Salmon
Duel
Silver, pink fishing good on the Kenai
Mariners slide by Athletics
Tightlines/A10
Sports/A6
CLARION
Mainly clouds 59/47 More weather on Page A2
P E N I N S U L A
Thursday, August 16, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 48, Issue 273
In the news Strong earthquake rocks remote western Aleutian islands ANCHORAGE (AP) — The Alaska Earthquake Center says a strong earthquake rocked an area of the remote Aleutian Islands. The center recorded the quake at a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 and its depth at 7 miles (11 kilometers). The epicenter was 75 miles (120 kilometers) southwest of Adak in the Andreanof Islands, an island group near the west end of the Aleutians. No damage was reported. The epicenter was more than 1,200 miles (1930 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage.
Marijuana board taking comments for onsite use draft
$1 newsstands daily/$1.50 Sunday
Candidates finalized for municipal election By ELIZABETH EARL Peninsula Clarion
Election season is underway in earnest on the Kenai Peninsula now, with the candidate names finalized for the regular municipal election in October and the state primary less than a week away. Candidate registrations closed for local government seats in Kenai, Soldotna, the Kenai Peninsula Borough and the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District on Wednesday afternoon. Only four races will be contested, with many seats only receiving one candidate registration. The local government seats will be decided in the election Oct. 2.
Kenai Peninsula Borough
The Kenai Peninsula Borough has three open seats of its nine-seat assembly this year as well as a number of service area board positions. On the assembly, two incumbents — Brent Hibbert of Soldotna and Kenn Carpenter of Seward — both filed for reelection as the sole candidates. A third incumbent, Willy Dunne of Homer, filed for reelection and will face Troy Jones of Homer in the Oct. 2 election for the seat representing District 9, a large district including areas from Anchor Point to Port Graham. Some of the open service area board seats did not receive any applicants — which has been a chronic problem for the service area boards — and most of those that did have only a single candidate. A single seat, Seat F on the Nikiski Fire Snow clings to a sign marking a polling place at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on See RACE, page A9 Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017 in Soldotna. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
Illness
JUNEAU (AP) — Alaska marijuana regulators will take public comment on the latest draft proposal for allowing onsite use of marijuana in authorized stores. The Marijuana Control Board voted Wednesday for a 60-day comment period and to hold a public hearing. Regulators have gone back and forth on onsite use for several years, adopting rules that contemplate onsite use but never finalizing how that would work. The draft calls for consumption areas separated from other areas of a retail store by walls and a secure door, a smoke-free place for employees and a special ventilation system. The draft also allows for outdoor consumption areas if the board finds that compatible with neighboring uses. Local governments, via ordinance or a ballot question, could bar onsite use or aspects of it, such as smoking.
Inside ‘My principles are worth far more than clearances. I will not relent.’ ... See page A5
Correction The Aug. 15 article “Surgeon General tours Dena’ina Wellness Center as part of statewide tour” mistakenly referred to Kenaitze Tribal Court Chief Judge Susan Wells as Superior Court Judge Jennifer Wells. The Clarion regrets the error.
Index Opinion................... A4 Nation/World........... A5 Sports......................A6 Tightlines.............. A10 Arts......................... B1 Classifieds.............. B3 Comics.................... B6 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
Measles found on cruise ship By KEVIN GULLUFSEN Juneau Empire
This July, 2018 photo from video provided by Project Recover shows a gun shows a portion of the coral-encrusted stern of the destroyer USS Abner Read in the waters off Kiska Island. (Project Recover via AP)
WWII shipwreck found off Alaska By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — Daryl Weathers remembers trying to pull men from the sea off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands after a U.S. Navy destroyer hit a mine left by the Japanese following the only World War II battle fought on North American soil.
The explosion, which ripped the stern off the USS Abner Read, also covered many of the men in oil, which prevented some from being rescued. “They were so slippery, you couldn’t get ahold of them,” the 94-year-old Weathers said this week from his home in Los Angeles. The remaining 250 crew members made the ship watertight, and it limped
back to the West Coast for repairs. Only one body among the 71 men killed was recovered. Nearly 75 years later, scientists using multi-beam sonar have discovered the 75-foot stern about 290 feet (88 meters) below the Bering Sea. The scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the See SHIP, page A9
A teenager visiting Alaska on a cruise ship last week had the measles, health officials say, prompting concern that passengers may spread the rarely-seen virus further. A group of passengers who may have contacted the patient disembarked in Seward from the Norwegian Jewel on Monday. On Tuesday, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services warned health care providers to look out for measles symptoms like rashes, runny noses, fevers and red eyes from passengers who may have contracted the disease. Health officials called the risk of secondary cases low. The patient was at the tail end of infectiousness when she boarded, officials said, and was placed in medical isolation shortly after boarding the ship in Vancouver, British Columbia, Aug. 6. “The reason why we notify health care providers in a situation like this, even though it’s a low-risk, is measles is so highly contagious,” State Epidemiologist Dr. Joe McLaughlin told the Empire in a Tuesday phone interview. “It spreads through the air through respiratory secretions: coughs, sneezes.” See SICK, page A9
District 29 candidates weigh in at chamber forum By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
In less than a week, Alaskans will select their party nominees in the primary election. All three candidates running for the District 29 state Senate seat, which encompasses Nikiski, Hope and Seward, debated issues from the liquid natural gas project to state income tax to funding education in a joint Soldotna and Kenai Chamber of Commerce luncheon Wednesday. Shawn Butler of Hope, who is running as an Independent, and Republican candidates Ben Carpenter and Wayne Ogle of Nikiski are hoping to replace long-time represen-
tative Mike Chenault in the Legislature. Butler is a retired Lt. Colonel Army officer who has been living in Alaska since 1991. She has worked for the University of Alaska Anchorage as an adjunct computer science professor. For several years, Butler served on the Kenai Borough Hope and Sunrise Advisory Planning Commission. She is also the president of Hope’s Chamber of Commerce. Carpenter, who has lived in Alaska for more than 30 years, is a business owner. He lives in Nikiski on a peony farm with his family. For the last 20 years, he served as a member of the Alaska Army National Guard.
Wayne Ogle is a Nikiski resident who has lived in Alaska for 14 years. He served for 24 years in the U.S. Coast Guard and worked as the public works director for the City of Kenai from 2008 until his retirement. In 2013 he was elected to represent Nikiski on the Kenai Peninsula Borough assembly and currently serves as president of the assembly. When asked what their first priority in the House seat position would be, Butler emphasized a need to look at issues in health care. “We can do a lot better job at bringing the costs down,” she said. “Health care is number one and comes with a longterm fiscal plan.”
Ogle said his focus would be on the Alaska LNG Project — a megaproject set to bring a large natural gas liquefaction plant to Nikiski — while Carpenter said his priority is to reduce the overall cost of government. All of the candidates said they do not support the Stand for Salmon campaign. Both Ogle and Butler agreed that ballot initiatives are important, while Carpenter said initiatives can be a double-edged sword. The candidates all agreed the LNG project will succeed if it is backed by partners and investors and if risks can be mitigated. “The state needs to not do this alone,” Carpenter said.
“We need our business partners involved.” “Any issues with the project need answers,” Ogle said. All three believe the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has benefits for Alaska. “ANWR is a good thing for the state,” Butler said. “I think we can open it up responsibly.” On the question of taxes, both Ogle and Carpenter opposed a state income tax. “We don’t need to be punishing our producers,” Ogle.”I think it’s abusive for people who are supporting their families.” Carpenter agreed and said money generated from a state See HOUSE, page A9