C
M
Y
K
Tension
State
Shots fired, ships seized in Ukraine
Nikiski, Soldotna lose openers
World/A-9
Sports/B-1
CLARION
Sunny 34/7 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
Vol. 44, Issue 146
Question Do you think marijuana should be legalized in Alaska? 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 emailed to news@peninsulaclarion.com.
Friday-Saturday, March 21-22, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
BOF tweaks Cook Inlet crab proposals By MOLLY DISCHNER Alaska Journal of Commerce Morris News Service-Alaska
The state Board of Fisheries opted against creating additional opportunity to harvest tanner crabs in Cook Inlet Thursday, although it made other changes to existing crab fisheries in the area.
The board passed the other Cook Inlet proposals unanimously. One adjusts the Kachemak Bay tanner crab fishery season; now, crab fishing there will run from Sept. 1 to March 31. That’s meant to help protect soft shell crabs. Generally, new shell crabs harden by early fall, according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game Man-
agement Biologist Jan Rumble. The tanner crab fishery in Cook Inlet has been closed in recent years, but the changes adjust regulations for the future when the stock is at a level that will allow for a harvest. The board discussed the fishery management changes at its triennial statewide king and tanner crab meeting, which is
By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
Alaska Energy Authority plans biomass projects
M
Y
K
Kenai Peninsula Borough employees can now serve in elected positions on service area boards after the borough assembly passed an ordinance amending code Tuesday. The ordinance called for section one of KPB 4.30.060 to be changed from disallowing all elected officials of the borough to hold any other compensated borough office or job or state or federal elected position to only
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Energy Authority will be installing 14 biomass boiler projects this year, and six of those projects will share $20 million from the state’s Renewable Energy Fund. The six projects are located in Galena, Kake, Ketchikan, Haines, Minto, and Yakutat. Eight more boilers make up a second tier of the organization’s to-do list. “These projects have been in development for a number of years,” said AEA biomass project manager Devany Plentovich. Plentovich made the announcement Wednesday during a presentation to the state Board of Forestry on the increase of biomass energy use in the state and new Environmental Protection Agency proposals affecting Alaska’s biomass boilers. Biomass boilers are built to heat one or more buildings. They can be stoked with cord wood, wood chips or wood pellets and have become popular with the rise of heating oil prices.
A student pictured in a photograph in Thursday’s Clarion was misidentified. In a photo with a story on Cinderella’s Closet, Taryn McCubbins is shown examining a vintage style dress with volunteer Maureen Mokracek. The Clarion regrets the error.
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-8 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.
The other proposal changes the harvest strategy for a portion of the Kachemak Bay tanner crab fishery near Anchor Point and the Kamishak and Barren Islands, so that ADFG uses the three-year average stock abundance to determine whether to open the fishery, rather than the See CRABS, page A-5
disallowing borough assembly members for holding any such positions. Assembly member Sue McClure, who serves on the policies and procedures committee, asked for unanimous consent on the ordinance. Assembly member Wayne Ogle objected citing that he was concerned the change could lead to politicizing. While some boards have issues filling seats, Ogle said his Nikiski area boards are very acSee BOARD, page A-12
Veterans stand for war memorial By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Correction
being held in Anchorage this week. The date change was proposed by the Homer Advisory Committee, although the original proposal called for an Oct. 15 date. The Sept. 1 amendment was intended to still provide some fishing opportunity, while balancing concern about the stock.
KPB staff can be elected to service boards
In the news
C
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Out for a stroll
Local citizens filled the Kenai City Council Chambers beyond capacity Wednesday to show their emphatic support for a veterans memorial in Leif Hansen Memorial Park. Two additional rows of chairs were added to ensure seats for everyone in the room. While there has been no agenda item addressing the cross symbol on the veterans monument installed last summer, council members Ryan Marquis and Terry Bookey, who said they were following up on resident complaints, contacted city the administration and attorney to investigate the potential liability of having a religious symbol on city property. Scott Hamann, a Kenai resident, designer of the monument and owner of Metal Magic, said the monument pays respects to the soldiers of the Vietnam War who did not return home. On the base of the 12-foot monument is a scene with a soldier kneeling in front of a fallen soldiers cross. See CROSS, page A-12
Julien Harris, of Soldotna, carries his puppy Jazzy while his other puppy, Roscoe, runs alongside near the Old Cannery Road entrance to the beach just south of the mouth of the Kenai River Thursday in Kenai. Thursday’s vernal equinox — the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere — was marked by sunny weather and a 32 degree high temperature in Kenai.
Public forum offers further feedback for commuting kids By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
The third draft of the City of Soldotna’s Safe Routes to Schools Walk Zone Inventory and Recommendations Draft was met with public support and lingering concerns, at a Wednesday meeting. At the meeting, Soldotna City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission members responded to and reiterated public hesitation over increasing traffic flow access points, which may actually create more problem areas for children commuting on bicycles. Clarion file photo Patrick Cotter, a representaIn this May 12, 2012 file photo bicycle riders participate in a tive of Fairbanks-based PDC group ride Saturday through Soldotna during bike safety day. Inc., Engineers, presented recThe event was an opportunity for youth and adults to learn ommendations and costs for poabout safe riding and to share a fun ride through town. See SAFE, page A-12 C
M
Y
K
Bill could end high school exit exams MIKE COPPOCK Associated Press
JUNEAU, Alaska — The House Finance Committee on Thursday moved a bill that would end the high school exit examination. House Bill 220, sponsored by Rep. Pete Higgins, R=Fairbanks, would scrap the secondary-student competency examination. The move would save the state $2.7 million. The bill had a deadline of June 30, 2017, for former students to request a high school diploma from a district if they had successfully completed all the school’s academic requirements for graduation but failed the exit examination. That deadline was eliminated through an amendment offered by Democratic Rep. Les Gara, who was concerned that not all former high school students would receive notice of the deadline.
2014 20
28th LEGISLATURE
2nd SESSION
“Not every Alaskan reads every law we pass,” Gara said. Reps. Mark Neuman, R-Big Lake, and Steve Thompson, R-Fairbanks, also said former Alaska high school students may be out of state or overseas and not receive word of the changes made in getting a high school diploma. The measure affects students from when the test was first administered in 2004 to the present. The current high school graduating class members “are graduating under current law, which means they will have to take the test or have already taken the test,” Education Commissioner Mike Hanley said. See EXAM, page A-5