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CLARION
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P E N I N S U L A
TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 203
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Question Who is your preferred candidate for U.S. Senate? n Mark Begich n Joe Miller n Dan Sullivan n Mead Treadwell n Other 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 Anchorage man fires at trooper in Cooper Landing, no injuries
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An Anchorage man is charged with attempted murder following an incident in Cooper Landing Sunday. Alaska State Troopers arrested Timothy J. Lange, 30, and charged him with first-degree attempted murder, thirddegree assault, third-degree misconduct involving weapons, fourth-degree assault, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest, according to a trooper report. At about 2:40 p.m., a trooper responded to a citizen report of a suspicious man with a gun standing along the Sterling Highway near Mile 55. When the trooper tried to contact Lange, he fired the handgun at the trooper. The trooper returned fire, according to the report. No one was injured in the incident. Trooper spokesperson Tim DeSpain said, as far as he knew, Lange was holding a handgun in his hand and that was what prompted the caller to report Lange. DeSpain didn’t know of any other behavior or actions by Lange that encouraged the report. Lange is jailed at Wildwood Pretrial Facility. No bail is set. The name of the trooper will not be released for 72 hours as per policy. The Alaska Bureau of Investigation is investigating the report, which will be reviewed by the Department of Law’s Office of Special Prosecution and Appeals.
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Sue Krafft, left, and Denise Dutile, look at a map of the Funny River Horse Trail wildfire Monday during a community meeting for evacuees from Funny River Road in Soldotna.
Photos by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Alia Shane, 8, plays during a kids carnival at the Birch Ridge Community Church Monday in Soldotna. Shane and several other members of the church’s congregation have hosted meals and the Monday evening carnival for evacuees from the Funny River Horse Trail wildfire which has burned more than 176,00 acres of Kenai National Wildlife Refuge land.
Hoping for helpful rain By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
As of Monday evening the Funny River Road wildfire was mapped at 176,069 acres or about 275 miles with 30 percent containment. The wind was pushing the fire in a northeast direction Monday. The National Weather Service calls for rain early Tuesday morning with a chance of showers through Friday. “It did look like there might be more than just (Tuesday) for rain and if that happens, which we hope it does, then we might be getting some good progress,” said Michelle Weston, public information officer with the Interagency Incident Management Team. Sunday afternoon, the fire spotted across
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See FIRE, page A-7
Red Cross, locals help evacuees By KAYLEE OSOWSKI and RASHAH MCCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
Many local businesses, churches, organizations and citizens spent their Memorial Days helping evacuees of the Funny River Road wildfire. The American Red Cross of Alaska set up a temporary shelter at Redoubt Elementary School in Soldotna for residents, who were evacuated from the Funny River area Sunday afternoon. A second temporary shelter opened Monday morning at Sterling Elementary School in Sterling. About 1,000 structures are in the evacuated area, however,
not all of those are full-time residences. Brenda Ahlberg, community and fiscal projects manager with the Kenai Peninsula Borough, said 310 people checked in at the marshaling station at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. Evacuees will be updated by 9 a.m. Tuesday about the possibility of returning home. The Soldotna shelter is primarily for Funny River Road area evacuees while the Sterling shelter is serving as a secondary location. The Soldotna shelter housed two evacuees Sunday night, and expected a few more Monday night. The Soldotna local has 75 cots set up with pillows and See HELP, page A-7
More than remembrance By KAYLEE OSOWSKI and KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Speaker Jim Herrick, commander of American Legion Post No. 20 stood before the crowd gathered at Soldotna Community Memorial Park, in the rattling wind, Monday. He raised a polished marble cane in his right hand and directed it before him. Herrick said he was proudly pointing at the families and community members he had seen at the previous Memorial Day services in Kenai and Soldotna. Services began in the morning, at the Kenai City Cemetery. Three boys dressed in full uniforms of their own, ap-
— Staff report
Index
