C
M
Y
K
Exhibit
Fish on!
Student art on display at KPC
Lakes hold early season action
Arts & Entertainment/B-1
Tight Lines/A-10
CLARION
Rain, snow 46/30 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 169
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Pay, benefit change fails
Question Do you agree with the school district’s decision to reinstate funding for the Skyview pool? 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.
Getting into character
producers to sell oil to in-state refineries, and supported the language being added to the Tesoro royalty oil bill, which has been in the House Finance committee. The committee felt the tax credit proposals were too generous, however, and scaled them back. Parnell at first proposed a tax credit for refined products that are produced by in-state refineries based on the volumes of products produced, in effect an See AGRIUM, page A-7
See PAY, page A-7
Lawmakers outline concerns for gas negotiations
C
M
Y
K
Inside ‘They all voted for it, they all own it, so they can’t get away from it. So they’d better start defending it.’ ... See page A-6
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Business................ A-5 Nation/World.......... A-6 Sports...................A-10 Tight Lines........... A-12 Arts........................ B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-6 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
Photos by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Above left, first-grader Dane Focose reads along with Barbara Ralston’s class dressed as the “Toy Story” character Buzz Lightyear Wednesday. Top right, students at Mountain View Elementary School dressed up as characters for the day. Above right, Jayden Rodgers-Whipple, dressed as video game character Luigi, prepares to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Agrium included for refinery credit By TIM BRADNER Morris News Service-Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce
JUNEAU – A bill extending state tax credits to oil refineries in the state has been expanded to include the Agrium Corp. fertilizer plant in Nikiski. Tesoro Corp.’s refinery in Nikiski is also among the refineries that could benefit from House Bill 287, now in the House Rules committee. The bill would also extend Tesoro’s contract to purchase state roy-
alty crude oil from the state. Agrium is considering reopening its plant, which manufactured fertilizer and ammonia from natural gas until 2007. House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, proposed the amendment to add Agrium to HB 287 in a Rules committee meeting Wednesday morning. The bill was originally introduced by Gov. Sean Parnell to grant Tesoro its extension to buy royalty oil. PetroStar Inc., which operates two small refineries at
North Pole, near Fairbanks, and at Valdez, asked the governor to support state incentives to aid in-state refineries, which are facing commercial challenges. The company, a subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corp., is confronted by many of the same problems faced by Flint Hills Resources, operator of another refinery at North Pole, which has decided to close its refinery. Parnell agreed to support incentives, in the form of tax credits and a provision to encourage
By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly continued to debate assembly member compensation at its meeting in Seward. An ordinance to adjust compensation was up for public hearing after being postponed at the April 1 meeting. While the assembly failed ordinance 2014-11 on Tuesday, it could discuss the subject again. Assembly member Brent Johnson gave notice of reconsideration, so the assembly might vote on the issue at its next meeting. The original ordinance sponsored by Johnson sought to cut compensation to assembly members. The assembly voted to amend Johnson’s ordinance with a substitute ordinance sponsored by assembly member Bill Smith, which looks to increase compensation to account for inflation rates. The assembly postponed the vote to adopt the ordinance until Tuesday’s meeting to allow time for additional public comment. The assembly last adjusted compensation rates in 2000. Assembly members’ benefits currently includes: — A monthly allowance of $400 for members and $500 for the president; — Mileage based on the current Internal Revenue Service rate;
In the news
JUNEAU (AP) — House Resources Committee members have signed onto a letter, outlining issues they want Gov. Sean Parnell’s administration to keep in mind in negotiating gas project contracts. This assumes passage of SB138, which would set state participation in a liquefied natural gas project. House Finance is now considering that bill. The issues detailed in the non-binding letter were raised as Resources debated the bill but not considered ripe for inclusion as amendments. The Resources members, among other things, expressed a desire to ensure oil tax changes or terms are not negotiated or included in project-enabling contracts. They also want to ensure the state can bring in additional partners, if that’s in the state’s best interest. All but two committee members signed on; Reps. Dan Saddler and Mike Hawker did not.
Assembly may reconsider compensation measure
Senate draft of fisheries act begins circulating By MOLLY DISCHNER Morris News Service-Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce
The newest version of the Magnuson-Stevens Act out for discussion adds subsistence users and Tribal governments to the fisheries management law and has the potential to create new Community Development Quota in the Arctic, but it has not yet been made widely available to the public for review.
The act passed in 1976, which was last reauthorized in 2006 and is up for renewal this year, regulates most fisheries in American federal waters from 3 to 200 miles offshore, and authorizes the eight regional fishery management councils. The most recent draft was produced by the Senate Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard subcommittee chaired by Alaska U.S. Sen. Mark Begich.
That committee held several hearings on various perspectives on the MSA, including one focused on the North Pacific in February in which Alaska Native and Tribal groups called for more inclusion and recognition of subsistence voices in the fishery management process. The Senate’s discussion draft of the law adds subsistence to the types of fishing being managed alongside commercial and recreational, adds subsistence
to the fishery categories eligible for representation on regional fishery management councils, and refers to Tribal governments’ role in managing fish. The language also calls for an expansion of the Community Development Quota program if the North Pacific council amends the Arctic fishery management plan, or FMP, to allow commercial fishing there. The draft does not provide specifics on the new Commu-
nity Development Quota, but does specify that 10 percent of the total allowable catch in the Arctic Management Area would be set aside for coastal villages north and east of the Bering Strait. The Community Development Quota, or CDQ, program, was implemented in 1992 and allocates 10.7 percent of the Bering Sea federal fisheries harvest to six organizations representing 65 Western Alaska See FISH, page A-7
Cooper Landing Governor handles range of murder trial delayed questions in online town hall By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
The trial for the Cooper Landing man charged with murder has been pushed back at least two months with the defendant’s lawyer admitting it will need to be pushed beyond that date. Paul Vermillion, 30 appeared telephonically for a hearing at the Kenai Courthouse Wednesday, the first time since he was released to a third-party custodian after his mother posted his $150,000 cash bail on Jan. 22.
Vermillion is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and one count of manslaughter in the Dec. 5 death of of Genghis Muskox. His trial was scheduled to begin the week of May 1, but on Wednesday new defense attorney Andrew Lambert, who also appeared telephonically from Anchorage, asked for a continuance. On March 5, Vermillion dismissed Shana Thieler and William Walton from the Office of Public Advocacy and hired See TRIAL, page A-7
By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — Gov. Sean Parnell said repealing the state’s oil tax system would “kill” oil production. During an online town hall Wednesday evening, he also said he personally opposes the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. But he said if a ballot initiative on that issue passes this year, the state would implement the regulations needed for C
M
Y
K
the measure. He also said he would support increased funding for public education — “whatever funding it’s going to take” — though he clarified in a later interview that that should be taken in the context of the current funding debate at the Capitol. The House, in its rewrite of the governor’s education bill, proposed a roughly $300 increase in the per-pupil funding formula known as the base student allocation over the next three years, plus $30
million in one-time funding. Senate Finance is currently working on its own version of the bill. The Senate, in its version of the operating budget, proposed an additional $75 million toward education on top of the $25 million that was in the bill and $100 million for the following year, as a placeholder of sorts for discussions on education funding. “I think we’re going to get to a place with the House and See GOV, page A-7