Peninsula Clarion, November 18, 2018 by Sound Publishing

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CLARION P E N I N S U L A

Sunday, November 18, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

Vol. 49, Issue 42

In the news

Heroin disguised as Christmas package seized in Anchorage ANCHORAGE — A bowling ball-sized package of heroin was mailed to Alaska disguised as Christmas boxes, U.S. prosecutors said. Don Frye Sr., 53, accepted the package containing more than 16 pounds of heroin, resulting in drug charges against him, prosecutors said. Federal authorities on Nov. 6 intercepted a package sent by mail from “David Johnson” in California to “Robert Johnson” in Anchorage, prosecutors said. The package weighed 27 pounds and cost $168.95 in postage. A narcotics-detecting dog indicated there were drugs in the parcel. Investigators with a search warrant opened the package and found two Christmasthemed cardboard boxes containing a total of 7,639 grams of heroin. On Nov. 7, law enforcement officers conducted a “controlled delivery” of the package to the home listed on the package. When officers determined the package had been opened, they converged on the home. Frye was the only one in the home, prosecutors said. He was found with a torn plastic baggie, a glass pipe and a knife. A conviction would mean a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years. A conviction on the more serious charge — possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute — could bring a term of up to life in prison and a $10 million fine, prosecutors said. —Associated Press

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Dunleavy to be sworn in above Arctic Circle By RACHEL D’ORO Associated Press

ANCHORAGE — Alaska’s newly elected governor will be sworn in above the Arctic Circle, marking a first for the state. Republican Gov.-elect Mike Dunleavy will become Alaska’s top elected official Dec. 3, when he takes the oath of office in Noorvik, a tiny Inupiat Eskimo village more than a thousand miles (1,600 kilometers) from the state capital of Juneau. Noorvik is where Dunleavy’s Alaska Native wife, Rose, grew up, and where some residents still travel by dogsled and hunt and fish for much of their food. No roads link the village of 670 to the outside world. Instead, Noorvik is accessible mostly by plane and boat, on the Kobuk River, with snowmobiles and ATVs a common

mode of transportation for locals. Dunleavy said in a statement that he and his wife chose Noorvik out of respect for her family and because of fond memories of the years they spent in rural Alaska. The couple, who have three daughters, lived in the regional hub town of Kotzebue for 13 years before the family eventually settled on 45 acres near Wasilla, north of Anchorage. “For us, it is the right thing to do — to call attention to the beauty, warmth and spirit of a part of our state many Alaskans have not experienced,” wrote Dunleavy, a former educator and state senator. Alaska is the only U.S. state with areas above the Arctic Circle, and historians and others knew of no other governors In this January 2010 file photo, the moon hangs low in the sky over the remote Inupiat Eskimo sworn in to office in the region village of Noorvik. Gov.-elect Mike Dunleavy will become Alaska’s top elected official Dec. 3, See ARCTIC, page A3 when he takes the oath of office in Noorvik. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Teachers make ends meet with 2nd jobs By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion

Arin Bowen starts her morning at Soldotna Montessori where she works as an interventionist. In the afternoon, she works as the Quest teacher at Redoubt Elementary. Her workday doesn’t end there though. She works as a referee for high school volleyball and works at Chal-

lenger Learning Center running missions and educational programs. “I have had my other jobs for several years and I just kept them to help pay for daycare and other fun bills adults get to pay,” Bowen said. While Bowen said she enjoys her side gigs, she also said she’s expecting her third child this spring, and that working long nights and on

the weekends might be hard on her family. “(The extra jobs) might make it harder to be gone for during those long nights and weekend days with two young ones and a fifth-grader at home,” Bowen said. She said her husband and parents are teachers too. “We do what we need to do,” Bowen said. Bowen isn’t the only edu-

cator who has taken up a second job. In fact, Bowen said she remembers her parents always having summer and weekend jobs, as well. “It’s nothing new for me,” Bowen said. “It’s kind of what I have always known.” Roughly 1 in 5 teachers in the U.S. have a second job, according to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The most recent National Teacher

and Principal survey from the U.S. Dept. of Education shows that 18 percent of teachers have a job outside of their school system. According to the National Education Association, average starting salaries for educators in 2016-17 was $38,617. Salaries for teachers in the Kenai Peninsula BorSee TEACH, page A2

Groups protest plans for possible lease sale By DAN JOLING Associated Press

ANCHORAGE — Federal regulators are preparing an environmental review for a possible offshore lease sale in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea and environmental groups are calling foul.

