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P E N I N S U L A
Thursday, April 4, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 158
In the news Seward chooses city manager Seward City Council has unanimously decided to offer Erin Reinders the city’s helm. Reinders, who currently serves as the assistant city manager of Unalaska, was the top choice of the seven council members over Scott Meszaros, the former town manager of Meeker, Colorado. The council, and many members of the public who spoke at a special meeting Monday night, said her experience working in Alaska and in a town similar to Seward was a big plus. Many community members and the council also showed excitement at having a fresh start when it comes to city leadership. Seward has had a tumultuous year, with former City Manager Jim Hunt resigning in August 2018 and interim City Manager Jeff Bridges leaving in March. “It is time to move forward and give this individual a clean slate,” said council member Jeremy Horn. “It’s been a tumultuous couple of years … Let’s move forward and do good, positive things for the community.” The council will now enter negotiations with Reinders and a negotiating committee, comprised of Mayor David Squires and council members Jeremy Horn and Suzi Towsley. — Kat Sorensen
Handgun handled by teen discharges; bullet strikes friend ANCHORAGE — An Anchorage teenager suffered a gunshot wound to the head when a gun discharged as it was being handled by a second teen. The injured teen was transported by medics to a hospital. Anchorage police say the wound was not lifethreatening. The accident occurred just before 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at a home in southeast Anchorage. Police say a teenage boy and three friends were inside and the resident teen retrieved a revolver. As he manipulated the handgun, it fired. The teens immediately called 911 and rendered aid to the injured teen. The other three teens were transported to the Anchorage Police Department for questioning by detectives. No one else was at home when the teen was shot. — Associated Press
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public ‘Looking to leave the state’ Top defender
In face of budget cuts, teachers seek other opportunities resigns
from post
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Facing potential state, local and district budget reductions, many non-tenured teachers are considering employment elsewhere. At Monday’s Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meeting, James Harris, an English teacher at Soldotna High School and the 2017 Alaska Teacher of the Year, offered public comment regarding his recent resignation. Harris said he felt he didn’t really have a choice. “With the mayor’s proposed cuts and the governor’s proposed cuts, we would be hurting and we would lose our home,” Harris said. “On top of that, there has been seemingly very little support from the community.” Harris has been teaching in Alaska for 13 years, start-
By ALEX MCCARTHY Juneau Empire
a while, especially among tier-three teachers, who have the least desirable re-
Quinlan Steiner, the director of Alaska’s Public Defender Agency, told the governor Tuesday that he plans on resigning as soon as the state can find a replacement for him. Steiner didn’t explain his reasoning for resigning in his two-paragraph letter. The Empire reached out to Steiner for comment but did not hear back. The resignation comes less than two weeks after The Associated Press reported that Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration denied a request from Steiner — who is based in Anchorage — to come down to Juneau to testify about crime bills. Specifi-
See CUTS, page A3
See TOP, page A2
First-year Chapman School teacher Malia Larson speaks to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in support of an ordinance that will appropriate around $2.4 million to the school district in hopes of retaining some non-tenured teachers for the next school year in Soldotna on Tuesday. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
ing his career as a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He’s been with the district for nine years.
“I’ve really grown in this district,” Harris said. He said morale among teachers has been poor for
Bill tackles crisis of missing, murdered indigenous women By MOLLIE BARNES Juneau Empire
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is a part of a group of senators who introduced a bill in Congress on Wednesday that addresses the crisis of missing, trafficked and murdered indigenous women. The Not Invisible Act of 2019 is legislation that would engage law enforcement, tribal leaders, federal partners, and service providers and improve coordination across federal agencies, according to a press release. “Human trafficking is a horrifying reality across the state of Alaska and is disproportionately affecting our Alaska Native communities. Native women hold up red dresses to symbolize missing and murdered indigenous This legislation paves the way women during the Women’s March on Juneau in front of the Alaska State Capitol on for greater collaboration be- Jan. 19 (Michael Penn/Juneau Empire) tween federal agencies, law The bipartisan bill estab- stakeholders to make recomenforcement, and elected trib- oping methods to end these al officials, ensuring Alaska horrible crimes,” Murkowski lishes an advisory commit- mendations to the Department tee of local, tribal and federal of Interior and Department of Natives have a voice in devel- said in the release.
Justice on best practices to combat the epidemic of disappearances, homicide, violent crime and trafficking of Native Americans and Alaska Natives. The National Institute of Justice estimates that 56 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native women experience sexual violence in their lifetimes. In addition, murder is the third leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women, according to data in the legislation. • To combat that crisis, specifically, the Not Invisible Act: Requires the Secretary of the Interior to designate an official within the Office of Justice Services in the Bureau of Indian Affairs to coordinate violent crime prevention efforts across federal agencies. • Requires the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination See BILL, page A3
Red Cross opens Kenai office UA to recommend
closing education school
By BRIAN MAZUREK Peninsula Clarion
The Red Cross of Alaska is setting up a permanent volunteer office in Kenai and has invited the community to meet the volunteers and tour the new location on Friday during their open house. The event will take from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. The Kenai office is located at 450 Marathon Road on the second floor of the Beacon Fire Training Building. Cari Dighton, regional See RED, page A2
Kenai Peninsula Disaster Action Team Coordinator Dave LaForest deploys to Anchorage to assist with sheltering displaced Anchorage residents following the magnitude 7.1 earthquake in this undated photo. (Photo courtesy of Abby Charles/American Red Cross)
Drivers injured in K-Beach collision By BRIAN MAZUREK Peninsula Clarion
At around 10 a.m. on Wednesday, a motor vehicle collision occurred near the intersection of Kalifornsky Beach Road and Judy Lynn Lane in Soldotna. Alaska State Troopers responded to the scene and reported that Julianne Barnes of Soldotna was
driving a Chevy Suburban and crashed into the back of a Ford F-150 driven by Thomas McCray of Soldotna. Troopers said that both drivers were injured and transported to Central Peninsula Hospital for treatment, and the injuries to both drivers were determined to be non-life threatening. According to the
trooper dispatch, Barnes did have to be removed from her vehicle as the front end had been crushed, leaving her pinned between the driver’s seat and the steering wheel. Drugs and alcohol were not factors in the crash, but the dispatch states that the operation of a cellphone may have been a factor. An investigation is ongoing.
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The University of Alaska president will recommend that the University of Alaska Anchorage close its School of Education, according to university officials. President Jim Johnsen plans to make the recommendation to the University of Alaska Board of Regents April 8 so the education school can be closed by July 2020, Alaska Public Media reported Monday. Initial licensing programs for the school’s education department would be discontinued effective Sept. 1 under the proposal. Some education courses are still accredited and students already enrolled in those programs would be allowed to finish before the closing of the program, officials said. The university’s board of regents will decide whether the Anchorage campus will pursue reaccreditation, officials said. University officials were told in January that the Anchorage education de-
partment lost national accreditation for its seven initial licensing programs from the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation for failing four of five assessment categories, according to officials. They said the accreditation loss was due to a lack of data on student progress. “That is not to say that students weren’t meeting those standards, but the program did not demonstrate to the satisfaction of the accreditor that we were meeting those objectives,” said Paul Layer, University of Alaska Vice President for Academics, Students and Research. After Sept. 1, Anchorage students would need to take courses with instructors from the University of Alaska Fairbanks or the University of Alaska Southeast, which both have accredited education departments. This would include a mix of online courses and teachers from those programs teaching in Anchorage, Layer said.