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P E N I N S U L A
Wednesday, August 8, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 48, Issue 267
$1 newsstands daily/$1.50 Sunday
Looking ahead
In the news Indictment issued in Juneau crash that killed Florida man JUNEAU (AP) — A Juneau, Alaska, grand jury has indicted a 26-year-old man on felony charges in a fatal traffic crash on a southeast Alaska island. The Juneau Empire reports the grand jury last week indicted Dylan Wiard of Juneau on counts of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and driving under the influence. Online court documents do not list Wiard’s attorney. The rollover crash occurred on June 24, 2016, near Hoonah (HOO-nah), a village on the northeast shore of Chichagof (CHICH-ah-gawf) Island about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Juneau. A Tampa Bay, Florida, man, 23-year-old Jeffrey Turner, died in the crash. Wiard was flown to Juneau’s Bartlett Regional Hospital for treatment of injuries. Charging documents say his blood-alcohol content was above the legal limit within four hours of the crash.
Unclear when bodies from Denali plane crash can be recovered TALKEETNA (AP) — Officials at Alaska’s Denali National Park say they’re working to determine if and when they can start trying to recover the bodies of several people killed a sightseeing plane crash. The plane with a pilot and four Polish tourists aboard crashed Saturday on a mountain ridge near the top of Denali, North America’s tallest peak. The crash occurred in rough terrain, on a hanging glacier which traverses a crevasse. Poor weather prevented any rescue efforts until a ranger reached the area Monday. He confirmed four people were dead and the fifth was missing and presumed dead. The pilot has been identified as Craig Layson of Michigan. Park officials say the names of the four Polish passengers aren’t being released at the request of the Polish Embassy in Los Angeles.
School board discusses future capital projects, potential school in Nanwalek By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Honoring the wounded Retired Colonel Bob Doehl, Deputy Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs, speaks in front of the wounded veterans’ memorial in Soldotna Creek Park during a ceremony organized by the Order of the Purple Heart’s Chapter 830 on Tuesday in Soldotna. In 2010 the Alaska Legislature designated August 7 as Purple Heart Day in recognition of wounded military veterans. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)
Man indicted for 3rd time in 2014 car crash By ERIN THOMPSON Peninsula Clarion
Kenai prosecutors are trying for a third time to convict a man involved in a 2014 Christmas Day car crash that caused a young girl to lose both her legs. Larry E. Pyatt, 32, was arraigned in Kenai court Tuesday on nine counts, including charges of assault, driving under the influence, reckless driving, reckless endangerment and sixth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance. In 2014, Pyatt swerved into a vehicle stopped along the northbound shoulder of the Sterling Highway near Anchor Point after mistaking the headlights of a second vehicle — which was rendering assistance — for oncoming traffic, according to court documents. A 29-year-old pregnant woman and her 11-year-old daughter — who was pinned between the two stopped cars —
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his system, and a THC level of 4.9 nanograms per milliliters, according to the court records. Pyatt was indicted several months later on one count of driving under the influence, a class A misdemeanor; one count of reckless driving, an unclassified misdemeanor; one count of sixth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, a class B misdemeanor; one count of first-degree assault, a class A felony; three counts of third-degree assault, a class C felony; and one count of reckless endangerment, and class A misdemeanor. In May 2017, all but the sixth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance were dismissed by a judge. Prosecutors re-indicted Pyatt on the same charges several days after that dismissal. Those charges were dismissed again in April by Superior Court Judge Charles T. Huguelet, who granted a defense motion to suppress the results of See CRASH, page A8
See SCHOOL, page A8
Despite reforms, central peninsula residents still frustrated by crime By ELIZABETH EARL Peninsula Clarion
Index
were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, according to previous Clarion reporting. Pyatt, who suffered minor injuries, was interviewed by troopers several hours after the accident and reportedly admitted to drinking a beer, taking prescription medication and smoking marijuana from a water pipe earlier in the day. He also told troopers he had suffered a previous traumatic brain injury, according to court documents. At the time of the interview, Pyatt successfully completed several sobriety tests and registered a .000 in a preliminary breath test. Troopers noted a slight lack of convergence — or the inability to cross one’s eyes, and read Pyatt an implied consent warning, according to court documents. Under Alaska law, a person arrested for a DUI has already given consent to a chemical test. Pyatt’s toxicology screen indicated that he had no prescription medication in
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District leadership is exploring the most important infrastructure projects in local schools as part of its Six-Year Capital Improvement Plan, that will run from 2020–2025. At Monday’s Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education’s work session, members discussed roofing projects, a new track, a new school and other projects. The plan is still in the works and will be approved by the board members at a later date. The capital plan’s highest priority is addressing overcrowding at Nanwalek school. Built in 1958 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the school has received two additions in 1977 and 1984. According to 2010 census data, Nanwalek’s population is 254, more than twice as many people recorded in the 1980 census. According to the Six-Year Capital Improvement Plan, Nanwalek School is at 140 percent capacity, with next year’s expectations at 175 percent capacity. The school services students in kindergarten through 12th grade. There are currently more than 80 students, with approximately half in the elementary and half in secondary. The board discussed two options. The first option, which is being recommended by the district administrators, is to build a joint middle and high school facility that would cost approximately $25 million, according to the plan’s projections. The second option is to build two 960 square foot annexes that could provide classroom space for up to 23 students. The district administrators estimate the cost to
Though multiple bills have overhauled the criminal justice system in Alaska in the past few years, the tone of discussion on crime on the central Kenai Peninsula hasn’t changed much. People still readily packed out a public meeting Monday to express their frustration with the crime rate in the area, particularly property crime and repeat offenders. More than 50 people filled the chairs at a town hall meeting hosted by Sen. Peter Micciche (R-Soldotna) with a number of state criminal justice officials — including Kenai Police Chief Dave Ross and Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan — to voice similar concerns about crime rates that they have been for about the last five or six years. Much of the commentary at the meeting was focused
on Senate Bill 91, an omnibus criminal justice reform bill the Legislature passed in 2016. The bill was meant to reduce the incarcerated population in the state and address other systemic issues, such as increasing the mandatory minimum sentence for murder and changing the state’s bail system. However, because it reduced the penalties for some lower-level crimes like car theft and first-time drug offenses, many saw it as exacerbating the problem of serial theft. “I voted for the bill, along with almost everyone in the Legislature,” Micciche said at the meeting. “And it became quite apparent soon afterward that we had some things to correct.” Micciche said the Legislature has passed a number of bills making adjustments to the changes made in SB 91 but that Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan addresses a crowd gathered further substantive changes will at a town hall meeting on crime at the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center on Monday in Kenai. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion) See CRIME, page A2