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CLARION P E N I N S U L A
Sunday, March 31, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 154
In the news
Klawock hits temperature milestone JUNEAU — A small Southeast Alaska community reached 70 degrees last week, which weather data suggests is the earliest point that temperature has been reached in the state. National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Bezenek says Klawock hit the mark March 19. He says the earliest that records indicate a community in Alaska hit 60 was Jan. 14, 2018, when the temperature at Annette Island, also in southeast Alaska, reached 66. The U.S. Drought Monitor, which weekly tracks drought conditions, shows much of southeast Alaska with abnormally dry conditions to some level of drought. Bezenek says the region currently is experiencing an “extreme anomaly” with blocking highs shunting storm tracks the area typically would get. He says this has allowed warmer air to be pushed into southeast Alaska.
Half of Fort Wainwright’s largest unit will deploy this year FAIRBANKS — Officials say about half of the largest unit on the Army post in Fairbanks will deploy to Iraq later this year. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that the Army announced Friday that the Fort Wainwright soldiers will replace the Fort Campbell, Kentucky-based 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. The unit, the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, numbers about 4,500 soldiers. The Fairbanks soldiers will work to stabilize an area previously controlled by the Islamic State group now known officially by the U.S. and its allies as the Arabic term Daech. This will be the brigade’s third deployment to Iraq. Brigade spokesman Maj. Charlie Dietz says leaders haven’t said which soldiers will deploy. — Associated Press
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Dunleavy talks education By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Ahead of last week’s forum in Kenai, Gov. Mike Dunleavy and his team sat down with Clarion reporters Brian Mazurek and Victoria Petersen to discuss his recently proposed budget, education, local industry, public safety and more. In the second part of this series, we look at the governor’s approach to education. Increased class sizes, no more sports and the closure of several schools are just a handful of the steps the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District has said they might have to take to meet Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed $300 million reductions to state funding for education. Should the governor’s proposed budget pass through the state Legislature, the district would face a $22.4 million cut. Clarion reporter Victoria Petersen: Many residents are expressing concerns about education
By KAT SORENSEN Peninsula Clarion
Gov. Mike Dunleavy, center, speaks about education with Clarion reporters Brian Mazurek and Victoria Petersen (not pictured) on Monday, in Kenai. The governor answered questions on a wide range of topics, including public safety, education, industry and his proposed budget. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
funding at town halls, assembly meetings and school board meetings, both at the K-12 level, and university level. Several teachers I’ve
spoken to have mentioned they’re looking for other jobs out of state where they offer more attractive benefits and retirement, better
salaries, et cetera. What can the state do to retain skilled teachers with these drastic cuts to education? See TALKS, page A6
Judge restores Obama-era drilling ban in Arctic By SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press
President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he reversed bans on offshore drilling in vast parts of the Arctic Ocean and dozens of canyons in the Atlantic Ocean, a U.S. judge said in a ruling that restored the Obama-era restrictions. U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason in a decision late Friday threw out Trump’s executive order that overturned the bans that comprised a key part of Obama’s environmental legacy. Presidents have the power under a federal law to remove certain lands from development but cannot revoke those removals, Gleason said. See DRILL, page A6
Mount Marathon deadline tonight
In this Feb. 15, 2018, file photo, Judith Enck, center, former regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency addresses those gathered at a protest against President Trump’s plan to expand offshore drilling for oil and gas in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/David Klepper, File)
Those hoping to run the 92nd Mount Marathon Race in Seward, which will take them from 4th Avenue up about 3,022 feet to the mountain’s race point, have until Sunday night to register for the race and race lottery. Registration for the race closes at 11:59 p.m. on March 31, and no late registration is allowed. Each year, the first 225 eligible finishers from the previous year’s race gain priority racer status and are invited to register again. Previous first place winners, those with 10-year racer status and junior-to-adult racers who age into the adult race are also invited to register as priority racers. As of Thursday, 291 men and 254 women had registered under priority racer status. There are 350 bibs available for each race. Nearly 200 juniors have registered for the 300 race spots. The remaining spots in each race will be filled through the lottery selection. Registration for the lottery, which also closes Sunday night, has reached just over 1,000 applicants but that shouldn’t discourage anyone from applying, according to the Seward Chamber of Commerce’s Communications Director Jen Leahy. “New runners get entry to the race every year,” Leahy said. “If you’re remotely interested, put your hat in the ring.” The lottery system is weighted, giving those who have entered to run the race previous years have more of a chance to win a bib. “An overwhelming majority of runners are getting in (to the race in) three to four years,” Leahy said. “And the lottery rewards consecutive See RACE, page A2
Homer rallies around bistro after racist vandalism By MEGAN PACER Homer News
When Wasabi’s Bistro just outside of Homer was vandalized with a racist message sometime between last Wednesday night and Thursday morning, some in the Homer community were shocked. Others weren’t. But most were supportive of the restaurant owners, and showed it by filling the place up for the next few nights. The Alaska State Troopers are investigating the crime after the restaurant’s owners, Colt Belmonte, who is white, and his wife Dali Frazier, who is black,
Messages of support surround the door to Wasabi’s Bistro on Thursday, in Homer.
discovered the graffiti last Thursday morning. By Thursday night, the community had a plan for
rallying around Belmonte, Frazier and their family. Signs of acceptance were put up outside the building
and a few other area businesses posted to their Facebook accounts encouraging the public to give their patronage to Wasabi’s. “I don’t typically use our facebook (sic) page to try to send business to other restaurants, but this post is the exception,” read a status posted by Alice’s Champagne Palace. “I encourage (everybody) to go have a nice dinner or a drink (at) Wasabi’s.” And that’s what people did. Looking over a menu, John Mahoney said he had been at Wasabi’s earlier in the evening the night the
graffiti happened. “I have a small business in town,” he said. “They support me and I support them.” Mahoney said that while he knows people have strong opinions, he was surprised by the racist message. “To have something painted on a building like that, I was surprised,” he said. Hayley Walters and Joseph Lapp sat at a table with their 2-year-old daughter, Vida. Walters had gone up to Frazier just minutes before with a bouquet of flowers, and said Vida made the restaurant owners a card.
See RALLY, page A2
Anchorage Assembly evaluating Kenai man charged with stealing snowmachine $1.9B port cost estimate ANCHORAGE (AP) — The Anchorage Assembly is working to determine if it needs to spend about $1.9 billion to rebuild the city’s deteriorating port. Assembly member Christopher Constant said at a March 21 Assembly committee meeting that the group needs to look closely
at whether there are ways to save on cost, the Alaska Journal of Commerce reported on Wednesday. Constant has started a reexamination of the Anchorage Port modernization program as co-chair of the Assembly’s Enterprise and Utility Oversight Committee.
Current estimates show it will cost about $1.9 billion to replace and upgrade the port’s cargo, petroleum, cement terminals and other facilities. Initial estimates were pegged at just less than $500 million in 2014. That cost estimate grew to more See PORT, page A8
By BRIAN MAZUREK Peninsula Clarion
A Kenai man has been charged with burglarizing a home in Nikiski and stealing a snowmachine, according to an affidavit filed by Alaska State Troopers at the Kenai Courthouse on March 22. On March 12, a man
called state troopers to report that his neighbor’s house had been burglarized. According to the affidavit, troopers went to the residence to investigate and noticed snowmachine tracks leading from the garage of the residence to the road. Troopers also noticed signs of forced entry See SNOW, page A3