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CLARION
Partly sunny 60/36 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 198
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Question Are you planning to do any traveling this summer? n Yes, we’ll be visiting other places in Alaska; n Yes, we’ll be traveling Outside; n No, there’s no reason to leave the Kenai Peninsula in the summertime. 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 M K
Tyonek fire grows to 1,000 acres ANCHORAGE (AP) — A fire burning near the village of Tyonek on Cook Inlet had grown to 1,000 acres by Tuesday. Fire officials on Tuesday said residents were asked to leave their homes Monday. Many took shelter at a nearby lodge. A crew burned a fire line between the fire and village, which officials called a successful operation. However, shifting winds have caused the fire to change course, and it is now moving toward the community of Beluga, about 10 miles away. The Tyonek Native Corp. has asked for donations to help it provide food and essential provisions for firefighters and displaced village residents.
Inside That’s more than the total number of cars it sold here in the last five years, and already surpasses GM’s previous U.S. recall record of 10.75 million vehicles, set in 2004. ... See page A-6
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-8 Sports...................A-10 Food...................... B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-6 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
Funny River fire grows Blaze reaches 20,000 acres
Above, a wildfire that began Monday near Funny River Road in Soldotna has spread and consumed more than 7,000 acres in about 24 hours. Shown here Tuesday, the fire is more than 10 miles long and about a mile wide. Left, flames eat through the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on the western edge of the Funny River fire Tuesday.
By DAN BALMER, RASHAH McCHESNEY and KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
A wall of dense smoke engulfed portions of the Kenai Peninsula Tuesday as a fire that started near the Funny River Horse Trail late Monday grew to consume more than 20,000 acres and stretch in a 10-mile line from Funny River Road to the shoreline of Tustumena Lake. Late Tuesday, the Alaska Interagency Incident Management Team reported that new mapping indicated the fire had grown in size. The ceiling of the smoke column reached at least 8,000 feet into the sky, dwarfing portions of Soldotna, Kasilof, Clam Gulch and running south along the eastern shore of the Cook Inlet. A satellite image posted by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources-Division of Forestry on Tuesday showed heavy smoke from the blaze drifting south over Homer as far as Kodiak and curling east out over the Gulf of Alaska. The fire spread quickly through the Kenai National Photo by Kelly Sullivan/Peninsula Clarion Wildlife Refuge in a long, Megan Schaafsma stopped to watch the Tuesthin line typical of wind-driv- day on the Sterling Highway near Kasilof. en blazes, said Andy Alexandrou, public information officer for the Division of Forestry. No structures have been threatened and no evacuation orders have been issued — though firefighting personnel will take over Skyview High School in Soldotna
Photos by Rashah McChesney/ Peninsula Clarion
Below, smoke plumes from the wildfire that started Monday near Funny River fill the sky Tuesday along the Sterling Highway near Kasilof. Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion
See FIRE, page A-12
Graduating class is ‘family’ Two graduates take Wings By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
Forty-two students sat together with their family Monday evening in the Kenai Alternative High School gym in Kenai. Well, they sat with one of their families — their graduating class. Multiple students described the group as close and family-like, even though it’s one of the biggest classes the school has seen. “Everyone really likes each other here,” Omar Rodriquez, a graduate,
said. … “We’re one big family.” Dakoda Neely said he plans to keep in touch with his classmates after graduation. Rodriquez and Neely said they will miss family atmosphere of the group. Rodriquez plans to attend Kenai Peninsula College and pursue a degree in process technology. Neely plans to work in the oil industry after working in Alyeska for a while longer. Not only are classmates close, but they’re also diverse. The students came to KAHS from different schools and See FAMILY, page A-5 C
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By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Salena Pena was not done with school just yet. Included in her graduation ceremony, was her final assignment for speech class. It was about a mystery plague that threatened the entire population, and the blood of one child was the cure. Only the doctors needed all of his blood. “It was a big message,” Pena said. “I thought it would go well with the ceremony.” Afterward, audience members ap-
proached her saying they had cried she had done so well, Pena said. Pena herself cried later in the ceremony while giving a second speech about her time at the Upper Learning Center, the high school at Wing’s Christian Academy. It was a long road, she explained. Without the help of Pena’s instructors, she is certain she would not have graduated. After working this summer and saving up money, Pena plans to attend Pensacola Christian College in Florida this See WINGS, page A-5