C
M
Y
K
Elected
Play ball
Tycoon president of Ukraine
Josh Beckett tosses no-hitter
World/A-7
Sports/A-8
CLARION
Hazy sunshine 61/45 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
MONDAY, MAY 26, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 202
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Question
Fire grows
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.
M K
In the news Man convicted of third felony DUI ANCHORAGE — A man prosecutors call a serial drunk driver has been convicted of felony driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs for the third time. An Anchorage jury Thursday convicted 50-year-old Ronald Winters of felony DUI, reckless endangerment and driving with a revoked license. He was arrested in January 2012 following a rollover crash on the Glenn Highway near Eagle River. Prosecutors say blood tests at a hospital revealed alcohol, opiates, cocaine, and methamphetamine in his body. Besides the felony convictions, Winters had been convicted three times of misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He will be sentenced Sept. 25. Prosecutors say he faces a sentence of three to five years in prison and could face an additional two years for violating probation. — The Associated Press
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Alaska.....................A-5 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-7 Sports.....................A-8 Classifieds........... A-10 Comics................. A-13 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
Rashah McChesney /Peninsula Clarion
Central Emergency Services firefighter Terry Bookey laughs as his crew are showered with foam while fighting the Funny River Horse Trail wildfire Sunday May 25, 2014 in the Funny River community in Soldotna, Alaska. Several firefighting crews have been working to keep the 156,041 acre wildfire from encroaching into the more than 1,000 homes in Funny River which was evacuated Sunday afternoon.
Leaving Funny River
BY KAYLEE OSOWSKI and RASHAH MCCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
With just a few minutes notice, families in Funny River were evacuated Sunday afternoon as firefighters fought to contain the 156,041 acre wildfire that lit several hot spots inside of a fire break between the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and more than 1,000 residents. As flames encroached, the reaction was quick but chaotic as state forestry firefighters told Central Emergency Services firefighters that an evacuation was necessary and the information was relayed faster than the order could be clarified
The initial evacuation began at about 2:40 p.m. between Tachick Avenue and Rabbit Run Road expanded to include all residents on both sides of Funny River Road between Mile 7 and Fisherman’s Road by 4:30 p.m. Just before 5 p.m. OEM issued an evacuation advisory from the end of Feuding Land through the end of Kenai Keys Road. While residents on the south, or fire side, of the road had been under an evacuation advisory, residents to the north whose property borders the Kenai River were not. Photo by Kaylee Osowski/Peninsula Clarion People who left were blocked from returning by Victor Hett with the Kenai Peninsula Borough Community Alaska State Troopers and Emergency Response Team assists an evacuee from the Alaska Department of Natural Funny River Road area on Sunday at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. The Borough Office of Emergency Response See LEAVE, page A-14 asked some residents to evacuate Sunday afternoon.
The Funny River wildfire grew to 156,041 acres or 244 square miles by 5 p.m. Sunday. The fire spotted across the Kenai River Sunday afternoon into the Kenai Keys Road area. Central Emergency Services responded to at least one house fire in the area, according to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management. OEM evacuated Funny River from Mile 7 to Fisherman’s Road. Evacuations began at about 2:40 p.m. Sunday. OEM also issued an evacuation advisory for the end of Feuding Lane to the end of Kenai Keys Road. An advisory means residents should prepare to evacuate. Kris Eriksen, a public information officer with the National Incident Management Organization, said the evacuation was precautionary due to the dense fuel source — black spruce trees — in the area. Fire crews were increased Sunday after teams twice stopped the fire from running the Funny River Road community Saturday night. “It was a lot of work last night in all three areas particularly up in the Funny River area See FIRE, page A-14
Museum starts collections transfer to new vault By AMY FLETCHER Juneau Empire
JUNEAU — For a man tasked with keeping charge of the whereabouts and safety of more than 32,000 irreplaceable objects, Alaska State Museum chief curator Addison Field seems pretty calm. Standing in the pristine new vault of the Alaska State Library, Archives and Museum building on day two of a sixweek collections transfer project from the old space to the new, Field explained how his team has approached such ma-
jor upheaval within a realm devoted to constancy. “You have to work slowly and with concentration,” he said. “There are two things that have to happen — we have to get everything, obviously, out of the old collections room and get it over here, but we can only strip it out in one fashion. It’s all packed in tight and you have to move everything out in a specific order. So it’s kind of a logistical dance to make that whole process work.” Field is overseeing the transfer, which involves moving every object in the state
museum’s collection through a short tunnel connecting the old building on Whittier Street to the new SLAM vault on Willoughby Avenue. The new vault is three times the size of the old space. The second level of the vault, now empty, will eventually house the collections of the state library and state archives. The first set of objects came through the tunnel on Monday in a system that involves four work teams: a collections team in the old space, headed by museum conservator Ellen Carrlee; a transport team that oversees the tunnel, headed by
Scott Carrlee, curator of Museum Services; a vault team in the new space, headed up by project assistant Claire Imamura; and a security team that ensures the entire area is locked down tight. Objects are catalogued on both sides of the tunnel so staff know exactly where everything is at any given time. “When it leaves there it’s catalogued out, and when comes here it’s catalogued in ... even though it’s only 150 feet,” said Bob Banghart, deputy director of SLAM and former chief curator. “It’s not super compli-
cated, there’s just diligence that makes it work. You can’t let it get unraveled.” Among the first objects to come over Monday were several pairs of mukluks, chosen to be early residents of the new vault because of the placement of the cabinet they were in on the other side. Field said the idea is to move the objects only once, if possible. The moving process builds on layers of preparation and planning, checking and crossreferencing — an intricately interconnected system of moving See VAULT, page A-5
A captive, furry audience By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
For some kids, reading out loud can be nerve-racking. But reading to a furry, four-legged friend can make it easier. Lucy, a Golden Retriever, regularly listens to stories read by students at Kalifornsky Beach Elementary School in Soldotna. “It’s a lot easier to read to a dog than a person,” said Katie Moon, Lucy’s owner. On May 20 fourth graders and Photo by Kaylee Osowski/Peninsula Clarion kindergartners paired up with a Lucy, a certified therapy dog, and her handler, Katie Moon stack of books and sat on the hill (left), listen to kindergartener Maria Kratsas (center) and fourth in the back of the school. As the grader Isabella Rodriguez (right) read on May 20 at Kalifornsky students read in pairs, Lucy and Beach Elementary School in Soldotna. C
M
Moon went from group to group listening to the kids. Kindergarten teacher April Kaufman said one of the goals with younger students is to develop a love for reading. Having a captive audience helps to achieve that. Lucy began visiting intensive needs students at the school with Moon this school year. One boy in the group was scared of Lucy at first, but now he will pet her and give her a cookie, Moon said. “That was a big thing for me, for him to be comfortable with (Lucy),” Moon said. Last December, Lucy became a certified therapy animal
through Pet Partners. She passed a series of tests, which included responding appropriately to someone who is aggressive and having patience with people who hug tightly. With her certification, the opportunity to help more kids opened up to Lucy. Lucy is calm around children, Moon said, and she didn’t train her to be that way; it comes naturally. When Lucy began visiting the fourth and kindergarten classrooms after getting her certification, Moon said she had to get used to lying down and being quiet more. See READ, page A-5