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CLARION P E N I N S U L A
Sunday, March 17, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 142
In the news
Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade today The 29th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade will take place today. The Route begins at Bailey’s Furniture in Soldotna and goes to the Soldotna ‘Y’ at the corner of the Kenai Spur Highway and the Sterling Highway. Participation is encouraged, and residents can line up to be a part of the parade. The parade starts at 3 p.m., and the Kenai Spur Highway will be closed during the event.
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Homeless services may face cuts By ALEX MCCARTHY Juneau Empire
Dave Bonilla has lived in homeless shelters all over the country, from Georgia to California. Since August of last year, he’s lived at the Glory Hall Homeless Shelter in Juneau. As Bonilla, 57, sat in his regular chair near the front door of the shelter Friday morning, he said the Glory Hall is “a hell of a lot better” than any shelter he’s lived in. In a few months, the Glory Hall might have to close its doors for at least part of the week. Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget would slash funding for four key programs that help fund organizations fighting
A homeless person sleeps on the sidewalk along South Franklin Street on Friday in Juneau. (Michael Penn/Juneau Empire)
homelessness. According to research by the Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness (ACHH), that would
put about 50 organizations around the state — including the Glory Hall and Housing First in Juneau — in grave
danger of closing. “They’re looking at numbers, and not the people,” Bonilla said of the budget. “They’re not looking at the big picture of what happens when you take that money away.” Funding for the Homeless Assistance Program (HAP) will drop from $7.8 million to $950,000, according to ACHH. The Special Needs Housing Grant (SNHG) program will be cut from $1.7 million to $200,000. The Human Services Community Matching Grant (HSCMG) and Community Initiative Matching Grants (CIMGP) programs will be totally eliminated, taking $2.2 million away from shelters and
FAIRBANKS — The state has dismissed criminal charges filed last summer against the coordinator of Village Public Safety Officers for interior Alaska. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports 41-year-old Jody JunebyPotts was charged in July with criminal mischief after using a truck to move a car that blocked her into a parking spot at the Tanana Lakes Recreation Area. Repairs for the car cost nearly $3,000. Potts' attorney, Frank Spaulding, says the car owner was compensated for damage through insurance and was satisfied with the case being dismissed. Spaulding said Potts did everything she believed she could do to contact the car owner and didn't realize the extent of the damage. Prosecutor Javier Diaz said prosecutors determined the resolution was appropriate and complied with the victim's wishes.
She said she thought the crown would be a good platform to stress See MISS, page A7
See FOOD, page A3
See CUTS, page A7
— Associated Press
A different kind of pageant Soldotna woman crowned Alaska’s Miss United States Agriculture By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Lisa Marie Goodroad isn’t your typical beauty queen. You’ll most likely find her with dirt under her fingernails and a tight braid to keep the hair out of her face. Last month, Goodroad, a resident of Soldotna, was crowned as Ms. Alaska United States Agriculture. When she applied for the crown in January she had never done a pageant before. While looking up agricultural opportunities for her daughter to get involved with, Goodroad stumbled upon the Miss United States Agriculture Program. “Immediately as a farm girl it sparked my interest because I have never been much on the beauty side of things,” Goodroad said. She said the pageant
Soldotna resident Lisa Goodroad is photographed on Wednesday in Kenai. Goodroad was crowned Alaska’s Miss United States Agriculture last month. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
has a strong focus on agriculture, buying locally and giving back to the community.
“I fell in love with it and saw there was a spot in my age group,” Goodroad said.
