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Conflict
Golf
Troopers enter rebel city in Ukraine
Contreras wins Peninsula Open
World/A-9
Sports/B-1
CLARION
Sun and clouds 66/49 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 274
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.
In the news Candle starts apartment fire
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A residential fire in a Soldotna apartment building that started from a candle was put out by firefighters before the it could spread Sunday. Central Emergency Services responded to a structure fire reported in a two-story apartment building on Liberty Lane off Kalifornsky Beach Road at about 6:11 p.m. The fire started when a candle near an open window was blown over by the wind and a curtain caught fire in an upstairs bedroom, said CES Health and Safety Officer Brad Nelson. The owner of the apartment used a fire extinguisher to contain the fire while another occupant dialed 911. CES crews from the K-beach and Soldotna stations arrived and put out the fire within five minutes. No injuries were reported as residents were able to evacuate the building, Nelson said. With fire damage to walls and carpet in the upstairs room, damage is estimated to be about $1,000, Nelson said. — Staff report
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-8 Sports.....................B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-8 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Happy 50th!
Borough, school district and college celebrate 5 decades
By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Kenai Peninsula College Advancement Programs Manager Suzie Kendrick stood before a crowd of hundreds of Kenai Peninsula residents gathered on the lawn outside KPC’s Kenai River Campus Goodrich building. Sharing the stage with her throughout the day was Borough Mayor Mike Navarre, Chief of Staff Paul Ostrander, KPC College Director Gary Turner, State Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, and KPB School District Superintendent Steve Atwater. The local government officials, organization directors and residents gathered for the KPC-KPB-KPBSD Joint 50th Anniversary Celebration Thursday. The scent of barbecue permeated the scene, and people milled about from the KPB information tent to the Cake Lady in Sterling’s table, which was piled high with 800 mini-cupcakes to the Boys and Girls club booth where children could get wacky hairdos with vibrant dyes.
Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion
Community member Andy Paule prepares a corn husk during the Kenai Peninsula Borough, Kenai Peninsula College alumni and Kenai Peninsula Borough School District joint 50th anniversary community barbecue, Thursday at the KPC Kenai River Campus in Soldotna.
Kendrick called for the roving audience’s attention as she read the content list of the time capsule, which will be installed in the brick walls of the Brockel building later this fall. She said the box will be reopened at the 100-year anniversary. “It’s just going to be a hoot for them,” Kendrick said. “If they can figure out how to open this thing
up.” The content is a mix of the local history. Two KPC history books, the 50th anniversary compilation called “Keeping the Fire Burning,” by Tony Lewis and Clark Fair, and “Kenai Peninsula College History” by Lance Peterson were included. Kachemak Bay and Kenai River water samples and an air sample were also added
to the list because the air is likely to look completely different in 50 years, Kendrick said. Community newspapers, founding director of KPC Clayton Brockel’s US Navy military service flag, memory storage devices and local entertainment such as favorite video games and academy award winning See B-DAY, page A-10
hear both 7 hurt in Sunday bus crash Locals sides of oil tax issue The driver of a bus died while transporting 20 Snug Harbor Seafoods employees, which caused the vehicle to veer off the Sterling Highway early Sunday morning. Steven A. Battershall, 59, of Sterling, was pronounced dead on the scene, apparently from natural causes, according to an Alaska State Troopers dispatch. Seven employees aboard the bus received non-life threatening injuries following the accident. Central Emergency Services responded to the crash at Mile 90 of the Sterling Highway at 6:45 a.m. According to a press release from CES, the driver of the “school bus” type vehicle went unconscious. The bus, traveling northbound, went off the road and continued traveling for an estimated 0.25 miles, including going up and down a gravel pile near Fellman Machinery Photo by Dan Balmer/Peninsula Clarion before traveling through a Buddy Linson from Buddy’s Garage in Soldotna unhooks his forested area and eventually truck from a bus he pulled out of the woods. The bus went off hitting a large tree and stopthe road and crashed into a wooded area off Mile 90 of the Sterling Highway early Sunday morning. See CRASH, page A-10
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By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
On Tuesday, Alaskans will have a say in the state’s oil tax structure with a yes vote to repeal Senate Bill 21 or no vote to approve the law. Locals gathered Thursday evening in Soldotna for a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Central Kenai Peninsula on Ballot Measure No. 1. The audience heard from Sen. Hollis French, D-Anchorage, who thinks the law should be repealed, and Rebecca Logan, general manager of the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, who represented the vote to keep SB 21 in place. In 2013, lawmakers implemented SB 21, which replaced Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share, or ACES, oil tax structure that was passed in 2007. French said he thinks some legislators involved in the passage of SB 21 would now like to change their votes. “We should have negotiated a better deal,” he said. “The reduction in revenues from SB 21 will drain our savings. It will lead to cuts to public education funding
and other essential investments we have to make around the state.” Logan said the only number that matters is production because it is the state’s main source of revenue. “What we know about production is for every year under ACES production declined,” Logan said. Since SB 21 passed, she said there has been a “significant” change in activity that leads toward production. French said while Alaska has gotten a “few more drops of oil,” the state has given up billions of dollars of revenue. “I think it’s tough to say that somehow this reduction in taxes is going to fill the pipeline,” he said. “The governor promised us a million barrels. … Nobody is making that claim anymore.” Logan countered French’s statement saying Gov. Sean Parnell didn’t promise 1 million barrels of oil, and that instead he said that was a goal. She said the “drops” of oil are better than what ACES brought the state. She said the state gave more than $4 billion in tax credits under ACES. See VOTE, page A-10