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CLARION
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P E N I N S U L A
THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 271
Question Have you ever taken a class at Kenai Peninsula College? 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
New station opens
Dogs find new home
Facility to house Ninilchik emergency personnel, equipment
Volunteers rescue 35 animals
By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
In the news 3 JBER Army units to be deactivated
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JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON (AP) — Three Army units at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage will be deactivated this week. KTUU reports this is part of the Army’s reorganization plan announced last January. Overall, the Anchorage facility will lose about 800 positions, but Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks will gain about 370. The soldiers aren’t being forced out of the Army, though some may choose to end their careers. Others will stay in Alaska, while others will be transferred out of state. The three units, from the 6th Engineer Battalion, 2d Engineer Brigade, will stand down in a Thursday ceremony.
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With bellies still swollen from a lack of food, 35 dogs are on their way to recovery after being rescued Monday. The dogs are currently housed at the Alaska’s Extended Life Animal Sanctuary in Nikiski. On Monday night two Soldotna residents along with Tim Colbath and Sue Whipp, who run the non-profit sanctuary, and volunteers from the Domestic Animal Protection League of the Kenai Peninsula rescued the dogs on Knight Drive just outside of Soldotna city limits. “They look so much better,” Whipp said on Wednesday. The dogs are becoming more active with proper nourishment. The voluntary rescue took place from about 8-10 p.m. The dogs had been housed in a 10--by-20-foot room and most of the animals likely Photo by Kaylee Osowski/Peninsula Clarion had never been outside, Col- Sue Whipp of the Alaska’s Extended Life Animal Sanctuary in Nikiski feeds the 35 dogs bath said. rescued from a home on Knight Drive near Soldotna Wednesday. The dogs were rescued See DOGS, page A-7 Monday night.
The new Ninilchik Emergency Services facility is open and active, one year after the groundbreaking. The building was completed in June, and was unveiled to the public during an open house August 9. Ninilchik Emergency Services, which is a local nonprofit, set to designing and erecting a facility for housing their staff of 19 volunteer responders and four emergency vehicles four years ago, said NES board member Steve Vanek. The single-level, fourbay building now has locker storage, showers, bathrooms, adequate equipment space and a common room for volunteers on shift, he said. Fire chief Mike Chilhuly, EMT level 1-3 medics and emergency trauma tech first responders make up the response team utilizing the facility with two pumper trucks, a fourwheeler and ambulance in their response arsenal. “The four-wheeler is necessary for this area,” Vanek said. “The beach is right here, and we have so many clam diggers.” NES received a $2.5 million grant from the state, which was See NEW, page A-7
Juneau hires lawyer Fish and Game reminds fishers to investigate hazing to return personal-use permits
JUNEAU (AP) — The Juneau School District has hired an Anchorage attorney to help investigate alleged hazing involving high school athletes and a wooden paddle. Schools Superintendent Mark Miller announced Tuesday that attorney John Sedor is coming on board for the investigation, the Juneau Empire reported. Parents have complained that their high school-age children who are athletes were kidnapped and beaten with paddles by upperclassman on May 31. The district has been investigating the incident since June. The police department also looked into the matter, but ended its criminal investigation
without any arrests or charges. Miller said the district is looking into violations of board policy and state statutes, unlike police, who look at possible violations of the penal code. Sedor will be speaking with students and staff, Miller said at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting. Miller said Sedor already has been talking to adults with direct knowledge of the incident and will soon start interviewing students. “We can’t rely on what we read in the news as what we take action on,” he said. “We have to verify all those facts.” Police ended their investigation after no witnesses were See HAZING, page A-7
By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is reminding residents who utilized the Upper Cook Inlet personal-use fisheries this year to turn in their permits by Friday. This includes permits used for dipnetting on the Kenai, Fish Creek and Kasilof rivers, as well as personal-use setnetting on the Kasilof River. Even if a permit holder did not use the personal-use fisheries, or was not able to catch fish, the permits must still be returned.
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Sport Fish Area Management Biologist Robert Begich said permit holders that fail to comply can be subject to a $200 fine. Anyone who does not return the permit will receive a reminder after Aug. 15. “It is important to collect or receive permit returns to give the department estimates about the harvest of salmon by species and by location,” Begich said. “The harvest information is used to estimate the total number of salmon in runs to various rivers where personal use fisheries occur which is important to managing the salmon stocks for sustainabil-
ity.” Permit information is also used in the Board of Fisheries regulatory process, Begich said. There are options for permit holders whose permit was lost or damaged, and Fish and Game has specific directions for properly documenting how the permits were used this season. Permits can be turned in at local offices, or mailed to the Fish and Game Anchorage office. Kelly Sullivan can be reached at kelly.sullivan@ peninsulaclarion.com.