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P E N I N S U L A
Monday, November 12, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 37
In the news State begins replacing Alaska Highway trussstyle bridge FAIRBANKS (AP) — A World War II-era bridge on the Alaska Highway is nearing its last days. The truss-style bridge over the Tok River has been replaced by a temporary detour bridge and will be permanently replaced with a new bridge by October 2019, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. The old bridge had exceeded its design life of 50 years, said Danielle Tessen, spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. “The cost for inspection and maintenance would exceed the cost of a new bridge,” she said. The old bridge is at Mile 1309 between Tok and the Canadian border. It was built between 1943 and 1944 and was the last truss-style bridge remaining between Canada and Anchorage. Tessen suspects the federal Alaska Road Commission hired a contractor to build the bridge. DOT hired a historian to document it. Crews began its demolition Oct. 26. Lead paint covers the bridge. Alaska has no facility to deal with that hazard, Tessen said, so scraps will be sent to the Lower 48 for abatement.
Judicial council begins process of replacing ousted judge ANCHORAGE (AP) — A state Superior Court judge ousted in the general election will be replaced by an appointee of Gov.-elect Mike Dunleavy. Anchorage television station KTVA reports Judge Michael Corey’s term in office ends 90 days after the election. Corey is barred from applying to be a judge in Alaska for four years. Alaska Judicial Council director Susanne DiPietro says the council will begin the process of recommending qualified applicants to replace Corey. Alaska voters rejected Corey after he signed off on a plea deal that let a 34-yearold man serve only one year of home confinement for assaulting an Alaska Native woman. Corey before the election addressed voters in a short video and said judges must follow the law, even when it produces a result they strongly dislike.
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Tooth rewrites Arctic’s history Grant
funding buoys school learning programs
By KEVIN GULLUFSEN Juneau Empire
A 9,000-year-old child’s tooth has reshaped scientific understanding of Alaska’s ancient people. Analyzed in a paper published Thursday, the tooth is just the second known discovery of human remains from a group of Alaska migrants known as Ancient Beringians. The group is thought to be the ancient ancestors of Alaska Natives who crossed the Bering Land Bridge that once connected Asia and Alaska, then migrated south over time. Believed to be from a 1 1/2-year-old child, the tooth was stored unanalyzed in Copenhagen, Denmark, until 2016, when Fairbanks-based National Park Service archaeologist Jeff Rasic rediscovered it. Through radiocarbon dating, Rasic discovered something remarkable: the tooth was more than twice as old as any other human specimen found in the North American Arctic. The discovery has rewritten the Arctic’s ancient history. “This one small tooth is a treasure trove of information about Alaska’s early populations, not only their genetic affinities but also their move-
By KAT SORENSEN Peninsula Clarion
A child’s tooth discovered in Trail Creek Caves, an archeological site near Deering, Alaska, has provided a window into the life of Alaska’s earliest known inhabitants. (Courtesy Photo | Jeff Rasic/NPS)
ments, interactions with other people and diet,” Rasic said. Rasic’s findings formed part of a study published in the journal Science on Thursday. The study included DNA analysis of 15 bone samples from across North and South America. The
work broadened understanding of how early inhabitants populated the Americas. When looked at side-by-side, analysis of the bone samples deepens the picture of how humans settled the western hemisphere. “Through that, you can
unlock a view of the human family tree. The family tree of ancient Native Alaskans and Native Americans,” Rasic said. Danish archaeologists first discovered the tooth in 1949 at a Seward Peninsula site known
See TOOTH, page A3
Throughout the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, several programs and activities are offered through the use of grant money. According to board documents, in the 2017 to 2018 school year, 97 grant applications were reviewed and approved for submission in Fiscal Year 2018. These include grants from Endeavor, GCI Alaska Community Foundation and the Department of Education. “Most importantly is the Project Aware grant,” said Superintendent Sean Dusek at last week’s Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meetSee GRANT, page A3
UA regents ask for $31.5M more in funding By JAMES BROOKS Juneau Empire
