather in Moose Path to find the stranded men. They were taken to Providence Alaska Medical Center. The south end of Montague Island is about 60 miles southeast of Seward.
Denny’s to close in midtown Anchorage after 44 years ANCHORAGE — A chain restaurant that has operated in midtown Anchorage for 44 years will close its doors and its operator says safety issues contributed to the decision. Anchorage television station KTVA reports the Denny’s restaurant on Benson Boulevard will close this week. The president of D of Alaska Inc., David Fickes, says the immediate cause of the closure is the refusal of the landowners to renew the restaurant lease. But he says security issues also contributed to the decision. The closure will affect 33 employees. Fickes says the company hopes to rehire them when it opens a new Anchorage restaurant. A location has not been selected. The closure leaves just one Denny’s operating in Anchorage. The company also a restaurant in Fairbanks. — Associated Press
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Support for Alaska nonprofits down, says fundraising expert By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Pierce announces new chief of staff
Nonprofit support is up across the country, but in Alaska, it’s down, Ken Miller, president of Denali FSP Fundraising Consultants told the audience at the Soldotna Chamber Luncheon on Wednesday. After graduating from college, Miller, who grew up in Anchorage, said he got involved in drinking and drugs. He said he spent approximately 17 or 18 years as a homeless person and five years behind bars. “I always like people to understand why I do what I do,” Miller said. “I’m a nonprofit consultant. I love nonprofits. I love what they do. I love how they engage the community and I love the services that they provide for their constituents or beneficiaries.” Ken Miller, President of Denali FSP Fundraising Consultants, spoke at Wednesday’s Soldotna He said it’s an interesting time Chamber Luncheon about nonprofit fundraising trends on Wednesday in Soldotna. (Photo by See RAISE, page A3 Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Seward moves toward alternative energy By KAT SORENSEN Peninsula Clarion
Walker releases funds for review of Ambler mining access
The city of Seward is looking to emulate the Alaska SeaLife Center and heat city buildings using seawater from Resurrection Bay. With the approval of an ordinance at last night’s council meeting, Seward can now accept a $725,000 grant from the Alaska Energy Authority to design and construct a ground source heat pump similar to the one used by the Alaska SeaLife Center, located in Seward. The pump will draw heat from Resurrection Bay for the Seward Community Library, City Hall Annex, City Hall and Fire Hall for an estimated savings of $25,000 a year. The ordinance also authorized a city match of $156,497, which Seward’s Interim City Manager Jeff Bridges said will come from in-kind contributions, for a total project cost of $882,497. “This has been a topic of conversation for quite a while, from my understand-
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Alaska Gov. Bill Walker is releasing money to complete an environmental review of a road to the Ambler Mining District. Walker in December 2014 halted discretionary spending on six major state projects, citing low oil prices and a large budget deficit. The projects included the Ambler road, a proposed 211mile gravel industrial road branching west from the Dalton Highway to copper and gold deposits in the Ambler Mining District. In a statement Tuesday, Walker said the district provides an immense opportunity for economic development. He says Alaska is now on firmer financial ground. The decision allows the use of $3.6 million for environmental review work. The Alaska Industrial and Development Export Authority requested the release. Walker says no additional state funding should be needed to complete the review.
City accepts grant to fund geothermal heating project
Seward is looking toward Resurrection Bay, seen here from the top of Mt. Marathon in Seward, to heat four city buildings through a heat pump system. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)
ing,” Bridges said during what we fully spend. We will cash requirements but we’d Monday’s council meeting. use in-kind contributions to like to get this project moving “That ($156,497) may not be offset some of those actual See HEAT, page A8
New finds add to ancient Homer bone collection By MCKIBBEN JACKINSKY For the Homer News
There was a time when scientists thought the southern Kenai Peninsula’s distant past, as in tens of thousands of years ago, could be described in one word: ice. Three recent discoveries of ancient bones offer support for a different perception of the peninsula: that the Homer area had been ice free during glaciations. “There’s been at least five glacial advances covering much of the Kenai Peninsula, at least thick enough to get into the Caribou Hills or even this lower area of the peninsula,” said Janet Klein, Homer author and historian, of conditions
In this photo taken on Monday, Nov. 26, Janet Klein, left, and A.J. Weber, right, compare steppe bison core horns found near Diamond Creek in Homer. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Hom-
that precluded a mammal community during the Pleistocene (two million to 10 thousand years ago). In 2015, after citizen scientists found within a span of 56 years 18 ice-age mammal fos-
sils on the southwestern peninsula, Klein and Dick Reger, a Soldotna geologist, presented an alternative view published in the Alaska Journal of Anthropology. Having documentSee BONE, page A8
On Wednesday, Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Piece announced that his new chief of staff is James Baisden, the chief of emergency services and the fire chief for the Nikiski Fire Service Area. Baisden replaces John Quick, who has served at the borough for over a year and will be leaving Dec. 3 to work in the Dunleavy administration as the commissioner of the Department of Administration. Quick said the mayor is fully confident in Baisden’s abilities. Baisden has more than 30 years of government experience.
Tribal health conference examines climate change ANCHORAGE (AP) — A conference hosted by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium aims to help communities adapt by connecting them to others on the front lines of climate change. The annual Alaska Tribal Conference on Environmental Management in Anchorage brings together tribes, nonprofit groups and state and federal agencies to address environmental issues, KTVA-TV reported Tuesday. “It’s an opportunity for communities to come together and network, and learn from each other — hear about each other’s challenges and look for innovative solutions,” said Desirae Roehl, a coordinator of the event. One of the areas of concern is food security. The changing climate in Alaska
could alter how rural residents store and prepare food. “Most specifically, the one I can think of is ice cellars,” said A.J. Salkoski of the consortium. “Up north, as the permafrost is melting, we want to make sure that food is being stored safely so that when we consume it, we’re not getting sick.” The conference also addressed issues involving solid waste, air quality, water and public infrastructure. “This is a good way for people who are working in isolated communities to share their stories and best practices, so that people aren’t kind of working in silos,” Salkoski said. “We can spread the information that’s being gathered to try to help as many people as possible.”