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CLARION
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P E N I N S U L A
Tuesday, August 14, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 48, Issue 271
In the news No signs of Palmer man who went missing near Hope A Palmer man who disappeared near Hope on Friday was still missing Monday afternoon. Earl “Rocky” Ashworth III, 56, walked away from his campsite near Mile 56 of the Seward Highway Friday night and headed in an unknown direction, according to an Alaska State Trooper dispatch. Ashworth is a white male with blonde hair and blue eyes and was last seen wearing blue jeans and a blue T-shirt with cut off sleeves and an American eagle on the front. Troopers who conducted a hasty search of the area near where Ashworth disappeared were unable to locate him. A helicopter crew, along with volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group, and two teams of search dogs were also unable to locate Ashworth. Anyone with information relating to the whereabouts of Ashworth should contact the Alaska State Troopers or a local police department. — Staff
Driver detained after pursuit of stolen car on Parks Highway FAIRBANKS — A man in a stolen Fairbanks car was arrested after a Parks Highway pursuit more than half way to Nenana. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the driver, 30-year-old Arthur Solomon Jr., is charged with car theft and failure to stop at the direction of a peace officer. Online court records do not list his attorney. A juvenile girl also was detained. Troopers are seeking a juvenile boy who fled. Fairbanks police just after 1:30 a.m. Sunday spotted a car suspected of being in a hit-and-run crash. A license plate check revealed the car was stolen. Police followed the car across Fairbanks and it turned south onto the Parks Highway. Alaska State Troopers used spike strips to stop the car after a pursuit of more than 30 miles. — Associated Press
Gold mine could buy Cook Inlet gas By BEN BOETTGER Peninsula Clarion
Though a proposed gold mine would be more than 200 miles from the Kenai Peninsula, it would affect the region as a new buyer in Cook Inlet’s natural gas market, which has suffered from relatively low and seasonal gas demand. On Monday the parent companies of the Donlin Gold project — Barrick Gold Corporation and NovaGold Resources — announced that the Army Corps of
Engineers had given it permits under the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act. In addition, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management offered leases of the federal land through which the companies plan to build a 316-mile underground natural gas pipeline that would deliver energy during the project’s 27-year planned life. The mine, about 10 miles north of Crooked Creek village in the Kuskokwim River area, would be powered by a 227 megawatt-capacity power plant.
The pipeline to fuel it would branch from Cook Inlet’s existing natural gas pipeline system north of Beluga on the inlet’s west side. It would take about 10.8 billion cubic feet of gas per year, according to its environmental impact statement. “We don’t have a supplier lined up at the moment, but we’ve talked to various producers about supplying gas to us, so we’re pretty confident we’ll be able to secure what we need from Cook Inlet,” Donlin Gold spokesperson Kurt Parkan said.
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Gas deals remain far in the future — Donlin Gold still has more permits to receive and engineering details to work out, Parkan said. The mine would be a significant addition to the demand for Cook Inlet natural gas, potentially encouraging the region’s hydrocarbon extractors to invest in more exploration and drilling. Presently, the region’s top gas consumer is ENSTAR, which distributes about 33 billion cubic feet of gas per year to mostly residential and small commer-
cial customers. Because much of this gas is used for heating, ENSTAR’s need for gas is higher in the winter and lower in the summer, making its demand a moving target. In the past, a much greater demand came from large industrial gas users that used gas steadily throughout the year, evening out the peaks and valleys created by ENSTAR’s seasonal needs. These included the former ConocoPhillips liquefied See GOLD, page A7
‘Sassy not senior,’ Sterling seniors to host fair By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
There’s more to Sterling than a whole lot of people realize. That’s the message Jacquie Turpin, a member of the Sterling Area Senior Center Inc. board, is hoping to get out this weekend at the center’s first Sterling Street Fair. “Everything seems to happen in Soldotna,” Turpin said. “All the concerts and everything is in Soldotna. We’re a drive-by or a flyby. (The Sterling Street Fair) is a community thank you. We want something happening in Sterling.” Turpin said the event is for the entire community, not just people age 50 or older — the minimum age for membership at the Sterling Senior Center. The event is not a fundraiser, and Turpin said she’s just hoping the center breaks even. “It’s multi-generational, and that’s what we’re encouraging, not just seniors,” Turpin said. “Senior sort of has nega-
and will feature a wine and beer garden, food and craft vendors, a sip and paint event and a free concert by Troubadour North and Conway Seavey, who is from Sterling. “Part of the event is to help bring some of the younger generations into our center so they can see that we’re active, and to kind of prep them for their future and help replace us,” Sandy Bailey, a 15-year board member, said. Nearly 30 years old, the Sterling Senior Center is no stranger to its community. While it was still looking for a permanent home, the Sterling Area Citizens would host community picnics and barbecues in area parks. Before settling at 34453 Sterling Highway in 1989, the small group took turns meeting in a small log Sterling Area Senior Citizens Inc. board members and volunteers Kristie Bass, Lynn Near, cabin with no plumbing and Dee Duvall, Dale Lundell, Linda Bond, Sandy Bailey, Janet Jones and Jacquie Turpin meet to at a local church. The group discuss plans for the Sterling Street Fair at the Sterling Senior Center in Sterling on Monday. formed because residents (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion) didn’t feel comfortable driving the 15 or so miles to the SolThe fair begins Saturday at tive connotations and I think age. I think it’s absolutely true See FAIR, page A7 3 p.m. at the Senior Center, that’s so incorrect in today’s that 60 is the new 50.”
