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Creative
Game 4
Art auction to benefit library
Brown Bears square off with Ice Dogs
Arts & Entertainment/B-1
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CLARION
Warmer 38/7 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 163
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
College program opens to high school juniors
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 KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
In the news House passes bill addressing AGDC appointments
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JUNEAU (AP) — The Alaska House has passed legislation to allow out-of-state residents to serve on the board of the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., or AGDC. The vote was 27-12. The bill still must to go to the Senate. House Speaker Mike Chenault requested House Rules introduce HB383 to address what he has called an oversight in legislation passed last year setting up AGDC. Chenault has said the intent was to ensure the most qualified people serve on the board, regardless of whether they’re Alaska residents. The issue came to the fore with Gov. Sean Parnell’s appointment to the board of a Texas man and former pipeline company executive. Critics of the appointment say Alaskans should be making policy calls affecting Alaskans, and nothing prevents AGDC from hiring out-of-state residents as consultants.
Inside ‘Since the chamber is turning 60 this year I could not think of a better gift.’ ... See page A-5
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Business................ A-5 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-8 Sports...................A-10 Arts........................ B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-6
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Photo by Wren Norwood/ for the Peninsula Clarion
Bella Fiore, left, and Alyssa Herr, right, stretch with Pako Whannell after working with her on Job Shadow Day Wednesday at New Beginnings in Kenai.
On-the-job training Kenai students participate in Job Shadow Day By WREN NORWOOD and KENDRICK O’ROURKE For the Peninsula Clarion
More than a hundred Kenai Central High School students join the workforce for the day Wednesday, as part of the annual Job Shadow Day. Job Shadow Day, now in its 20th year, is a joint program between Kenai Central High School and the Kenai Chamber of Commerce. High school juniors are matched with local businesses for a hands-on experience in a number of different career areas.
KCHS Principal Alan Fields said that about 125 students are given a day to shadow a worker and experience the job of their host. Students have the opportunity to understand what the job is like and if they might enjoy that type of career. The school faces a huge logistical challenge transporting more than a hundred students to different businesses, from the refineries and oil industry businesses of Nikiski to the hospital and police station in Soldotna. Fields said he appreciates the community support and would like to see it the community continue supporting the
program. Johna Beech, president and chief operating officer for the Kenai Chamber of Commerce, said that about 56 businesses are involved with the Job Shadow Day. This is her third year working with this program and she said KCHS is the only school in the United States that puts on a job shadow program of this type. One challenge the chamber faces in putting the program together is the size of the community and the heavy burden on some of the businesses. The hospital alone has accepted about 24 students for See JOB, page A-12
This fall Kenai Peninsula Borough School District juniors will be able to get a jump on college at a reduced rate. Kenai Peninsula College and KPBSD announced this week that the JumpStart program will be open to eleventh graders for the 2014 fall semester. Previously KPC only offered the program to seniors at the reduced tuition rate of $55 per credit compared to the regular $174 rate. “We’re just really excited for the opportunity for students and for helping them be successful … as well as thankful that it’s been extended to our juniors not just for out seniors,” said, Pegge Erkeneff, district spokesperson. Students can take up to six credits each semester at the college. KPBSD students who begin the program their junior years will be able to earn up to a full year of college credit and save a total of $3,570 when compared to regular University of Alaska rates. As an accredited institution under the University of Alaska Anchorage, KPC credits are transferable to nearly any institution, KPC Director Gary Turner said. See JUMP, page A-12
Senate Finance advances capital budget By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — The Senate Finance Committee advanced a $2.1 billion capital budget Wednesday. Perhaps the biggest change compared with the draft unveiled earlier this week was a $245-million financing package for a heat and power plant at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The figure includes state funds and $157.5 million in antici-
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pated bond revenue. The committee advanced a separate bill, SB218, that would increase the borrowing limit of the Alaska Municipal Bond Bank Authority as part of that overall package. The capital budget included language urging the University
Soldotna man indicted on federal tax charges By Dan Balmer Peninsula Clarion
A Soldotna man was indicted for allegedly filing false tax returns and failing to file a return from 2006 to 2012, according to a release from the office of U.S. District Attorney Karen Loeffler. James R. Back, 59, was arrested at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport on Monday and arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge John Roberts on Tuesday. Back did not enter a plea Tuesday and was released under the supervision of the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Office on $10,000 bail, according to the U.S. Attorney’s of-
fice. According to the prosecutors, Back filed false tax returns from 2006 to 2008 and failed to file tax returns from 2009 through 2012. During this time he worked for Alyeska Pipeline Service Company as a pipeline technician. In 2007, he sent the IRS a false Substitute W-2 form, “claiming his wages were not income,” according to the indictment. The indictment alleges from 2006 to 2008, Back falsely reported to the IRS that he earned no income during those years, when he had earnings that totaled nearly $400,000. Back claimed on his returns that he was owed refunds totaling $110,111. See TAX, page A-12
of Alaska to implement a utility surcharge or increase tuition in an amount not to exceed $2 million in annual revenue. That funding along with fuel savings from building a new plant would be used to offset revenue-bond debt service for the power plant project, according to the nonbinding language that expressed the intent of lawmakers. The budget bill is subject to change. Once it passes the Senate, it will go to the House.
Senate Finance co-chair Sen. Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, has said that his goals with the budget included having the state finish projects it has started — like the state library, archives and museum in Juneau and an engineering building at the University of Alaska Anchorage — and maintain roads, building or other state assets by addressing issues of deferred maintenance. He also has sought to hold down the level of spending, a desire shared by the governor
and other lawmakers. While the overall size of the bill was up from the committee draft released Monday, it was about $180 million less than the capital budget, including supplemental capital items, approved by lawmakers last session. The bill has close to $440 million less in unrestricted general funds than in the budget approved last year, according to the Legislative Finance Division. See BUDGET, page A-12
LNG measure moves out of House Resource Committee By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — Following an intensive amendment process that began last week, the House Resources Committee on Wednesday passed out its rewrite of a bill aimed at advancing a major liquefied natural gas project. The committee considered dozens of proposed amendments and debated many of them at length — even some that were ultimately withdrawn — over the course of several days. Co-chair Dan Saddler, REagle River, said he thought C
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Alaskans could take comfort that the committee did “good, hard work.” Rep. Peggy Wilson, R-Wrangell, said she thought the bill was fair to all concerned. Other members expressed mixed feelings. Rep. Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage, said he saw this as a way forward in pursuing a long-hoped for gas line project. But he said he still had questions about ownership and control. He encouraged the Parnell administration to make sure this was the best deal the state could get. He said he wasn’t sure it was but if he knew a better way, he would have offered
options. The bill, SB138, from Gov. Sean Parnell, would set state participation in the project, also being pursued by the North Slope’s major players, TransCanada and the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., or AGDC, at about 25 percent. It also is aimed at moving the project — currently estimated to cost between $45 billion and more than $65 billion — into a phase of preliminary engineering and design and cost refinement. As proposed, AGDC would hold the state’s interest in liquefaction facilities. See GAS, page A-12