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CLARION
Showers 60/45 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 222
Question
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Eyes in the sky
Have you successfully negotiated the new roundabout on Binkley Street in Soldotna? n Yes, worked like a charm; n Yes, but it was not a good experience; n No, I’m avoiding it; n No, I just haven’t tried yet. 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.
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An individual in Clam Gulch may have suffered paralytic shellfish poisoning from clams the person harvested Sunday, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services said Tuesday. The case was not reported until Monday. The person became ill about four hours after eating razor clams Sunday evening, DHSS spokesperson Greg Wilkinson said. This is the first probable case of paralytic shellfish poisoning on the Kenai Peninsula this year, he said.
Foundation sells off shares in mining M company K ANCHORAGE (AP) — The Bristol Bay Native Corp. Education Foundation has sold the shares it received as a gift in the company that owns the proposed Pebble Mine. In April, a major shareholder in Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., Rio Tinto, announced plans to give away its 18.1 million shares in the company and divide them among two Alaska charitable foundations. The other recipient of Rio Tinto’s shares was the Alaska Community Foundation. The Bristol Bay Native Corp. Education Foundation recently announced that it sold its shares, generating about $6.5 million, KTUU reported. The foundation said the money will go into an endowment and be used for scholarship programs. It also will be used to pay for a cultural heritage program.
Correction A story in Monday’s sports section regarding the American Legion Twins’ sweep of Palmer contained an error. Mason Prior was 1 for 3 with two RBIs and a run. The Clarion regrets the error.
Case prompts warning from state health officials By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
In the news C
Likely PSP in Clam Gulch
See PSP, page A-12
Funny River wildfire highlights potential for unmanned aircraft
Above: Precision team members Charissa Moen and John Roman get the Insitu ScanEagle ready to deploy to fly the perimeter of the Funny River Horse Trail wildfire, in Funny River.
By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Photo courtesy Matt Parker
As the Funny River Horse Trail wildfire inched closer to town, Matt Parker spent his nights in an open field battling mosquitoes and hugging a horse for warmth while assisting in the unmanned aircraft systems missions to map the wildfire. Parker is the Director of Unmanned Aircraft Systems at Precision Integrated that flies, maintains and operates UAVs. Parker and his team flew to Alaska to aid Marty Rogers, Director of the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration at University of Alaska Fairbanks. The Funny River Horse Trail wildfire, first reported on May 19, is currently at 195,858 aces, and is 60 percent contained, according to the Alaska Division of Forestry.
Top: The Insitu ScanEagle was used to map hotspots on the perimeter of the fire. Photo courtesy Terry Anderson
Left: Because of the low altitude of the deployment site for the Insitu Scan Eagle, the teams hoisted the remote for the GPS onto a Hydraulic Crane for better coverage outside of the Funny River fire.
The test run Rogers led the collaboration of teams that deployed an Insitu ScanEagle containing an infrared camera for recognizing hotspots on the perimeter of the wildfire. Insitu is a Boeing subsidiary. Parker said his team supported Rogers’ execution of
Photo courtesy Matt Parker
See FLY, page A-12
Search continues for Kenai family By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
It has been three weeks since anyone last saw Rebecca Adams, her children Michelle and Jaracca Hundley and her boyfriend Brandon Jividen, all missing from their Kenai home. Investigators have acquired evidence to confirm that Adams was last seen at a local business the morning of May 25 driving a black Chevy Colorado pickup owned by Jividen, Kenai Police Chief Gus Sandahl said. While police have received information from the public, Sandahl said until the leads are combined with physical evidence he cannot release details on the investigation. A specialized canine scent detection team from the Lower 48 has joined the search since last Friday. Sandahl could not say how much area has been See SEARCH, page A-12
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Police reports......... A-5 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-8 Sports...................A-10 Food...................... B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-8 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
Alaska, TransCanada starting new partnership By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — Gov. Sean Parnell announced Tuesday that the state and TransCanada Corp. have formally ended their relationship under terms of the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, clearing the way for a new partnership to pursue a major gas project. The development was expected, after the state, TransCanada, the North Slope’s three major players and Alaska Gasline Development Corp. agreed to work together to pursue a liquefied natural gas proj-
ect. State lawmakers earlier this year approved state participation in the mega-project, setting the stage for a new agreement with the Canadian pipeline company. The next step is for the parties to sign a joint-venture agreement spelling out responsibilities and cost-sharing to ramp up the next phase of the process, which is expected to include preliminary engineering and design and getting a more specific estimate of costs. Natural Resources Commissioner Joe Balash said discussions surrounding these issues have been going on for months
The next step is for the parties to sign a joint-venture agreement spelling out responsibilities and cost-sharing to ramp up the next phase of the process. and he saw no reason for the agreement and associated documents to not be signed. The state itself is not expected to be a signatory, but the other players are, he said. Both ExxonMobil Corp. and BP are ready to sign, spokeswomen said Tuesday. TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard, C
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by email, said his company resolved its issues with the jointventure agreement. But Howard declined to say what those issues were, saying they were part of the discussions between parties that he could not discuss publicly. ConocoPhillips spokeswoman Natalie Lowman said
there were still “open issues” that needed to be resolved from the company’s perspective. Lowman did not specify the issues, saying negotiations are confidential. She said by email that the company continues to support moving the project forward and all parties were “working closely to bring these agreements to closure.” TransCanada for years pursued a pipeline project with state support under terms of the act. But the project’s focus shifted from a line that would serve North American markets to one that would serve See GAS, page A-12