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CLARION P E N I N S U L A
MARCH 23, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 147
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Setnet groups petition board By RASHAH MCCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
‘We didn’t get dinner that night’ C
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Top right: A group meets at the Kenai Senior Center to talk about their memories of the 1964 Good Friday earthquake. (Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion) Top left: Jim Evenson imitates the ground pitching and rolling as he talks about experiencing the Good Friday Earthquake in Nikiski. (Photo by Rashah McChesney/ Peninsula Clarion) Middle: Photographer Richard Mommsen shows the collapsed Cooper Landing bridge over the Kenai River and the Bailey Bridge that was constructed shortly thereafter. (Contributed photo/ KPC Photo Archive) Bottom: This Cheechako News photo of Soldotna shows several relatively undamaged buildings and one — an unfurnished A-frame — which was one of the few structures damaged by the 1964 earthquake. (Contributed photo/KPC Photo Archive)
Peninsula residents recall 1964 Good Friday earthquake
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edra Evenson was making dinner for her family at her home at Mile 3 of the Kenai Spur Highway. Her husband Jim Evenson and their son, Thor, were also home. Evenson had filled the sink with soapy water to clean up grease splatters from the french fries she was making. BK Kivi, an eighth grader, was at her Nikiski home with her eight siblings. Her parents were still at work. Joanna Hollier, who worked for Pacific Northern Airlines was at the Kenai Municipal Airport. Her husband, who was president of the parentteacher association, was setting up for a school carnival. Their three kids were at their Beaver Loop Road home. Also on Beaver Loop Road, Mavis Cone had invited another family over for dinner. The two families were looking at her new John F. Kennedy 50-cent piece before enjoying their meal. In East Anchorage, Kit Hill, a high school senior, was at home making dinner with her sisters See QUAKE, page A-2
Story by Kaylee Osowski
Great Alaska Quake shook up science By ELWOOD BREHMER Morris News Service-Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce
When North America’s largestknown earthquake shook Alaska for all it was worth at 5:36 p.m., on Good Friday, March 27, 1964, George Plafker was in the right place at the very right time. At 35, Plafker was an up-andcoming geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif.
Because he had spent the previous three years mapping Southcentral Alaska’s mineral resources, Plafker was one of the few USGS scientists familiar with the infant state and subsequently was sent north. “I was at a meeting in Seattle so they only had to pay my fare half way,” Plafker said during a February lecture. The March 28 flight would send Plafker’s career in a new direction. “I don’t think any of us had any
experience working on earthquakes,” he said. Today, Plafker is scientist emeritus of the Earthquake Hazards Program at the USGS Menlo Park Science Center. Part of a three-man team of geologists, Plafker was on the ground in Anchorage less than 24 hours after the earthquake struck. His flight was diverted to Elmendorf Air Force Base north of the small city because the air-traffic control tower at the
international airport had collapsed. The lone individual in the tower was killed. The 9.2 magnitude earthquake, with its epicenter 74 miles east of Anchorage on the north edge of Prince William Sound, was felt as far away as Dutch Harbor and Seattle. The quake and resulting tsunamis took 128 lives from Alaska’s Gulf Coast all the way south to Los Angeles. In Alaska, 15 people are believed See SHAKE, page A-5
A month after the Alaska Board of Fisheries made substantive changes to portions of the Kenai River Late-Run King Salmon Management Plan, two commercial setnet fishing organizations have filed emergency petitions seeking relief from and clarification of portions of the new regulations. The Kenai Peninsula Fishermen’s Association, or KPFA, and the South K-Beach Independent Fishermen’s Association, SOKI, filed petitions during the Board of Fisheries Statewide King and Tanner Crab and supplemental issues meeting in Anchorage. The KPFA petition and amendment suggests that the Board of Fisheries limited public process and active participation by board members who did not have time to access all the documentation required to make an informed decision. “This is an urgent matter as provisions of this modified plan require considerable expenditures estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and in the tens of thousands to individuals who wish to participate,” according to the petition. See FISH, page A-2
Parnell pushes pension action By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — Gov. Sean Parnell on Friday reiterated his call for lawmakers to put $3 billion from savings toward paying down the state’s unfunded pension liability, saying it’s the best thing they could do to help ease pressure on Alaska’s budget. With about a month left before the scheduled end of session, lawmakers have not yet decided how best to address the issue. Last week, Rep. Alan Austerman, R-Kodiak, a co-chair of the House Finance Committee, said “everything” was on the table in discussions with his fellow majority members, including possible contribution increases by municipalities, extending the timeline for payments and Parnell’s proposal. Sen. Anna Fairclough, R-Eagle River, and vice-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said Friday that senators See ACTION, page A-2
Committee works on new reading program
Today’s Clarion Obituaries..................... A-3 Opinion......................... A-4 Nation........................... A-6 World............................ A-9 Court reports.............. A-12 Police reports.............. A-13 Sports........................... B-1 Community................... C-1 Weddings...................... C-1 Dear Abby..................... C-2 Crossword..................... C-2 Horoscope.................... C-2 Classifieds................... C-3 Mini Page.................... C-11 TV...................... Clarion TV
Sunny 37/2 For complete weather, see page A-14 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
By MIKE COPPOCK Associated Press
JUNEAU — The Senate Education Committee heard a bill Friday that would establish a reading program for elementary school students with reading difficulties, an effort to have Alaska youth reading on an appropriate level by third grade that’s drawn opposition as too formulaic. Senate Bill 107, sponsored
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by the committee’s chairman, Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, would establish a reading program for kindergarten through third-grade students in public schools. It also provides a system of accountability for school districts and parameters for esC
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tablishing reading strategies. Sen. Berta Gardner, D-Anchorage, said she had been receiving complaints about the bill possibly being “scripted” teaching, where reading teachers robotically follow set steps and phrases for instructing students who have reading deficiencies. The measure requires school districts to place a focus on overcoming reading deficiencies and does not require teach-
ers to follow a set script, said Susan McCauley, director of teaching and learning support for the Alaska State Department of Education and Early Development. She said the bill adds speech as part of the literacy requirements. “Whether a student is reading-deficient is not left solely to a teacher’s judgment, but will be a system-wide decision,” See READ, page A-2