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P E N I N S U L A
Friday, August 10, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 48, Issue 268
In the news Murkowski: Weeks to go before she states position on nominee SITKA — Don’t expect U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski to weigh in on President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee anytime soon. The Alaska Republican told a chamber of commerce audience in Sitka that there are “many more weeks to go” before she will publicly weigh in on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination. The Daily Sitka Sentinel reports that Murkowski says she plans to visit Kavanaugh sometime in mid-August. She acknowledges the pressure that’s being placed on her by those who want Kavanaugh confirmed and those who don’t. But she says she intends to do her homework on the nominee and take into consideration the views of Alaskans. Alaska’s junior U.S. senator, Dan Sullivan, has said he plans to support Kavanaugh.
Alaska man uses teeth in selfdefense, bites suspect’s nose ANCHORAGE — An Alaska man used his teeth to defend himself and his property. Anchorage police say the man bit off part of the nose of a suspect who attempted to steal the man’s bicycle. Police just after 5 a.m. Wednesday received a report of an assault. A man and his wife were sleeping in their motorhome when they heard a sound on the roof. The man went outside and confronted a 38-year-old suspect taking a bike from a rack on the motorhome. The suspect attacked, stabbing the motorhome owner with a sharp, pointed instrument and biting him on the arm. The motorhome owner bit back. Police say he removed “a large chunk” of the suspect’s nose. Both men were treated at a hospital. Police have a warrant for the suspect’s arrest. — Associated Press
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Candidates vying for governor bring discussion to Soldotna
FCC head meets with state health care providers
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Alaska health care providers discussed rural telehealth systems this week with the Federal Communications Commission, which provides subsidies that help keep the systems in operation. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr met with the providers in Anchorage and told them the commission is raising the subsidy cap and working to process the payments more effectively, Alaska Public Media reported . Telehealth services are vital for rural health care providers in Alaska, like Dr. Rachel Lescher, a pediatric endocrinologist. Lescher is able to diagnose patients, who may be hundreds of miles away in communities not connected to the road system and unable to regularly see a doctor in person. “Trying to make people fly in with their parent escort for a Three of this year’s five Republican gubernatorial candidates — Mead Treadwell (left), Michael Sheldon, and Mike Dunleavy — half-hour, 45-minute visit evwhen it takes speak to members of the Kenai and Soldotna Chambers of Commerce on Wednesday at the Soldotna Regional Sports Com- ery three months, See FCC, page A2 plex in Soldotna. In the primary election on August 21, voters will choose a candidate to run on the party ballot in the November 6 general election. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion) By BEN BOETTGER Peninsula Clarion
Three of this year’s five Republican gubernatorial candidates discussed their plans for state finance, capital spending, and the Alaska LNG project during a Wednesday forum organized by the Soldotna and Kenai Chambers of Commerce. Candidates Mike Dunleavy of Wasilla, Mead Treadwell of Anchorage, and Michael Sheldon of Petersburg spoke Wednesday
at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. Republican candidates Darin Colbry of Anchorage and Merica Hlatcu of Anchorage were invited but did not attend. Gerald Heikes of Palmer is also running for the nomination. Voters will choose from these candidates in the Aug. 21 primary elections, determining which will be the Republican candidate for governor in the Nov. 6 general election. Sheldon, a mechanic and fisherman who in 2016 unsuccess-
fully challenged Republican Senator Bert Stedman (R-Sitka), has served on the Tribal Board of the Petersburg Indian Association. Dunleavey, a former state Senator, represented the MatanuskaSusitna Valley before resigning in January 2018 to focus on his gubernatorial campaign. Treadwell was Alaska’s Lieutenant Governor from 2010 to 2014, when he unsuccessfully ran for the U.S Senate, being defeated in that year’s Republican primary by present U.S Senator
Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska). Capital spending State finances were a focus of the questions that Chamber members had submitted. Each of the candidates proposed to increase the state’s capital spending, which has dropped sharply since oil prices fell in late 2014. The fiscal 2015 budget — which went into effect July 2014 — contained capital spending of $680.9 million in unrestricted general funds. By the next year that number had fallen to $183.3
million, and the year after to $124.2 million. The present fiscal 2019 budget spends $189.4 million of unrestricted general fund money on capital. Dunleavy said he’d seek a minimum of $200 million to $300 million in capital spending, Sheldon proposed $935 million, and Treadwell “at least $500 million a year and growing.” “I’ll grow the capital budget by, one, recycling capital,” Treadwell said. “We have projSee GOV, page A2
Police: Father and son caught on video killing mother bear and screaming cubs By RACHEL D’ORO Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — A father and son skied to a remote bear den on an Alaska island, shot a mother bear in front of her two cubs and then one of them turned his rifle on the shrieking newborns, killing them, authorities said Wednesday. The men didn’t know that the black bears were part of an observation program and the slaughter was caught on video by a motion-activated camera
outside the den. Andrew Renner, 41, and son Owen Renner, 18, have been charged with multiple counts, including the illegal killing of a bear and both cubs in the April incident. Under state law, it’s illegal to kill black bear cubs or sows with cubs in most of Alaska, including where the shooting occurred. Online court records don’t list attorneys for the men from Palmer, a city near Anchorage, and a message left at a number listed for an Andrew Renner in
Palmer wasn’t immediately returned Wednesday. The video camera that captured the shooting was placed on Esther Island in Prince William Sound as part of a bear study by the U.S. Forest Service and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Troopers later obtained the camera, which contained multiple 30-second video clips. The clips from April 14 show Andrew and Owen Renner approaching the den and noticing the female bear, court docu-
ments say. “Owen Renner shoulders a rifle and fires as least two shots at the bear. Cubs begin shrieking in the den after the initial shots are fired,” the documents say. “The defendants listen for several minutes and eventually realize that it is not the dead sow, but the orphaned cubs, making the sounds. “The defendants then move closer to the den where Andrew Renner takes aim through his rifle scope only feet away and fires several more shots, killing
the newborn bear cubs,” according to the court papers. The camera then catches the elder Renner saying, “It doesn’t matter. Bear down.” The father and son then drag the mother bear from the den and realize it has a Fish and Game collar. “Undeterred, Andrew Renner states, ‘I’m gonna get rid of these guys’ while tossing the cubs’ limp carcasses onto the snow outside the den,’” the See CUBS, page A2
Nonprofit brings chess to central peninsula children By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
A local nonprofit that’s teaching children to play chess is expanding its reach to the central peninsula. The nonprofit, Alaska Chess, began as a chess club in the Homer Library after cofounder Colleen Evanco’s son learned to play. Her son, Sebastian, was homeschooled and she wanted to give him the opportunity to play with kids his own age. Two summers ago, she reached out on Facebook and was able to organize a group of kids and parents who
wanted to play. Then a formal club at the library was formed. “We’re hoping to replicate the success here that we had in Homer,” Andy Haas, a defense attorney in Homer and cofounder of Alaska Chess, said. Haas got involved when he heard about the club at the library, where he is a member of the Friends of the Homer Library organization. Last year, the two brought boards to West Homer Elementary, gave some instruction and now the school has its own club. Haas now has plans to expand into Homer Middle School. “Teaching (chess) in schools
in Homer, I found, is a great way for students to feel smart and happy and allow others to hang out with kids of similar interests,” Haas said. “As a criminal lawyer, I’ve seen a lot of issues in the community with drugs and I see (learning to play chess when you’re young) as a way to prevent that.” Evanco, who now lives in Soldotna, is planning on spreading the skill of chess to central peninsula schools. “It seems like there is a demand and we’re excited to pro- Attendees enjoy a game of chess at an Alaska Chess Club funvide it,” Evanco said. draiser on July 29 at Fireweed Meadows Golf Course in Anchor The nonprofit formed in Point. (Photo courtesy of Colleen Evanco) See CHESS, page A2