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P E N I N S U L A
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 295
Question Would you like to see the borough implement limited animal control to address cases of abused or neglected animals? 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 e-mailed to news@peninsulaclarion.com.
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District charter schools to pay rent School board approves plan stemming from action by Legislature By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
Four Kenai Peninsula schools will be paying rent soon. The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education approved a rent plan for the four active charter schools in the district at its Monday meeting. The issue has been a topic at previous board meetings and work sessions and was unani-
mously approved at the Monday meeting. Mo Sanders, principal at Soldotna Montessori Charter School, said the principals of all of the operating charters — Aurora Borealis, Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science and Fireweed Academy — are supportive of the plan. Assistant Superintendent Dave Jones figured the rent based on the Adjusted Average Daily Membership, or per
pupil figures that take into account school size, special needs and other factors at the schools. Each charter is scheduled to be charged $615 per its daily membership. The Borough Assembly voted to fund the district at $44 million in its fiscal year 2015 budget, which is $20.4 million above the required local contribution. A total of $1.7 million is scheduled to go to the charter schools.
According to a May 27 memo from Jones to the board, the district had not previously “officially designated” money from the additional allowable funds to charters. It did, however, support them by sharing in-kind services, which include property, liability and workers compensation insurance, audits, utilities, custodial and maintenance costs. The charter schools will also be charged for these costs based on daily
Buccaneer bankruptcy leaves businesses in the lurch
Pension shortfall projected at $8.7 billion at year’s end M
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JUNEAU (AP) — The state is projecting to end the fiscal year with an $8.7 billion pension shortfall. The unfunded liability for the public employees’ and teachers’ retirement systems stood at roughly $12 billion when the Legislature earlier this year approved moving $3 billion from savings to further address the shortfall. Deputy commissioner of Administration Mike Barnhill says the $3 billion will be deposited in three installments over the course of the year. He said the projection also includes actuarial assumptions, such as an 8 percent investment return. He said there’s no guarantee the unfunded liability will be $8.7 billion at the end of the fiscal year but that’s the best projection at this time.
Inside ‘It’s not that I don’t think Scotland could be independent. But why take the risk?’
See SCHOOL, page A-12
Bills left unpaid
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membership. With the passage of House Bill 287, the district is now required to contribute a portion of the additional allowable funds to charter schools based on their daily memberships. “The funds come directly to us and then are basically paid back to the district for all of the kinds of things that would be covered … so I think it’s fair and reasonable,” Sanders said.
By ELWOOD BREHMER Morris News Service-Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
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Kenai City Council candidates Mike Boyle, Henry Knackstedt, Tim Navarre and Holly Spann laugh during a chamber luncheon and forum Wednesday at the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center in Kenai.
Kenai council candidates debate Two seats up 20 for grabs14 in October municipal election By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
On Oct. 7, the citizens of Kenai will choose between four candidates for two open city council seats. The four candidates — incumbents Mike Boyle and Tim Navarre and newcomers Henry Knackstedt and Holly Spann — met for a candidate debate Wednesday at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Kenai Visi-
2014 tors and Cultural Center. The candidates discussed issues from thoughts on the veteran’s memorial to how to plan for anticipated economic growth and their future visions for the city of Kenai. Boyle, who has served on the council for nine years, said
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he has always made it a priority to pay attention to all citizens concerns and act in a way that would benefit everyone equally. “I will make one promise — I will listen,” he said. Navarre, who completed his first three-year term on the council, said he has been actively involved in the Kenai community since he arrived in 1957 and looks forward to continuing his public service to improve the quality of life.
In addition to serving on the Kenai Planning and Zoning Commission prior to his election to council, Navarre has also represented Kenai as a borough assemblyman and is currently on the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education. Knackstedt is a life-long Kenai resident who is no stranger to public service to the city. He has served as the Kenai Airport Commission See KENAI, page A-12
Buccaneer Energy Ltd. and its family of subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy in May, leaving millions worth of unpaid bills in Alaska. The Australia-based independent’s debt in the state is more than $2.1 million, according a list of Buccaneer’s 30 largest unsecured creditors filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, located in Houston. The Alaska Department of Revenue is listed as Buccaneer’s ninth-largest creditor and the second-largest in the state, with a bill of $605,116. Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Elizabeth Bluemink said the money is actually owed to DNR for a combination of Cook Inlet oil and gas lease payments and production royalty payments. Once paid it would almost immediately be transferred to the treasury, and subsequently the Revenue Department. See LURCH, page A-12
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Rollover accident Union reps critical of pension victim identified settlement touted by Sullivan By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
A vehicle rollover on Funny River Road Tuesday resulted in one death. The deceased driver has been identified as Connor Jezorski, 21, of Soldotna. The single-vehicle accident occurred at about 7 a.m. Tuesday when a silver Toyota pickup traveling on Funny River Road toward Soldotna entered the opposing lane, hit a culvert in a ditch. The impact caused the vehicle to become airborne, rollover and crash through a fence at the Soldotna Airport, said Soldotna Police Sgt. Duane Kant.
Jezorski, the only occupant in the truck, was on his way to work in Nikiksi, Kant said. No other vehicle was involved and no eyewitnesses saw the accident, Soldotna Police Chief Peter Mylnarik said. Soldotna Police, Alaska State Troopers and Central Emergency Services responded to the crash within minutes of the report. CES paramedics declared Jerorski deceased on scene. Responders found him underneath the vehicle, partially ejected from the crash. He was not wearing a safety belt, Kant said. Soldotna police are waiting for toxicology reports but there See CRASH, page A-12
By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — Union representatives said Wednesday that former Alaska attorney general Dan Sullivan dropped the ball in settling a professional malpractice lawsuit against a former state actuary for $500 million. Sullivan, who was attorney general from June 2009 to November 2010, is currently the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Mark Begich. Wednesday’s news conference with union representatives in Anchorage was proC
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moted by Begich’s campaign. It came as the NEA Advocacy Fund, a super political action committee affiliated with the National Education Association, a major teachers’ union, unveiled an ad criticizing the settlement. Sullivan campaign spokesman Mike Anderson called it an attempt to rewrite history. In 2007 — at the leading edge of the Great Recession — the state sued Mercer Inc. for at least $1.8 billion and potentially $2.8 billion or more, alleging the company had made mistakes that contributed to a shortfall in public employee pension funds. At the time of
the settlement, Sullivan was attorney general. The 2010 settlement emerged as a campaign issue when Sullivan touted it in a recent ad, featuring a woman identified as a teacher. She says her pension took a “big hit” after the financial crisis but that Sullivan “fought back, forcing a Wall Street firm to pay for their malpractice, returning almost half a billion dollars into the retirement fund for Alaskans.” In announcing the settlement, Sullivan said the state was prepared to go to trial but faced risks in doing so, See PENSION, page A-12