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P E N I N S U L A
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 108
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Panel chair: SJR 9 has support
Question Do you think the minimum wage should be raised? 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.
By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
In the news Judge issues restraining order on abortion regulations
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ANCHORAGE (AP) — An Anchorage judge has approved a temporary restraining order on the state’s new rules further defining a medically necessary abortion for purposes of Medicaid funding. Judge John Suddock approved the order Tuesday at the request of Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, which has sued the state. A status hearing is planned on Friday. The lawsuit was filed in Anchorage Superior Court last week, and it seeks to have the regulations struck down as unconstitutional. The lawsuit alleges the regulations violate the rights to equal protection, privacy and health and are also a violation of the administrative procedure act. The lawsuit says the department violated the act by not holding a public hearing on the proposal.
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Alaska Board of Fisheries member Tom Kluberton, of Talkeetna, talks about a suite of changes to the late run management plan for Kenai River king salmon during the Upper Cook Inlet meeting Tuesday in Anchorage.
Late run changes debated Salmon discussion continues at fish board meeting By MOLLY DISCHNER Morris News Service-Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce
ANCHORAGE — Significant changes to the Kenai River Late-Run King Salmon Management Plan will be up for deliberation this morning. Kenai River Sportfishing Association, or KRSA, originally submitted a proposal to create paired restrictions for the commercial, sport and personal-use fisheries.
Board member Tom Kluberton asked Alaska Department of Fish and Game staff to produce a version that outlined provisions for how the department would manage when the in-river return was expected to be fewer than 22,500 fish, specifically detailing that the restrictions were intended to meet the escapement goal and provide reasonable harvest opportunity on the stock. The management plan directs ADFG in how it man-
... See page A-6
Correction In a story in Tuesday’s Clarion, September Klumb’s name was misspelled. The Clarion regrets the error.
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sion between fisheries stakeholders, board members, and ADFG staff. Ninilchik commercial fisherman David Martin called a proposed 22,500 fish level essentially a new escapement goal that was a back door approach to shutting down setnetters by allocating fishing opportunity to the sport sector. Under Kluberton’s draft, in July, when king retention was See LATE, page A-12
Board flips on escapement goal By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
Inside ‘This fatally flawed health care scheme is wreaking havoc on working families nationwide.’
ages the fisheries that harvest Kenai king salmon, whether as targeted or incidental catch. Changes to the plan are just a few of more than 200 proposals before Alaska’s Board of Fisheries at its triennial Upper Cook Inlet fisheries meeting at the Egan Center, in Anchorage. When the draft up for discussion was released — after a multi-hour break in board discussion — the room broke into pockets of intense discus-
ANCHORAGE — Someone always loses in the battle between salmon allocation and conservation regulations in the Upper Cook Inlet. Late Monday, Alaska’s Board of Fisheries agreed to raise the escapement goal for the late run of Kenai River king salmon, voted and adjourned for the evening, enraging many commercial fishers in the room who then split Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion into small, animated groups Sportfishing guide Monte Roberts testifies during the Alaska arguing with others in the Board of Fisheries deliberations Monday at the Egan Center conference room at the Egan in Anchorage. Center or pleading their cases
to board members who stayed behind to listen to the criticism their decision wrought. But, by 9 a.m. Tuesday, the same board shifted 180 degrees and voted on a motion to reconsider that left inriver guides and sport users in the same place their commercial fishing counterparts had been just the night before. Even some in the commercial fishing community were unsure of what to make of the sudden reversal. “We’ll see what comes next,” said Chris Every, a commercial setnetter who fishes sites immediately south of the See GOAL, page A-12
JUNEAU — Senate Finance Committee co-chair Kevin Meyer on Tuesday said he believes there is support on his panel to advance a proposed constitutional amendment on education. Whether there is enough support for it to get past the full Senate, however, is another issue, with a high bar for any proposed constitutional change to clear. Senate Minority Leader Hollis French, D-Anchorage, said he has been watching the potential votes closely and doesn’t see SJR9 having the support necessary to clear the Senate. A critic of the proposal, French said that would be fine with him. A similar proposal is also pending in the House. SJR9, from Sen. Mike Dunleavy, R-Wasilla, would strike a provision in the state constitution prohibiting the use of public funds for the direct benefit of private and religious schools. It also would add — in a section of the constitution that says See AMEND, page A-12
North Pole refinery to shut down By DAN JOLING Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — Flint Hills Resources announced Tuesday that it will close its North Pole refinery, shuttering a major employer in the Fairbanks area and eliminating a local source of gasoline, jet fuel, heating fuel and other petroleum products. The closure will mean the loss of 81 jobs. Mike Brose, vice president of Flint Hills Resources Alaska LLC, said the refinery will close because of a difficult refining market and uncertainties over future soil and groundwater cleanup costs that began under the refinery’s former owners, Williams Alaska Petroleum See CLOSE, page A-12
Community asks to keep Skyview pool open By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
Fourteen members of the community spoke to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education at its Monday night meeting about the future of the Skyview High School pool. While there was no item calling for action concerning the pool on the board’s agenda, the board has discussed closing the pool in efforts to shrink a $4.5 million shortfall. Luke Baumer, who is the pool lead, said the only reason the pool is still running is through community support. However, he said the pool is
firstly for the students and wants to see the school be able to offer more aquatic activities. He suggested before the board makes any decisions to see the pool adapt to the reconfiguration and the middle school students that will be moving into the building. Skyview student and swim instructor, Scott Wertz, said having the pool available to teach young kids to swim is an important aspect of water safety. “(Knowing how to swim) can help save lives,” he said. Laura McIndoe, who works in special education at Soldotna Middle School, said the pool allows intensive needs students
to be themselves and not be restricted. McIndoe said she swims at the pool three times a week. Swimming is a great stress reliever and it helps her to be a better teacher, she said. Peggy Larson, of Soldotna, said she has been swimming at the pool for two years for her health. “Lap swimming is saving my life,” she said. She said it is a huge resource in the community and every time she is there she sees two to three other community members utilizing the pool for physFile photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion ical therapy. Mikayla Thompson reacts as a swimming coach blows bubbles Soldotna Mayor Dr. Nels and entices her into the water Feb. 5, 2013 at the Skyview High Anderson also described the School pool. With a funding shortfall, the district is considering See POOL, page A-12 closing the facility. C
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