C
M
Y
K
Super
Circus
Big game starts with breakfast
Media descends on Super Bowl
Food/B-1
Sports/A-10
CLARION
Rain, snow 38/25 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 102
Question What do you think of the current weather pattern? n I’m enjoying the mild temperatures; n This is miserable, please bring winter back. 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.
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Obama vows to use powers President to narrow economic disparity By JULIE PACE AP White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON — Seeking to energize his sluggish second term, President Barack Obama vowed Tuesday night in his State of the Union address to sidestep Congress “whenever and wherever” necessary to narrow economic disparities between America’s rich and poor. He unveiled an array of modest executive actions to increase the minimum wage for federal contract workers and make it easier for millions of low-income people to save for
retirement. “America does not stand still and neither do I,” Obama declared in his prime-time address before a joint session of Congress and millions of Americans watching on television. Draped in presidential grandeur, Obama’s hour-long address served as the opening salvo in a midterm election fight for control of Congress that will quickly consume Washington’s attention. Democrats, seeking to cast Republicans as uncaring about the middle class, have urged Obama to focus on economic mobility and the gap between the wealthy and poor.
His emphasis on executive actions was greeted with shouts of “Do it!” from many members of his party. Declaring 2014 a “year of action,” Obama also sought to convince an increasingly skeptical public that he still wields power in Washington even if he can’t crack through the divisions in Congress. Burned by a series of legislative failures in 2013, White House aides say they’re now redefining success AP Photo/Larry Downing, Pool not by what Obama can jam through Congress but by what President Barack Obama delivers the State of Union address actions he can take on his own. before a joint session of Congress in the House chamber TuesIndeed, Obama’s proposals day in Washington, as Vice President Joe Biden, and House See UNION, page A-5 Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, listen.
Heavy agenda for fish board
In the news Premera: Many Alaskans stay with existing policies
C
M
Y
K
JUNEAU (AP) — A spokeswoman for the largest health insurance company in Alaska says more than 80 percent of individual health care policy holders whose plans do not meet requirements of the federal health care law opted to stick with their plan through 2014. Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield sent cancellation notices last year to about 5,360 policy holders in Alaska because their plans didn’t meet requirements of the law. However, President Barack Obama laid out a plan in November that gave insurers the option to continue offering into 2014 plans that would otherwise be canceled, provided state insurance commissioners signed off. Premera spokeswoman Melanie Coon says about 90 percent of people with plans that were grandfathered in under the law stayed on those plans instead of opting for a new plan.
Inside ‘My family is from up north and we’re used to driving in the snow and stuff, and seeing everyone freak out, sliding and stuff, it’s pretty funny.’ ... See page A-6
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-8 Sports...................A-10 Police, courts....... A-12 Food...................... B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-6 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
trict discussion will come up in Committee D, which is tentatively expected to be meet Feb. 10, with decisions made Feb. 11-13. Petersburg’s John Jensen will chair that committee, with Reed Morisky, from Fairbanks, and Talkeetna’s Tom Kluberton also participating. Members of the public will join them for the discussion. Northern District proposals will also be discussed during other parts of the meeting.
With more than 230 regulatory proposals, several pages worth of suggested changes to the Cook Inlet finfish fisheries, nearly 500 written comments and several hundred pages of Alaska Department of Fish and Game, or ADFG, opinion and reports, the seven members of the Alaska Board of Fisheries will have their work cut out for them in the coming two weeks. The board is scheduled to take up Cook Inlet issues from Jan. 31 to Feb. 13 at the Egan Center in Anchorage and several local organizations are gearing up for the triennial meeting which brings many of the area’s ongoing management issues to the forefront of statewide discussions on how to manage fish resources. The first few days of the meeting are scheduled primarily for public and advisory committee testimony. Representatives from Fish and Game advisory committees, whose bodies spent the weeks leading up to the meeting finalizing comments on each proposal, will present their support and opposition to the proposed regulatory changes, while individuals can also voice their concerns to the board. While attendees cannot sign up to comment publicly until the meeting starts, during the Board of Fisheries meeting on Lower Cook Inlet issues in
See NORTHERN, page A-5
See FISH, page A-14
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Making a connection
Rose Bezilla gives Anthony Griglione, of Soldotna, a massage during the third annual Project Homeless Connect at the Kenai Mall Tuesday in Kenai. Bezilla joined several other volunteers who served the area’s homeless population and connected them with a variety social service agencies.
Northern District up for discussion By Molly Dischner Morris News Service-Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce
Kenai Peninsula issues won’t be the only decisions before the Alaska Board of Fisheries as it considers the Northern District during its two-week Upper Cook Inlet meeting that began Jan. 31. Northern District streams primarily flow through the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, and that area contains the major-
ity of the state’s listed salmon stocks of concern, or runs of fish that are not returning in the numbers managers expect are needed to keep the stock healthy. The source of the Mat-Su salmon woes is unknown, some blame interception by commercial fishermen in the Inlet, other blame habitat degradation, still others assert that the problem lies farther out in the ocean. The borough, and the Alaska
Department of Fish and Game, or ADFG, have worked to better understand salmon runs in the region and improve certain components of the habitat over the past several years, and fishing by all users has been restricted at some point. Regulatory proposals submitted for the upcoming meeting address what the board can change in regards to those hypotheses — primarily fishing effort and escapement goals. Much of the Northern Dis-
Gas pipeline could serve 700 Sterling properties By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
ENSTAR Natural Gas Company plans to begin work on a Sterling pipeline within a few weeks to hookup hundreds of properties with natural gas. The project will extend an existing pipeline under the Kenai River to serve Funny River Road properties on the south side of the river. John Sims, business development director for ENSTAR said the company plans to begin the project by the third week in February and finish the river
portion of the project within two weeks. The portion of the project under the river priced at $1.3 million is funded by a state grant. Sims said there are about 700 total properties that ENSTAR could potentially serve. The building out of the pipeline to serve property owners, if approved, will be funded by utility special assessment districts. “There are two utility special assessment districts being proposed on the (south) side of the river,” Sims said. “And that’s what the bore of the Ke-
‘There are two utility special assessment districts being proposed on the (south) side of the river. And that’s what the bore of the Kenai (River) is attempting to get to.’ — John Sims, ENSTAR business development director nai (River) is attempting to get to.” The districts are still in the early stages of formation, Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre said. The projC
M
Y
K
ect will come before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in March. Navarre said there has to be a 70 percent approval rate of the USAD by the property owners
to move forward. “If people have houses and live there year round, it’s a cost benefit for them for converting to gas,” Navarre said. “It would be significant savings. … For people who have vacant lots that they have to pay for don’t really get the benefit of it until they build on it.” So far the borough only has estimates for Funny River West with the 264 parcels assessed at $3,549 per lot, Navarre said. Boring for the project will begin at Huske Street near Betty Lou Drive and Duncan See GAS, page A-14