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CLARION
Sunny 32/6 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 162
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
House hears from picks for fish board
Question Should a state-wide ban on smoking in public places be enacted? 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 MOLLY DISCHNER Morris News Service-Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce
In the news Raising awareness
Begich reports bringing in more than $1 million
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JUNEAU (AP) — U.S. Sen. Mark Begich has reported bringing in more than $1 million toward his re-election bid during the first quarter of this year. It’s the Democrat’s highest fundraising quarter of this election cycle. The money includes nearly $940,000 in contributions from individuals and political committees, as well as transfers from other authorized committees. Begich’s campaign says more than 1,500 Alaskans contributed to the campaign. Begich reported having $2.8 million on hand, as of March 31. Republicans see Begich’s seat as key to their efforts to reclaim control of the U.S. Senate. GOP hopefuls in the race include Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, former state Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan and Joe Miller, the 2010 Republican nominee for Senate.
Correction A story in Tuesday’s Clarion about the renovation of a former cannery in Kenai contained incorrect information. The story said the cannery had been out of operation for about 40 years. Fish preserving operations ended in 1998. The Clarion regrets the error.
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Alaska.................... A-5 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-8 Sports...................A-10 Food...................... B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-6
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Above, Natalie Merrick, of Soldotna, waves to a passerby after giving the woman information on the Green Dot Alaska campaign Tuesday in Soldotna. Left, Merrick and Susie Stafford, of Kenai, have a laugh after joking about running into traffic to deliver materials for the campaign. The two were joined by others at the intersection of the Kenai Spur Highway and the Sterling Highway offering information about the campaign to drivers who were interested. The violence prevention initiative funded through the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault is currently being implemented in five Alaskan communities including Homer, Fairbanks, Juneau and Kenai. Photos by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
The House Fisheries Committee held a short hearing on Gov. Sean Parnell’s appointees to the Board of Fisheries today, and public testimony on the incumbents was mixed. Parnell appointed Sue Jeffrey of Kodiak, John Jensen of Petersburg and Reed Morisky of Fairbanks to the board April 2. Today, the committee heard briefly from the appointees and the public, including several fishing organizations. The hearing was somewhat rushed as the representatives had been called to the floor shortly after. Jeffrey and Jensen fish commercially and are generally considered commercial representatives on the board; Morisky is a guide and is considered a sport representative. Current Board of Fisheries chair Karl Johnstone supported See FISH, page A-14
Kenai police seek to replace totaled cruiser By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
The City of Kenai is in the process of replacing a police cruiser totaled in a traffic stop last month. On March 8, Kenai Police stopped Brealand Garrett II, 27, of Soldotna on Bridge Access Road south of Warren Ames Bridge at 7:47 p.m. Garrett was arrested for driving under the influence and three counts
of misconduct involving a nai Police Officer Casey controlled substance, acHershberger was standcording to the police ing at the open right report. rear door of the About an hour cruiser, one of two later while officers police vehicles on were still on scene, a scene. Both police southbound Honda car cars were parked off driven by Anna Nisler, the southbound side of 19, of Kenai, rear-ended the the road with the red and blue parked police cruiser with Gar- lights illuminated when the imrett inside in custody, according pact occurred, according to the to the report. report. At the time of the crash, KeGarrett, Nisler and Hersh-
Truck crash reported as airplane accident By Dan Balmer Peninsula Clarion
A Kenai man, who initially reported he had been in a plane crash near Summit Lake along the Seward Highway, was one of three people involved in a single-vehicle accident early Tuesday morning. Denis Straughn, 43, flagged down a vehicle near Mile 105 of the Sterling Highway at 3:54 a.m. and stated he had been in a plane crash, according to a dispatch report from the Alaska State Troopers. Troopers, along with the Anchorage Fire Department responded, but were unable to locate wreckage of a plane crash, said trooper spokesperson Megan Peters. Straughn was taken to Providence Medical Center in Anchorage for treatment of nonlife threatening injuries. During an interview with troopers, Straughn said he was a passenger in a pickup truck traveling from Anchorage to Soldotna,
Peters said. “He was confused and disoriented because he was sleeping at the time of the wreck,” she said. “It snowed overnight and he got out and walked in the cold for sometime.” Straughn told troopers he recalled being with another person in the truck and identified the person as Harley Davidson, according to the report. Ten minutes before 7 a.m. the Anchorage Fire Department notified troopers that crews had located a wrecked pickup truck down an embankment near Mile 99 of the Seward Highway, Peters said. Searchers found two people, a man and woman, inside. They were not seriously injured but unable to get out of the wreckage, according to the report. Responders freed both individuals and transported them to Providence with non-life threatening injuries, according to the report.
berger were all transported to Central Peninsula Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. Alaska State Troopers assisted Kenai police with the crash investigation. Nisler was served a summons for overtaking and passing a parked emergency vehicle, resulting in personal injury. Kenai Police Chief Gus Sandahl said because the extensive damage sustained to the vehicle rendered it totaled, the depart-
ment would need to obtain a replacement sedan as soon as possible. Sandahl has put in a request for the purchase of a 2014 Ford Interceptor Sedan from Kendall Ford in Wasilla for $27,770. The price includes road ready package and reverse sensing, he said. An ordinance to appropriate the funds for a replacement police cruiser will be voted on at the next Kenai City Council See KENAI, page A-14
Rewrite of education bill leaves some frustrated By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — The broadranging education bill that passed the state House after hours of debate seemed to leave few representatives completely satisfied. Some, like Reps. Alan Austerman. R-Kodiak, and Tammie Wilson, R-North Pole, expressed concerns with the proposed spending for education and the sustainability of that funding. Rep. Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage, said his constituents want accountability for how education money is being spent. “We are not paying for a middle-of-the-road education,” he said in floor debate late Monday. “We’re paying for a very good education and being happy with the middle of the road? I’m not happy with a C.”
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Others, including minority House Democrats, wanted more money for schools included to help districts avoid cuts and saw the bill as a missed opportunity for having meaningful, positive impact on public education. The bill, HB278, underwent significant changes during the course of a floor debate that began late Monday afternoon and culminated in a vote around midnight. Representatives added $30 million in one-time funds for schools on top of a roughly $300 increase over three years in the per-pupil funding formula known as the base student allocation. They also severed from the bill a plan to address
the teachers’ retirement system, which Gov. Sean Parnell had urged them to do. It remained unclear Tuesday just how lawmakers might yet proceed in addressing the unfunded pension obligations for both the teachers’ and public employees’ retirement systems in a session scheduled to end in less than two weeks. The bill included elements related to charter schools, teacher tenure, certain tax credits for donations to private nonprofit schools, a grading system for school performance and a call for state recommendations on salary and benefits for districts. It bore a glancing resemblance to the bill originally introduced by Parnell as a way to bring changes to the state’s education system. The bill passed 29-11, with majority members Wilson See SCHOOL, page A-14