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CLARION
Mostly sunny 64/33 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 192
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
LNG plan raises issues
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.
Residents look for answers on project By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
In the news High fire danger on Kenai Peninsula
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The Division of Forestry has issued a red flag warning for high fire danger in the Kenai Peninsula and suspended open burning until 11 p.m. Wednesday. The National Weather Service predicts wind gusts of 15 to 25 miles per hour with humidity down to 13 percent into Wednesday across the Kenai Peninsula. Across the Cook Inlet winds gusts are expected to reach up to 35 mph through Wednesday night. Partly sunny skies and temperatures into the 60’s are expected in the central peninsula the rest of the week. Darren Finley, Fire Prevention Officer for the Division of Forestry said high winds and low humidity increased the potential for fire activity. For the time being, the first burn suspension of the year is in effect, which includes the use of burn barrels, he said. Landowners are reminded to re-check any fires that may have recently started to ensure the area is extinguished and take extra precautions, he said. — Staff report
Inside ‘This is a disappointing ruling for search engines and online publishers in general.’
Photo by Kelly Sullivan/Peninsula Clarion
Tesia White crosses the finish line at the second annual CARE 2RUN 5k sponsored by the Peninsula Grace Brethren Church Thursday on Kalifornsky Beach Road.
Running for well being Team Alaska effort provides clean water in Sudan By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
The second annual CARE 2RUN 5k race raised over $1,000 in donations, extending local awareness for the resources crisis in Sudan, while promoting health and wellness within the Kenai community. The local arm of the 100 Wells Campaign, called 100 Wells Team Alaska sponsored by Peninsula Grace Brethren Church, raises money for the national 100 Wells Campaign, which directs financial aid into building and repairing wells in Sudan and South Sudan, said event or-
ganizer Janice Habermann. Saving a life costs $30, which was the entry price for the 5k, she said. “The more you raise awareness the faster a problem disappears,” Habermann said. The local group, the only active organization in Alaska for the 100 Wells cause, has raised $10,396 since it was founded two years ago, Habermann said. One well costs $15,000 to build, and the goal is to pay for two, she said. The 100 Wells Campaign works with the Persecution Project Foundation, which focuses on repairing wells destroyed by war, according to its web site.
The two groups have provided clean water to 80,000 people to date. Habermann said she has been in direct contact with organizers of both groups over the years. Events like CARE 2RUN are successful because they promote and provide international assistance with an activity that is engaging and beneficial to the community, Habermann said. Entire families, a group of employees from the Kaladi Brothers Coffee, walkers and runners came out for the 5k Habermann said. Many said they would be coming back next year. See WELL, page A-12
Teacher accused of sexual assault Man previously investigated for inappropriate contact with student By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
A 36-year-old music teacher has been accused of having sex, repeatedly, with one of his students. Alaska State Troopers have been issued a warrant to arrest Jeremy T. Anderson, a teacher at Nikiski Middle-High School, on seven counts of first degree
sexual abuse of a minor. If convicted, Anderson faces up to $500,000 in fines and 99 years in prison for each charge. Anderson is accused of having a 15-year-old student perform oral sex on him and of having sex with her on at least seven occasions between February and May in 2014, according to a statement of charges filed in Kenai on Friday.
Anderson, who has been with the school district since August 2012, was investigated by state troopers for having inappropriate conversations with the same student 11 months after he began teaching in the district. According to an affidavit filed by trooper investigator Jack LeBlanc, Anderson acknowledged at the time that he
As the room filled to capacity, attendees willingly stood to hear updates about the proposed pipeline project to transport North Slope natural gas to a liquefied natural gas plant in Nikiski. About 90 locals came to the former Nikiski Senior Center on Island Lake Road Monday for the Nikiski Community Council meeting — one of the largest crowds the group has seen. The meeting began with a presentation about the Alaska LNG Project by Michael Nelson, Lisa Gray and Mark Jennings of Paragon Partners. However, the group left some questions unanswered and Nelson said he was not authorized to answer questions from the media. Gray said it’s early in the project, so representatives don’t have all the answers. She said meetings help continue open discussions about the LNG facility proposed to be built in Nikiski. “You guys can help us to the right planning and spend the money the right way so that we can be better neighbors here and so that you guys can help us push the project forward,” Gray said.
Looking for land
had been communicating with the student outside of school and that their conversations could “raise some concerns.” The school district was aware of the previous allegations and investigation that took place, according to an email from Kenai Peninsula Borough spokesperson Pegge Erkeneff. Erkeneff wrote in the email
Some Nikiski area residents have been contacted about possible land purchases for the liquefied natural gas project. Developers of the project have selected Nikiski as the lead site for the LNG plant and marine export terminal. Gas would be moved to the plant from the North Slope via an 800-mile,
See CHARGE, page A-12
See PLAN, page A-12
... See page A-7
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-5 World..................... A-7 Police reports......... A-9 Sports...................A-10 Food...................... B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-8
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Same-sex marriage Rare sighting near Juneau activists hopeful JUNEAU (AP) — Over the years, the Alaska Supreme Court has chipped away at laws deemed discriminatory against gay couples. In 2005, for example, the high court found it unconstitutional to deny certain benefits to the same-sex partners of state employees. But it wasn’t until now — after U.S. Supreme Court decisions led to federal courts around the country striking down bans on same-sex marriage over the last year — that some activists felt the time was right to challenge Alaska’s firstin-the nation constitutional ban on gay marriage. On Monday, five couples filed a lawsuit in federal court to overturn the ban approved by
voters in 1998. The plaintiffs— four couples married outside Alaska and one unmarried couple — say the ban violates their right to due process and equal protection under the U.S. Constitution. Sean Egan, one of the plaintiffs along with his husband, David Robinson, said somebody had to do this. Egan, 28, is a graduate student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Robinson is in the military. He said it’s offensive they’ve had to “jump through so many hoops” to prove they’re married so they could live together in family housing or Robinson could use the gym. He said his mom wanted nothing to do with him See HOPEFUL, page A-12
JUNEAU (AP) — North America’s largest shorebird made an appearance this month in southeast Alaska, hundreds of miles north of its usual northern breeding area. Martina Kallenberger and her husband, Doug Sanvik, spotted and photographed a long-billed curlew May 3 at the Boy Scout camp north of Alaska’s capital. “We were actually watching a flock of Lapland longspurs when we noticed these two shorebirds on a little rise by the stream and one of them was a whimbrel, which we recognized, and the other one was just shockingly different,” Kallenberger told KTOO-radio. They consulted guidebooks for nearly an hour trying to confirm the bird’s identity. Long-billed curlews have only been spotted in Alaska three times before and never photographed, said lifelong birder Steve Heinl, part of the University of Alaska Museum’s Alaska Checklist Committee, the arbiter of what’s on Alaska’s official list of documented birds. Long-billed curlews are 20 to 25 inches long. They’re known for their long, downC
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AP Photo/Bob Armstrong
This May 6 photo provided by Bob Armstrong shows a long-billed curlew in flight near Juneau.
ward-curved bills. Their closest breeding area is southern British Columbia, Audubon Alaska executive director Nels Warnock said. They spend winters in Mexico and the West Coast.