By MEGAN PACER Homer News
There are some days when food is the only thing on one’s mind. For those involved in Alaska’s food system and agriculture, last weekend in Homer was one of those times. Hundreds of participants from around the state and the Lower 48 converged at Land’s End Resort last Friday and Saturday for the 2019 Alaska Food Festival and Conference. It was two days of tasty food demos, presentations, and idea exchanges for how to improve upon Alaska’s food systems and security. The state currently imports the majority of its food from the Lower 48, though more and more, local farming on a small level is cropping up around the state. One huge boost to this effort was the high-tunnel system initiative by the United States Department of Agriculture, which provided high-tunnel design greenhouses to farmers to help make more land productive and extend growing seasons. Homer was a pioneering example of how high tunnels could be implemented back when the program launched in 2010. But food security was just one of many topics that conference participants dug into over the weekend. They talked about Alaska-caught salmon and how to get more of it into Alaska schools to feed students. They addressed farmers markets and how to make them more accessible to lowerincome families. Presenters discussed the importance of bringing indigenous and Native foods back into the public sphere in places like hospitals. Hosted by the Alaska Food Policy Council, the conference sought to strengthen Alaska’s food safety net and
— Victoria Petersen
State drops charges against official who damaged car
Alaskans talk all things food
DEC commissioner pick formerly worked on Pebble Project By ALEX MCCARTHY Juneau Empire
During a public hearing for the governor’s pick for Department of Environmental Conservation commis-
sioner, Juneau resident Carl Brodersen chose an unconventional way to bring up the issue of a conflict of interest. “You wouldn’t put Willie Nelson in charge of regulating pot,” Brodersen said.
“Sure, he has a lifetime of experience and first-hand knowledge but oh my lordy, would he be biased toward the subject of his work. In a way, that makes him simply unfit to do it.”
The Willie Nelson in his comparison was DEC Commissioner designee Jason Brune, and the conflict of interest in the comparison was Brune’s past with the Pebble Mine project. Brune formerly
worked as a spokesperson for Anglo American, a company that sought to get the mining project up and running near Bristol Bay. The project is currently See DEC, page A7
Social media post over rifle sticker causes uproar By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
Snow/rain 41/30 Weather, A2
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JUNEAU — A social media post by an Alaska human rights official questioning the appropriateness of a sticker on the back of a truck reading “Black Rifles Matter” has
caused an uproar, with Gov. Mike Dunleavy calling for an investigation. Marti Buscaglia, executive director of the state Commission for Human Rights, said the truck was parked outside the commission’s building in Anchorage.
She said she thought the sticker was racist and posted a picture Thursday on the commission’s Facebook page asking, “In what world is this OK?” Buscaglia said she used her business card to write a note that was placed on
Job Fair connects workers, employers By BRIAN MAZUREK Peninsula Clarion
The sun is back, the ice is melting, and the annual Peninsula Job Fair is right around the corner. Every year, the Peninsula Job Center and the Peninsula Clarion come together with local businesses to give employers and job seekers an opportunity to connect with one another. The event will take place on Thursday, March 21 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex and feature almost 60 employers, training providers and
the truck, hoping the owner would call her. The note asked that the truck with the “offensive” sticker not be parked in the lot. Brent Linegar said when he found the note on his truck he chalked it up to people having opinions.
educators representing industries such as health care, retail, seafood, law enforcement and the mili-
tary. Hanah Burrell, business connections special-
See JOBS, page A2
See RIFLE, page A7
Homer council won’t help fund treatment project By MEGAN PACER Homer News
Gina Keith, office manager at Kachemak Electric, speaks with job seekers at the 2017 Kenai Peninsula Job Fair. (Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)
But he said he was bothered when he learned of the post on the commission Facebook page, which he felt maligned him. Linegar had understood the stickers, which are on several of his trucks, to be about gun safety
After lengthy discussion and public comment, the Homer City Council voted not to help fund a program that seeks to bring a residential addiction treatment center for men to Homer. Set Free Alaska approached the city a few months ago after having conferred with the local Southern Kenai Peninsula Opioid Task Force on what the town’s biggest gap in services was. It was
identified to be residential treatment, so Set Free Alaska proposed a 16-bed facility within city limits for men. A potential location was the Refuge Chapel building on Pioneer Avenue. Set Free Alaska asked the city council for matching funds to assist the MatSu Valley-based organization win a state grant for $1.5 million to help get the project off the ground. An ordinance to give Set Free about $175,000 that was originally in the city’s See COUNCIL, page A2