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P E N I N S U L A
THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 175
Question Do you think the borough assembly should reconsider assembly member compensation? 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.
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Deal on education? Lawmakers unveil tentative compromise By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — Lawmakers late Wednesday announced a tentative deal on an education package, the issue that sent them into an extended legislative session. The compromise, unveiled in a conference committee Wednesday evening, calls for $300 million in additional public school spending over
the next three years. Half that amount, $150 million, would go toward the per-pupil funding formula known as the base student allocation, amounting to an increase in the formula of $250 over the three years. The rest would be provided to districts outside the formula. The committee — comprised of three senators and three representatives — planned to take up its rewrite of the bill, which also includes support for char-
ter, residential and correspondence schools, on Thursday. It would then have to go to the House and Senate for a concurrence vote. Heading into the day, education was the last major piece to be resolved. The capital budget was pending, too, but the holdup there had to do with attaching any extra AP Photo/Becky Bohrer school funding. However, later in the night, Sen. Kevin Meyer and Rep. Mike Hawker confer during a break the House voted down a Senate in a meeting of the education conference committee on TuesSee DEAL, page A-10 day in Juneau.
Sport fish reg books updated
In the news Oscar-nominated director of sled dog film dies
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ANCHORAGE (AP) — An Oscar-nominated filmmaker who directed and produced a documentary detailing a 1925 sled dog run in Alaska to deliver life-saving serum has died. Daniel Anker died Monday at age 50. His wife, Donna Santman, says her husband died of pneumonia, a complication of his lymphoma. Anker’s film, “Icebound,” details the five-day run to Nome following a deadly diphtheria breakout. The film opened the Anchorage International Film Festival in December. Santman says her husband most recently was working on a documentary about late director Sidney Lumet. Anker was nominated for an Academy Award in 2001 for another documentary, “Scottsboro: An American Tragedy.” The New York filmmaker is survived by his wife of 12 years and their two children. A funeral is scheduled for Thursday at the Plaza Jewish Community Chapel in Manhattan.
Inside ‘It was well past its expiration date. We really didn’t see it as safe anymore.’
Changes omitted from printed version By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion
Kaitlin Vadla, right, talks to Mary Ann Dyke about Cook Inletkeeper at the Kenai Peninsula College’s Earth Day celebration Tuesday.
Looking forward, back Wilderness Act anniversary ties into Earth Day By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
A modest crowd attended the the Kenai Peninsula College Earth Day celebration, sacrificing an evening of fair weather to learn about the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge’s summer-long commemoration of this year’s 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act. Park Ranger Leah Eskelin was the Refuge spokeswoman for the evening. She educated attendees about special
programs and events the refuge will be hosting in honor of the evolving National Wilderness Preservation System. The refuge has had an informational booth at KPC Earth Day events in the past. This year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service partnered with KPC to premiere the local plans for the nationally celebrated anniversary. “The 50th anniversary is in perfect harmony, and jived with earth day,” Eskelin said. In the years since 1964, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the
Wilderness Act, the growth in people’s awareness of conservation is astonishing, she said. Programs at the refuge will focus on reacquainting the public with the accessible wilderness areas around them, Eskelin said. Guided nature walks and hikes, boat trips and kids’ activities will take people to stretches of the refuge people rarely get to. Two hours into the event, lights in the McLane Commons were dimmed, sigSee WILD, page A-10
See REGS, page A-10
... See page A-5
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Just over 228,000 copies of the Southcentral Alaska sportfishing regulations book were printed and are being dropped off in communities all over the Kenai Peninsula as the area prepares for an influx of summer anglers. However, three errors were included in the summary. Portions of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game booklet covering the Deshka River drainage, Slikok Creek and the Kenai River contained regulations that were changed during the 2014 Upper Cook Inlet Board of Fisheries meeting — but some of new information did not make it into books before they were printed. Some information, like the new seasonal closure of fishing from the Soldotna Centennial Campground boat launch was listed, but other changes were lost in the shuffle. “Our reg books end up going through a fair amount of review through different people ... obviously something just slipped between the cracks at some level,” said Southcentral Regional Supervisor for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game James Hasbrouck. He said several people read through the summary again after the errors were discovered. “Hopefully what’s online
Troopers respond to break-ins Coaches learn By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
A handful of break-ins around the central Kenai Peninsula over the past couple of weeks have left some businesses owners frustrated. Steve Stuber, owner of Lea’s Boutique on the Sterling Highway had just opened his business two months ago when an overnight burglar entered into his business and stole $1,500 in merchandise and did $1,000 worth of damage on April 16. One night earlier, three males used a hammer to break through the window of Tobacco Distress across the street and steal three large water bongs. Alaska State Troopers arrested
Jason Wilson, 20, Jason Phipps, 19, and Timothy Wood,19, all from Soldotna, after the bongs were found in their possession, according to an Alaska State Trooper dispatch. Stuber, the former owner of Tobacco Distress, said sometime after midnight, the thieves took off a section of exterior siding at Lea’s Boutique, kicked through sheetrock in the back of the building, jumped over the counter and disabled his security camera and motion detector. Once inside of the adult shop, they took a mannequin wearing lingerie with them, two blowup dolls, along with a handful of other smaller priced items, he said. Stuber said he has already
upgraded his security since the break-in and has offered a $1,000 reward to hopefully catch what he believes is the act of juveniles. “It is frustrating,” he said. “You try to build on something and establish yourself in the community and something like this happens.” Also on April 16 at about 12:51 a.m. rolls of chain-link fencing and a gate were stolen from the Sterling Community Center. SCC President Bob Oates said security camera footage has been given to troopers who are reviewing the footage. Oates said the community Neighborhood Watch program, which started up a couple years See THEFT, page A-10 C
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to teach respect JUNEAU (AP) — About 50 coaches, representing nearly every region of Alaska converged on Juneau, to talk about domestic violence. The coaches were in the capital Tuesday for an all-day training conference titled, “Coaching Boys Into Men,” the Juneau Empire reported. “By far, the most coaches we’ve ever had in one room,” Mark Calvert, who coordinates between the Coaching Boys Into Men program in Juneau and Juneau’s AWARE shelter, said. “So it’s a really
huge deal.” The program teaches young men respect for women and healthy relationships. The California-based Futures Without Violence started the program in 2001, and it was first implemented four years ago in Juneau by Thunder Mountain boys basketball coach John Blasco. He was approached by AWARE to start the program, and now spends time every week talking to athletes about what constitutes See COACH, page A-10