the Kenai River into the Kenai Keys area. Central Emergency Services and the Soldotna-based Division of Forestry responded to a roof fire of a trailer house and two cabin deck fires. The fire crossed the Kenai River Sunday in the Torpedo Lake area, about five miles below the Skilak Lake outlet. At a 1:30 p.m. Monday media briefing at the incident command center at Skyview High School, Weston said crews Monday were evaluating hard-to-access areas to determine if any structures were harmed during fire activity Sunday night. She said the focus for Monday was to keep the fire on the northern side of the Kenai River in the Torpedo Lake area under
Community pride
proached veterans after the Avenue of Flags ceremony to personally thank each one. The Brown brothers, members of Boy Scout Troop 152, wore their Eagle Scout and Star Scout uniforms to the event. Brothers Tyler, 18, Brett, 16, and Derek, 13, attend Memorial Day events annually and do a flag ceremony at Boy Scout meetings. Their mother, Jennifer Brown, said she taught her sons to respect veterans and troops. “That’s the least we can do for them,” Jennifer Brown said. Tyler Brown said learning to respect veteran’s starts at home. He said instead of talking about how terrible war is, families should discuss honoring the people who have
served and are serving. Tyler Brown said he does not think enough younger people pay their respects to veterans, which was evidenced by the low turn out of that age group at the Avenue of Flags ceremony. Brenda Trefren also attends memorial services with her five children each year. During the Leif Hansen Memorial Park ceremony, the family walked single file to the base of the memorial obelisk to lay their handmade wreathes and tiny poppies. “We have ten names in our wreath,” Trefren said, referring to the many grandfathers and great grandfathers who served in their family. Trefren’s son, Daniel Trefren, said he liked seeing the lines of flags speck-
Photo by Kelly Sullivan/Peninsula Clarion
Local veterans attended, and took part in the Memorial Day ceremony at Leif Hanesn Memorial Park Monday in Kenai.
led throughout the city every year. His sister Sarah Trefren said she likes the flags because they are a reminder of her freedoms. Jeannette Rodgers attended the Leif Hansen Memorial
Park service with her husband and former U.S. Army man Chuck Rodgers. She said the couple attends the service every year, which offers the chance to remember with likeSee HONOR, page A-7
Piles of garbage gone from Kenai Peninsula By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Last week cities around the central Kenai Peninsula mobilized their communities to cleanup thousands of pounds of garbage.
Soldotna’s Kenai River Spring Cleanup The city of Soldotna in collaboration with the Kenai River Professional Guide Association put an effective twist on spring clean up this year. Included in the week-long, citywide event was a focused effort along the banks of the Kenai River, and a revised version of “take a kid fishing day.” Students from Sterling Elementary,
Cook Inlet Academy, Redoubt Elementary and Connections Home School program were still taken to the Kenai River, but to clean up the banks, not fish the waters, said Soldotna City Council member Keith Baxter. Redoubt students alone picked up 840 pounds of trash, Baxter said. Combined, the four schools picked up 1,783 pounds. Each individual, group and school was rewarded for his or her efforts, and prizes were given for every student participant, he said. Integrity Janitorial picked up 301 pounds off the riverbanks, Baxter said. Ostrick White won with 168 pounds removed by one person, he said. The event drew people from all over the Kenai Peninsula, Baxter said. Extra information was made available to event C
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goers by Hallo Bay Bear Camp, Trout Unlimited, ReGroup Recycling, and Stream Watch. The result of the Kenai River Spring Cleanup was a grand total of 2,494 pounds, Baxter said. This was only what was removed from the riparian habitat of the Kenai river, he said. Around the streets of Soldotna, thousands more were picked up in the borough-wide road cleanups.
Nikiski’s families turn out to clean up Audrey Johnson said she quantified the success of Nikiski’s week-long community cleanup in pounds of trash picked up and pizzas eaten. Generations of Nikiski residents picked up trash last week, Johnson said.
The 200 families that spent hours cleaning off the shoulders of the North Road, consumed 36 pizzas May 17, at the culminating barbecue, she said. Individuals and groups had picked up 800 bright yellow free BP trash bags, during the course of last week, Johnson said. Each bag can hold about 20 pounds. She said she was not certain the exact amount of trash picked up over the course of the week, but the numbers speak for themselves. “It was a dedicated group of people,” Johnson said. “I cannot stress how proud of the families I am.” Johnson said she was pretty shocked the young ones still had the energy to play on the Nikiski Recreation Center playground. See TRASH, page A-7