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Buddies
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Grandkids, dogs enjoy their visit
Bears find will to win against Jets
Pet Tails/A-13
Sports/A-6
CLARION
Partly sunny 55/36 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2014 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 305
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Boxes for Heroes trial set
Question Have you ever needed assistance to feed your family? n Yes, extended family or friends helped me out; n Yes, I received help from a non-profit or public agency; n No.
Proceedings scheduled for Dec. 15
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 Arctic sea ice shrinks to sixth lowest level C
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NEW YORK (AP) — Ice in Arctic seas shrank this summer to the sixth lowest level in 36 years of monitoring. The National Snow and Ice Data Center reported Monday that the ice reached its seasonal minimum on Sept. 17 of 1.94 million square miles. That’s down a bit from 2013, but not near as low as the record-setting 2012. It is still 19 percent below average. Scientists are concerned about the ice melting from man-made global warming because the melting may change the weather further south. Studies have linked the ice melting to changes in the jet stream, which can produce extreme weather. Meanwhile, ice in Antarctic waters is hitting record high levels. Scientists attribute that to local climatic conditions.
Inside ‘It’s shocking and it’s so sad. I take the kids here after school for exercise. It’s really scary.’ ... See page A-2
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation/World.......... A-5 Sports.....................A-6 Police reports......... A-8 Classifieds............. A-9 Comics................. A-12 Pet Tails............... A-13 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
After more than two years since his indictment, a trial date has been set in the case against Frank Roach, organizer of the nonprofit Alaska Veterans Outreach Boxes for Heroes. The Office of Special Prosecutions and Appeals alleges Roach did not use the hundreds of thousands of dollars donated by Alaskans to Boxes for Heroes to create care packages for U.S. troops overseas, but instead used the money to support his lifestyle and pay his employees. In a status hearing Monday, Kenai Superior Court Judge Carl Bauman set Roach’s trial date for Dec. 15. Roach participated in the hearing telephonically, as did defense attorney Andrew Miller and prosecution with OSPA, Assistant Attorney General Robert Henderson. Roach was charged with scheme to defraud, first-degree theft and seven counts of second-degree theft and arraigned on May 8, 2012. The state is pursuing the same charges for Boxes for Heroes. Last August, OSPA opposed
Entering the squared circle Above, New Frontier Wrestling Alliance Champion Calvin James enters the arena and greets his fans, Saturday during the Kardinals Wrestling Team fundraiser presented by Power Plant Productions at Kenai Central High School. Right, James yells as Mickey “AK Lightning” twists his legs in the ring. Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion
See TRIAL, page A-8
Judge rules in Alaska Native voting case By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — A federal judge on Monday ordered the state to take additional steps to provide voting materials to Alaska Native voters with limited English for the upcoming election. U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason ordered the state to distribute translated announcements to be read on radio that include information on early voting, races and initiatives on the November ballot.
The state, among other things, must make available on its website translations of election material in Yup’ik dialects and provide to outreach workers translations of such things as candidate statements, initiative summaries and pro and con statements on the initiatives. The Division of Elections also is to provide translations to the plaintiffs in the case to get their input. The division is to increase to at least 30 the number of hours which outreach workers may
‘The court is very much intent on making sure that there’s equal access to the information on the ballot, and that was the core of the case and we’re pretty happy.’ — Natalie Landreth, plaintiffs’ attorney be paid; the state had proposed increasing the number to 30 hours. The plaintiffs, in an earlier filing, said outreach workers in the past were authorized
to work five hours. Buttons for poll workers in the three census areas affected by the case — Dillingham, Wade-Hampton and Yukon-
Koyukuk — are to say “Can I help?” translated into Yup’ik or Gwich’in, with posters in those languages and English stating how voters can request help in casting their ballots. The lawsuit brought by several Native villages alleged the state had failed to provide accurate, complete translations of voting materials in Native languages. The state argued it had taken reasonable steps to implement standards for voting materials for non-English See VOTING, page A-8
TV reporter quits on Study links changing winds air to promote pot to warming in Pacific Ocean By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — A television reporter quit her job on live TV with a big four-letter flourish after revealing she owns a medical marijuana business and intends to press for legalization of recreational pot in Alaska. After reporting on the Alaska Cannabis Club on Sunday night’s broadcast, KTVA’s Charlo Greene identified herself as the business’s owner. “Everything you’ve heard is why I, the actual owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club, will be dedicating all my energy toward fighting for freedom and for fairness, which begins with legalizing marijuana here in Alaska,” she said during the late Sunday evening newscast.
“And as for this job, well not that I have a choice, but f--- it, I quit.” She then walked off camera. KTVA News Director Bert Rudman apologized for Greene’s “inappropriate language” and said she was terminated in statements Sunday. He apologized again Monday, this time for Greene’s ethical lapses. “She had a personal and business stake in the issue she was reporting, but did not disclose that interest to us,” Rudman said in a statement. “At KTVA we strive to live up to the highest journalistic standards of fairness and transparency. Sunday’s breach of those standards is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated,” he See QUIT, page A-8
By JEFF BARNARD Associated Press
A new study released Monday found that warming temperatures in Pacific Ocean waters off the coast of North America over the past century closely followed natural changes in the wind, not increases in greenhouse gases related to global warming. The study compared ocean surface temperatures from 1900 to 2012 to surface air pressure, a stand-in for wind measurements, and found a close match. “What we found was the somewhat surprising degree to which the winds can exC
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plain all the wiggles in the temperature curve,” said lead author Jim Johnstone, who did the work while a climatologist at the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean at the University of Washington. “So clearly, there are other factors stronger than the greenhouse forcing that is affecting those temperatures,” he added. The study released by the online edition of the peerreviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences does not question global warming, but argues there is evidence that in at least one place, local winds are a more important factor
explaining ocean warming than greenhouse gases. It was greeted with skepticism by several mainstream climate scientists, who questioned how the authors could claim changes in wind direction and velocity were natural and unrelated to climate change. They pointed out that the study sees a correlation but did not do the rigorous statistical and computer analysis to show that the cause of the wind changes were natural — the kind of analysis done when scientists attribute weather extremes to global warming. “This may say more about See WINDS, page A-8