Blaze
THE
Sunday
Amid devastating fires, California requests aid Nation/A5
Rematch Astros, Dodgers rehash World Series Sports/B1
CLARION P E N I N S U L A
August 5, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 48, Issue 264
$1 newsstands daily/$1.50 Sunday
Primary pressure Dunleavy, Treadwell vie for Republicans’ votes to win third spot in gubernatorial election By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
Every little bit helps Ryan Hiller performs at Veronica’s Cafe for open mic night on Friday in Kenai. Through the month of August, tips collected at Friday’s open mic nights from 6-8 p.m. will go to support community member, Vickie Tinker, who is fighting ovarian cancer. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
Fish and Game increases Kasilof sockeye salmon bag limit By ELIZABETH EARL Peninsula Clarion
With the Kasilof River sockeye run safely within the optimum escapement goal, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game will allow anglers to keep more fish. An emergency order issued Friday increases the bag and possession limits for sockeye on the Kasilof River effective Saturday at 12:01 a.m. to six per day with 12 in possession.
That’s up from the usual three with six in possession, according to the 2018 sportfishing regulations. The increase is linked to a simultaneous sockeye salmon closure on the Kenai River, which was announced Wednesday to take effect 12:01 a.m. Saturday. The same concern led Fish and Game to close the personal-use dipnet fishery on the Kenai two days early. While the Kenai River’s sockeye run has been poorer than expected, the
Kasilof River sockeye run has been strong enough to meet the escapement goal and provide surplus fish for harvest. “The poor sockeye salmon return to the Kenai River this year has impacted a lot of people,” said Cook Inlet Management Coordinator Matt Miller in the Friday announcement. “However, there is still an opportunity for anglers to get out and fish for sockeye salmon on the Kasilof River.” The announcement reminds
anglers that only two salmon per day and two in possession can be coho salmon. As of Thursday, 316,492 sockeye had passed the sonar on the Kasilof River. The optimum escapement goal on that river is between 160,000– 390,000 sockeye. The Kasilof River dipnet fishery will be open until Aug. 7. Reach Elizabeth Earl at eearl@peninsulaclarion.com.
JUNEAU — Republicans Mike Dunleavy and Mead Treadwell are vying to become the third person in what is shaping up to be a three-way fight for governor in Alaska. The winner of the Aug. 21 GOP primary will advance to the general election. Waiting will be Gov. Bill Walker, an independent who is not participating in a primary, and former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, who is running unopposed on the Democratic side. Libertarian William “Billy” Toien also is running for governor. When Begich joined the race in June, there was some handwringing among Democrats and independents who feared he and Walker would split the vote and hand the race to Republicans; Walker was elected in 2014 with Democratic support. Voter turnout will be key for the Republican candidates, with crime, the economy and the future of the oil-wealth checks distributed annually to Alaska residents being big issues. Turnout in the 2016 primary was just 17 percent. It was 39 percent in 2014, a year that featured the governor’s race and a closely watched U.S. Senate race. Dunleavy and Treadwell are the highest-profile contenders in a GOP field crowded with other candidates who have raised little or no money. Dunleavy is a former educator and state senator who has gotten help from a third-party group in boosting his profile. Treadwell is a former chairman of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission who served as lieutenant governor under then-Gov. Sean Parnell from 2010-2014. Treadwell
most recently worked for a private equity firm. Dunleavy left the state Senate in January to focus on running for governor. During his five years as a senator, the fiery Wasilla conservative clashed with GOP leaders over limiting the size of Alaskans’ oil-wealth checks, which he opposed, and over what he saw as insufficient cuts in response to Alaska’s budget deficit. Treadwell said he has a broader range of experience than Dunleavy and entered the race, late, like Begich, because he said people were dissatisfied with their options. He has sought to cast Dunleavy as a quitter who chose campaigning over staying in the Senate to fight cuts to Alaskans’ oilwealth fund checks and repeal a criminal justice overhaul that critics said was soft on crime. Dunleavy said he understands government and the legislative process. He said he spoke with people in his district about hanging on for his last year or letting someone serve who could give their undivided attention to the district. The response was overwhelming, he said. “The deal is, when you stay in office and you’re running for a campaign, anything you do, it’s difficult for folks to separate that,” he said. “If I were to stand up on the floor and make a statement, folks would say, ‘well, that’s because he’s running for governor.’” State GOP Chairman Tuckerman Babcock said he’s confident primary voters will pick the strongest candidate and the party will unite behind its nominee. Mike Miller, CEO of the Santa Claus House in North Pole and a former state See RACE, page A2
