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P E N I N S U L A
TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 227
Question Do you buy Alaska Grown produce? n Yes, that’s a selling point for me. n I do if it’s the best price or best quality available. n It’s not a priority for me. 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
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
US memo justifying drone killings released LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press
NEW YORK — The secret U.S. government memo outlining the justification for the use of drones to kill American terror suspects abroad was released by court order Monday, yielding the most detailed, inside look yet at the legal underpinnings of the Obama administration’s program of “targeted killings.” The 41-page memo — whose contents had previously been summarized and released piecemeal — was heavily redacted for national
security reasons, with several entire pages and other passages whited out. But it argues among other things that a targeted killing of a U.S. citizen is permissible under a 2001 law passed by Congress soon after 9/11. That law empowered the president to use force against organizations that planned and committed the attacks. “The release of the memo will allow the public to better assess the lawfulness of the government’s targeted killing policy and the implications of that policy,” said Jameel
Jaffer, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who argued for release of the memo. “Despite the release of this memo, the public still knows scandalously little about who the government is killing and why.” He said the memo contains the first formal acknowledgment by the government that the CIA is involved in the program. The July 2010 memo was written by a Justice Department official who is now a federal appeals court judge. It was released after a yearlong legal battle by The New York Times and See DRONE, page A-5
AP Photo/Muhammad ud-Deen
This October 2008 file photo shows American Imam Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen. A federal appeals court Monday, released a previously secret memo that provided legal justification for using drones to kill Americans.
Sockeye limits upped on the Russian
Playtime
Soldotna woman found dead at campground M K
STERLING, Alaska (AP) — Alaska State Troopers are investigating the death of a Soldotna woman at a Kenai Peninsula campground. Troopers say the body of 30-year-old Lindsay Woodward was found in a vehicle parked at the Lower Skilak Lake Campground. Troopers say they were called just after 6 a.m. Saturday and asked to check on Woodward. The call prompted a search by officers. Just before noon, a camper at the campground spotted Woodward in a vehicle parked on the side of the road into the campground. An autopsy was ordered. Troopers say no foul play is suspected.
Inside ‘I can sense right now a rebellion brewing amongst these United States where people are ready for a hostile takeover of Washington, D.C., to preserve the American Dream for our children and grandchildren.’ ... See page A-4
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-5 World..................... A-5 Sports.....................A-6 Classifieds............. A-8 Comics................. A-11
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Sanctuary opened to fishing as 26,000 pass ADFG weir
Photos by Rashah McChesney/ Peninsula Clarion
Top: Ryder DeLon, 9, climbs across a set of monkey bars Monday at the Soldotna community playground in Soldotna. Right: Cali Compton, 20 months, laughs and begs to go higher as her mother Jolyn Compton pushes her on a swing Far right: James Jensen, 4, pauses so his mother can take a photo. The park was packed until a sudden, torrential rainfall inundated the area for nearly half an hour.
As sockeye salmon continue to push up the Kenai River and into the Russian River — Alaska Department of Fish and Game managers acted Monday to slow the escapement of the early run — which reached 26,000 by noon. Two emergency regulations liberalize the bag and possession limits for the Russian River Tuesday and open the Russian River sanctuary area to fishing. Anglers may now keep six fish per day and have 12 in possession near the area of the Kenai River upstream from Skilak Lake to the Fish and Game regulatory marker about 300 yards upstream of the public boat launch at Sportsman’s Landing and in the Russian River from its mouth upstream to a Fish and Game marker about 600 yards from the Russian River Falls; the order goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. At 8 a.m. today, the Russian River Sanctuary Area will be opened to fishing. Both orders will remain in while recovering from carpal tunnel sureffect until Monday July 14. gery, friends said. The biological escapement Voss was fishing with three others when goal range for the early run of their skiff capsized in three-foot waves sockeye salmon on the Russian and winds of 25 mph near the village of River is 22,000-42,000 fish and Pilot Point, sometime before 9 a.m., said Fish and Game biologist have U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class projected that the range could Grant Devuyst. Both Voss and the other be exceeded before the season missing man, a 17-year-old, attempted to ends, according to a department swim to shore and while a nearby fishing Contributed photo/Andrea Norris vessel found Voss — they could not revive David Wilson, left, and Chuck Voss dur- news release. him according to an Alaska State Troopers ing a fishing trip. Voss died in a boat ac-Staff report See VOSS, page A-5 cident Sunday in Bristol Bay.
Soldotna man dead in Bristol Bay By DAN BALMER and RASHAH MCCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
When longtime bartender, chef, fisherman and bookworm Chuck Voss’ skiff overturned in the Ugashik River on Sunday, killing the 36-year-old man and leaving another missing in the Bristol Bay region, the loss rippled through communities from Florida to Soldotna. It was the Oregon native’s first year fishing commercially again — a longtime love — after a few-year hiatus he took
Pursuit ends at Whittier tunnel New Clarion
By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
A Soldotna man is in jail after he led Alaska State Troopers on a chase on the Seward Highway before coming to an end at the Whittier Tunnel Sunday. Tylor Arndt, 22, was arrested on charges of failing to stop at the direction of a peace officer in the first-degree, making a false report, reckless driving, driving while license revoked, failure to report an accident,
driving in violation of a limited license, and two counts of Assault in the third-degree. He was taken to Anchorage Jail and is being held on $21,000 bond. The chase began after troopers stopped Arndt in a blue Ford Focus near Mile 73 of the Seward Highway for an equipment violation at about 2:20 p.m. The driver provided a false name then fled northbound at a high rate of speed in excess of 110 mph, according to a troopers dispatch.
Arndt turned onto the Portage Highway and continued to the Whittier Tunnel. Troopers contacted the Alaska Department of Transportation to have them close the northbound gate to the tunnel, but Arndt made it through before it closed, trooper spokesperson Tim Despain said. In the process, troopers had to wait for the gate to open again before they continued the pursuit, he said. While inside the mile-long C
See CHASE, page A-5 M
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publisher named Vitto Kleinschmidt has been named publisher of the Peninsula Clarion, succeeding Stan Pitlo, veteran newspaperman who is retiring. The announcement was made by Derek May, executive vice-president of Morris Publishing Group. Pitlo began his career in advertising at the Anchorage Times and worked in broadcasting and advertising before coming to the Peninsula Clarion in 1993. He was promoted to publisher in 1999 and has continued to serve in that role See CHANGE, page A-5