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P E N I N S U L A
WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 246
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Beaver Loop work nears finish
Question Should the City of Kenai regulate electronic cigarettes in restaurants and healthcare facilities the same as smoking tobacco? n Yes, they release toxins in the air; n No, the vapor is less harmful than smoke; n The city should wait until more conclusive studies are complete.
By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
ing to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, reviewing fishery data and communicating with other parties in the suit. According to the itemized breakdown, Mitchell spent 174.8 hours on the case, and Nelson worked on it for 112.4 hours. CIFF sued ADFG in July 2013 asserting that the department did not follow Cook Inlet salmon management plans appropriately, and caused harm to commercial fishers. Guidi ruled in favor of Fish and Game in June. He wrote
Kenai Watershed Forum officials said Beaver Loop Road is expected to be open to two-lane traffic July 26, six weeks after the original target date for the culvert replacement project. Robert Ruffner, executive director for the watershed, who is overseeing the project, said several setbacks have pushed back the timeline. The creek that flows under Beaver Loop Road had to be diverted and groundwater seeping into the excavation area proved problematic, he said. The replacement of the concrete foundation to support the 100-foot long culvert has been the most time consuming job, he said. “Concrete as the foundation is not typical, but it was necessary in this case because we had flooding occur around the culvert and that washedin material was not suitable to support the base of the culvert,” Ruffner said. “We had the contractor remove all that material and replace it with a concrete foundation.” Construction to install the new culvert a quarter mile from the Kenai Spur Highway intersection closed Beaver Loop during the last week of May. The road was originally planned to reopen June 11. Contractor Pete Endries from Endries Company requested a three-week extension on the project and planned for the road to be open in time
See COURT, page A-12
See REPAIR, page A-12
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In the news Man wounded by troopers on Sterling Highway C
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ANCHORAGE (AP) — Alaska State Troopers say one of their officers has seriously wounded a man accused of pulling a gun on the trooper after a chase on the Sterling Highway south of Anchorage. KTUU-TV reports that troopers say Seward police informed them about a despondent man traveling Tuesday afternoon on the Seward Highway. In a statement, troopers say they tried to stop that driver, who took off at a high rate of speed. A trooper made contact with the man after he got out of a vehicle on the Sterling Highway. Troopers say the man pulled a gun from his trunk, refused the officer’s commands and was shot. He was taken to an Anchorage hospital for treatment of what were described as serious injuries. No troopers were hurt. Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said she didn’t have any additional details.
Sonar estimates Estimated Kenai River reds: n Monday: 23,118 n So far: 262,614 Russian River reds weir count: n Monday: 330 n So far: 44,920 Estimated Kasilof River reds: n Monday: 8,310 n So far: 249,617
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Alaska.................... 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.
Photo by Dan Balmer/Peninsula Clarion
K-9 camper
Tim Wolff with the Alaska State Trooper K-9 Unit answers questions from students of the Crime Scene Investigators moonbase camp Tuesday at the Challenger Learning Center in Kenai. Wolff explained how his dog Scout helps find suspects during investigations. The CSI moonbase camp teaches forensics skills that 28 students will apply in a mock investigation. The camp started Sunday and ends Friday.
CIFF to have another day in court By MOLLY DISCHNER Morris News Service-Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce
The Cook Inlet Fisherman’s Fund will not have to repay the state Department of Law for costs associated with the lawsuit about 2013 management of Cook Inlet salmon fisheries at this time. Anchorage Superior Court Judge Andrew Guidi vacated his prior order requiring the fishing group to pay a portion of the state’s costs and issued a July 9 ruling that gave the fishing group, or CIFF, 15 days to
review the itemized breakdown of the Department of Law’s costs and respond. Then, the Department of Law will have five days to respond to the group. CIFF asked for reconsideration June 30, and in a July 7 motion asked to provide supplemental information, noting that the department had not provided the itemized breakdown of costs until after Guidi ruled in favor of the department’s request for partial reimbursement. Guidi had ruled June 25 that CIFF had to pay the state De-
partment of Law $12,924 for representing the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. That was 20 percent of the state’s costs in the lawsuit, according to information provided by the Department of Law. The state estimated its costs in defending ADFG at $65,737.50, mostly for work on the case done by Assistant Attorney General Mike Mitchell and Senior Assistant Attorney General Lance Nelson. The memo details how Mitchell and Nelson used their time, including reviewing and drafting memos and briefs, talk-
Borough re-evaluates rec center demo plan By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
The Kenai Peninsula Borough administration is re-evaluating a plan to demolish the vacant, northern most portion of the Nikiski Community Recreation Center building. Prior to the July 1 Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting, Mayor Mike Navarre said the administration hadn’t heard comments against the proposed teardown. While the assembly did accept and appropriate a $500,000 grant from the state for demolition and maintenance of the building, it will consider op-
tions put together by the administration with updated figures, delay expenses and winter construction costs based on the re-evaluation of the plan on July 22. Initially the administration proposed to demolish a portion of the building due for roof and exterior replacements that has been mostly unoccupied since the Nikiski Elementary School closed in 2004. The demolition is estimated to cost $500,600 and will be incorporated in the “North Peninsula Recreation Center Building Repairs Project.” By combining the demolition with previously funded projects, which total $850,000,
the borough expects to save $30,000, according to the ordinance. A portion of money in the repairs project fund is scheduled for re-roofing and re-siding the section of the building that houses the recreation center. North Peninsula Recreation Service Area Board Chair Patti Floyd said the board, in considering its options with the unused portion of the building, thought the demolition was the best solution. “The most cost effective for Photo by Kaylee Osowski/Peninsula Clarion the community was to go ahead with the demolition,” Floyd The Kenai Peninsula Borough is re-evaluating its plan to desaid. “And (it was) the most molish a portion of the Nikiski Community Recreation Center See DEMO, page A-12 which has sat vacant for most of the past 10 years.
Official sees tie between gas project, referendum By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — The decision Alaska voters make on an oiltax referendum next month could have implications for a proposed liquefied natural gas project, the senior project manager said Tuesday, a point deemed a scare tactic by one state lawmaker. In an interview, manager Steve Butt said the state and companies that hold leases have a shared interest in making money off the
resource. He said if decisions are made that benefit one party at the expense of another, it compromises the project. Butt said he didn’t want to be an alarmist and declare the project would be killed if voters overturn the oil tax cut championed by Gov. Sean Parnell and approved by lawmakers last year. But he said every action taken either moves the gasline forward, by reducing risks and costs, or jeopardizes the viability of the long hoped-for project by increasing those factors.
If any of the parties “do something that hurts alignment, increases risk, increases costs, it hurts the project,” he said. Alignment is the buzzword for the state, TransCanada Corp., and the North Slope’s three major players — BP, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil Corp. — being on the same page in pursuing the mega-project. Others have made comments similar to Butt’s as an argument for keeping in place the oil tax cut, insisting that a healthy oil industry, to help carry lease costs C
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associated with producing gas, is important to the fortunes of the gas line project. Oil companies have been major contributors to the campaign that opposes the repeal of the tax cut. But Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, said he sees no connection between oil taxes and the gas line project. Wielechowski, a vocal critic of the current tax structure who supports the referendum, said the argument is being used as a threat so companies can continue to get tax breaks.
Parnell spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said by email that without a healthy oil industry, “it’s hard to picture a scenario where a gas line is built.” She said liquefied natural gas is about long-term commercial agreements, “where a country commits to Alaska to provide a portion of its energy supply.” “Instability tells the international market that Alaska’s actions may not be trusted in the long-term, which could hinder our ability to compete in a global market,” Leighow said.