New things to come for the 2018-2019 school year Kenai debates adding Allen is the new principal and sign to Lawton Acres’ teacher at Tebughna School in Tyonek. Charles “Michael” Field of Flowers As August begins, wild ber- Crain stepped in as the new principal and a teacher at NanBy VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
ries start to ripen, the fishing season slows and children, parents, educators and others gear for the school year. The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s communications liaison, Pegge Erkeneff, said there are some new things in store for the 2018-2019 school year. Several schools in the area have new principals. Michael
Today’s Clarion More rain 65/57 More weather on page A-10
Opinion ......................... A4 Nation ........................... A5 World ............................ A6 Police/courts ................. A9 Sports ........................... B1 Community ................... C1 Weddings ...................... C1 Dear Abby ..................... C2 Crossword..................... C2 Horoscope .................... C2 Classifieds ................... C3 TV ................................. C5 Mini Page ...................... C6
walek School on the south side of Kachemak Bay. Dawn Grimm will serve as principal at Kenai’s Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science. Gregory Melvin is the newest teacher and principal at Razdolna School east of Homer. There have also been reassignments of current administrators: Michael Wojciak will now be a regional principal at KachemakSelo and Voznesenka schools and Joshua Hinds will now be a regional principal over Seldovia’s Susan B. English and Port Graham schools. Launching this week, the district is offering an online tool to help students register for their classes. The program is for students returning to the district and includes eForms with eSig-
Inside
By BEN BOETTGER Peninsula Clarion
See SCHOOL, page A2
See SIGN, page A2
Apple Bus Company debuted one of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s new busses during the Board of Education meeting at Seward High School on Monday, May 1, 2017 in Seward, Alaska. (Clarion file photo)
natures for back to school paperwork. Erkeneff said the new filing system will make it easier for parents who have multiple students in the district, simplifying paperwork processes. Instructions and step-by-step videos on how to access the online Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
... See page A7
registration can be found on the district’s YouTube channel. Parents, guardians and students are still able to sign up for the SchoolMessenger system, which will deliver text messages regarding important events like, school closures, safety alerts and more, straight to any cell phone. To activate the text service, text “Y” or “Yes” to #67587. “Thousands of people have opted-in, but thousands haven’t but are still able to,” Erkeneff said.
The Kenai Airport Commission’s plans for a sign marking the the annual wildflower field the city plants in a vacant municipal lot on Lawton Drive have been delayed by disagreements over the property’s complicated relationship with the Kenai Municipal Airport and the size of the proposed sign. The Kenai City Council will vote on the sign — which, in the version presented at their Wednesday meeting, would read “Field of Flowers: Cooperative effort by the Municipal Airport and the City of Kenai” — after it’s considered by the Beautification Committee and re-considered once again by the Airport Commission. The Field of Flowers is part of a 16-acre lot of mostly wooded city land known as Lawton Acres, which has provoked controversy since the 1980s between prospective developers and residential neighbors wanting to keep it as a buffer against the Kenai Spur Highway and commercial areas to the north. The Kenai Airport Commission began discussing the sign in October 2017, in the aftermath of the most recent controversy earlier that year. The original version, which airport commissioners began discussing at their Oct.12, 2017 meeting, featured the Kenai Municipal Airport logo and read “Property owned by Kenai Municipal Airport.” Though Lawton Acres is roughly half a mile away from the Kenai Municipal Airport’s present boundaries, it is one of several pieces of land throughout the city that once belonged to the military airfield which covered much of present-day Kenai in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1963 it was among the 1,800 acres of airfield land that the Federal Aviation