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Don’t forget to vote!
High school harriers take on Nikiski trails
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sports/B-1
CLARION
A few showers 66/49 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 275
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Fall ballot set
Question Are you excited for back-to-school time? n Yes! n I am, but my kids aren’t as enthusiastic. n No, summer went by too fast.
Candidates file for municipal offices
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.
In the news Searchers find missing hunter
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ANCHORAGE (AP) — A hunter missing in Cook Inlet for two days has been found. KTUU reports 41-year-old George Green was picked up by a Coast Guard helicopter Monday morning. The agency says he is in good condition. He was found about 1.5 miles inland east of the Little Susitna River. Green left the Anchorage at noon Saturday in a 10-foot fiberglass skiff. He had planned to boat to Port MacKenzie and return Saturday night. The Coast Guard, Anchorage firefighters and Alaska State Troopers searched for Green on Sunday without success.
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Local municipal candidates finalized By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
to present to all of the agencies along with the estimated cost of the 4-mile project, which he received Friday. Ostrander did not have a dollar amount readily available for the Clarion Monday, but he said the cost is within the funds available. The plan proposes two typical 14-foot top road sections — one for the upland areas and one for the wetland areas. The upland areas would use geotextile as a sub-base for the gravel.
The filing period for local government seats closed Friday and the Kenai Peninsula Borough and cities of Kenai and Soldotna have finalized its list of candidates. For Borough Mayor, a threeyear term, Tom Bearup and Carrol Martin join incumbent Mike Navarre on the ballot. Borough Assembly has three candidates for District 2-Kenai and District 5-Sterling and one for District 8-Homer, all threeyear terms. The currently assembly members for those districts have reached their term limits. Blaine Gilman, Grayling Bassett and Jake Thompson filed for the Kenai seat held by Hal Smalley. For the Sterling seat, Stan Welles, LaDawn Druce and Marty Anderson are candidates to replace Charlie Pierce. Kelly Cooper filed for the Homer seat held by Bill Smith. For the Kenai Peninsula Borough School Board, also a three-year term, current president Joe Arness has filed for District 3-Nikiski. Incumbent Penny Vadla is the only candidate for District 4-Soldotna. In
See ROAD, page A-8
See RUN, page A-8
Photo by Kaylee Osowski/Peninsula Clarion
Ready for take-off
John Parker, president of Integrated Robotics Imaging Systems in Kenai, removes a more than 12-pound battery on Thursday from his Infotron coaxial rotor unmanned aerial vehicle, which recently arrived in Kenai from the France-based company. Parker is the North American representative for the company and returned from maintenance and flight training on the UAV in France about a month ago. Parker plans to integrate the UAV with collision avoidance radar developed at the University of Denver of which he has the exclusive patent rights.
OK for North Road plan sought Borough asks for exclusion from Federal Highway Administration By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
The Kenai Peninsula Borough is taking steps to extend the North Road past its end at the Captain Cook State Recreation Area. The borough administration is pursuing a scaled-down version of the original North Road Extension Project plan, which was to build out the road to Point Possession, about 26 miles. Officials are now chasing a
categorical exclusion for the proposed downsized 4-mile extension from the road’s current terminus. A categorical exclusion from the Federal Highway Administration would allow the project to move forward without a costly environmental impact statement. While Chief of Staff Paul Ostrander updated Nikiski residents last week at the Nikiski Community Council meeting, saying the borough has received verbal non-objections to the
project from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the Kenai Watershed Forum and the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, it is in the process of seeking letters from the agencies. If the agencies supply letters of non-objection to the borough, the Department of Transportation would then request the categorical exclusion from the Federal Highway Administration. A concept plan for the proposed project has also been drafted, which Ostrander plans
Four boaters rescued from Kasilof River Boat capsized shortly after launching By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
the bridge and launched a rescue boat into the river. All four men were pulled out of the water into the boat. Medical personnel examined the men, who were cold and wet but released without injuries. According to the release, the four men, all from out of state, set out from the Kasilof launch when a current caught their boat broadside and overturned it almost immediately, and dumped the men into the river. All four men were wearing life jackets.
Responders rescued four men from the Kasilof River after their boat overturned Monday morning. Central Emergency Services responded at 7 a.m. to the Kasilof Bridge and the Sterling Highway to find the four men trapped at the pillar of the bridge in the middle of the river. Two of the men were sitting on the icebreaker under the bridge while the other two were stuck on the side of the overturned boat, according to a CES press release. Reach Dan Balmer at daniel.balmCrews arrived within five minutes of the call and set up a rope rescue off of er@peninsulaclarion.com. Paid Advertisement
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Responders rescue four men from the Kasilof River after a current overturned their boat shortly after they launched into the river Monday morning under the Kasilof Bridge of the Sterling Highway. Photo courtesy Central Emergency Services