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CLARION
A little snow 20/10 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
Friday-Saturday, february 14-15 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 116
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Board gets to the point
Question Do you think the Alaska Permanent Fund dividend program should be protected in the state constitution? 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.
Catch-andrelease king fishing to be barbless By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
In the news Weapon discharged in Kasilof, one in custody
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Alaska State Troopers responded to a report Thursday morning that a weapon was discharged in Kasilof, which prompted a precautionary lockdown of a nearby school. Trooper spokesperson Megan Peters said they received a call at 8:55 a.m. of a domestic disturbance approximately 3 miles from Tustumena Elementary School. Peters said a patrol unit arrived on the scene at a residence off of Crooked Creek Road and detained Brian Henry, 40, of Kasilof. Henry is charged with assault in the third degree and has been taken into custody, she said. Nobody was injured in the incident and troopers are not releasing the name of the victim involved in the domestic dispute, she said. Peters said troopers notified the school that they were responding to an incident in the vicinity as a precaution. A SERT team arrived on scene, but the situation was contained by 11 a.m., she said. The incident is now over, but troopers are still on scene investigating, she said. — Dan Balmer
Inside ‘As far as the U.N. is concerned, we will certainly not leave one stone unturned if there is a possibility to move forward.’ ... See page A-8
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those are yet. The consultant will help to determine how some of the possible legislative changes will effect local governments. The agreement proposes a tax structure to allow producers, to make payment in lieu of taxes instead of paying ad valorem taxes on oil and gas property. Navarre said it’s uncertain whether a change in tax structure would affect existing
King salmon will soon find it easier to slip a hook on the Kenai River. During the 14th and final day of the Alaska Board of Fisheries meeting in Upper Cook Inlet, the seven-member board considered a suite of proposals to modify the Cook Inlet sport fisheries — including one that the group modified to apply specifically to king salmon fishing on the Kenai River when managers designate the fishery as catch-and-release. A United Cook Inlet Drift Association proposal would have restricted all catch-and-release fishing to single, unbaited, barbless hooks. UCIDA president David Martin called catchand-release fishing “playing with your food” during public testimony. “I believe it’s the only time we’ve ever adopted a regulation that talks about barbless hooks in the state,” said Board of Fisheries chairman Karl Johnstone. “We’ve had barbless hook regulations proposed in other fisheries, particularly in Bristol Bay and we didn’t quite pass them. I favor them for fisheries that were non-retention species.” Johnstone joined board members Tom Kluberton, Fritz Johnson and Sue Jeffrey in a split 4-3 vote after two amendments were introduced — one defining barbless hook and the other restricting the proposal to just catch-and-release king fishing on the Kenai river. “In my opinion, it’s a conservation measure,” Johnstone said. “It reduces handling time.” Alaska Department of Fish and Game, or ADFG, regional
See TALKS, page A-12
See FISH, page A-12
Photo by Dan Balmer/Peninsula Clarion
Debbie Morris, right, and Tonya Gilmore prepare ordered flower arrangements at Tammy’s Flowers and Gifts in Soldotna Thursday. Morris runs the Candy Boutique in the shop with the help of her husband Mike.
Meeting the holiday rush By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
For all those last minute shoppers, it is not too late to pick out a gift for your valentine. Kim Mariman, owner of Tammy’s Flowers and Gifts for the last four years, said while she has already sold out 600 dozen roses, she has plenty of jewelry, candy, flowers, cards and balloons available. Mariman said she ordered 5,000 stems in preparation for Valentine’s Day, the busiest day of the year for the shop. Four
vans will make 300 deliveries in nine hours around the central peninsula Friday. With a staff of only four employees, she said she brings in more hands to handle the extra work. “I could not have done it without the hard work from my holiday helpers,” she said. “They meticulously clean every flower and put arrangements together.” Mariman said they probably do one arrangement a minute based on each of their preordered deliveries. One of her designers, Debbie Morris, runs the Candy Boutique, which has an
assortment of chocolates and candy, another Valentine gift staple. Her husband Mike Morris also helps her stock the shelves. The two have been married for 42 years. Morris said he first met his wife when she worked at flower shop in Oregon. “She is tired of flowers and candy so she picked out four pieces of jewelry at Fred Meyer and I get to choose one for her,” he said. “So there is some surprise.” Reach Dan Balmer at daniel.balmer@ peninsulaclarion.com.
Looking for pipeline impacts Borough, other municipalities ask to have input in negotiations By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
The Kenai Peninsula Borough has joined forces with other government agencies in the state examine potential impacts of the Alaska Pipeline Project. At its Tuesday meeting, the assembly adopted a laydown ordinance to appropriate $50,000 toward jointly hiring one or more consultants to ana-
lyze how the project will affect tax revenues. Fairbanks North Star Borough, North Slope Borough and the City of Valdez have all signed on to the effort and submitted a letter to Gov. Sean Parnell requesting to participate in discussions concerning the tax structure. Each municipality also put up $50,000 to hire at least one consultant until the end of the 2016 legislative session.
“Everybody wants the project to move forward, but we really have a responsibility to the local government officials to figure out what it means,” Navarre said. The State of Alaska, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, BP and TransCanada entered, in January, a Head of Agreement. Borough Mayor Mike Navarre said the details of the agreement are important and municipalities don’t know what
Council changes city code Soldotna amends ordinance governing SADs By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
The Soldotna City Council talked city codes at its Wednesday night meeting. Of the two ordinances up for public hearing, the council postponed one and adopted the other. A third code-related ordinance was introduced on the consent agenda. An ordinance prohibiting commercial vehicles from using certain city streets was originally introduced to council in October 2013 and was postponed then for clarifications. It was scheduled for public hearing Wednesday and council voted to amend the ordinance as recommended by administration. The ordinance originally
didn’t allow commercial vehicles on collector and secondary streets. The council amended it to prohibit commercial vehicles from all city streets unless they are making deliveries or pickups or performing services requiring travel on the street. “Simply because there are no city streets that any commercial vehicle should be on unless they’re using it for local delivery,” City Manager Mark Dixson said. The council voted to postpone the pubic hearing on the ordinance to its next meeting to allow for additional time for public response to the amendment. The council unanimously approved an ordinance introduced by council member Keith Baxter to amend special assessment district code.
Previously the code stated that the council may not proceed with a SAD if property owners bearing 50 percent of the estimated cost of the improvement object, unless it is passed with a 75 percent majority vote or the council revises the SAD so the objections are fewer than half of the improvement cost. If the city is funding 75 percent of the project, the code sets an impossible standard for the property owners’ objections to reach the 50 percent threshold, Baxter said in a previous Clarion interview. The ordinance revised the code so that objections are applied to the estimated improvement cost to be assessed to property owners instead of the See CITY, page A-12 C
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Photo by Dan Balmer/Peninsula Clarion
A Kenai man was taken to the hospital after a collision Thursday morning. A red Jeep Liberty was traveling south on Bridge Access Road when the driver crossed the centerline and struck a northbound utility van at approximately 11:30 a.m., said Kenai Police Sgt. Ben Langham. Police did not identify the driver of the Jeep, who was transported to Central Peninsula Hospital for treatment of injuries. His condition was unknown at press time. The driver of the utility van did not suffer any injuries, Langham said. The roadway was closed for approximately one hour while the debris was cleared and the vehicles were towed. The investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing.