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Eulachon
Game on
Kenai anglers target tiny, oily fish
Homer softball beats Soldotna
Tightlines/A-12
Sports/A-10
CLARION
Rain 57/45 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 205
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.
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Parnell signs budget bills, no vetoes By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — Gov. Sean Parnell signed a $12.8-billion state budget package Wednesday, issuing no vetoes and saying he was proud of the work that he and lawmakers had done. The state, amid slumping revenues, was still facing a nearly $3.1 billion draw from savings to fill budget holes between the current year and 2015. Parnell said lawmakers worked to reduce unrestricted general fund spending from $8 billion in 2013 to about $7 billion this year and $5.9 billion
for the coming fiscal year as part of the operating and capital budgets. The category of unrestricted general funds refers to money that isn’t restricted in its use by the law, constitution or something else. “We have a functioning legislative branch and a functioning executive branch working together for the benefit of Alaskans,” he said. He listed as accomplishments a plan to provide additional education funding over the next three years, passage of legislation setting the state’s participation in a massive proposed liquefied natural gas
project and the infusion of $3 billion from savings to help pay down the state’s unfunded pension obligation and lower annual payments required as part of that responsibility in the coming years. He told an Anchorage Rotary group that Alaska’s financial future is bright and that he and legislators had worked together to be wise stewards of the public’s money. Total spending authorized for 2015 is $12.8 billion. That compares to $13.2 billion for the current year, according to Parnell’s budget office. At a news conference later,
he said while lawmakers met the spending target he had set, he did an intensive review of the budget but found nothing that gave him pause and merited a veto. The state shows a budget deficit of $1.4 billion for next year, according to Parnell’s budget office. The deficit for the current year, which ends June 30, is $1.7 billion. Parnell, during a news conference in Anchorage, said the smaller projected draw is a sign of moving in the right direction. He said the idea is to continue conserving savings while
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ANCHORAGE — Authorities say a helicopter has crashed at Birchwood Airport near Anchorage and the pilot is dead. A bystander reportedly was burned while trying to rescue the pilot. The Anchorage Daily News reports that Chugiak Volunteer Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief Clifton Dalton says crews responded in minutes Wednesday afternoon and found the helicopter engulfed in flames. The male bystander who tried to help was taken to Providence Alaska Medical Center for treatment. Neither the pilot nor the bystander was immediately identified. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer says the helicopter was a Robinson R-44. The cause of the crash is under investigation. — The Associated Press
Firefighters rescue wolf pups
By RASHAH MCCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
Dehydrated and injured by porcupine quills — Hooper Bay, Huslia, Stebbens, Gannet and X-ray were named after the firefighters who rescued them and the area in which they were found. The fire crews heard the abandoned wolf pups making noise while working to secure the western flank of a massive wild fire on the Kenai Peninsula While the names may not stick, the three males and two female pups may survive after being taken to the Alaska Zoo by Alaska Department of Fish and Game staff. Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion The two-week-old pups Timofey Kolosov, firefighter from Delta Junction, sets up a tent in the Skyview High School soccer field Monday in Soldotna. were rescued from a den near Kolosov and his crew arrived to help fight the Funny River Horse Trail wildfire which has burned more than 176,000 acres of Kasilof, said firefighter Brian Kenai National Wildlife Refuge land. Nichols who was on one of crews that found the pups. “We actually
Rain helps slow fire
and DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
‘Daily fighting with terrorists and groups of criminals near the Ukrainian and Russian border have become our routine reality.’ ... See page A-6
See PUPS, page A-9
Some properties could be in harm’s way By RASHAH MCCHESNEY
Inside
See BUDGET, page A-9
Saved
In the news Helicopter crash near Anchorage; pilot dies
reducing spending and getting more oil flowing through the trans-Alaska pipeline to help bump up revenue. Alaska relies heavily on oil revenue to fund state government operations and the Legislature last year passed an oil production taxcut, championed by Parnell, as a way to encourage more investment and production. Critics say it’s a giveaway to industry, with no guarantee of what the state will see in return. Asked when the deficits might be gone, Parnell said it could be next fall, given how subject the state is to the vaga-
As the threat of the Funny River Horse Trail wildfire lessens in Kasilof and Funny River, the massive fire pushes further into the refuge and threatens structures near Skilak Lake.
The Kenai Backcountry Lodge, owned by Alaska Wildland Adventures, lies in the path of the Funny River fire along its northeastern edge where there have been few efforts to mitigate its advance as Kenai National Wildlife Refuge managers hope for a burn that will revitalize the area’s ecosystem.
What few efforts there have been, however, have focused on keeping structures in that area of wilderness safe from the flames, said Alaska Interagency Incident Management Team public information officer Jim Schwarber.
Photo contributed by Brian Nichols
Firefighters rescued five wolf pups abandoned by mother during the Funny River Horse Trail wildfire.
See FIRE, page A-9
Soldotna under construction Murkowski hopeful that Eielson will house new jets and roundabout islands are being set. The Wilson Street roundabout, the first of three to be installed, will be operational by early Soldotna is set to have a productive sum- June. mer, with a variety of construction projects aimed at improving drinking water availability, walking trails and roadways through Sterling Street out the city. The street curbs are installed for the SterCity Engineer Kyle Kornelis said many ling Street road improvements, and all unprojects are on schedule with the help of derground utility work is completed. Worksome fair, early-spring weather. ers are prepping for sidewalk installation Kornelis said he is pleased with how and cleaning up back slopes. Paving should things are moving forward thus far. The be completed shortly afterward. The project community has been very accommodating is projected to be completed mid-June. in response to the traffic backups on Binkley Street, a result of shutting down one of the busiest areas in town, he said. By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Business.................A-5 Nation/World.......... A-6 Sports...................A-10 Tightlines..............A-12 Arts.........................B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-6 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
Binkley Street The city is currently reconstructing the set-up of Binkley Street to help with traffic congestion by installing three roundabouts. The project is on schedule. Asphalt is currently being removed south of the Redoubt Avenue intersection, and sidewalks
Riverside Drive, Porcupine Court
Workers on Riverside Drive are currently laying down topsoil and will stripe the road. The project will be completed soon. On Porcupine Court, curbs will be poured next week, which will ensure the project is completed by late June. See BUILD, page A-9 C
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FAIRBANKS (AP) — Eielson Air Force Base likely will be on a narrowed list of potential locations for two squadrons of new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said. In a luncheon speech Tuesday, the Alaska Republican said the Air Force will reduce a list of five candidates to two or three locations by the end of June. Eielson should be in that group, she said, and is in a good position to be picked for the jets, the Fairbanks Daily NewsMiner reported. “You always hate to jinx anything before you have confirmation, but I do believe we’re in a strong position in the Interior for the F-35s,” Murkowski
said at the 11th annual Ladies That Lunch Committee Spring Luncheon. Both Eielson and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage are on the current list with three undisclosed overseas Pacific bases. Recent tensions in Russia and China have underscored the strategic importance of the Pacific, Murkowski said, and Alaska squadrons allow the U.S. to have a regional presence without being in world hot spot. Hill Air Force Base in Utah was the first base to receive F35s. The military plans to buy more than 2,000. Military officials told Murkowski that the closure of See JETS, page A-9