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CLARION P E N I N S U L A
JANUARY 12, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 87
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Ski teams headed home
Students, driver injured in Friday bus accident By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
At least one person was severely injured and several others were hospitalized after a bus, chartered by the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, with 49 people aboard collided with a semi-truck towing a trailer. After spending the night in Valdez, the group left for the 10- to 12-hour trip home at 1:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon
according to a district media release. The accident happened sometime before 11:45 a.m. Friday near Mile 55 of the Richardson Highway, said Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Beth Ipsen. Providence Valdez Medical Center confirmed that Kenai Central High School skier Lindsay Floyd has been flown out for further treatment but were unable to say where she had been flown or comment
on the seriousness of her injuries. According to the district’s Saturday release, the one student who was medevaced to Anchorage had been released. The group was headed to a cross-country ski meet in Valdez and included 28 students and three adults from Kenai Central High School and 15 students and three adults from Soldotna-based Skyview High School. The bus, under contract from
Unique Bus Charters, was following a Department of Transportation semi-truck towing a trailer. “The semi-truck went to make a left-hand turn into a pullout on the other side of the road and due to blowing snow the school bus driver did not see the truck slowing down, did not see the turn,” Ipsen Photo courtesy Alaska State Troopers said. The driver of the school A charter bus carrying members of the Kenai Central and bus, identified by Unique Bus Skyview high school ski teams was involved in a collision FriSee BUS, page A-2 day at Mile 55 of the Richardson Highway.
State scraps AGIA Governor outlines new plan for gas pipeline
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By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
En garde!
Above and right: Joseph Bishop, left, and Jacob Malone spar during a fencing club meeting Thursday at Skyview High School in Soldotna. The group is facing a team in Homer during a tournament this month. Far right: Bishop prepares to face an opponent.
Fencing club preps for match
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wo combatants masked and dressed in white stand face-to-face each wielding metal swords to defend their honor. Locked in a long, intense bout, the stalemate is broken when one lunges forward in attack for the decisive blow. The dueling adversaries, Jake Malone and Joey Bishop from Soldotna, are actually cousins both trained by Skyview High School teacher Peter Gundunas in the ancient martial art of fencing. Gundunas, coach of the Soldotna/Kenai chapter of the Kenai Peninsula Fencing Club, said he views fencing as the origin of sports because it turned the lethal activity of sword fighting to a training discipline. “It is one of the oldest sports and one of the original Olympic events,” he said. “The fluid movement, balance and patient focus you
Photos by Rashah McChesney/ Peninsula Clarion
See FENCE, page A-2
Story by Dan Balmer, Peninsula Clarion
See PLAN, page A-2
Changes draw mixed reactions
Today’s Clarion Obituaries..................... A-3 Opinion......................... A-4 Alaska........................... A-5 Nation........................... A-6 World............................ A-8 Police/courts............... A-10 Sports........................... B-1 Community................... C-1 Weddings...................... C-1 Dear Abby..................... C-2 Crossword..................... C-2 Horoscope.................... C-2 Classifieds................... C-3 Mini Page.................... C-11 TV...................... Clarion TV
JUNEAU — Gov. Sean Parnell on Friday announced a new way forward on a long-hoped-for natural gas pipeline that includes scrapping the terms of a 2007 law he says no longer works well for the situation. In a major policy speech in Anchorage, Parnell said the state and Canadian pipeline builder TransCanada Corp. have agreed to terminate their involvement under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act. He made clear, however, that TransCanada would remain a partner in the project, just under new terms. Parnell said he would seek legislative approval for the state to participate in a new commercial agreement with TransCanada; the North Slope’s three major players, Exxon Mobil Corp., BP PLC and ConocoPhillips; and the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. He said he expected a set of terms to be signed soon. Natural Resources Commissioner Joe Balash called the commercial agreement a “broad roadmap” and statement of intent. He said in an interview that legislation would have to be passed to accomplish what is being contemplated and the state plans to enter a separate, more narrowly defined agreement with TransCanada for pipeline services. The terms of the inducement act will remain in force for the time being, though the parties envision transitioning into the new arrangement once enabling legislation is passed, Balash
Snow 25/19 For complete weather, see page A-12 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
A change in the way the state processes Medicaid payment for “medically necessary” abortions has drawn criticism from some and support from others on the Kenai Peninsula. The new regulations, which take effect Feb. 2, will require abortion providers to further define what constitutes a medically necessary abortion — a
requirement to receive Medicaid or Medicare reimbursement for the procedure. “It doesn’t differ much from how we were doing it before, it just asks for more detail,” said state Health and Social Services Commissioner Bill Streur. “I was concerned that we were paying for a whole lot of abortions that we didn’t have the money for. We wanted to get details for why these were federally necessary.” C
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To get that information, the state modified its “Certificate to Request Funds for Abortion” which previously had two boxes for an abortion provider to pick from: one that certified the abortion to be the result of rape or incest; the other that the abortion procedure was medically necessary. Now, the certificate has 23 categories for a medically necessary abortion, including severe pre-eclampsia, congestive
heart failure, epilepsy or a psychiatric disorder that places a woman “in imminent danger of medical impairment of a major bodily function.” Critics of the new certificate call the changes an attempt to define “medically necessary” in a way that is unconstitutional. “What’s concerning for us is that we know no two people are alike,” said Treasure Mackley, See CHANGE, page A-2