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CLARION P E N I N S U L A
APRIL 20, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 171
Senate passes new approach to pensions 2014 20
Sharing language, sharing culture
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50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — The Alaska Senate unanimously passed legislation setting out a new approach for addressing the state’s pension obligation Saturday, less than three hours after the plan emerged from the Senate Finance Committee. It will be up to the House to decide whether to accept the Senate plan, which advanced on the 89th day of the scheduled 90-day session. If the House doesn’t, the bill could go to a conference committee. The Senate, like Gov. Sean Parnell, proposed moving $3 billion from the constitutional budget reserve fund to help cover the state’s nearly $12 billion pension obligation. But the Senate plan would divvy the money differently, putting $2 billion toward the teachers’ retirement system, which is in
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poorer shape, and $1 billion toward the public employees’ system. Parnell had proposed about $1.1 billion to the teachers’ system and the rest to the public employees’ system. The governor praised the Senate bill. “With this legislation, we are strengthening the state’s AAA bond rating and ensuring future generations are not saddled with this debt,” he said in a release. The Senate Finance Committee’s rewrite of HB385 calls for a contribution rate determined by what’s known as a level percent of pay method for 25 years. While the bill itself does not include dollar amounts, See PLAN, page A-5
Volleyball squad headed to Japan College sponsors classes to blur boundaries between Alaska Native culture and students
Top: Lucy Daniels, an advocate for the Kenaitze Indian Tribe, teaches the Yup’ik alphabet to a group Tuesday at Kenai Peninsula College, Kenai River Campus in Soldotna. Above: Helen Dick, a Dena’ina elder, and George Holly Jr., of Kenai, work on a song while George Holly Sr. picks at a banjo in the background during a Native Creations & Reflections session. Left: Yvonne Waskey, 19, works on a beaded keychain for the Kenaitze Indian Tribe.
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he rich aroma of beluga whale fat, fish, soup and seal oil floated down the hallway of the Brockel Building Tuesday, where 12 people gathered for a Yup’ik language circle. Jaxson Sagoonick, 3, tumbled merrily about the room, crawling under chairs and sprinting up and down the center aisle of the small classroom as Angelique Lincoln, 12, and Summer Cartier, 9, giggled and jumped up to help him when he pointed to a crock pot of soup and reached for a bowl. In between the jokes and laughter, the two girls practiced their Yup’ik fricatives by imitating Lucy Daniels, a See SHARE, page A-2
Story and photos by Rashah McChesney, Peninsula Clarion
Inside today Sunny 53/32 For complete weather, see page A-12
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Team prepares for sport, cultural exchange to Akita By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
Along with school, homework, sports practices and other extra curricular activities six Kenai Central High School girls are studying Japanese language, mannerisms, culture and food in preparation for a trip to Japan this summer. The girls, part of a volleyball exchange team picked by Pako Whannell, who coaches at KCHS, will be traveling to Akita, Japan, from July 30 through Aug. 9. “I’ve never even been out of the country … just not (having been) out of the country, not with my parents, not speaking Japanese, it’s like kind of scary, but it makes it that much
more exciting,” freshman Cassi Hames said. “Everything’s going to be different.” Whannell said she approached players from throughout the Kenai Peninsula who she knew were not only exceptional volleyball players, but also get good grades and participate in their churches and communities. She said she knew they would study the culture and language to further their experiences beyond just playing volleyball in a foreign country. Alli Steinbeck, a KCHS sophomore, said the girls in the group likely won’t get another opportunity to not only play a sport in another country, but to also be immersed in the culture. See VOLLEY, page A-2
Caring for the Kenai students think long-term By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Even if she didn’t win, Caring for Kenai participant Krysten Maxson said she would continue with her project. The judge’s panel and audience were clapping before Maxon finished the final sentence of her presentation Thursday at Kenai Central High School. Walking away with second place, she earned a $1,100 cash prize. Her idea is to install junk mail recycling receptacles at mailbox clusters around Kenai. Maxson’s idea originated from discussions with her family, who felt the common frustration over piles of junk mail, Maxson said. It takes 30 years for one piece of mail to decompose. Why not get rid of junk mail “right where you receive it,” she said. Soon into the project Maxson found out renovating feder-
al property is not easy. After receiving positive feedback from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Maxson sent a letter to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. She is still waiting to hear back from him. “I am going to push really hard for what my idea already is,” Maxson said. “But if it’s a solid no, then Plan B is to ask for donations from local metal companies.”
Facilitating progress During the event, Contest Coordinator Merrill Sikorski praised educators in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District for a commitment to teaching in ways that venture “outside of the box.” This practice has resulted in a crop of students capable of self-initiated learning, he said. Development Director at the Kenai Watershed Forum Josselyn O’Connor said
Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion
Skyview high school students Austin Craig, Aurora Deflinger, and Morgan Chesley prepare for their presentation on Books for Africa that won them fourth place at the 24th annual Caring for the Kenai competition Thursday at Kenai Central High School.
one of the great aspects of a KPBSD, is they can be easily plan, such as first-place win- implemented. ner Katherine Dolma’s goal “It was really incredible,” to install “green roofs” in the Dolma said. “There were so C
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many amazing projects, I was shocked when they called my name.” Dolma plans to appoint a test school to install “any kind of organic matter” on its rooftop. The living surface can then be utilized as a greenway for local fowl, a garden for educational purposes, or even a way to reduce a building’s ecological footprint with the added insulation. O’Connor, who has been involved in the contest for a decade, said submitting a project to Caring for the Kenai facilitates the continuation of projects outside the scope of the contest. Many projects from years past, even ones that didn’t win, have continued on to become influential in the community. For example, Courtney Stroh first came up with ROC the Kenai for Caring for the Kenai in high school, she said. See CARING, page A-2