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Fishin’
Live Opening ears to new sounds
Rainbows, char offer challenge
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CLARION
Afternoon shower 66/49 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 259
Question Do you think additional enforcement in area fisheries this season has been effective? n Yes n No 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
Soldotna looks into unused properties By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Soldotna is identifying cityowned land parcels that will eventually be purchasable by the public through a bidding process. Director of Economic Development and Planning Stephanie Queen said the city has 22 unused pieces of property at this time. The city is looking into which of those can be used for
future projects, and which will be open to public bid slated for early spring 2015. “I am not aware that we have ever done this before,” Queen said. “Some municipalities do it regularly.” The project has been put before the council multiple times, Queen said. In June of 2013 she asked if the council was interested in analyzing plots to retain or sell them. John Mohorcich was hired
in April 2014, to as a consultant to advise the city through out the process, Queen said. He has completed the background checks, visual inspections and reviewing the deeds from the original acquirement of each property. “These properties were acquired … through foreclosure, some as a trade for other real property, and some with the intention of developing projects that never came to be,” accord-
ing to the memo from Queen submitted to the city council. The oldest parcel dates back to 1970, Queen said. In 1972 a piece of property was purchased to run a sewer line through. The sewer went in, but the property above it remains unused, she said. Mohorcich, who has worked in land management for three decades, said the process of analyzing properties is an exciting one.
APOC opinion sought on referendum activities
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— The Associated Press
Correction In a Wednesday story titled “Wal-Mart shooting suspect denied bail” the reporter incorrectly listed Dylan Rink as the suspect’s husband based on information given by the defense attorney. Rink and Nelund are not married. In addition, Rink has not filed for divorce from Nelund as was reported, he has filed for custody of her children. The Clarion regrets the error.
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Business.................A-5 Nation/World.......... A-6 Sports.....................A-8 Tightlines..............A-10 Arts.........................B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-6 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
See LAND, page A-7
Judge tosses lawsuit over refuge closures
In the news
JUNEAU — The leaders of the Alaska House and Senate have requested guidance on lawmakers expressing their opinions on ballot measures and the upcoming oil tax referendum. The Alaska Public Offices Commission is working on a draft advisory opinion in response to the request by House Speaker Mike Chenault and Senate President Charlie Huggins. The lawmakers do not single anyone out but seek an opinion on what a legislator can permissibly do with respect to the referendum and ballot measures. They ask if lawmakers can use their state emails or legislative websites to share their views on the referendum. They also ask if there would be any reporting requirements for use of the state email or phone systems for such activities, if allowed. Voters will decide the referendum Aug. 19.
“You never know what’s out there,” Mohorcich said. “You never know what people might be thinking about as an opportunity.” Mohorcich said the group of parcels owned by Soldotna is diverse. There is the potential for urban and housing development. He said it is not uncommon for cities to hold onto properties they have obtained. Sometimes projects just aren’t
By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
Photos by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Above: Peter Endries, owner of Endries Company, walks next to an overturned crane at a jobsite on Beaver Loop Road Wednesday in Kenai. Below: Aron Endries, of Endries Construction, guides a motor grader in front of an overturned crane on Beaver Loop Road. The crane overturned as employees were attempting to move segment of an old culvert being replaced along the road.
Crane tips on Beaver Loop Road By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
Employees of Soldotnabased Endries Company overturned a crane Wednesday as it attempted to remove a portion of a culvert from a project site on Beaver Loop Road about a quarter mile from the road’s intersection with the Kenai Spur Highway. The crane was still on its side late Wednesday afternoon and a man on-site, Aron Endries, said pictures of the accident were not allowed. Aron Endries and company owner Peter Endries, later moved a piece of grading equipment in front of the
overturned crane. It was unclear how long it would take the company to turn over the crane. Project engineer Bill Nelson said Peter Endries was trying to round up the equipment to lift the crane. Nelson and Peter Endries said no one was injured during the accident. Employees of Endries Company, the general contractor for the project, were trying to move a 20-foot long section of an old culvert when the crane overturned, Nelson said. “I wasn’t there when the crane tipped over, so I don’t know the exact conditions,”
he said. The Beaver Loop culvert replacement project has been subjected to several delays since it began. Originally, it
was scheduled for completion in early June. Then project managers said it would be open to traffic July 26. Now See CRANE, page A-7
JUNEAU — A federal judge in Alaska has dismissed the state’s lawsuit over the closure of national wildlife refuges during the partial federal government shutdown last year. U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason called the case moot in siding with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Department of Interior, which asked for the case to be tossed. The case dates to last October, when the Fish and Wildlife Service restricted access to refuges nationwide because of the government shutdown. On Oct. 9, an official with the state Department of Fish and Game asked the federal agency if Fish and Game staff would be barred from entering the refuges for research and management activities. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official responded that such activities would not be allowed, according to Gleason’s decision. After the state sued on Oct. 16, the federal agency clarified that the closure did not apply to research activities by Fish and Game, the order states. The lawsuit was filed as Congress was poised to pass legislation to end the shutdown. While refuges were reopened, the state persisted in its lawsuit, which was later amended to add the Alaska Professional Hunters Association as plaintiffs. The lawsuit said the closure violated provisions of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. In See SUIT, page A-7
Gold miners outraged at critical Nome letter NOME (AP) — Nome gold miners are expressing outrage about a city letter citing the “negative social impacts” of their industry. Miners stormed the Nome City Council meeting Monday night to voice their anger about the July 15 letter to the state Department of Natural Resources from city manager Josie Bahnke. In the letter, Bahnke wrote to DNR Commissioner Joe Balash that there has been some economic benefit from offshore mining, but those benefits are outweighed
by negative social impacts, KNOM reported. The letter refers to a 2011 lease sale that opened up the offshore dredging boom that brought millions in revenues for the state, but left Nome without money to accommodate increased port activity. The city is responsible for new costs, such as extra employees. But miners at Tuesday’s meeting were upset over a perceived slight by officials. “We’re feeling like you’re throwing rocks at us the way
‘We’re feeling like you’re throwing rocks at us the way some of this is written.’ — Kenny Hughes, Nome chapter of the Alaska Mining Association some of this is written,” said Kenny Hughes with the Nome chapter of the Alaska Mining Association. Bahnke said the city has not heard anything from the Department of Natural Resources since June. She apologized for C
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any connotations in the letter, saying “it’s more or less, I guess, in response to the frustration with no response from DNR.” Many of the miners attending the meeting took umbrage with the claim that their work
brings only “some economic benefit” to Nome. “I’m an American,” said Homer resident Vern Atkinson, who owns a dredging operation in Nome and is financially compensated by the Discovery Channel for appearing in its “Bering Sea Gold” reality show. “And when I come to Nome, I’m a citizen of Nome — I got just as many rights as anybody else around here. I’m not taking a backseat to anybody.” Atkinson said officials are See MINERS, page A-7