The University of Alaska Board of Regents is again asking for more money. In its November meeting, which concluded Friday in Fairbanks, the group approved a FY2020 budget request of $358.5 million from the state of Alaska. While that’s $20 million less than the university system received six years ago, it’s $31.5 million more than the Alaska Legislature approved for the system’s FY2019 budget. In addition to that operating increase, the regents requested $50 million in the state’s capital construction and renovation budget. The 2020 fiscal year begins July 1, 2019 and ends June 30, 2020. About $7.2 million of that proposed increase will pay for higher salaries. “Competitive compensation and benefits for our employees is extremely important,” UA President Jim Johnsen said in
a prepared statement. “There’s not been a full court analysis of compensation and benefits in many years, and no salary increases in nearly three years. This undertaking is very important to the recruitment and retention of our most important and valuable university resource — our people.” Another $1.8 million will pay for staff and resources to address sexual and racial discrimination within the university system, and $9.8 million has been earmarked for facilities maintenance. Direct state support accounts for about 37 percent of the university’s entire operating budget. In the current fiscal year, that budget stands at $888.5 million, with $331.1 million coming from fees and tuition, $143.9 million coming from the federal government and $86.5 million coming from other state funds. The direct subsidy accounts for the rest. In Juneau, the budget proposal calls for spending $525,000 of the proposed in-
University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen makes a presentation to the university’s Board of Regents at the UAS Recreation Center on Sept. 15, 2016. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire file)
crease on the new College of gram for new special education faculty member for accelerated Education. The money would teachers, prepare teachers for teacher-training programs. See UA, page A3 establish an incentive pro- rural schools, and hire a new
Alaska appeals court rules Feds sue Alaska artist against gun-case searches over sunken tugboat By JAMES BROOKS Juneau Empire
The Alaska Court of Appeals overturned an Anchorage man’s drug conviction on Friday, issuing a ruling that appears to strengthen gun owners’ Fourth Amendment protection from police searches. In their opinion on Cardenas v. Alaska, judges David Mannheimer, Marjorie Allard and John Suddock said police officers must have probable cause to believe that someone’s possession of a gun is illegal before searching their gun case without a warrant. “I think it could have fairly broad applicability,” said Tim Terrell, the attorney who pros-
ecuted the case for the state Office of Criminal Appeals. Friday’s decision comes from an incident in Anchorage involving a man named Jesus Alberto Cardenas. Cardenas was stopped by an Anchorage Police Department officer for reckless driving, and the officer asked Cardenas whether he had any firearms in the car. Cardenas said he did, and he gestured to a soft-sided rifle case in his back seat. The officer, working alone and nervous about his own safety, took the case from the car while he processed Cardenas’ registration and information through the state’s criminal database. While that was legal, what
came next was not, the judges said. The officer opened the case, searched it, and found (in addition to a rifle) “an Airsoft pellet gun, a wad of cash, a box of plastic baggies, and several plastic bags with a white powdery substance that was later determined to be cocaine.” The officer called for backup and Cardenas was arrested. In the subsequent trial, he was represented by Anchorage attorney Jane Martinez, who argued that the search was illegal, because officers did not have a warrant and there was no danger to the officer. Anchorage Superior Court Judge Michael Spaan disagreed and convicted him of
See GUN, page A3
By JAMES BROOKS Juneau Empire
The federal government is suing a Juneau artist for millions of dollars spent to raise a sunken tugboat from Gastineau Channel in 2016. On Thursday, the Aviation, Space and Admiralty Litigation section of the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in Alaska’s U.S. District Court seeking $2.5 million from Robert Robinson, better known as R.D. Robinson. Robinson is the last owner of the 96-foot WWII tugboat Challenger, which sank in the channel on Sept. 12, 2015. At the time, the complaint states, Robinson was the owner of the boat, making him responsible
for its removal from the channel. In an interview with the Juneau Empire, Robinson denied that claim, saying he had never completed a purchase from its previous owner, Tim Miles. In Thursday’s complaint, federal attorneys declare, “At all times material herein, defendant Robert D. Robinson owned the Challenger.” After the Challenger sank, the U.S. Coast Guard responded to contain lube oil and other materials leaking from the Challenger. With Robinson denying ownership, the national Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund agreed to pay for the raising and destruction of the Challenger in order to protect the See TUG, page A3