Kids lit
Repeat
Locals pen dinosaur book
Nelson wins Kenai Peninsula Open
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Sports/A8
CLARION
Partly sunny 64/43 More weather on Page A2
P E N I N S U L A
Monday, September 3, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 48, Issue 288
In the news Walker signs bill allowing cities to ban cellphones JUNEAU — It is already against the law in Alaska to text while driving. It also soon may be a crime to talk while behind the wheel. The Juneau Empire reports Gov. Bill Walker signed legislation last week that could keep Alaska drivers from driving and talking on the phone. The bill allows boroughs and cities to prohibit drivers from using their cellphones in school zones. The ban doesn’t become effective unless a borough passes an ordinance implementing the ban. Ordinarily, Alaska law prohibits boroughs and cities from approving ordinances that change traffic laws. This bill defines an exemption. The exemption doesn’t allow boroughs and cities to prohibit hands-free cellphone use, and it only covers someone driving a car. A borough or city can’t penalize you for talking on your cellphone while your car is parked, for example.
Men arrested after ankle monitors place them at crime scene FAIRBNAKS — Two Alaska men were arrested after their court-ordered GPS ankle monitors placed them at the scene of a burglary. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the men, both of North Pole, are each charged with felony seconddegree burglary, three counts of felony second-degree theft and misdemeanor second-degree vehicle theft following their arrest Wednesday. A criminal complaint says both men were out on bail for pending criminal cases at the time of the burglary and were wearing the ankle monitors as a condition of their release. The owner of the North Pole shop called Alaska State Troopers on Monday to report someone broke into his shop and stole a $19,000 Can-Am side-by-side utility vehicle, two rifles, a compound bow, a satellite phone, several rifle scopes, a Stihl chainsaw and a Dell laptop. — Associated Press
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Alaskans worried by deep-sea fish farms By JAMES BROOKS Juneau Empire
In a Centennial Hall listening session, Alaskans raised concerns about federal plans to boost open-ocean fish farms under a new strategic plan for the U.S. Department of Commerce. On Friday afternoon, Tim Gallaudet, acting undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, hosted a listening session at the end of a weeklong gathering of National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration experts in Juneau. NOAA is an agency of the Department of Commerce, and Gallaudet is among the figures hosting meetings across the country as part of the process that creates the strategic plan. In a speech opening the listening session, Gallaudet said the strategic plan is an “initiative to grow the American ‘blue economy.’” That phrase is used as an umbrella term that includes fisheries, oceanic tourism and
other aspects of the national economy that relate to the oceans. Gallaudet echoed the familiar refrains of the Trump Administration, saying the department is interested in deregulation and “reducing the seafood trade deficit.” President Donald Trump’s trade war with China has resulted in Chinese tariffs on Alaska seafood exported to that country, and American tariffs on processed Alaska seafood products imported from China.
“There’s some growing pains, but it’s about a free, fair and reciprocal trade policy,” Gallaudet said. Several invited panelists gently prodded Gallaudet, and by extension the Trump Administration, to stabilize trade issues. Among members of the public who offered their opinions, the issue of aquaculture was paramount. One of the goals within the strategic plan is “increase aquaculture production.” ”We will help it grow faster
by reducing regulatory burden and driving aquaculture research,” the plan states. “A strong U.S. marine aquaculture industry will serve a key role in U.S. food security and improve our trade balance with other nations.” Alaska bans fish farms, but its jurisdiction extends only to waters 3 miles offshore. Beyond that limit is federal waters, and the state ban does not apply. “We are very concerned See SEA, page A2
Kenai family works to restore historic Kenai cabin By ELIZABETH EARL Peninsula Clarion
A bent, broken old cabin with a long history is getting new life after decades of decay. A pair of workers have been carefully taking apart and numbering the logs of an old cabin on Petersen Way in Old Town Kenai, right across the street from the landmark Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church. Situated between the bluff above the north Kenai beach and the popular Veronica’s Café, many visitors know it as the sunken cabin with a “No Trespassing” sign adjacent to the road. Plenty of people have been curious about what’s going on. Roy Beaver, one of the workers restoring the cabin, said some people have approached them to ask why they’re taking it apart. “We’ve said, ‘No, no, no, it’s going back up soon,’” he said. “And they say, ‘Whew, good!’” Tim Wisniewski, who owns the property where the cabin sits with his wife Terri, said they’re planning to fully restore the cabin. Concerned about the loss of history in the Kenai
Roy Beaver drills a hole through a log as part of a reconstruction of a historic cabin near the bluff in Old Town Kenai on Wednesday. The cabin, owned by Tim Wisnewski, is one of the original buildings in the Old Town Kenai area and had long since fallen into disrepair before Wisnewski decided to restore it. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
area, he said they plan to fully restore the place with a foundation and new floorboards, reusing as many of the original logs as possible.
