Doom
Goal
Islands struggle with rising seas
CIA keeps up winning ways
Nation/A5
Sports/A1
CLARION
Partly sunny 65/43 More weather on Page A2
P E N I N S U L A
Friday-Saturday, September 14-15, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 48, Issue 298
In the news US fighter jets intercept Russian bombers off Alaska ANCHORAGE — The U.S. Air Force says two of its fighter jets have intercepted and monitored Russian bombers in international air space west of mainland Alaska. The North American Aerospace Defense Command says in a statement that two F-22 Raptor fighter jets identified and intercepted two Russian TU-95 Bear bombers at 6 p.m. Alaska time on Tuesday. The bombers were accompanied by two Russian Su-35 Flanker fighter jets. The Russian aircraft did not enter U.S. or Canadian air space. NORAD commander Gen. Terrance O’Shaughnessy says radar, satellites and fighter jets are used to identify aircraft and determine appropriate responses.
Report: Rent in Kodiak highest KODIAK — An Alaska report indicates that Kodiak has the highest rent in the state this year despite its average rate of rent decreasing from the prior year. The Kodiak Daily Mirror reports the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s report released last week shows Kodiak’s average rental rate dropped from $1,433 to $1,370 this year, remaining the highest in the state. Sitka and Valdez-Cordova tied for the second highest average rent at $1,300. According to the report, rent increased in nearly all areas of the state, with the most and least expensive locations staying in line with historical trends. Kodiak’s vacancies rates increased from last year, rising to 9 percent from 6.7 percent. According to the report, losses in net migration might be the cause. — Associated Press
Correction An article in the Sept. 12 edition of the Kenai Peninsula Clarion about the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meeting contained an error. The district’s committee on health care sets rates for health insurance plans. Those rates do not have to be less than the broker’s estimates. The Clarion regrets this error.
Index Opinion .................. A4 Nation .................... A5 World ..................... A6 Religion ................. A7 Sports .....................B1 Classifieds ............. B5 Comics................... B8 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
$1 newsstands daily/$1.50 Sunday
Inaugural Affordable equipment program Harvest aims to help farmers, feed families Moon
Festival ‘celebrates progress’
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Kenai Soil and Water Conservation District are expanding their catalog of affordable agricultural rental equipment through a charitable project that benefits both farmers and the community. Three pieces of equipment, which includes a potato digger, a potato washer and a potato planter, were purchased with the assistance of grants from the Kenai Peninsula Foundation, the Rasmuson Foundation and Western SARE. The equipment can be rented to small-scale farmers for $25 day, plus a donation of 25 pounds of potatoes to the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank. It’s a small price to pay for equipment that could cost a single farmer thousands. “I couldn’t afford to buy a new potato digger,” Abby Ala, owner of Ridgeway Farms, said. The equipment works on a single row of potatoes, or another root crop, and is “infinitely faster” than the old fashioned way, Ala said. “I would harvest on my hands and knees,” Ala said. “I’m 71 years old. It would take me an hour to go halfway
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
small-scale potato farmers for years that a single row potato digger would make life so much easier,” Chay said. “I
The peninsula’s biggest food celebration commences this Saturday with live music, activities, guest speakers, cooking demonstrations, farm vendors and food trucks that will be featuring healthy dishes with Alaska-grown products. Harvest Moon Local Food Week is in its sixth year, and for the first time, the week will end in a festival. Kenai Local Food Connection, a nonprofit group of volunteers operating under Bridges Community Resource Network, organizes Harvest Moon Local Food Week. Heidi Chay of Kenai Soil and Water District, a co-sponsor of the festival, said the event celebrates progress. “We want to keep up the momentum,” Chay said. The festival will kick off Friday with a keynote speaker. From 6-8 p.m., at the Soldotna Public Library, Bryce Wrig-
See FARM, page A8
See MOON, page A8
Kenai Soil and Water Conservation District’s newest farm equipment rental is a potato digger that will cut down on labor-intensive potato harvesting for area farmers. The equipment sits ready for use at Ridgeway Farms on Thursday, near Soldotna. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/ Peninsula Clarion)
down one row.” Many small-scale farmers don’t have the funds to invest in such expensive equipment. Kenai Soil and Water Conservation District is trying to
make small-scale agriculture easier and more accessible. It took three years to get the potato digger, washer and planter equipment. “We’ve been hearing from
Thousands of Pacific walruses gather in Arctic By DAN JOLING Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — Thousands of Pacific walruses have again gathered on the northwest shore of Alaska as the Chukchi Sea approaches its annual sea ice minimum. Residents of the Inupiaq village of Point Lay on Aug. 22 reported hearing walruses, said Andrea Medeiros, spokeswoman in Alaska for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Spotters taking part in an annual aerial marine mammal survey on Aug. 30 photographed walruses on a barrier island near Point Lay. An estimated 25,000 animals were there, Medeiros said. “The herd is 2 to 3 miles north of the old village site on the island,” Medeiros said. “We are monitoring the herd with
the help of local people and U.S. Geological Survey staff who are on site doing research.” Walruses over the last decade have come to shore on the Alaska and Russia sides of the Chukchi Sea as sea ice diminishes because of global warming. Walruses use sea ice to rest as they dive to the ocean floor to hunt for clams and snails. When ice recedes north of the shallow continental shelf, walruses head to beaches to rest. The animals lie shoulder to shoulder and can be startled by a polar bear, airplane or hunter. Young animals, especially calves born earlier in the year, are vulnerable to being crushed in stampedes if the herd suddenly seeks refuge in the ocean. The USFWS tries to prevent stampedes by notifying pilots and boat operators to stay away
In this July 17, 2012, file photo, adult female walruses rest on an ice flow with young walruses in the Eastern Chukchi Sea, Alaska. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is monitoring Pacific walruses resting on Alaska’s northwest coast. (S.A. Sonsthagen/U.S. Geological Survey via AP, File)
from herds. James MacCracken, a USFWS supervisory biologist, said in response to questions that
about 20 carcasses from animals this year have been seen on the beach along with 30 carcasses from last year.
