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Refuge
Football
Summer staffers enjoy Tustumena
Nikiski, Soldotna up for state title games
Recreation/C-1
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CLARION
Cloudy, showers 46/33 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
Friday-Saturday, October 17-18 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 45, Issue 15
Question Do you agree with a federal judge’s decision to overturn Alaska’s ban on same-sex marriage? 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.
In the news Gay marriage: North Carolina official resigns
M K
A North Carolina official resigned Thursday rather than perform gay marriages, an individual stand that comes as fewer and fewer states are holding on to oppose samesex unions. Triggered by a U.S. Supreme Court decision last week, lower courts across the nation have moved to strike down gay marriage bans. Among the holdouts are conservative states such as Arizona and Wyoming, and their defiance comes against a tide of rulings that give hope to those who want to see samesex unions legalized in every state. The North Carolina magistrate who quit his job said performing gay marriages would violate his religious beliefs.
Correction The story in the Wednesday sports section of the Peninsula Clarion regarding the Soldotna-Kenai volleyball game contained an error. The game was a “pink night” and not affiliated with Dig Pink or the Side-Out Foundation. This allowed all proceeds of the event to remain local, going to the Central Peninsula Health Foundation, Breast Cancer Fund. The Clarion regrets the error.
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-8 Sports.....................B-1 Classifieds............ C-3 Comics................. C-10
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Fish Board spurns Central Peninsula By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
By the time the Alaska Board of Fisheries holds its next meeting on Upper Cook Inlet fisheries, it will have been nearly 20 years since its members have chosen to do so on the Kenai Peninsula. During the last day of the board’s work session in Juneau, members set the schedule for its next cycle of meetings. Several dozen people, city governments, boroughs and fishing advocacy groups and the entire
Sports complex a ‘top priority’
legislative delegation from the Kenai Peninsula weighed in on the issue. Primarily, the comments fell into one of two sides: people who wanted the Board of Fish to hold its next Upper Cook Inlet meeting in the Kenai and Soldotna area and people who wanted to see the meeting continue to be held in Anchorage or the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Many of the public comments on holding the meeting away from the Peninsula referred to Anchorage as a “neutral” area between the Mat-Su
region and the central Kenai Peninsula. Board members in favor of keeping the meeting in Anchorage used the same terminology. “This has been a difficult one for me,” said board member from Kodiak, Sue Jeffrey. “I understand the importance of the fishing industry in this region. I also think it’s important to hold the meeting in what I can describe as a neutral place.” Jeffrey said people on the Kenai Peninsula who wanted to weigh in during the meeting
could “fly up to (Anchorage) pretty quickly.” Of all of the fishery management plans considered by board members, Upper Cook Inlet fin fisheries — which include the drift and setnet commercial fisheries, commercial guided fishing, recreational sport fisheries, personal-use and educational fisheries — are by far the most complex. Users generate several hundred proposals each cycle and the merits of each must be addressed by Alaska Department of Fish and Game staff, then by the public, then
Blocking the view A tree stands in the way of Kenai’s new mural
By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Soldotna identified an expansion to the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex as its top capital project for the fiscal year 2016. City council member Pete Sprague said he would like to see the 2016 fiscal year legislative priorities list formatted so that the funding request for the complex expansion would be designated a regional project. “The regional sports center complex is a center piece for many different public functions,” Sprague said. “I would like the list at least formatted so that it is a standalone project.” The project would include a renovation of the existing facility. The total cost, originally estimated at $17 million, is now closer to $10.4 million, City Manager Mark Dixson said in a previous Clarion interview. Soldotna requested $5.9 million from the state for the expansion, according to the priorities list submitted by Engineer Kyle Kornelis. The list is submitted to the Kenai Peninsula Borough for inclusion in their federal and state requests, Kornelis said. Of the 20 that made the list, projects were divided into two categories, those costing more than $100,000 and smaller projects that require less than $100,000. The city will also support Department of Transportation projects within or just around Soldotna city limits, Kornelis said. Council member Linda Murphy said she had reservations about listing the expansion as the city’s top priority, because of the state’s limited budget flexibility. Murphy said she felt the project was something the city wanted, but was not an immediate need. She said she is curious what supplemental funding will come from the state or borough to offset the added annual costs, which will likely be close to $500,000 in maintenance and operations. Mayor Nels Anderson said the city has only been discussing the potential for the borough to fund a portion of the yearly costs. He said nothing has been ratified or outlined, but the assembly has said it wanted to assist financially. Now that the local election season is over those talks will resume, Anderson said. Dixson said he has spoken with Kenai Peninsula Borough See PRIORITIES, page A-14