The legality of Arctic Ocean offshore lease sales is the subject of a federal lawsuit. Environmental groups say it’s irresponsible to plan lease sales ahead of a ruling. “Rather than moving ahead with expending large amounts of governmental resources for analyses and holding public

hearings for a lease sale the court may decide is illegal, the Trump Administration should wait for the court’s decision,” said Lois Epstein, Arctic program director for The Wilderness Society, in a prepared statement. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced

Thursday it would prepare the environmental review in support of a potential oil and gas lease sale in the Beaufort Sea next year. The review would analyze potential effects of leasing, exploration, development and production. A 30day public comment period runs through Dec. 17.

The agency scheduled public hearings in three Arctic coast communities followed by a hearing Dec.6 in Anchorage. “We especially need to hear from residents of the Beaufort Sea communities, letting us know how the pro-

See LEASE, page A3

Kawasaki appears to upset Alaska nets $28M Kelly in state Senate race at oil, gas lease sale By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press

JUNEAU — Republican Alaska Senate President Pete Kelly appears to have lost his re-election bid but told The Associated Press Friday that he’s leaving open the option of a recount. Ballots tallied Friday show Democratic Rep. Scott Kawasaki widening his lead to 173 votes in the Fairbanks race. As of Friday afternoon, the Division of Elections said it had the potential to receive 50 ballots from military or overseas addresses; that grouping is not broken out. Friday was the deadline for the state to receive absentee ballots mailed from within the U.S. Wednesday is the deadline to receive ballots from overseas addresses. A win by Kawasaki would leave Republicans with 13 of the Senate’s 20 seats. Democrats, however, held out some hope that a bipartisan coalition could be formed. Meanwhile, in the House race to replace Kawasaki, Re-

This Jan. 16 photo shows Alaska state Rep. Scott Kawasaki, a Fairbanks Democrat, talking on a telephone before the start of the legislative session at the state Capitol in Juneau. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

publican Bart LeBon held a 5-vote lead over Democrat Kathryn Dodge. The lead in that race has gone back and forth as ballots have been counted. Republicans last week rushed to claim control of the House, saying they had a minimum of 21 members for a new majority, assuming a win by LeBon. The current House speaker, Democrat Bryce Edgmon, said the move was prema-

ture. The House has been held the last two years by a coalition composed largely of Democrats. Jay Parmley, executive director of the Alaska Democratic party, said Democrats knew the race against Kelly would be tough. The race was expensive and hard fought. “We just couldn’t be more

See UPSET, page A3

ANCHORAGE (AP) — Alaska netted $28.1 million from its oil and gas lease sales in the North Slope and Beaufort Sea. The state received bids on 133 tracts in the North Slope covering about 350 square miles (906 square kilometers), the Alaska Journal of Commerce reported . The winning bids at the annual lease sale Thursday for the North Slope accounted for about $27.3 million, the third highest amount since 1998, said Chantal Walsh, director of the state Division of Oil and Gas. Bidders paid about $848,000 for the eight near shore tracts covering about 32 square miles (83 square kilometers) in the Beaufort Sea. The amount fell in line with historical averages, Walsh said. “We have a lot to be happy about — a very good lease sale,” Walsh said. Dominating the sealed-bid sale, Lagniappe Alaska LLC, a new player in the state, won rights to about 120 leases over a large area south of Deadhorse along the Dalton Highway. The

company based in Lafayette, Louisiana, formed in Alaska last week, according to filings with the state Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing. “We appreciate our new player,” Walsh said. No bids were placed on the three Special Alaska Lease Sale Areas, which the division put up for bids for the first time. The areas each cover multiple lease tracts and have publicly available geologic data. Compiling and advertising the areas directed more traffic to the division’s website than ever before, Walsh said. They also provided officials with insight into how to better direct interested parties to publicly available oil and gas geologic and well data, she said. Walsh said the state will continue to evaluate the concept, and a decision has not yet been made on if the areas will be put up for bid again in their current form. The federal Bureau of Land Management’s annual lease sale for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska is scheduled for Dec. 12.