Court: Some sex offenders don’t need to register By JAMES BROOKS Juneau Empire
Some Outside sex offenders do not have to enter their names into a statewide registry, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday. In a decision that combined two cases pending before the court, justices said a strict read-
ing of the 1994 Alaska Sex Offender Registration Act does not grant the Alaska Department of Public Safety leeway when determining whether an out-of-state sex crime matches an illegal act under state law. Until the decision, it was up to DPS to determine whether someone convicted of a sex crime outside Alaska would be
required to enter their names into Alaska’s sex offender database if they moved here. Now, it’s not clear what standards will be followed. A DPS spokesman referred questions to the Alaska Department of Law. “We are still reviewing the opinion and cannot comment further at this time,” said as-
sistant attorney general Kaci Schroeder by email. “Up to this point in time, the DPS has been basically unfettered,” said Anchorage defense attorney Darryl Thompson, who represented one of the people whose cases were before the court. Thompson said he believes the decision will have a big ef-
fect on existing policy, and it is now up to the Alaska Legislature to fix the problem. “There are solutions, but I really think they’re legislative solutions,” he said. Alaska, like many states, maintains a registry containing the names and addresses of people convicted of sex crimes
See COURT, page A2
Texas chiropractors hear the Borough to test emergency alert system call of the Alaska wild beginning Wednesday
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
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Jennifer Reed said she was never coming to Alaska. A Texas native, Reed couldn’t see herself quitting her job and moving 4,000 miles away from her family. “It was not going to happen,” Reed said. Reed’s husband, however, had become enamored with the Alaskan frontier after watching a bevy of TV shows featuring life in the state, and hatched a different plan. He heard of some temporary chiropractic work in Bethel. The couple came to Alaska, became licensed in the state and began working a temporary job in the southwest Alaskan village in the summer of 2014. “We immediately fell in love with the community,” Reed said. “We just found really quickly that we felt so comfortable.” The two were previously living in Texas, and had been get-
Dr. Jennifer Reed and Dr. Adam Hawkins at Puffin Chiropractic in Old Town Kenai on Monday. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/ Peninsula Clarion)
Shop Talk ting ready to open their own chiropractor practice. After over two months in Bethel, Reed and Hawkins’ temporary positions were over. They wanted to
stay in Alaska, so they signed a three-year contract with a practice in Anchorage. At the end of 2017, as their contracts were coming to end, the two were looking to move See SHOP, page A2
The Kenai Peninsula Borough will be testing its new emergency alert system this week, the Office of Emergency Management said in a release Monday. KPB Alerts, which was first rolled out at the end of April, replaced the 20-year-old Rapid Notify system after multiple problems with the emergency response system were reported following January’s 7.9 earthquake and tsunami warning. The system wasn’t able to handle the volume of alerts that needed to be sent out in the immediate aftermath of the quake, and didn’t have the ability to text well, according to previous Clarion reporting. The flaws left some people in coastal communities without any warning at all of the potential disaster, while others in areas outside of the tsunami danger zone — like Kenai, Soldotna and Kalifornsky — got emergency alerts.
The KPB Alerts system features a number of new tools, including the ability to make geographic-specific notifications, send texts and quickly send out automatic alerts to landlines, cell phones and social media platforms. Testing of the new system will begin Wednesday and continue through Friday. During the test, residents will receive an automated phone call to landline and registered mobile phones. The call will contain a recording indicating that the call was a test and that no action is necessary. Most residents will receive calls on Wednesday between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Residents of the Borough can register their address and phone numbers online at http://alerts. kpb.us to receive alerts. Alerts are sent via phone call and text message, and are also posted under KPB Alerts on Facebook and Twitter. — Staff