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CLARION
Partly sunny 35/23 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 125
Question Do you think Alaska’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage should be repealed? 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.
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Repeal of marriage definition proposed Legislation would ask voters to strike same-sex marriage ban from constitution By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — The minority leader of the Alaska Senate on Monday proposed to strike the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in the state, calling it a matter of conscience. Sen. Hollis French, D-Anchorage, said that after reading a federal court decision
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from earlier this month striking down a voter-approved constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in Virginia, “’it was just completely clear to me, that whether we act or we wait for a
federal U.S. Supreme Court decision, this is happening. We really are in a long march toward marriage equality.” In a statement, French said passage of his constitutional amendment would let Alaska voters “remove this blot on our state constitution.” The proposal was introduced Monday. To pass, the proposal would
need a two-thirds vote in each the Alaska Senate and the House before it could qualify for the ballot. It is the latest proposed constitutional change to be brought before lawmakers during the 28th Legislature. Supporters of another highprofile proposal, which would allow for public money to be used for private or religious schools, have argued that the
1 injured in rollover
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Quake centered near Sterling ANCHORAGE (AP) — A minor earthquake was felt in Anchorage on Monday morning. The Alaska Earthquake Information Center says in a release that there’s been no reports of damage from the quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 3.3. It was felt just after 9:35 a.m. in the state’s largest city. The temblor was centered about 13 miles northeast of Sterling on the Kenai Peninsula, and located at a depth of about 37 miles.
Index Weather................. A-2 Obituaries.............. A-3 Opinion.................. A-4 Nation/World.......... A-5 Sports.....................A-6 Classifieds............. A-9 Comics................. A-12 Pet Tails............... A-13
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See BAN, page A-8
Council to look at bath salts, spice
In the news Responders extracted a woman from her vehicle Monday afternoon after she rolled down the ditch near Mile 102 of the Sterling Highway. Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Megan Peters said the driver was alert when responders arrived, but was entrapped in her vehicle. Troopers received a call from a witness about the rollover at 1:43 p.m. She was transported to Central Peninsula Hospital. Peters said the woman’s injuries are not life threatening to troopers’ knowledge. Peters said the woman was the only occupant in the vehicle and overcorrected while driving, but it is unclear why. Troopers are investigating the crash and have not released the driver’s name, Peters said.
people should be allowed to have their say. French opposes that proposed change. On the issue of same-sex marriage, French told reporters he has had some casual conversations with other legislators about his proposal but “felt more morally compelled to file it than out of any sort of a votecounting exercise.” He later
By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
nelope Litzen, 15, from Nikiski, coached by their mom, Geri Litzen. Makayla Derkevorkian, 17, of Soldotna is in her second year with the team. After one of their previous teammates moved, the squad needed to fill a spot to compete at nationals so they added Emma Osimowicz, 17, from Fairbanks. Chena compared their team’s experience to the Jamaican bobsled team competing in the Winter Olympics. She said some people didn’t think there were horses in Alaska and by the end of the roundup, the girls felt like rock stars walking around Denver because other teams wanted to learn more about the state. Derkevorkian said competing at a national event with more than 900 peers was an amazing experience.
An ordinance prohibiting synthetic drugs — spice and bath salts — in the city of Soldotna is up for introduction at this week’s Soldotna City Council meeting. Soldotna Police Chief Peter Mlynarik said synthetic drugs have been on the rise in the last several years with police officers seeing the drugs more often on traffic stops, but the they are “tough to chase.” While the State of Alaska has made certain chemicals occasionally found in spice illegal, field test kits are not available, Mlynarik said. Police departments have to send the drugs to the Alaska Department of Public Safety’s Crime Lab, which he said can be difficult and time consuming. When a chemical has been banned by the state, manufacturers sometimes change it for one that isn’t, increasing the difficultly in stopping local trafficking of synthetic drugs, he said. He said juvenile synthetic drug use is a concern and while the new restrictions, if adopted, may not deter some kids and teens from using, he thinks the making bath salts and spice illegal will help bring numbers down. “I think (youth) may stay away from drugs that they know are banned — marijuana, meth, heroin — but on some substances where they know it’s not illegal, they could be more prone to try something like that where that substance can be just as bad as the others it’s just not illegal, ” Mlynarik said. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s website, synthetic cannabinoids use is “alarmingly
See HORSE, page A-8
See DRUGS, page A-8
Photo by Kaylee Osowski/Peninsula Clarion
Sunset
The setting sun paints the sky pink behind the mountains viewable from Nikiski Beach Road in Nikiski on Monday evening. Forecasters are calling for partly sunny skies today.
Sharing their horse sense Girls hope to expand 4-H horse program on Kenai Peninsula By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
When it comes to horse knowledge in a national competition, teams from Nebraska, South Dakota and Texas would be expected to place at the top, but Alaska? Four teenage girls from Alaska — three from the Kenai Peninsula — placed fourth in Horse Bowl at the Western National Roundup Jan. 8-12 in Denver, Colo. Named the North Wind Riders, team captain Chena Litzen, 16, from Nikiski, placed third individually. Western National Roundup is an annual 4-H competition with more than 900 participants from 30 states. Youths ages 14 to 19 qualify for the roundup by winning a state qualifier to compete in multiple 4-H events from horse and livestock judg-
Photo courtesy Geri Litzen
Four members of the Kenai Peninsula horse quiz team known as the North Wind Riders took fourth place in horse bowl at the Western National Roundup Jan. 8-12 in Denver. Pictured from left are Makayla Derkevorkian, Penelope Litzen, Chena Litzen and Emma Osimowicz.
ing, livestock quiz bowl, hipThe North Wind Riders from pology, public speaking and the Kenai Peninsula region inmore. clude Litzen and her sister Pe-
Legislature misses initiative hearing timeline By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — A 2010 state law aimed at providing the public with more information surrounding ballot initiatives called for legislative hearings on certified initiatives within 30 days of the start of session. That never happened this year. The law calls for the lieutenant governor to hold hearings
around the state at least 30 days before an election on initiatives scheduled to appear on the ballot. But it also calls for a legislative committee selected jointly by the presiding officers of the Alaska House and Senate to hold at least one hearing on initiatives that the lieutenant governor has determined to be properly filed within 30 days after the start of a session preceding the election. Last Wednesday marked the
30th day of this session. The legislature’s top attorney, Doug Gardner, said Monday that when laws address legislative procedure, it is up to the Legislature to decide how to implement those laws. Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell in December certified an initiative that would require legislative approval for a large-scale metallic sulfide mining operation within the watershed of the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve. C
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That action came with a notice of proper filing. The news release announcing the certification, dated Dec. 23, also included links to a letter to House Speaker Mike Chenault and Senate President Charlie Huggins, notifying them. Signatures were turned in before the start of the legislative session on two other proposed initiatives, related to legalization of recreational marijuana for those 21 years of age and older
and raising the state minimum wage. The marijuana initiative was deemed properly filed by Treadwell last week, according to Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai. The minimum wage proposal has met the required threshold for signatures but awaited final certification. “I think it probably was something that was more overlooked than anything else,” Chenault said of the legislative See HEARING, page A-8