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Stylin’
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This pup is ready for Alaska weather
Murray overcomes cramps to win
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Sports/A-7
CLARION
Cloudy 64/50 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 281
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Fish board makes plans
Question Do you, or does someone in your family, hunt? 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.
Cook Inlet clams among items up for consideration
In the news
By MOLLY DISCHNER Morris News Service-Alaska
Meeting to discuss proposed refuge brown bear hunting closure scheduled
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The United States Fish & Wildlife Service will hold a public meeting on Wednesday at the Soldotna Sports Center on Kalifornsky Beach Road from 6-9 p.m. The Service will be accepting verbal and written testimony regarding the Proposed Temporary Closure of Sport Hunting for Brown Bears on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. The closure would be effective September 1, 2014 through May 31, 2015. Comments may also be submitted by mail, fax, and e-mail. For more information, call the Refuge at 907-262-7021. — Staff report
State charges man who was shot by Bethel police BETHEL (AP) — A 31-year-old Bethel man who was shot by police faces assault and criminal mischief charges after striking an officer with a baseball bat. KYUK reports Aaron Moses went to his brother’s home, and court documents say he was combative. He later took the bat outside and broke the window out of his brother’s vehicle. Responding officers Joseph Corbett and Sammie Hendrix struggled with Moses in the street and tried to subdue him with stun guns. Hendrix told investigators he was hit twice with the bat. He was on his back, on the ground, when he fired, hitting Moses in the chest. Bail was set at $15,000 and no arraignment date had been set. Moses has been at an Anchorage hospital. Online court records didn’t indicate he had an attorney.
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Alaska Journal of Commerce
afterward burned brightly. The rocket was the booster for the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon, a glide vehicle designed to quickly reach a target. The design is one of several being tested by the Army under the umbrella of the Conventional Prompt Global Strike program, Schumann said. “It’s a concept that will allow the Department of Defense to engage any target anywhere in the world in less than an hour,” she said. The first flight test of the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon on Nov. 17, 2011, flew the weapon from Hawaii to Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific. The test Monday was designed to enhance previous ground testing, modeling and simulation, Schumann said. Traveling at hypersonic speed, the glider also was aimed at
Cook Inlet razor clams are among the items on the Board of Fisheries menu this year. Fishermen and other stakeholders are asking the board to consider 162 proposals to change subsistence, commercial, personal-use and sport regulations in fisheries throughout the state during the 2014-2015 meeting cycle. The majority of the proposals this year will address Southeast Alaska fisheries, including both finfish and shellfish there, but a handful address Cook Inlet issues. Cook Inlet razor clams will be up for discussion at the statewide Dungeness crab, shrimp and miscellaneous shellfish and supplemental issues meeting. So far, there are 34 proposals for discussion at that meeting, which will be held in Anchorage March 17-20, 2015. Southeast Alaska crab, shrimp and miscellaneous shellfish will be discussed in a separate meeting, Jan. 21-27, 2015 in Wrangell. Of the five Cook Inlet razor clam proposals to be discussed at the meeting, four would limit or close the eastern Cook Inlet razor clam fishery. The fifth proposal would establish bag and possession limits for razor clams in West Cook Inlet. Those were submitted by individuals or the Homer Advisory Committee, and each proposal cites concerns with abundance and emergency orders limiting the harvest in recent years as justification for reducing the take.
See ROCKET, page A-6
See FISH, page A-6
Photo by Dan Balmer/Peninsula Clarion
Fish on!
Wasilla resident Tina Clifford pulls up a pink salmon from the Kenai River at Swiftwater Creek Campground Sunday. Clifford, who is on a 10-day camping trip with friends, said she has also caught and released a couple silver salmon.
Rocket explodes after launch Rocket with experimental Army weapon launched from Kodiak KODIAK (AP) — A rocket carrying an experimental Army strike weapon exploded early Monday after taking off from a launch pad in Alaska, the Department of Defense said. The rocket carrying the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon was terminated near a pad of the Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island shortly after liftoff, spokeswoman Maureen Schumann said. After an anomaly was detected, testers made the decision to destroy the rocket to ensure public safety, Schumann said. “It came back down on the range complex,” she said. “Fortunately, no people on the ground were injured. There was damage, but I’m not sure of the extent of it at this time.” The launch complex is about 25 miles from the city of Kodiak.
AP Photo/Scott Wight
This Monday photo provided by Scott Wight shows the horizon from Cape Greville in Chiniak after a rocket carrying an experimental Army strike weapon exploded after taking off from a Kodiak launch pad.
Witnesses watched the rocket lift off at 12:25 a.m., quickly head nose-down and explode, KMXT radio reported. Kodiak photographer Scott
Wight watched the launch from Cape Greville in Chiniak, about a dozen miles from the launch site. He described the explosion as quite loud and scary. A fire
Soldotna woman Potter’s guild renews Fine Arts awakes to house fire Center sublease with art guild By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
A Soldotna woman who fell asleep while cooking woke up to her house on fire shortly after midnight Monday. Central Emergency Services responded to a residential fire at 35125 Huntington Drive off of Kalifornsky Beach Road in Soldotna. When crews arrived at about 12:45 a.m., the roof of the single family home was fully involved in flames, said CES Health and Safety Officer Brad Nelson. Two adults and three pets made it out of the house uninjured. Three Kenai firefighters were called in for extra manpower to assist the nine CES responders, Nelson said. Firefighters had the fire under control in 40 minutes and after about an hour the fire was out. The roof was lost but the structure remained standing. Heat damage throughout the
‘Cooking fires are the number one cause of residential fires in the United States.’ — Brad Nelson, CES Health and Safety Officer house makes the fire a total loss, Nelson said. The property value is estimated at $146,000. Crews stayed on scene for two hours to extinguish hot spots and help the owners save as much of their personal belongings as possible. “Our priority is to get the fire out but at the same time we try to throw tarps over belongings and make a concerted effort to salvage mementos,” Nelson
By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
The Kenai Potter’s Guild has renewed a sublease with the Peninsula Art Guild that will keep the potter’s group in the Kenai Fine Arts Center through the end of September 2015. Kenai Potter’s Guild President Laura Faeo and Peninsula Art Guild President Benjamin Jackinsky signed the agreement on July 30, two months after the art guild voted to evict the potter’s guild after questions over insurance coverage for the pottery studio surfaced. The Kenai City Council approved the sublease at its Aug. 20 meeting. Karen Monell, treasurer for the potter’s guild, said part of the agreement hinged on obtaining a general liability policy to cover kiln opera-
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Photo by Dan Balmer/Peninsula Clarion
Wood and ceramic bowls donated to the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank for the Soup Supper and Auction are pictured. Members of the Kenai Potter’s Guild made 230 bowls for attendees of the fundraiser, which brings in nearly one-fifth of the food banks revenue for the year.
tions on the premises. Monell said it was easy to find a policy and went with one from Great Divide. Faeo said the two sides
made compromises. The previous sublease was month-tomonth and the potter’s guild paid $150 a month. Now the See LEASE, page A-6