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CLARION
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P E N I N S U L A
Friday-Saturday, September 26-27 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 307
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Soldotna adds new voice to public meetings
In the news Military and veterans affairs official resigns ANCHORAGE (AP) — The deputy commissioner of Alaska’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs is resigning. Sharon Leighow says Michael O’Hare of the state’s department of homeland security will serve as acting deputy commissioner. The move comes a few weeks after Alaska National Guard Adjutant Gen. Maj. Thomas Katkus resigned. He stepped down following the release of a report detailing allegations of fraud and sexual assaults in the Alaska National Guard. Pierre directed all questions to the governor’s office. He wrote the governor in a letter that it was time for him to take on new challenges and adventures in the private sector.
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Have you ever needed assistance to feed your family? n Yes, extended famM ily or friends helped K me out; n Yes, I received help from a non-profit or public agency; 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.
Upcoming
By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
LuAnn Reynolds’ Winter Ravens, along with many other pieces, are for sale during the Harvest Art Auction to be held Saturday from 6-9 p.m. at the Kenai Fine Arts Center, 816 Cook Ave., in Kenai.
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-5 World..................... A-7 Sports.....................B-1 Classifieds............ C-3 Comics.................. C-7 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
See WALK, page A-12
See REP, page A-12
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Kenai Peninsula College Professor of Anthropology, Alan Boraas, talks to a class during a walk near the college on Thursday in Soldotna. Boraas took students and faculty members to several historical Dena’ina sites along Slikok Creek and the Kenai River.
Hidden in plain sight
KPC students visit pre-historical sites without leaving campus By RASHAH MCCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
Alan Boraas took 22 people for an hour-long walk through a thousand years of history Thursday in the woods near Kenai Peninsula College. It’s a trip Boraas, a professor of anthropology at the college, makes three or four times a year; one he uses to show off some of the barely concealed
prehistoric cultural heritage sites of the Dena’ina people who thrived on the Kenai Peninsula from about 1000 A.D. through the late 1700s when the Russians arrived. “Had the Russians not come, the Americans not come, they would still be a sustainable culture based on salmon and other wild foods. (They would be) totally selfcontained in the sense of being
non-globalized. They were not dependent on other groups, they were not dependent on international trade, they were totally food sovereign,” Boraas said after the trip. “So, food sovereignty is the point I was trying to get across to people and it’s not just the obtaining of the food, it’s having the social and spiritual practices that make you sovereign and sustainable.”
Nikiski residents fight back against rampant property theft By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
The field trip drove home several concepts discussed in the classroom, said freshman aviation business management student Merick Ahlberg. “It makes it real,” Ahlberg said. “A lot of the stuff you hear, it’s like ‘that’s cool, but probably not really around here.’ Somebody discovered that on another continent. But this, it’s in our backyard.
Soldotna has added a new seat to city council, elected by a body that includes underage voters. Soldotna High School sophomore Jackson Blackwell has filled the position of Soldotna student representative. It is the first time the council has had a student seat in more than seven years. “The last set of council minutes I have showing a student representative for city council is July 25, 2007,” Deputy City Clerk Heather Dukowitz said. City Clerk Shellie Saner swore in Blackwell at the Wednesday city council meeting. He said he was very excited to have the opportunity to serve the city. Blackwell said he was looking forward to learning how city policy is developed and implemented through the council, and being able to speak as a voice for his peers at the same time. He also said he is hoping to be a part of the way the city changes for the better. “I would like to learn more about how policies are made and how I can be a vital part of our community,” Blackwell said. “I can’t think of a better to way serve my community and to learn about municipal government than by serving on the city council. I would like to
What started with a small grumble from a few Nikiski residents had built up to a loud roar Wednesday night. Hundreds of frustrated citizens gathered for a town hall meeting in search for answers to the rash of property crimes that have plagued the area. As people continued to file into the Nikiski Recreation Center community library, the forum moved into the gymnasium to accommodate the crowd. With a packed gym, many in the audience raised their hand when asked if they had experienced theft against them. Voices in the crowd asked for more help from the Alaska State Troopers, local lawmakers, the justice system and their neighbors to come together against the crimes committed against them. Nikiksi resident Ann Krogseng organized the meeting along with several other community members who have been personally affected by burglary and vandalism of their homes and businesses in recent weeks. She said a group of seven families gathered at her house Monday night and estimated their stolen losses and damage at $300,000. “My initial feeling was shock,” Krogseng said. “Then disbelief. Then I got pissed.
Photo by Dan Balmer/Peninsula Clarion
Nikiski residents Jim and Nedra Evenson, victims of a burglary of their property, place a pin on a map that shows how many people in the community have been affected by theft. Hundreds of people attended a town hall meeting Wednesday at the Nikiski Recreation Center.
How dare they come into what we worked so hard to create. We work hard everyday and then someone comes in and easily takes it away.” Captain Andy Greenstreet, Soldotna trooper detachment commander, said so far this year, 22 burglaries have been reported in the Nikiski area. Troopers responded to 30 burglaries in 2012 and 38 in 2013. Greenstreet said while investigators have seen an uptick in late summer and early fall they cannot pinpoint one certain area in Nikiski. He said it was good
to see such a large crowd come together because it shows they care about their community and want to focus on solving the problem together. “Nobody likes to be a victim of a crime either at their business or own home,” Greenstreet said. “Having gone through that before I was a trooper I can understand, that’s why I wear the uniform.” In response to the concerns for more patrol in the Nikiski area, Greenstreet has formed a crime suppression unit made up of trooper Casey HershC
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berger and trooper Matt Ezell, who have a combined 20 years of experience. The unit will be afforded the time and effort to dive into investigations in Nikiski and will work with the Drug Enforcement Unit and both the Soldotna and Kenai Police Departments. “You don’t have a burglary issue, you have a drug issue,” Greenstreet said to the crowd. Greenstreet said Hershberger and Ezell are two dynamic troopers who are well suited for the detail and are well respected among their peers. Hershberger is a former Kenai Police officer and is familiar with known criminals in the Kenai and Nikiski area, he said. People that attended the meeting signed an open letter to the Alaska State Trooper Commissioner Gary Folger requesting a trooper sub-station in Nikiski. A major complaint from the audience was the lack of trooper presence in Nikiski. Major Matt Leveque, trooper deputy director from Anchorage, said the troopers are understaffed and have had trouble filling vacancies because of the lack of qualified applicants. Troopers have 16 vacancies statewide, he said. “If we leave a trooper (in Nikiski) and a call comes up in Sterling, he would have to leave,” Leveque said. “It is not practical.”
More than three years later, areas of Japan are still recovering from the March 11, 2011 earthquake that triggered a devastating tsunami that killed nearly 16,000 people. Japanese Dr. Takeshi Toriyama, who helped tsunami victims for nearly two years, made it his mission this summer to thank those who have helped, educate others about the ongoing recovery and encourage people to continue to assist. Toriyama said he dreams of traveling the world and decided to do something for victims during his touring, which is why he is making a video of his trip and the people he meets. “I have a strong passion to help people who (suffer) from natural disasters,” he said. Starting in June, Toriyama began riding his Kawasaki
See THEFT, page A-12
See SCOUTS, page A-12
Doctor shares Japan’s posttsunami rebuilding efforts with Boy Scouts By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion