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Betrayed
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Maj. Gen. killed during Kabul attack
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CLARION
Some showers 64/51 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 264
Question Do you think victims of the Ebola virus should be transported into the United States. n Yes; or 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 emailed to news@peninsulaclarion.com.
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
State to appeal setnet initiative By MOLLY DISCHNER Morris News Service-Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce
The State of Alaska will appeal a state Superior Court decision that would permit a ballot initiative that could ban setnets in certain parts of the state. The Alaska Fisheries Conservation Alliance, or AFCA, filed a ballot initiative petition in 2013 seeking to ask voters whether to ban setnets in urban parts of the state, which would primarily impact Upper Cook Inlet setnetters. Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell rejected the initiative in
January, based on a state Department of Law opinion asserting that it would be a prohibited resource appropriation not allowed under the Alaska Constitution. In July, however, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Catherine Easter overturned Treadwell’s decision, and ordered the lieutenant governor to certify the initiative and allow proponents to continue the process of gathering signatures to get the question on the 2016 ballot. The state will appeal Easter’s ruling. Department of Law Assistant Attorney General Cori Mills wrote in an Aug. 5 email that the state will appeal the deci-
Clarion file photo
Setnetters untangle salmon in 2011 in Cook Inlet. The fishery has been targeted by an organization seeking to ban the gear type.
See APPEAL, page A-12
‘Drawn to state-level work’ Atwater talks new job, Board of Education hopes for plan by September
In the news DNR opens bids for SW Cook Inlet exploration license C
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The Alaska Department of Natural Resources will hold a sealed bid opening for a exploration license on 168,581 acres around the Iniskin Peninsula of Southwest Cook Inlet. The bid opening will take place in the Kuparuk Room of the Atwood Building, 550 W. 7th Ave., in Anchorage beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to a DNR media release. Staff at DNR decided to hold the sealed bid opening as it received, for the first time, competing proposals for the same exploration license area, according to the release. The state’s exploration program is designed to encourage exploration in areas where infrastructure has yet to be developed, according to the release.
-Staff Report
By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
A submission to the Clarion’s Sunday August 3, 2014 community pages misspelled Josiah Martin’s name and omitted Darius Martin’s name. The two won 1st place in the bicycle category of the Soldotna Progress Days Parade.
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-8 Sports...................A-10 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-6
Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
where she had been assaulted, according to the release. Patrol Officers and detectives began searching for Lee and on July 31 at 9:15 p.m. he was found near Lois Drive and Northern Lights Boulevard in Anchorage, according to the release. Lee tried to evade the officers but was eventually arrested and charged, according to the See RAPE, page A-12
See KPBSD, page A-12
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
A balancing act
Lam Truong, of Kenai, carries a cooler home Tuesday in Kenai. Truong, who lives in an apartment near the mouth of the Kenai River, said he needed a place to store his fish.
Out but not down Despite kitchen closure, The Way Café still providing meals By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Correction
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Dr. Steve Atwater accepted the position as the University of Alaska Associate Vice President for K-12 Outreach Tuesday. Atwater publicly announced his resignation as KPBSD superintendent effective Dec. 1 at the Monday Board of Education meeting and the board approved it. “My main interest in the job is that more and more I’m drawn to state-level work,” Atwater said. “And this is a chance to affect the conversation and the activity with school districts across the state.” Dr. Dana Thomas, Vice President of UA Academic Affairs and Research, who will be Atwater’s supervisor, said he is looking forward to Atwater fill the position. “He brings real credibility to the position, very strong credibility because he has … been a very successful superintendent in two school districts,” Thomas said. Thomas said Atwater’s Doctorate in Education Leadership, good working relationship with the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development and the respect of the deans of the UA Schools of Education will also help Atwater to transition smoothly into the position. Atwater will be acting as a liaison to encourage productive partnerships with Alaska schools with the UA Schools of Education, the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development and the Alaska Legislature “to better prepare our students to become teachers and to have post secondary success,” Atwater said. “I think that the liaison between the university and the K-12 system needs to be tightened,” he said. “I’m really excited about trying to do that.” Atwater said his talks with UA Academic Affairs department about the position began in June. Prior to an executive session held before the Monday night board meeting where Atwater tendered his resignation, board members, except for board president Joe Arness were unaware the change was forthcoming, Atwater said.
After shutting the doors to a facility that previously prepared food for patrons out of the Kenai Merit Inn up until January 3 this year, The Way Café free meals program has adapted its operations to continue feeding those in need in the Central Kenai Peninsula. Café volunteer organizer, Yvonne Meek, now delivers perishable and non-perishable food items to families, who can then prepare the ingredients in their home. The groceries are purchased through monetary donations still consistently coming into the program from
community members, she said. The program is still run through the Kenai First Baptist Church, Meek said. Many of the café’s previous patrons have moved away from the area. The only way for them to receive meals now is through a delivery service. “Recently I received a check for $300 for The way cafe,” Meek said. “We still call ourselves that.” Meals now come in the form of a “box” which can be a square container or grocery bags, Meek said. About 187 “boxes” have been delivered since January, she said. Meek said word-of-mouth advertising drives the program.
Clarion file photo
Betsy Laws, Kiowa Richardson and Jaiden Streiff serve food at The Way Cafe Thursday September 12, 2013 in Kenai, Alaska. While the cafe’s physical location has been closed, organizers say they are still delivering meals to the needy.
Neighbors or friends will tell Meek when they know someone who is going hungry. Meek said she has a list of people she contacts regularly. Sometimes people are to shy to
ask for food, she said. Meek delivers anything that can be found at a grocery store. She said she purchases anything from frozen to fresh, meats, cheese, crackers, soups, See MEALS, page A-12
Police seek victims in serial rape case Anchorage man arrested, charged with 10 counts of sexual assault Anchorage police are searching for additional victims of a man they allege is a serial rapist. Clifford Lee, of Anchorage, was arrested and charged with 10 counts of First Degree sexual assault – penetration without consent. Under Alaska Statute, each charge can be punished by up to 99 years in prison, though there are several mitigating factors that define the range of im-
prisonment time. He was taken to the Anchorage Jail, where he is being held under a $750,000 performance bond, $500,000 cash or corporate appearance bond, and a court-approved third-party custodian as the conditions of his potential release, according to a media release. The arrest was made after five women reported being sexually assaulted by an unknown
man after accepting a ride from him, according to the APD release. Lee is suspected of using a stun gun to force some of the victims into allowing the assault, according to the release. Each of the suspects gave a general description of the same physically identifying features, the male was Asian and driving a dark-colored SUV; one victim was able to identify a home C
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