The agency expects to monitor walruses at the site until the animals leave, MacCracken said. The agency has received no reports of walruses gathered elsewhere on the Alaska coast or on the Russian side. Russian officials are monitoring four sites in Chukotka, he said, but have no internet access. Walruses spend winters along the edge of ice in the Bering Sea. Mature male walruses remain in the Bering Sea all year and forage from shore. In spring, adult females, young calves and many juvenile walruses migrate north all the way through the Bering Strait to feeding areas in the Chukchi Sea, often staying near the ice edge or pack ice as it recedes north. Sea ice typically melts to its summer minimum sometime See WALRUS, page A8
17 FBI agents help in search for missing Kotzebue girl By RACHEL D’ORO Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — A search that includes 17 FBI agents has yielded no sign of a 10-year-old girl who went missing in a remote, largely Inupiat Eskimo town north of the Arctic Circle on Alaska’s western coast, prompting authorities to investigate whether foul play was involved. Ashley Johnson-Barr was last seen playing with friends at a local park in Kotzebue a week ago. Her cellphone was later found a half mile from Rainbow Park, in the opposite direction as her home in the community of about 3,100 people. Since the disappearance, volunteers, Kotzebue police and others have conducted searches. A Coast Guard helicopter and aircraft from wildlife troopers also have been used.
Alaska State Troopers, the lead agency in the case, said Thursday that authorities are shifting their focus from a search and rescue mission to a lawenforcement investigation. A search also will continue around coastal areas and around access to water, troopers said. Lt. David Hanson said in a statement the probe also is looking at whether a crime might have been involved. He said authorities also need the public’s help. “We are confident that someone in this community knows what happened to Ashley and needs to come forward and share that information with us,” Hanson said. Kotzebue, 26 miles (42 kilometers) north of the Arctic Circle and 550 miles (885 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage, is a regional hub for northwest Alaska
Ashley Johnson-Barr, who was last seen leaving Rainbow Park in Kotzebue on Sept. 6 wearing a pink sweater and jeans.
villages. The town is built on a 3-milelong (5-kilometer-long) spit, and many there live a subsistence lifestyle far off the state’s lim-
ited road system, with 26 miles (42 kilometers) of local gravel roads used by vehicles in warmer months and snowmobiles in winter. The community has a chronically high unemployment rate, with the school district, state and local hospital among its major employers. Dozens of locals gathered Wednesday evening at Rainbow Park to pray and share hugs and tears over the missing girl, an honor student, Anchorage television station KTUU reported. The girl’s family could not be reached by The Associated Press Thursday. But her father, Walter “Scotty” Barr told KTUU in Kotzebue Wednesday that he didn’t know about the prayer gathering beforehand. “It goes to show the love of the community and everyone who has helped,” he said. The girl has attended Sunday
school at the Kotzebue Bible Baptist Church. Pastor Tim Ungry said the church has been taking food to the family and praying for them. “They’re keeping strong, but they need a lot of encouragement and prayer,” Ungry said. The FBI got involved in the case at the request of troopers, according to FBI spokeswoman Staci Feger-Pellessier. Altogether, 17 agents are currently assigned to the investigation, arriving this week to assist, some traveling from the Lower 48. Ten troopers and three Kotzebue police officers also are working on the case. Feger-Pellessier said earlier this week that it’s not unusual for the agency to deploy numerous agents. On Thursday, she referred questions about the case to troopers.