The little place, about 12 feet square, once belonged to Kenai’s jailer, Tommy Foster. Jim Arness, whose grandparents Allen and Jettie Petersen
Native Pride Dancers return By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
The Native Pride Arts Dance Company is returning to Kenai tomorrow for the second time. The Native Pride Dancers visited in January and performed in conjunction with the local Native Youth Olympics. Larry Yazzie, the founder, and director of Native Pride Arts said the event will be slightly different than their first visit to Alaska. Three core dancers, including Yazzie, will be in attendance, as well as two new dancers that have not been to Alaska, he said. The group will be performing the traditional Native dances and music of the American plains tribes at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, in the Kenai Middle School Auditorium. The event will feature live singing, flute music and narration. Yazzie said it’s an interactive performance. “It’s important to let the world know we are not in museums or in history books,” Yazzie said. “We are alive, and well, and strong, and resilient and proud.” Yazzie said the event helps teach attendees what it’s like to be a part of a traditional pow wow. Michael Bernard coordinated January’s event for the Kenaitze Tribe. He stumbled
lived in the cabin on the bluff, said he moved to Kenai from the Shumagin Islands when his grandparents did and lived in the cabin next door until he
across the group’s website and said he wanted to bring them up right away. “We were so pleased to have such talent from our brothers and sisters,” Bernard said. “I think everybody that was in attendance was very excited to be a part of it.” Bernard said one of the best parts about the performance was how interactive it was, and he hopes the group encourages attendees to be part of the experience again. “The performance was active and they were knowledgeable about representing cultures,” Bernard said. “It was
exciting to see the crowd involved as well.” The group has traveled across the world and has performed in all 48 contiguous states and Hawaii, but had never been to Alaska to perform before January. The event is free and open to the public. The group will also be doing a workshop with students at Kenai Middle School, prior to the event. Yazzie said the dance group is hoping to return to Kenai next January. Reach Victoria Petersen at vpetersen@peninsulaclarion. com.
See CABIN, page A2
Where dogs have their day: Cooper’s Wounded Bear Farm and Kennels By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Larry Yazzie, of the Minnesota-based Native Pride Dancers, helps lead Native Youth Olympics participants and members of the crowd in a Circle Dance during the Native Youth Olympics Invitational at Kenai Middle School in January. (M. Scott Moon/ Kenaitze Indian Tribe)
moved later moved onto his own homestead. Arness once owned and ran his accounting practice out of his grandparents’ cabin, which perches on the bluff above the Meeks Trail and the north Kenai beach. “That’s what we always called it — Tommy’s cabin,” he said. The place is small, but it has a tin roof atop the logs. Arness said he thought the tin might have come from the wreck of the Corea, a ship that ran aground near Clam Gulch bearing a load of tin. Some of the old houses in Old Town Kenai were build from or have pieces from the tin recovered from that wreck, he said. Foster wasn’t the one who built the cabin, though — it predates when he moved in, around 1946. Arness said it’s been in disrepair as long as he could remember. The Kenai Historical Society doesn’t have much information about it either, though they hope to gather more, said Kenai Historical Society President June Carter. Eventually, they may look into putting up a plaque about the cabin when
Kacey Cooper has always worked with dogs, so opening her own dog kennel was a natural fit. “For my first job I would go around the neighborhood, and for like a dime I’d walk people’s dogs or brush them,” Cooper said. “So I’ve been doing this thing my whole life.” Cooper is the owner of Cooper’s Wounded Bear Farm and Kennels, which she started in 1984. She said it began as a favor to her friends, but the need grew and so did her business. She started operating out of her garage but has since built a dedicated area for her business on her property in Kasilof. “I always liked dogs and have been working with dogs my whole life and there was nowhere for people to keep their dogs around here,” Cooper said. “On the peninsula, there was like one kennel at the time. Most of the time people left their dogs at home or left the dog with the neighbor who watched them. I started doing it for friends and then other people started asking me… it just kind of progressed from there.” Cooper’s St. Bernard, Bear,
Shop Talk was laying on her deck sleeping, when Cooper came up with the name Wounded Bear, for her business. “He was dreaming and he rolled over and fell off the deck and wounded his paw, and we were like ‘Aw, wounded Bear,’” Cooper said. “People always think that we keep wounded bears.” Q: Since opening up in 1984, have more kennels opened up in the area? A: Oh yes, a bunch of them. There’s like four or five other kennels nowadays, so it’s a growing business Q: Do you see a steady flow of dogs coming to your kennels throughout the year? A: Most of the time it’s pretty steady. It’s usually, obviously, busier during holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. I’ve given up trying to figure out when it’s going to be busy. It used to be September when everything was dead, you know, right after people went back to school, but lately it’s been really busy. Q: How have you grown since ‘84? See SHOP, page A2