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P E N I N S U L A
Thursday, November 22, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 46
In the news Assistant District Attorney Jason Gist appointed to Kenai Superior Court Anchorage Assistant District Attorney Jason Gist will be the next addition to the Kenai Superior Court. Gist, who has been living and practicing law in Alaska for 14 years, was appointed by Gov. Bill Walker Wednesday. Gist was one of four candidates whose names were forwarded by the Alaska Judicial Council to the governor earlier this month. Roberta Erwin, Daniel Schally and Shawn Traini were also nominated. Gist, who will replace retiring Superior Court Judge Charles Huegelet, is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. He clerked for Alaska’s Chief Justice Alexander O. Bryner, worked in private practice, and has been an Assistant District Attorney for the State of Alaska since 2008.
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Borough drops invocation fight Assembly votes 5-4 against appeal, updates speaker policy By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Tuesday night, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly voted to not appeal a Superior Court decision that cited the borough’s invocation policy as unconstitutional. The assembly also passed a resolution changing current invocation policy to allow a wider group of people the ability to offer invocations. Last month, the borough lost a lawsuit against plaintiffs represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska in a fight over its invocation policy, which allows 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 organizations with an established presence on the peninsula. They sued and the ACLU Alaska agreed to represent them. Peterson ruled the invocation policy, passed in 2016, violates the Alaska Constitution’s establishment clause, which is a mandate banning government from establishing an official religion or the favoring of one belief over another. Article 1, Section 4 of the constitution provides that “no law shall be See APPEAL, page A3
By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
Keith Hamilton of Alaska Christian College gives public testimony to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in support of the assembly appealing a Superior Court decision regarding the borough’s invocation policy, in Soldotna on Tuesday. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
Earthquake near Redoubt shakes peninsula A 5.7 magnitude earthquake shook the Kenai Peninsula Wednesday. The earthquake struck at 9:21 a.m. 65 kilometers — about 40 miles — southwest of Redoubt Volcano, according to the USGS Alaska Earthquake Center. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. — Staff report
Dunleavy picks MacKinnon for transportation commissioner JUNEAU — Gov.-elect Mike Dunleavy has named the outgoing executive director of the Associated General Contractors of Alaska as his transportation commissioner. John MacKinnon is a former deputy commissioner and married to outgoing Republican state Sen. Anna MacKinnon of Eagle River. Dunleavy’s team previously said it asked state employees who serve at the pleasure of the governor to resign and indicate if they wish to work for the incoming administration. Anchorage and Fairbanks airport managers are on the list. Dunleavy said he wants to review whether employees are a good fit for the administration and its agenda. — The Associated Press
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House race tied, ballot review continues
Live music is provided at the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank during an early Thanksgiving meal on Wednesday at its K-Beach Road facility near Soldotna. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
Giving thanks together
Food bank hosts community Thanksgiving feast
JUNEAU — The race for an Alaska House seat that will decide control of the chamber was tied Wednesday, though that tally could change with hundreds of absentee ballots going through the auditing process Friday. The Division of Elections said the review board went through ballots voted early and on Election Day in the race to succeed Fairbanks Democratic Rep. Scott Kawasaki. The board is scheduled to audit about 600 absentee ballots Friday, according to a division spokeswoman. Heading into Wednesday, Republican Bart LeBon held a five-vote lead over Democrat Kathryn Dodge. The division said the two were tied with 2,661 after Wednesday’s review, which gave Dodge six additional votes and LeBon one. Michaela Thompson, an election coordinator with the division, attributed Wednesday’s change in numbers to several factors. She said the board made adjustments based on ballots that were marginally marked and not picked up by the machine. Those were added through a hand count, she said. She said there also were ballots set aside as uncounted on Election Day after, for some reason, not going through the machine. Those were set aside in an envelope for review, she said. The division has targeted Monday for certifying the election. If the tie stands and is certified, a recount in the race would occur Nov. 30, the division said. Wednesday marked the See TIED, page A2
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Kenai By KAT SORENSEN Peninsula Clarion
In Kenai, the Friday after Thanksgiving means one thing — it’s time for Christmas. This year, the Kenai Chamber of Commerce continues their tradition with Christmas Comes to Kenai on Nov. 23. “We’re excited to have Santa back this year,” said Kenai Chamber of Commerce Director Johna Beech. “The Kenai Fire Department will be driving him over on a truck at 11
a.m. and he’ll stay until about 1:30.” Families can have their photo taken with Santa, Beech said, and will see the photos in about a week. Guests are also invited to take their own photos. “All photos are free for anyone that wants to take a photo,” she said. While Santa has some of the gifts covered, others can be bought at the Kenai Fine Arts Guild Arts and Craft Fair at Kenai Central High School
opening at 10 a.m. on Friday. The Challenger Center will also be hosting the seventh annual Holiday Bazaar. The school will be filled with local vendors and crafters for those who want to get their shopping done early. There will also be food vendors, for those who can’t stomach any more turkey. The fair will be open until 5 p.m. Starting at 6 p.m., the Electric Lights Parade will run through Old Town Kenai. See XMAS, page A3
Sienne Lautarette, left, and Emma Glassmaker welcomed Christmas to Kenai at last year’s Christmas Comes to Kenai celebration at the Kenai Visitor Center. (Photo by Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)
Ash from Mount Veniaminof prompts aviation warning By RACHEL D’ORO Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — Residents of a tiny Alaska Native community woke up to a little pre-Thanksgiving excitement Wednesday, with a neighboring volcano spewing a billowing dark cloud high into the air. The sooty emissions from Mount Veniaminof were visible from the Aleut village of Perryville nearly 25 miles to the south, locals said. But the wind was pushing the plume away from the community of 101 people.
Alaska Volcano Observatory scientists said that overnight emissions from Veniaminof generated an ash plume up to 15,000 feet. The cloud drifted more than 150 miles to the southeast. The ash emissions prompted an aviation warning. Observatory geophysicist Dave Schneider said that level of emissions would affect mostly smaller aircraft. Ash above 20,000 feet A black ash cloud from Alaska’s Mount Veniaminof passes the could threaten jet airplanes. Veniaminof is 480 miles community of Perryville on Wednesday. (Victoria Tague via AP) southwest of Anchorage on the “It’s a big, black, ugly cloud,” said of the ash, which later Alaska Peninsula. It became aclifelong resident Victoria Tague slipped behind a cloud cover. tive again in early September.
About a month ago, Perryville was dusted by drifting ash. When people saw Wednesday’s distant ash cloud from the volcano, they were “a little alarmed,” said Gerald Kosbruk, president of community’s the tribal government. “This is the most ash I’ve seen come out of it,” he said. People also heard rumbling noises coming from the volcano overnight, he said. Kosbruk and others got on the VHF radio and recommended locals get face masks ready and stock up on water in case
See ASH, page A3