Peninsula Clarion, May 18, 2014

Page 1

THE

Disaster After Turkish accident, miners blame company

C

M

Y

K

Sunday

Kicks Soldotna takes on Kenai in soccer Sports/B-1

World/A-10

CLARION P E N I N S U L A

MAY 18, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska

Vol. 44, Issue 195

50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday

Sharing stories A mother talks about her son’s suicide during Soldotna’s community awareness event By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion

Photos by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion

Renee Henderson works with an alumni choir before her final Kenai Central High School choir concert May 6, in Kenai. Henderson, who has been teaching music at the high school for 43 years, will retire in 2014.

Saying goodbye C

M

Y

K

KPBSD resigning employees share memories, experience By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion

In the fall local schools will be missing something. A lot of it. More than 200 years worth of it. Experience. Forty-two Kenai Peninsula Borough School District employees have resigned. They are teachers, principals, counselors, speech language pathologists,

psychologists and a planning and operations director. While some have only been with the district for one year others have worked at KPBSD for more than 40 years. Together the 42 have poured more than two centuries of dedication into district students, other staff, parents, grandparents, guard- Mountain View Elementary school principal Norma Holmgaard listens to a student during lunch time Thursday in ians and the community. See KPBSD, page A-2 Kenai. Holmgaard is transferring to another district.

Sitting beside her friend, in his power boat on the lower Kenai River near Eagle Rock at 5 a.m. Pegge Erkeneff was again faced with the, for her, weighty question “Do you have any children?” Her friend lowered his brow into his cupped hands and said to her, “That sucks. I am so sorry.” It was one of the most honest responses she’s received in the eight years she’s been telling people that Justin Bernecker, her 16-year-old son, died to suicide. Which is the way she prefers to describe it. “It does suck,” Erkeneff said, now sitting on a bench in Parker Park, a breeze was the only thing cooling off the unusual, late morning heat. Erkeneff spoke at the Saturday, Walk to Prevent Suicide at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex that drew 70 community members. It was her first time speaking to a large audience about her experience as a survivor of suicide. It’s the right time, Erkeneff said. She hopes her words can help others heal. There is no “wrong” when it comes to how people deal with grief, she said. Erkeneff said she has a tendency to shy from certain socially accepted terminology. “It drives me nuts when people say ‘I’m sorry you lost your son’,” Erkeneff said. “He’s not

lost, he died.” In the weeks leading up to the Suicide Prevention Walk, Erkeneff said she has had some clarifying moments. “A trauma happens you can’t comprehend until time passes,” Erkeneff said. “There were times when I barely crawled through life. There were years.” Erkeneff said. These days Erkeneff has learned to ride out sporadic “tidal waves” of grief. The term “committed suicide” implies the person was fully conscious of their decisions in the moment they chose to kill themselves. “Would you say someone committed a heart attack or they committed cancer?” Erkeneff said. “I don’t think so.” While it remains uncertain, Erkeneff said it is likely her son had a rapid onset of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The disease unraveled Justin’s mind in just around a week, she said. The warning signs had trickled in and been pieced together throughout the years. After Justin killed himself, a friend of his approached Erkeneff and said her son had “jokingly” mentioned he wanted to kill himself. From the friends’ revelation she is now able to advise people to take any comment seriously, no matter what. What is important in potential intervention is helping someone get through that moment, Erkeneff said. Just keep talking and letting them know See DEATH, page A-2

Fishermen’s Fund, ADFG to present oral argument in Cook Inlet fisheries suit By MOLLY DISCHNER Morris News Service/Journal of Commerce

ANCHORAGE — Oral argument in the lawsuit over 2013 Cook Inlet commercial fisheries management was scheduled for later this month at a trial setting conference in Anchorage on Friday. The Cook Inlet Fishermen’s Fund, or CIFF, sued the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in July 2013, asserting that Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion fisheries managers did not folCharlie Black chats with a friend as his daughter Zoe Black, 4, tries to get back to fishing in the low Cook Inlet salmon manAnchor River on Saturday in Anchor Point. agement plans appropriately in

Slow going at the Anchor River king salmon opener By RASHAH MCCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion

Charlie Black’s daughters took turns standing in the curve of his arm Saturday, grasping the handle of a simple blue FinChaser rod and flinging a lure into the clear, chocolate-toned water of the Anchor River. His own fly-fishing pole put away for the afternoon, Black said he spent his morning fishing the king salmon opener on the Lower Kenai Penin-

sula stream and was content to spend the warm afternoon by the water — watching his girls throw rocks in the water and take turns reeling the simple vibrex lure back to shore. “I heard there was a few fish caught this morning,” Black said. “More steelhead than salmon. I haven’t had any luck yet.” The Anchor River is one of three Lower Peninsula streams that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game issued pre-sea-

son emergency order restrictions to — justified by the lack of king salmon returning to the Cook Inlet. The combined annual limit for king salmon has been reduced to two king salmon, 20 inches or greater, on the Anchor River, Deep Creek and Ninilchik River and all marine waters south of the mouth of Ninilchik River to Bluff Point. The Anchor River king salmon opener began at midnight on See KINGS, page A-2

2013, causing harm to commercial fishermen there. CIFF asked for a preliminary injunction requiring Fish and Game to follow certain aspects of the Cook Inlet salmon management plans, but Judge Andrew Guidi, in Anchorage Superior Court, ruled that it was not necessary. The case is now moving forward on a regular schedule. Oral argument on the state’s motion for summary judgment is scheduled for May 29 at 10 a.m. Lawyers from the state Department of Law, representing the Alaska Department of Fish

Today’s Clarion Rain with sun 62/38 More weather on page A-12

Opinion......................... A-4 Alaska........................... A-5 Nation........................... A-6 World............................ A-8 Sports........................... B-1 Community................... C-1 Weddings...................... C-1 Dear Abby..................... C-2 Crossword..................... C-2 Horoscope.................... C-2 Classifieds................... C-3 Mini Page...................... C-9 TV...................... Clarion TV C

M

Y

K

and Game, and for the Cook Inlet Fishermen’s Fund will each have 30 minutes for argument, for a total one hour proceeding May 29. Guidi said he will try to make a decision on the motion for summary judgment within 30 days so that both sides know whether to start with discovery for a full trial. The state has asked the judge to uphold Fish and Game’s interpretation of the management plans in its motion for summary judgment; CIFF has opposed that. If Guidi does not make a See SUIT, page A-5

Question Should the Kenai Peninsula Borough collect ‘In the nine years since the Alaska Su- a bed tax to fund tourpreme Court’s ruling, ism promotion efforts? the sky hasn’t fallen.’ n Yes; or ... See page A-4 n No.

Inside

Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.

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 emailed to news@peninsulaclarion.com.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.