C
M
Y
K
Flavors
Wild
Time for pumpkins, sweet potatoes
Postseason opens in Royal fashion
Food/B-1
Sports/A-10
CLARION
Sunny 50/29 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
Vol. 45, Issue 1
Question Would you like to see a greater law enforcement presence in the borough’s unincorporated communities? 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.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Lawmakers share LNG concerns Project update focuses on local impact, project finances By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
Remarks from state legislators representing the Kenai Peninsula during an Alaska LNG Project update focused on local impact and project finances. Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Joe Balash and Alaska LNG Project Manager Steve
Butt provided an update on the project at a joint public hearing held by House of Representatives and Senate Resources Committees on Monday. The legislative briefing was the first as required by the passage of Senate Bill 138, which calls for an update at least once every four months. With Nikiski selected as the lead site for the project’s liquefied natural gas
plant, storage and shipping terminal, Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, asked about the infrastructure footprint, land acquisition and the possibility of eminent domain in Nikiski. “I have to admit this is the first time in my district there’s a very large facility being looked at,” Micciche said. The LNG plant needs 400 to 600 acres, which encompasses all aspects
of the facility including storage tanks, trains, utilities and offices. Officials are trying to secure a larger area as a buffer, Butt said. “We know to be a good neighbor, you want to have some space,” Butt said. “We want to be a good neighbor. We want durable and fair terms with all of the landowners we’ve talked with, so See LNG, page A-13
Pair of stolen vehicles located
In the news
By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
Official: Sullivan didn’t receive improper credits
C
M
Y
K
JUNEAU (AP) — A tax official says Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan did not receive improper tax credits on a home he owned in Maryland. The chairman of the Alaska Democratic party requested the investigation and was notified by email of the response from the director of Maryland’s Department of Assessments and Taxation. Sullivan is challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Begich. His opponents have focused on his residency. Sullivan, in his declaration of candidacy, says he’s been an Alaska resident since 1997, when he and his wife moved here. Sullivan left in 2002 for a White House fellowship and later military duty. The couple bought the Maryland house in 2006, while Sullivan worked in the U.S. State Department. It was listed as his principal residence. The Sullivans returned to Alaska in 2009.
Inside ‘The first and foremost determinant is have they traveled to the region (of West Africa).’ ... See page A-7
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation/World.......... A-7 Sports...................A-10 Court reports....... A-12 Food...................... B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-7 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
The project, as envisioned, would feature a 735-foot high dam — higher than the Hoover Dam — built into the Susitna River Canyon. The project website says the dam would provide a source of long-term stable power and generate half of the Railbelt’s current electric demand. The Railbelt is the most populous region in Alaska. But critics question the cost and see it as unnecessary with the state also pursuing a major natural gas pipeline project. The Susitna River Coalition says the dam would hurt salmon runs, harm wildlife habitat
Alaska State Troopers recovered two stolen vehicles in Nikiski two days after a town hall meeting addressed recent thefts in the area. Troopers received a report that a 2002 Chevrolet truck was stolen from a residence on South Miller Loop on Sept. 25. The owner of the vehicle, Luke VanCurler, told troopers his girlfriend’s cousin, Corey Green, had spent the night and when they awoke the next morning, the truck and Green were gone along with VanCurler’s wallet and his girlfriend’s cellphone, according to a trooper affidavit. Troopers received an anonymous tip two days later that Green and the truck were in the Cabin Lake Drive area in North Kenai. Green was inside the truck when troopers located it and said the truck broke down and he was unable to return it. Green had VanCurler’s wallet and credit cards. He told the troopers the cellphone was taken by a man he was hanging out with, but couldn’t recall the man’s name, according to the report. VanCurler and his girlfriend told the troopers Green was not given permission to take the truck and that he had stolen from his cousin before. Green, 21, of Nikiski, was arrested for vehicle theft in the first-degree and theft in the second-degree. Theft 1 is a B felony and carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison and maximum $250,000
See STUDY, page A-13
See THEFT, page A-14
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Strummin’
Brad Altman, 19, of Kasilof, plays guitar in the parking lot of Soldotna High School Thursday in Soldotna.
Feds express concern with dam study By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — A federal fisheries agency has raised concerns about the accuracy of some studies being conducted for a massive proposed dam in south-central Alaska. In a letter to the project manager for the Susitna-Watana dam, the regional administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, James Balsiger, said for his agency to effectively review the project, studies must accurately identify fish species, develop accurate habitat models, and use the best available science
to understand fish distribution and habitats. He said accurate information also is needed to integrate models without amplifying errors. “Given the current issues with the data, it is not plausible that the data for predictive modeling be used to describe baseline conditions or to predict potential impacts,” he wrote. Requests for another year of studies cannot be approved given the current issues with the data, he wrote. Similar concerns were raised by the Anchorage field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Project spokeswoman Emily
Ford said that overall, the Alaska Energy Authority, which is pursuing the project, is confident in the information it is gathering. She said the comments raised by agencies and others will be discussed during an upcoming round of technical meetings, at which the authority also will discuss its plans for next year. She said the authority is finding many similarities between the information it is gathering and that was gathered in the 1980s, when the project was last pursued, and is not seeing any large potential issues that need to be addressed.
School board candidates look to district’s future Holt, Yerly run for District 7 seat District 3, 4 seats uncontested By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
The race for the Kenai Peninsula Board of Education District 7 Central seat is between incumbent Bill Holt and newcomer Damon Yerly. Yerly said he was drawn to the race by a desire to heighten the level of fiscal accountability within the board. He is running for public office for the second time, having run for the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly last fall. “When you are running a deficit you shouldn’t be buying stuff,” Yerly said. “I am saying I need to kick the board in the butt but move it in the right direction.” His role on the board will focus on the bigger picture, which is maintaining a viable source of education for
his two children, students in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, Yerly said. With the looming potential for bigger state budget cuts to education, he said he is prepared to make tough decisions. Yerly’s background is in running small accounting companies, and has been a commercial driver but is currently unemployed. He has spent significant time in his son’s classrooms, directly witnessing the consequences of the board’s decisions. Both Yerly and Holt are Kasilof residents, and have an overlap of mutual friends, Yerly said. He has only heard good things about his opponent, whom he met for the first time during this year’s campaign season. Yerly has been an Alaskan resident See RUN, page A-14 C M Y
K
By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
For two school board seats, the decision is already made. Two candidates in the election for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education are running uncontested. Current board president Joe Arness, running for the Nikiski seat, has a total of 23 successive years in public service and Penny Vadla, running for the Soldotna seat, collectively has 11 under her belt. Vadla, a self-described busy body, and Arness, who said not much fires him up until asked about big issues, have worked with each other on the school board for the past six years, and have outlined similar goals they hope to accomplish in their next terms.
Arness, a commercial fisherman and real estate broker, said he feels his long history with the school district will be an asset during the transition as Superintendent Steve Atwater leaves his position. Determining who replaces Atwater is one of his biggest concerns. Atwater has always been honest about his aspirations to move on from the district, so it was not a surprise when he announced his new job as University of Alaska Associate Vice President for K-12 Outreach, Arness said. “He was doing a good job here,” Arness said. “I wish him well. In my opinion we have a very solid district, and I want to see that continue. I want to see us continue to be, in my opinion, the flagship district in the state of Alaska.” Vadla, who has served on the Board See BOARD, page A-14