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CLARION
Mostly sunny 64/35 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue XX
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
ISER study backs state
Question Should the Kenai Peninsula Borough collect a bed tax to fund tourism promotion efforts? 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.
Economist finds similar revenue between oil tax plans
In the news
By TIM BRADNER Morris News Service-Alaska/
Sullivan out with new TV ad
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JUNEAU (AP) — Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Dan Sullivan is out with a new TV ad, casting himself as the fighter Alaska needs. In the ad released Monday, Sullivan says he learned as a Marine that “talk is cheap” and results matter. But he says that’s not how people operate in Washington. He says he’ll fight for a balanced budget and to repeal the federal health care law. He says he’ll take on bureaucrats to protect Alaska energy production. Sullivan is vying with Republicans Joe Miller and Mead Treadwell in the August Republican primary. The winner is expected to face Democratic Sen. Mark Begich in November. Begich supports a U.S. constitutional amendment requiring balanced federal budgets and has defended the health care law, though proposed ways he thinks it could be improved.
Alaska Journal of Commerce
Scott Goldsmith, the University of Alaska’s venerated senior economist, has stepped into the political snake pit of the oil tax repeal debate. Goldsmith is well-known for his study of Alaska fiscal trends, which have been underway for almost two decades, but his new study comparing Senate Bill 21, the oil production tax regime enacted by the Legislature in 2013, with the tax that preceded it known as ACES, has stirred a tempest in the political community. A key finding in Goldsmith’s study is that at current oil prices and production costs, the two taxes bring in about the same amount of revenue. Opponents of the tax change have labeled it a “giveaway” to the industry. A hotly contested referendum question will appear on the state primary election ballot in August. A campaign to defeat the referendum, “Vote No on 1” has been fired up, while a campaign to defend it, “Vote Yes! Repeal the Giveaway” has also formed.
Air time
Top: Matt Heminger launches off a ramp at the skate and BMX park on Karen Street in Soldotna Monday afternoon. Right: Duke Hardcastle lets go while performing a BMX stunt. Above: Oliver Larrow laughs as he climbs back onto his bike after not quite landing a stunt. Photos by Will Morrow/Peninsula Clarion
See TAX, page A-7
Inside ‘Jobs wanted Cook to step out and be different. But I think he wanted (Cook) to do the things that were central to the business, not things that Jobs thought were stupid.’ ... See page A-5
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation/World.......... A-5 Sports.....................A-8 Classifieds........... A-10 Comics................. A-13 Pet Tails............... A-14 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
Two Cook Inlet producers seek air permits By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
The public comment periods for air quality permits for two area producers are coming to a close this week. Furie Operating Alaska LLC and Hilcorp Alaska, LLC are both seeking the OK to their permit applications from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Air Quality. The Air Permit Program is
broken into two sections — Title I, and Title V. Title I deals with construction and modification of a source and a Title V permit is required when 100 tons per year of a single air pollutant is produced. Aaron Simpson, a permit writer with the division, said Title I permits don’t expire, but Title V permits do. “If (companies) exceed the Title V threshold … then at that point that’s when they have the period monitoring
and they have source test- comment period for Furie’s ing and things that are based application ends at 4:30 p.m. around the length of the per- on Friday. According to the Technical mit,” Simpson said. Analysis Report for the permit, the Spartan Jack-up Rig Furie is located with the platform. Furie is waiting for approv- Both the rig and the platform al of its Title I or Alaska qual- belong to the same stationary ity control minor permit for its source, according to Alaska proposed natural gas produc- statute. However, after drilltion platform, Kitchen Lights ing is complete at platform Unit Platform A in the Upper A, the rig will be moved, so Cook Inlet. Furie applied for the department plans to issue the permit in mid-April. The a standalone minor permit for
platform A. The application requests to install and operate emission units including three generators — two gas and one diesel — two gas heaters, one crane, a purge vent and a storage tank for ultra low sulfur diesel. Along with the production platform, Furie plans to construct and operate two subsea natural gas pipelines and an onshore production facility near See PERMIT, page A-7
Kenai man indicted Couples challenge Alaska’s for December attack ban on same-sex marriage By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
One of three men connected to an alleged assault and kidnapping of a Soldotna man last December has been indicted on felony charges. Kenai resident Rusty Seaman, 31, is charged with kidnapping, an unclassified felony, and assault in the first, second, third and fourth degrees, which are class A, B, and C felonies, while assault 4 is a class A misdemeanor.
Kenai Police allege he beat Jordan Newton, 31, with the butt of a handgun on December 29, 2013. Shawn Seaman, 29 and Johnathon Dalebout, 30, had been originally charged with kidnapping and assault, but the charges were dismissed on April 2. They each face one misdemeanor count of assault in the fourth-degree. According to the complaint filed by Kenai Police Officer Paul Cushman, Alaska State
JUNEAU (AP) — Five gay couples filed a lawsuit Monday challenging Alaska’s ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. The Alaska lawsuit, filed in federal court in Anchorage, lists as plaintiffs four couples who were married outside Alaska and one unmarried couple. It alleges that Alaska’s ban on samesex marriage violates their rights to due process and
See ATTACK, page A-7 C
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equal protection under the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit seeks to bar enforcement of Alaska’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. It also calls for barring enforcement of any state laws that refuse to recognize gay marriages legally performed in other states or countries or that prevent unmarried gay couples from marrying. Alaska voters in 1998 ap-
proved a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. But in the past year, the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that prevented legally married same-sex couples from receiving a range of federal benefits. Federal courts also have struck down state constitutional bans in a See BAN, page A-7