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Odd
Rivals
Triumvirate Theatre stages classic play
Kenai, Soldotna meet on diamond
Arts & Entertainment/B-1
Sports/A-8
CLARION
More sun 60/31 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 181
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Four rescued after Skilak plane crash
Question What grade would you give the Legislature for this year’s session? nA nB nC nD nF 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.
In the news HEA plans Nikiski plant dedication, annual meeting C
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Homer Electric Association will dedicate the new Nikiski generation plant with a ceremony at 10 a.m. on Thursday. Parking will be available at the Agrium plant with shuttle service to the ceremony. Tours of the new Nikiski plant on the Kenai Spur Highway, and the Bernice Lake plant on Chevron Road, will be available from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Visitors must be 18, wear all-weather, allterrain footwear and avoid loose clothing. Also on Thursday, the HEA annual meeting will take place at 6 p.m. at Soldotna High School, with registration from 4:40-6:30 p.m. The event includes informational booths, board of directors elections and community outreach awards. For more information, contact Joe Gallagher at 907283-2324.
Inside This latest, ‘Grand Budapest,’ has all of the former elements, but this time the emphasis is on the quirky, the funny, and the quaint while the melancholy is more of an accent.’ ... See page B-1
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Business................ A-5 Nation/World.......... A-6 Sports.....................A-8 Arts........................ B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-8 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Game on!
Kenzo Cook, 2, of Kenai, plays in the parking lot of The Duck Inn on Kalifornsky Beach Road Wednesday in Soldotna.
Funds for fishery enforcement Last-minute amendment gives Wildlife Troopers $175,000 By BOB TKACZ For the Alaska Journal of Commerce/ Morris News Service-Alaska
JUNEAU — An unpublicized, end-of-session addition to the state capital projects bill for fiscal year 2015 gives the Alaska Wildlife Troopers $175,000 they never asked for to conduct “enforcement activities relating to” salmon returning to the Kenai and Kasilof Rivers and Upper Cook Inlet setnet fisheries on the Kenai Peninsula shoreline. “To my knowledge we didn’t ask for it,” said James Cockrell, administrative services direc-
tor of the Department of Public Safety, April 29. “I found out about it, it was fairly recent, basically after the operating budget was approved by the House and Senate.” The appropriation was an amendment of language inserted in Senate Bill 119 when it was in the Senate Finance committee. The Senate language, which appears in an April 7 version of the bill, would have appropriated the money specifically for enforcement and inspection of Eastside setnets in Upper Cook Inlet. The House language, which
Extra enforcement likely to focus on setnet fishery By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
Each summer the Soldotna post of the state’s Wildlife Troopers calls in for reinforcements. Between the sprawling dipnet fisheries at the mouths of the Kenai and Kasilof rivers, commercial set and driftnetting fleets and the sport-
fishing pressure on Kenai Peninsula rivers and lakes — enforcement of fisheries regulations can be a daunting task for the 11 wildlife troopers stationed between Anchor Point, Soldotna and Seward. Lt. Paul McConnell, deputy commander for the Bdetachment of the wildlife See ENFORCE, page A-10
See FUNDS, page A-10
Airmen with the Alaska Air National Guard rescued four men after a plane went down at the foot of Skilak Glacier Tuesday night. The four men, passengers Reid Nelson, 19, of Cokato, Minn., Logan Sutton, 22, and Levi Sutton, 25, of Soldotna and pilot Donny Joachim, 37, of Soldotna, did not suffer any injuries when their Cessna 172 aircraft went down Tuesday, said Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Beth Ipsen. The pilot of the plane was able to text the Sutton family, who contacted troopers about the crash, Ipsen said. Troopers then contacted the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center. The 176th Wing rescue squadron responded at 9:10 p.m. Tuesday in a HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter with rescue personnel from the 210th and 212th from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson base, according to a press release from Major Candis Olmstead, director of Public Affairs with the Alaska National Guard. Airman Captain Ben Leonard, with the 210th Rescue Squadron said the plane was found upside down and halfway in a stream with the other half over glacial silt, about one mile from Skilak Lake. “They had a campfire going so we were able to find them and land safely,” Leonard said. See RESCUE, page A-10
STARS performer KPC RA to attend selective training session By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Scott Sellers’ raspy, guttural laugh is hearty. The Kenai Peninsula College, Kenai River Campus resident assistant, or RA, said he likes people to see him smile, which is part of his approach, on and off the job, to show the people around him they are welcomed, he said. In his first year as an RA,
Sellers has been invited to attend STARS College, a selective three-day training series for undergraduate students, held at American University in Washington, D.C. Aboout 40 to 55 students from around the world are chosen to attend, according to the Association of College and University Housing Officers International, ACHUHO-I, website, which hosts the annual conference.
“You have to demonstrate a strong leadership and prove you will enhance the program, and will bring back what you learned from STARS,” said Tammie Willis, Associate Director of Residence Life. Willis said she has seen only one other RA accepted into STARS College during her 15 Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion years working in residence life Scott Sellers helps Steve Vinzant and Carl Hatten hook up a at the college. “Scott doesn’t just come up power cord during a study session Tuesday at the Kenai PenSee ASSIST, page A-10 insula College Residence Hall.
Political candidates speak at middle school forum By DAN JOLING Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — Statewide political candidates Wednesday got a chance to say how they would shape the future for Alaskans who won’t even be able to vote for at least four years. Three candidates hoping to be elected governor in November and three Republicans hoping to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Begich answered questions posed by students from 11 Anchorage middle schools in a forum sponsored by AARP Alaska at the Lous-
sac Library. Democrat Byron Mallott, independent Bill Walker and incumbent Republican Gov. Sean Parnell vowed strong support for public schools. They split over how health care should be provided for needy residents. Parnell last year chose not to extend Medicare eligibility to those up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line. Walker said he would accept Medicaid expansion if the federal government paid 100 percent of the costs. “Medicaid expansion is something that Alaskans have
‘We have a House and a Senate in Washington that won’t address these issues because they disagree, and I’m not going back there to kick the problems down the road.’ — Mead Treadwell paid for, No. 1,” Walker said. Expansion would provide the benefits to 40,000 more Alaskans, he said, and potentially create 4,000 new jobs. “If we don’t, our dollars will C
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go to another state,” Walker said. Mallott said his first act as governor would be to accept Medicaid expansion. “Every Alaskan deserves and should have afford-
able health care,” he said. Parnell said the middle school students in the audience would pay the debt for Medicaid expansion. A better alternative for the 10,000 people he said would be affected was to address the gaps in health care. “They need more help with chronic care and specialty care,” Parnell said. “We can do that on a more targeted basis with state funds rather than putting you all at risk for your financial future.” Begich did not attend the Senate forum. See FORUM, page A-10