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P E N I N S U L A
Vol. 49, Issue 147
In the news Kaiser given a hero’s welcome in hometown BETHEL (AP) — The Southwest city of Bethel has hosted a hero’s welcome for the winner of the 2019 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Champion musher Pete Kaiser was met Monday night by a crowd at the airport in his hometown, KYUK reported. The 31-year-old won the 1,000-mile sled dog race across Alaska’s wilderness when he and his team of dogs crossed the finish line in Nome on March 13 after beating back a challenge from defending champion Joar Ulsom of Norway. People filled the small Alaska Airlines terminal before Kaiser arrived. They carried signs and chanted Kaiser’s name, the station reported. Bethel has supported Kaiser since his childhood, when he raced in local fun runs, through his four victories in the Kuskokwim 300 race, KYUK reported. Kaiser entered the terminal holding his daughter and shook hands and shared high-fives with people in the crowd, according to the station. “This has been just an amazing experience, and to bring such positive energy back to the community is ... It’s been one of the greatest weeks of my life,” Kaiser said. “And to share it with so many awesome people and to see so many happy faces is amazing.” As he departed, the station said Kaiser was escorted by two firetrucks with lights flashing and a parade of cars. Bethel Mayor Fred Watson plans to propose March 13 as a city holiday in honor of Kaiser’s victory, according to KYUK.
Inside “Every semiautomatic weapon used in the terrorist attack on Friday will be banned ...” ... See page A5
Index Local................A3 Opinion........... A4 Nation..............A5 Crime...............A6 Religion............A7 Sports..............A8 Classifieds.... A10 Comics.......... A13
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Friday-Saturday, March 22-23, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
$1 newsstands daily/$1.50 Sunday
Job fair brings the crowds By BRIAN MAZUREK Peninsula Clarion
This year’s Peninsula Job Fair saw more businesses participating than ever before, which meant more opportunities for those on the peninsula seeking employment. Fifty five employers and organizations – including several from outside the peninsula – were represented at the job fair, which took place at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. Rachel O’Brien with the Peninsula Job Center said the turnout for the event was so high that her team is already considering a larger venue for next year. One hundred and fifty people attended the job fair within the first hour, and even by the end of the day dozens of peninsula residents could be seen asking questions of recruiters, filling out applications and taking goodie bags. A number of health-care providers looking for new hires attended the event. The Alaska
By MOLLIE BARNES Juneau Empire
Tribal Health Consortium came down from Anchorage for the first time to be a part of the fair and took applications for accountants, engineers and nurses. Finding more reg-
istered nurses was a goal of health-care providers that attended, with many of them also looking to fill clerical positions. Personal Care and assistedliving providers such as Fron-
By MEGAN PACER Homer News
See BISTRO, page A2
tier Community Services and Charis Place were on the lookout for new personal care assistants and direct support professionals. Nikki Marcano with
The governor unveiled his plan for the state budget for the next decade. Gov. Mike Dunleavy released his State of Alaska Fiscal Plan for this year through 2029 on Thursday. “We can’t continue to spend more money than we have. My plan represents a vision of a smaller state government, with more money in the pockets of Alaskans while laying the foundation for new private sector investment and the new jobs that come with it,” Dunleavy said in a press release. “While reductions in state services are understandably difficult choices to make, Alaska must im-
See JOB, page A2
See 10, page A3
Sgt. Mike Jensen from the Anchorage Police Department talks to a participant of the Peninsula Job Fair at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Thursday. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Homer bistro vandalized with racist messages Editor’s note: There are descriptions of racism in this article that may be disturbing to some. Wasabi’s Bistro just outside of Homer was vandalized with racist messages sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Orange spray paint was used to write “Leve (sic) our town,” “God will judg (sic) all nigers (sic),” and “Go back to Affrica (sic)” on the
Gov unveils spending plan for the next decade
Dunleavy keeps open court seat, questions nomination process By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
Racist messages are spray painted onto a wall at Wasabi’s Bistro, shown here Thursday, just outside of Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)
JUNEAU — Gov. Mike Dunleavy has declined — for now — to fill a seat on the Palmer Superior Court, citing questions with the process used in sending nominees to him for consideration. Dunleavy sent a letter to the Alaska Judicial Council saying he believed there were qualified candidates that the council “inexplicably” did not nominate. The council advanced three names for two
open seats on the Palmer Superior Court. Dunleavy appointed to one of the seats John Cagle, an assistant district attorney in Anchorage who was on the list. He left the other spot vacant. “I will not be selecting a second candidate from this truncated list,” the governor wrote. The judicial council’s website shows there were 13 applicants for the two seats. Two of the applicants withdrew, and a third was apSee SEAT, page A2
Carpenter to attend House Finance Seward adopts PERA a 1975 ordinance rejecting Committee meetings telephonically PERA. Now that Seward has By KAT SORENSEN Peninsula Clarion
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Members of the House Finance Committee visiting the Kenai Peninsula Saturday will be joined by Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski, telephonically. “Our state has invested
a significant amount of resources into top-of-the-line teleconferencing equipment to allow people around Alaska to participate in the legislative process,” said Rep. Carpenter in a press release. “Rather than add my name to the long list of legislators traveling to these events
at the taxpayers’ expense, I’ll be participating via our state’s teleconferencing system.” The series of meetings hosted by the House Finance Committee will visit areas across the state to address resident concerns with the See TELE, page A3
Seward voters have opted into Alaska’s Public Employment Relations Act with a vote of 164 to 122. The vote total was confirmed after a canvassing meeting Thursday afternoon. Voters in the special election voted “yes” to Referendum No. 1, which repeals
opted into the act, the decision is irreversible. The act is intended to protect organizing and bargaining rights of public employees, unions and employers, according to the Alaska Labor Relations Agency, the agency responsible for implementing the act. See PERA, page A3
Exxon Valdez oil spill inflicted lasting wounds By RACHEL D’ORO Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — It was just after midnight on March 24, 1989, when an Exxon Shipping Co. tanker ran aground outside the town of Valdez, Alaska, spewing millions of gallons of thick, toxic crude oil into the pristine Prince William Sound. The world watched the aftermath unfold: scores of herring, sea otters and birds soaked in oil, and hundreds of miles of shoreline polluted. Commercial fishermen in the area saw their careers hit bottom. This month marks 30 years since the disaster, at the time the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Only the 2010 Deep Water Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has eclipsed it. The 986-foot Exxon Valdez tanker was bound for California when it struck
Alaska's Bligh Reef at 12:04 a.m. It spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil, which storms and currents smeared across 1,300 miles of shoreline. The oil also extensively fouled spawning habitat in Prince William Sound for herring and pink salmon, two of its most important commercial fish species. Fishermen and others affected by the spill dealt with ruined livelihoods, broken marriages and suicides. Exxon compensation checks, minus what fishermen earned on spill work, arrived too late for many. Most of the affected species have recovered, but the spill led to wide-scale changes in the oil industry. Today, North Slope oil must be transported in double-hull tankers, which must be escorted by two tugs. Radar monitors the vessel's position as well as that of icebergs.
In this April 1989, file photo, an oil covered bird is examined on an island in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The Exxon Valdez oil spill 30 years ago produced striking images of sea otters and birds soaked in oil and workers painstakingly washing crude off beaches. (AP Photo/Jack Smith, File)