Peninsula Clarion, January 17, 2014

Page 1

C

M

Y

K

Safety

Gritty

Seminar teaches survival techniques

Player takes on challenges on, off ice

Recreation/C-1

Sports/B-1

CLARION

Snow, then rain 39/34 More weather on Page A-2

P E N I N S U L A

Friday-Saturday, January 17-18 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska

Vol. 44, Issue 92

Question Do you think building roundabouts is a good solution to traffic issues in the area? n Yes; or n No. 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.

In the news Wasilla guide, others charged with violations

C

M

Y

K

ANCHORAGE (AP) — Two guides with a Wasilla hunting business and a Pennsylvania man face charges for allegedly violating state game and guiding laws. The Office of Special Prosecutions, a division of the Alaska Department of Law, has charged Alaska Trophy Hunters’ owner Richard A. Kinmon Sr., 62, and assistant guide Colin S. Marquiss, 23. Also charged was a previous client, Joseph C. Hahn, 24, of Pittsburgh. Arraignments are pending in district court in Delta Junction. “The only comment I can say, it’s frivolous, fraudulent, unethical and unconstitutional,” Kinmon told The Associated Press on Thursday. Alaska State Troopers said in a release Thursday that Kinmon is charged with 30 counts of violating state game and guiding laws between 2009 and 2011, including selling big game tags to four clients in a hunting camp after they harvested their animals. Marquiss faces three counts of unlawfully guiding and hunting a big game animal with clients, and Hahn has been charged with four counts of taking a brown/ grizzly bear without a valid non-resident tag, unlawful possession of game and falsifying public records. Troopers say the Anchorage Wildlife Investigations Unit began investigating in July 2012. Another previous client on a guided hunt reported another customer killed a Dall sheep in 2009, but that hunter didn’t have a valid non-resident sheep tag.

Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-5 World..................... A-7 Religion................ A-10 Sports.................... B-1 Recreation............ C-1 Classifieds............ C-3 Comics.................. C-9 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.

50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday

Prepping for the session

Micciche to look at HB 77 again

State budget, education, oil and gas expected to top the agenda

By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press

By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion

With the Alaska state legislative session set to resume Tuesday, lawmakers from the Kenai Peninsula see balancing the budget, education and support for the oil and gas industry as priorities to get Alaska moving forward. Last Monday came the first release of the 2014 pre-filed bills with the second set unveiled Friday. Among the 52 entries, House Speaker Rep. Mike Chenault R- Nikiski sponsored three bills, perhaps none more obscure than House Bill 231. The bill calls for eliminating the Department of Revenue’s duty to register cattle brands. Chenault said right now there are 146 cattle brands registered across the state that have to pay $1 to re-register every five years. He said the outdated law has run its course. “The statute hasn’t been looked at since 1957,” he said. “ The state has to send out paperwork and produce a book with cattle brands that I guarantee cost a lot more to manage than the whopping $146 it brings in. Why have it on the books?” Chenault also introduced HB 218, which relates to felony sentencing of multiple prior misdemeanors when one involves an assault on a correctional employee. Chenault said a correctional officer who was assaulted by an inmate contacted him. The inmate was never charged with assault and the officer felt the law should be changed. “I think correctional officers, because of their job, deserve the same respect as a police officer,” he said. “If you assault an officer it is a felony charge. I aim to clarify the rules and it should be supported.” Chenault, who has been speaker of the house since 2009, said one of the more difficult tasks for legislators will See SESSION, page A-12

Top and middle photos by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion; Above, Clarion file

House Speaker Rep. Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, pictured at top, and Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, participate in a Kenai and Soldotna Chambers of Commerce joint luncheon in Soldotna, May 1, 2013. Above, Rep. Kurt Olson and former Kenai Peninsula Borough President Gary Knopp speak to each other July 31, 2012 following a debate. The Legislature will convene Tuesday in Juneau.

