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P E N I N S U L A
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 45, Issue 30
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Voters face highprofile choices
Question Where do you get your health insurance coverage? n I’ve signed up through the exchange n I have coverage from my employer n I’m covered under another program n I don’t have health insurance
By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
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 Parnell gets boost from Romney C
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ANCHORAGE (AP) — Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made a last-minute pitch Monday for Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell, who is waging an uphill battle against independent candidate Bill Walker. During a rally in Anchorage Monday, Romney called Parnell a great governor for the future of Alaska. Romney, who also rallied for Republican Senate candidate Dan Sullivan, kept his comments about Parnell brief, saying the Republican incumbent knows how to stimulate the economy. Earlier, as Parnell took the microphone, a crowd of about 300 chanted “four more years.” “Let’s take that palpable excitement and put it into action tomorrow, OK?” Parnell said of Tuesday’s election. Walker told The Associated Press on Monday that he had no problem with Romney rallying for Parnell. In fact, Walker — a former Republican — said he voted for Romney.
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Business................ A-5 Nation/World.......... A-6 Sports.....................A-8 Classifieds........... A-11 Comics................. A-14 Pet Tails............... A-15 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
Photo courtesy HEA
An aerial view shows Grant Lake, site of Homer Electric Association’s planned hydroelectric project, in 2013.
HEA to share Grant Lake plan Cooperative ready to move forward on hydroelectric project By By BEN BOETTGER Peninsula Clarion
The Homer Electric Association (HEA) will update residents on the current state of its Grant Lake hydroelectric project in a public meeting on Thursday at the Moose Pass Community Hall. HEA has been planning a hydroelectric installation at Grant Lake since August 2009, when it received a preliminary study permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which issues licenses for power plants. HEA plans to submit a draft license application to FERC in February 2015. The Moose Pass meeting is held in anticipation of this event. The town of Moose Pass is
on the shore of Trail Lake, approximately 4 miles from the proposed site of the project, an outlet where Grant Lake releases water into the lowerlying Trail Lake via Grant Creek. HEA held a previous meeting on the Grant Lake project in Moose Pass on June 3, 2010. Then, HEA was preparing studies on the project’s potential impact, and solicited input from Moose Pass residents and groups including the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, the Resurrection Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion Bay Conservation Alliance, and the Alaska Department of Mike Salzetti, HEA Manager of Fuel Supply & Renewable Energy Development, takes questions about the Grant Lake Fish and Game. “In this particular meeting project during HEA’s Energy and Conservation Fair on Nov. See HYDRO, page A-10 1 at Kenai Middle School.
ANCHORAGE — Alaska, a state known for its beauty and its bears, garnered national attention this year for its highprofile political campaigns. One election could decide which party controls the U.S. Senate. Another could shake up the state Capitol by sending an independent to the governor’s office. Voters will choose a U.S. representative and decide whether to raise the minimum wage and require legislative approval of the controversial Pebble Mine project. Oh, and there’s also a vote on whether to legalize marijuana.
Senate race First-term Democratic Sen. Mark Begich is facing a strong challenge from Republican former state Attorney General Dan Sullivan, but they aren’t the only ones in the race. There’s also Libertarian Mark Fish, non-affiliated perennial candidate Ted Gianoutsos and at least four politically unknown write-in challengers. Begich sought to have Fish included in debates in what he said was an effort to allow Alaskans to hear from a more diverse range of voices. But Sullivan’s campaign saw it as an effort to try to pull votes from their candidate. Fish shared the stage with the two together once. The race has become the most expensive in Alaska history, with a lot at stake: Republicans need to pick up six seats nationally to win control of the Senate, and saw Begich as vulnerable. Begich and Sullivan alone raised more than $17.5 million. That doesn’t include See RACES, page A-10
Man arrested after Intersection causes road block Kenai burglaries for Soldotna daycare permit By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
A Kenai man was arrested last week in the alleged burglaries of three Kenai businesses along the Kenai Spur Highway committed in the past two months. According to a police affidavit filed in court Oct. 28, Kenai police received an anonymous report on Oct. 26 of a man overdosing on heroin in a vehicle near the Kenai Golf Course. Police identified the man as Jeremy Hart, 38. Hart matched the
description of a man caught on camera in the burglary and theft of the Kenai Arby’s restaurant on Sept. 1 and Lucky Diamond Pull Tabs on Sept. 10. When police responded to the heroin overdose, Hart was passed out and having difficulty breathing, sitting in the driver’s seat of a 2012 Ford Fiesta, registered to Alaska Rent a Car Inc. After being treated, police interviewed Hart, who admitted to stealing cash and damaging property at Arby’s, Lucky Diamond and the Moose
By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Soldotna resident Robyn Schneider has been trying to get a conditional use permit from the city to open a daycare facility since July 6. Throughout the process members from the public expressed extreme responses of both support and opposition. Schneider said opening the daycare is a dream of hers. She started with a mountain of standards to meet, which she
See ARREST, page A-10
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said she was able to reduce down to five requirements and then only one. Now she has one final hurdle, which may be impossible to overcome. The Soldotna Planning and Zoning Commission denied her application. Schneider filed for an appeal. The proposal then went before the Soldotna City Council on Sept. 16. The council chose to send the appeal back to the commission for a remand hearing. Schneider’s application
was again denied at a special planning and zoning commission meeting on Oct. 28. The daycare, to be called Schneider’s Nest, would be at the home she shares with her husband and eight children located at 104 North Kobuk Street. Between the steady schedules of public hearings, Schneider used the last four months to alter her property to meet city requirements and obtained a state certification See PERMIT, page A-10