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CLARION P E N I N S U L A
JULY 27, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 254
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Summer reading club ends with a boom and a fizz By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Makenna Dreyer, 9, jumps through an inflatable obstacle course set up by the Alaska Army National Guard Saturday during Soldotna Progress Days at the Soldotna Little League Fields.
Fun in the Sun
Thousands descend on Soldotna for annual Progress Days C
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By RASHAH MCCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
Silas Hamilton, 3, Gus Miller, 9, and Michael Greist Beltz, 7, clustered around a group of toy cars and with the single-minded determination of professionals, raced them down a flexible orange temporary track stretching out of a booth near the entrance to the Soldonta Little League Fields. The boys seemed oblivious to the bevy of chainsaws run-
ning less than 100 feet away as several Sawfest artists filled the air with woodchips and sawdust carving huge hunks of wood into art set to be auctioned off during the last day of Soldotna’s 55th annual Progress Days celebrations. Between designer cupcakes, a hodge-podge of fried food and easily available sugary drinks, hundreds of children — many who seemed to be in a post-parade candy haze — swarmed an enormous in-
flatable obstacle course set up by the Alaska Army National Guard and ran through in groups of two and three. Makenna Dreyer, 9, got at least three-feet of air on her last inflatable-assisted jump, grinned and ran to the end of a long line to go again. Just after 2 p.m., a juvenile eagle named Sparky was released by Alaska TLC, a bird treatment and learning center organization from Anchorage. At least 200 people watched
a white box burst open as the mottled eagle took to the sky. The eagle was one of 6 rescued from a dump in Adak where a routine fire left hot coals on the ground. The young eagles did not recognize the hazard, landed, and were badly burned, said Alaska TLC representative Dave Dorsey. “Their feathers aren’t fireproof,” he said. “They weren’t in pain, but they couldn’t do anything.” See FUN, page A-2
Young artist gets exposure at KFAC By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
For the month of July, the main gallery at the Kenai Fine Arts center is filled with 31 pieces of vibrant, acrylic covered canvases. The collection is the culmination of Kaitlin Vadla’s three-year affair with the malleable art form. From flowing glaciers, to salmon runs and the underbelly of an octopus, regional wildlife and landscapes fill the borders of the paintings. “I really fell in love with pushing color around,” Vadla said. “I love pushing paint around a canvas.” It all began with an art class at Kenai Peninsula College three years ago, Vadla said. After an knee-injury limited her mobility, she said she needed
Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion
Kaitlin Vadla said she choses the subjects in her paintings if it is something that has personal meaning for her, Thursday, at the Kenai Fine Arts Center.
an activity to keep her upbeat. paint strokes have gone from Vadla said her style has meticulous to simple. She gave evolved over the years. Her up using brushes and now only
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Question Do you agree with barbless hook catch‘In other words, the and-release restricWashington regime tions for Kenai River is basing its contentions on anti-Russian king salmon. : speculation.’ n Yes; or
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uses a palette knife, which she likens to a construction worker spreading concrete. Up close her paintings look like a mess, but far away is still portrays the reality of the subject, Vadla said. Many pieces in the collection were painted completely differently. In the square piece titled “Invisible,” which features a massive octopus, she applied cooking oil and salt to the surface of the stretched canvas. In the long, narrow, vertical painting called “Glazed Still-life,” she piled hundreds of thin, almost see-through layers of paint to create the rich hued final image of gourds and glass bottles. Currently the fine arts center is looking to provide showcase space for younger artists, See ART, page A-2
On the trimmed, sun soaked lawn behind the Joyce K. Carver Soldotna Public Library on Tuesday afternoon Hayden Carr, 4, watched Linda McMilin explain the last science experiment he was going to see that summer through Soldotna’s chapter of the national “Fizz, Boom, Read!” Summer Reading Club. At the final party of the summer Carr was surrounded by the group of 50 children who accompanied him through the last eight weeks of the program. McMilin explained that the experiment involved dropping a piece of Mentos candies into a 2-liter bottle of Coca-Cola. “What do you think will happen, when it’s dropped in?” McMilin asked the silent crowd. “Boom!” Carr said. Carr sprang up and yelped as other children squealed in reaction to the explosion of bubbles emitted from the soda bottle once the candy was dropped inside the brown liquid. Carr said he was able to finish 60 books this summer. He
attended every week with his grandmother Glenda Carr. Glenda Carr said her grandson was one of the most enthusiastic kids throughout the entire program. He went to the library to watch movies, which included “Flubber” and “Inspector Gadget,” and made clay seals when a volunteer from Seward’s Alaska SeaLife Center visited for a day. Mathew Schwartz, 9, who attended the program with his sister Lydia, said the whole summer was full of fun events. He said he found a book series called Digimon Digital Monsters, an adaptation of the children’s cartoon. In addition to reading and learning about the libraries resources, children up to the sixth grade attended weekly sciencebased lectures. While the last day’s activities were less educational, they still incorporated science. Lydia Schwartz said her favorite part of the summer was the final party, as she munched on a snicker doodle cookie. She said her favorite part was the balloon races. See LIBRARY, page A-2
Yukon River king salmon returns see improvement FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — Alaska fisheries managers said it appears they have achieved their goal of getting a sufficient number of Yukon River king salmon to their Canadian spawning grounds. The number of king salmon counted as of this week by a sonar located near the village of Eagle near the Canadian border stood at 49,231. That surpasses the minimum goal of 42,500 kings called for in the Pacific Salmon Treaty between the United States and Canada. There’s a good chance the number of kings that reach Canada could surpass the upper end of the goal listed in the treaty, which is 55,000 fish, managers said. It’s the first time in three years that the minimum treaty goal has been reached. The decline in king salmon has led to fishing restrictions for subsistence fishermen who live along the river and depend
on the salmon for food. This year, all fishing for kings — subsistence, commercial, sport and personal use — was closed in an effort to meet the goal. “Everybody did their part, and we’re getting fish up there,” said Fred Bue, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Fairbanks. “It’s been a sacrifice for many people, especially so many years in a row.” Almost 3,000 kings —2,864 to be exact — passed the sonar on Thursday, the 13th day in a row that more than 2,000 fish were counted. Last year, even with fishing restrictions in place to protect kings, only 30,725 kings passed the Eagle sonar. “It’s a different story than last year,” said Eric Newland, Yukon area management biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “Last year, there was quite a bit of conservation measures taken — and the run size didn’t show up at the border.”
Judge rules feds wrongly protected bearded seals MARK THIESSEN, Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ruled that a federal fisheries agency improperly listed bearded seals as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In sending the decision back to the agency, U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline in Fairbanks said the December 2012 decision to list the seals because of a loss of sea ice was improper and “an abuse of discretion.” Beistline found there was no discernible, C
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quantified threat of extinction within the foreseeable future for the seals and that the agency found existing protections were adequate. The listing, he said, had no effect other than making all other federal agencies consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service on actions that could jeopardize the seals throughout their range. “A listing under the ESA based upon speculation, that provides no additional action intended to preserve the continued existence of the listed species, is inherently arbitrary and capricious,” he wrote.