JUNEAU — A Soldotna legislator on Thursday said he has asked that a controversial permitting bill be sent to the Senate Resources Committee for further review when the Legislature reconvenes. Sen. Peter Micciche, who held community meetings on HB77 last month, said his constituency does not support the bill in its current form. The measure from Gov. Sean Parnell was billed as a way to improve the permitting process. But critics say it could hurt the public’s ability to participate in permitting decisions and give the Natural Resources commissioner too much power. On Thursday, it was announced that about 30 tribes and Native communities had delivered resolutions to Parnell’s office opposing HB77. “I believe that this bill is so flawed that it would be very dangerous for us to try to fix,” Dorothy B. Larson, tribal administrator of Curyung Tribal Council, told reporters during a conference call. “I think we need to scrap it.” Nearly all the resolutions were passed following the last session. Lisa Wade, a member of the Chickaloon Village Traditional Council, said more resolutions are being considered. The bill is expansive, touching on issues like land exchanges and permitting procedures. Among its more controversial provisions, it would limit administrative appeals to people “substantially and adversely affected” by a decision, who “meaningfully participated” in the public comment process. It would remove the ability of individuals or groups to apply for water reservations to maintain or protect certain water levels for things like protecting fish habitat, recreation and water quality. And it allows the Natural Resources commissioner to issue general permits if the commissioner finds the activity is unlikely to cause “significant and irreparable harm” to state land or resources. See PERMIT, page A-12

Bail set for man charged with murder By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion

A Cooper Landing man accused of murder returned to court Wednesday for a bail hearing. Paul Vermillion, 30, is charged with one count of firstdegree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and one count of manslaughter for the death of Genghis Muskox, 27, on Dec. 5 at Vermillion’s home

in Cooper Landing. Kenai Superior Court Judge Charles Huguelet appointed Gregory Thompson, a family friend of the Vermillion’s, as third party custodian, and set a $1 million cash appearance bond (10 percent to be paid in cash) and a $50,000 cash performance fee. The court is waiting to release Vermillion to Thompson until a GPS tracking device can be obtained at a second bail

hearing. Vermillion remains in custody at Wildwood Pretrial Facility. Public defender Josh Cooley and Assistant District Attorney Amanda Browning interviewed Thompson to determine if he was a suitable third party custodian. Thompson, a retired airline mechanic who lives in a rural area outside of Houston in the Mat-Su Valley, said he understood the serious charges against Vermillion and wants

Fire destroys Sterling home By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion

An early morning fire totaled a Sterling trailer home Thursday. Central Emergency Services were dispatched to the Scooter Court home at about 2:30 a.m. When crews arrived, the trailer was fully involved in the blaze and the roof was partially collapsed, according to a CES press release. The sole occupant of the trailer received minor burns

after trying to battle the fire on his own, and was assessed and released on scene, according to the release. CES spokesperson Brad Nelson said it is yet to be determined how the man tried to put out the fire and if he called 911 before or after trying to knock it down. “The biggest thing is to call us first,” Nelson said. He said trying fight the fire before calling 911 can waste time if it turns out it can’t be extinguished without emergency crews.

If after calling 911 the fire is still in the beginning stages, Nelson said people can try to fight it. But if the fire can’t be put out with more than a “quick puff of an extinguisher,” he said to let firefighters handle it. He also said with many items in homes made out of plastic, the smoke from fires is poisonous and can overwhelm people easily if they try to fight a fire themselves. The trailer home did not have smoke alarms, which C

See FIRE, page A-12 M

to help him because he is concerned. “I like him. (Vermillion) has good character,” Thompson said. “He is always happy and helpful.” Thompson said he has known the Vermillion family for six years. His wife is a nurse at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage where the defendant’s father, Doug Vermillion is a doctor. Browning said Thompson

is not a suitable third party custodian because he entered the crime scene and cleaned up the day after the murder occurred. Thompson said he was asked by the family to pick up Vermillion’s medication at his house because it was important and the State Troopers had already taken pictures of the scene. Browning asked Thompson See BAIL, page A-12

Village renews call for road through refuge By DAN JOLING Associated Press

ANCHORAGE (AP) — Interior Secretary Sally Jewell received bad information before rejecting a road through a national wildlife refuge that could help medical patients in a small Alaska village, leaders of the community said Thursday. In a letter, community

leaders in King Cove asked Jewell to reconsider her decision rejecting a one-lane gravel road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge so that sick or injured residents could have land access to an all-weather airport at nearby Cold Bay. Road advocates say lives are endangered when aircraft cannot reach the King Cove See ROAD, page A-12


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Peninsula Clarion, January 17, 2014 by Sound Publishing - Issuu