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Alaska?
Sugar
New refuge staffer takes in the view
Sooners, Tide tangle in New Orleans
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Sports/B-1
CLARION
Some sun 32/24 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
Friday-Saturday, January 3-4 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 80
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Housing project awarded grant
Question What type of New Year’s resolutions are you planning to make? n Lose weight, eat healthier or exercise more; n Quit smoking or drinking; n Better manage your finances; n Improve your education or career; n Volunteer; n Other; n None. To place your vote and comment, visit our Web site at www. peninsulaclarion. com. Results and selected comments will be posted each Tuesday in the Clarion, and a new question will be asked. Suggested questions may be submitted online or e-mailed to news@peninsulaclarion.com. C
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In the news Era Alaska to change names ANCHORAGE (AP) — A regional air carrier in Alaska is undergoing a name change. Era Alaska says in a Thursday release that it will rename itself Ravn Alaska. Other airlines in the company also will get new names. Era Aviation will become Corvus Airlines. Hageland Aviation and Frontier Flying Service will now be known as Ravn Connect. The company says the change is to decrease confusion and distinguish the airline from others in the industry that also carry Era in their names. The new names will be phased in over the next few months. The company says it provides daily passenger and cargo flights to nearly 100 Alaska communities.
Inside Taking home a king salmon should be more than just a dream. ... See page C-1
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-8 Religion................ A-10 Sports.....................B-1 Recreation............ C-1 Classifieds............ C-3 Comics................ C-12 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
Low-income housing planned for Ninilchik By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
While MARAD had responsibility, major construction defects occurred on some of the work done through 2010, which will now have to be repaired. Some of the previous construction can be used, however, the mayor said. Sullivan said he hopes to get construction restarted by 2016 and that the rebuilding would likely take three to four years. Environmental permits will have to be acquired once again, he said. The $30 million contract is
With state and federal government funding, Alaska Housing Finance Corporation has awarded money to seven projects in five communities including Ninilchik. AHFC awarded $924,000 to the Kenai Peninsula Housing Initiatives for Inlet Ridge, a sixunit building for low-income families in Ninilchik. “The development that we funded in Ninilchik was funded in a large part because (the project) was really cost efficient,” Daniel Delfino, AHFC planner said. “It was located in a rural community, which is a priority under our allocation criteria, and it just hit on a number of targets for affordability and efficiency.” Steven Rouse, KPHI executive director, said the organization uses the highest quality construction materials possible and builds its housing facilities beyond five-star energy standards. He said construction on Inlet Ridge could begin as early as this construction season, but it is more likely to break ground in 2015. All of the ground-floor units
See PORT, page A-12
See HOUSE, page A-12
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Curling up with good book
Maura Johnson, 19, reads the fantasy book “Shadows” by Robin McKinley Thursday at the newly revamped public library in Soldotna.
CH2M Hill to head port project By TIM BRADNER Morris News Service-Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce
CH2M Hill has been selected by the Municipality of Anchorage to manage the design, engineering and reconstruction for the troubled Port of Anchorage expansion project, Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan announced Thursday. The company will take over management responsibility from MARAD, a federal agency that previously managed the project, and will help
the municipality develop a Request For Proposals for design and engineering services, select a firm to provide the services, and then manage the construction, Sullivan said. “The program manager responsibility is to provide dayto-day oversight of contractors and subcontractors, and does not include development of a design or engineering,” Sullivan said. CH2M Hill will help select a firm for the port construction design, although it could also be a firm to do a design/build
project, he said. Because the port is owned by the Municipality of Anchorage, municipal officials will retain overall responsibility for the port project, including legal issues, the mayor said. “The MARAD relationship has not ended, but the agency is not longer the program manager. The federal legislation that allowed MARAD to take on the project remains in effect, however, so any new federal money for the project would come through the agency,” Sullivan said.
Recounting life off the grid
Sam and Bonnie Rose Ward lived in a cabin on Caibou Island in Skilak Lake in the 1980s.
Author shares experience living on Skilak Lake By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
Bonnie Rose Ward and her husband Sam Ward left a comfortable life in the suburbs of Ohio to pursue their dream of living in the wilderness of Alaska. For nearly a decade in the 1980s they lived on a remote island on Skilak Lake and embraced a self-sufficient lifestyle, which involved building their own cabin, hunting for food and surviving the trials and tribulations Mother Nature threw their way.
Bonnie Rose Ward shares their adventure in a newly released memoir titled, “Winds of Skilak,” on sale Tuesday at Cabin Fever Creations in Soldotna. Ward, who now resides in West Virginia with her husband of 40 years, said she always felt “compelled” to write about their move to Alaska and that her story is inspirational for others who may share their sense of adventure. “Most people cannot just do what we did,” she said. “We heard stories about people who
tried and failed. My message is: Whatever you put your mind to you can do it. It took a lot of faith in my husband and God.” Ward said moving to Alaska was a dream her husband kept talking about. After being fed up with sitting in three-hour traffic commutes to work, he decided to quit his job, put the house up for sale and make his fantasy a reality. With just enough money to buy some property, a used boat and supplies, the Wards settled on Caribou Island on Skilak
Photo courtesy Bonnie Rose Ward
See CABIN, page A-12
Database connects misplaced money with owners By KATIE MORITZ Juneau Empire
JUNEAU (AP) — We all know the old adage: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. That’s how Lisa White felt when a friend told her about missingmoney.com, a website that claims to connect people with long-lost checks. But, as White found, the site is legit — the Alaska Department of Revenue uses it to keep track of the approximately $83 million in unclaimed funds it holds on to, DOR special assistant Lacy Wilcox said. Alaska is one of 45 states that links its coffers of unclaimed checks to the site.
When White found out about missingmoney.com, she did a search for her own name. No luck there, but a search for her father and brother yielded more than $5,000 in old checks waiting to be claimed. Her dad’s checks were from an 80-yearold insurance policy, but his birth state was still holding on to them, White said. Although they were skeptical at first, White’s father and brother both successfully claimed their checks, she said. The website gives simple directions on how to claim funds from the state. “It is really hard to trust, but our family has tried it,” White said.
‘I may not have found any money on the website for myself, but it’s a pretty great feeling to be able to tell others that they have money that is rightfully theirs, waiting for them to claim.’ — Lisa White In 2012, Alaskans were reunited with more than $4 million in unclaimed property, kept in the state’s vaults, Alaska Unclaimed Property manager Rachel Lewis said. She said checks are lost in a “variety of ways.” “Moving and not changing C
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addresses, stuck in magazines or other mail, misplaced, washed, accidentally thrown away,” Lewis said. “We had someone say, after a windy, snowy day, they accidentally ran it through their snow blower.” But how does the state come to possess these checks?
“Every company in the United States with uncashed payroll, vendor, over-payment, rental or utility deposits or refunds, insurance reimbursements and policy checks must remit these items to the state of the last known address of the owner,” Lewis said. “Types of property remitted also include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, dividend reinvestment plans and contents of safe deposit boxes.” White said she did searches for friends and extended family, and even figured out how to search for businesses and fishing vessels by entering the business or fishing vessel name in the “last name” box. She See MONEY, page A-12