T
o cut or not to cut? That is the question the Kenai City Council briefly considered Wednesday. At issue is a 30-foot tall fir tree in front of the approved site of the Kenai mural at Kenai Municipal Airport and if the tree should be cut down to allow an unobstructed view of the mural. The installation of the 12-foot by 24-foot mural painting, “Kenai La Belle,” by Kenai artist Fanny Ryland was has been delayed until framework to hang the nine panels can be completed since it’s completion in May, said organizer for the Paint the Kenai Project Marcus Mueller. Prior to installation, Mueller will sign an agreement with city administration. He spoke to council Wednesday and said he had not set a date to install the mural. “The summer has gotten away from me,” Mueller said. “(The mural) is my top priority of my non-paid efforts. It’s something I think about on a daily basis.” In March, the Kenai Airport Commission approved the mural to be displayed on the exterior wall between the arrivals and departures doors at the airport. None of the council members objected to the location when briefed about the project at a March 19 meeting. The mural, which depicts salmon swimming in the Kenai River with view of the Russian OrthoSee TREE, page A-14
Story and photo by Dan Balmer/Peninsula Clarion
by board members in a process that has burgeoned into a twoweek meeting, held every three years. For the last five full board cycles, or 15 years, board members have chosen to meet in Anchorage to debate Upper Cook Inlet issues and this year was no different. “I know that there has been a tremendous outcry for moving that meeting and I am certainly sensitive to that ... I certainly respect that, but when I just look at the enormity of the subSee FISH , page A-5
Kenai to host meeting on drugs, burglary By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
A town hall meeting to continue the discussion of the recent drug-related burglaries that have surfaced throughout the Kenai Peninsula will be held Saturday at the Kenai Visitor and Cultural Center. The event starts with free hot dogs and a visit with Governor Sean Parnell from noon to 1:30 p.m. Then the public is invited to participate in a town hall forum at 1:30 p.m. to discuss the theft and drug issues with Alaska State Trooper leadership. Colonel James Cockrell, Director of the Alaska State Troopers and Captain Andy Greenstreet Soldotna E Detachment Commander will be in attendance, along with the property crime suppression unit. Representatives from the Health and Social Services and the Kenai District Attorney’s Office have been invited to the meeting, but their attendance has not been confirmed, said Sen. Peter Micciche R-Soldotna. Micciche and House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, have organized the meeting to allow the public to share options on what the state can do to address the problem. Micciche said it has been well documented that the troopers are understaffed statewide and wondered if the personnel could be shifted to better accommodate the growing population on the Kenai Peninsula. He said he is interested to hear if more funding toward drug treatment programs could help the problem. The recent thefts in Nikiski and Kasilof have demonstrated the peninsula has a big drug problem, he said.
Parnell: Alaska at low risk for Ebola By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska is at low risk for Ebola infections but the risk is real, and the state is taking steps to be prepared, Gov. Sean Parnell said Thursday. During a news conference in Anchorage with state health officials, Parnell said we live in an interconnected world, with Alaska serving as an international crossroads. “So we want to be conscious of that,” he said. “And we are
preparing for the worst-case scenario — even though we are at low risk — so that we can be prepared for any event.” Parnell said a task force has been created to coordinate planning and preparedness among agencies. He said he has asked for weekly briefings “for the length of this potential public health concern.” Parnell also said the health department has been directed to continue activities with health care facilities that include training and exercises and to do ad-
ditional walk-throughs of facilities to make sure they and the state are ready to handle any suspected cases. Officials in the state’s epidemiology division have been on calls with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other states to aid in planning and ensuring accurate information is getting out. The division also plans to provide updated Ebola information on its website. “All of these activities help maximize the chance that any people in Alaska who are at risk
for having Ebola disease will be handled appropriately and any risk to fellow Alaskans will be minimized,” Parnell said. Epidemiologist Dr. Michael Cooper said the number of Alaskans with ties to the countries most affected by Ebola in west Africa and the estimated number of people from Alaska going to those countries to help and returning is low. But he said the risk is real because people may not show symptoms for up to 21 days after exposure. See EBOLA, page A-14