Y
K
Flying
Hockey
Wallenda completes skyscraper rope walk
Brown Bears notch shootout victory
Nation/A-5
Sports/A-6
CLARION
Some clouds 37/19 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 45, Issue 29
Question Do you plan to vote in the Nov. 4 general election? n Yes, I will vote in person at my polling place; n I plan to or have already voted early/ absentee; 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.
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Getting the last word Area legislative candidates gather for forum By RASHAH MCCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
Candidates in several local races got one last chance to publicly challenge their opponents before Tuesday’s election. About 30 people, including gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker, attended the short, informal debate sponsored by the Central Kenai Peninsula
League of Women Voters, to hear seven candidates weigh on issues like education, renewable energy sources, minimum wage and health care. Several candidates weighed in on education funding and the inherent instability in a system of funding that keeps the state’s districts guessing about finances each year. Incumbent Rep. Kurt Olson, running to keep his House
District 30 seat, said education could be improved in the state by ensuring that projects like the Alaska LNG pipeline were successful, thereby providing opportunities for Alaskan students who are more interested in vocational education than higher education. In addition, Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion he said, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District should The Central Kenai Peninsula League of Women Voters held be funded adequately by the a debate for several local political candidates on Thursday in See WORD, page A-2 Soldotna.
Group health rates don’t spike
Inside
C
‘All we need is the will to change, which we trust will be motivated by knowledge and an understanding of the science of climate M change.’
Y
K
By TIM BRADNER Morris News Service-Alaska/
... See page A-5
Alaska Journal of Commerce
Corrections A story in Sunday’s Clarion on the Homer Electric Association energy fair contained incorrect information. The Homer energy fair will take place on Saturday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at Homer High School. A comment was inadvertently cut from the end of a story about marijuana. Braeden Bates’ full comment was, “Who does it harm? It helps people with cancer. As soon as I get home from work I can roll up a joint and relax.” A Sunday headline incorrectly listed the hometown of a man who died in a Seward Highway accident. The man who died in Friday’s crash was from Fairbanks. The Clarion regrets the errors.
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation/World.......... A-6 Sports.....................A-6 Schools.................. B-1 Classifieds............. B-4 Comics................... B-7 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan watches Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, stump for him during a rally on Sunday in Soldotna.
On the stump for Sullivan Texas senator rallies supporters for Republican candidate By RASHAH MCCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
On the second day of stumping for U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz brought a heavily Tea Party-influenced message to Kenai Peninsula voters. During a rally that drew close to 200 people to the Soldotna Sports Center on Sunday, Cruz, R-Texas, sought to
draw comparisons between incumbent Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada. Cruz is one of two highprofile politicians from Outside who are making the rounds in Alaska during the days leading up to the election — former presidential candidate Mitt Romney will be in Anchorage tonight along with
Gov. Sean Parnell and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Cruz and Sullivan framed Alaska’s race as one of the deciding factors in the Republican Party’s attempt to gain control of the Senate. “On Tuesday, the fate of the country is going to be decided here in Alaska,” Sullivan said. “It is very likely, the control of the United State Senate and whether we continue rubber
stamping the Obama administration’s agenda, (the) explosion of debt, no jobs, liberal judges, whether that continues or we start to roll that back and rip it up by the roots.” Cruz said the nation was focused on Alaska. “A Senate race is, in a real sense, a national battle,” he said. “A good senator, a senator who stands up to fight to See STUMP, page A-10
The huge spike in health insurance premiums in the individual market due to the Affordable Health Care Act hasn’t materialized for employer group plans, the major player in Alaska health insurance says. Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield predicts premiums will rise “in the single digits” for most group policies in 2015. The increases will range between 5 percent and 10 percent depending on the group, according to Jim Grazko, president of Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska. Jim Grazko was named to the position previously held by Jeff Davis, Premera’s Alaska president for many years. Premera’s “small group” plans, from two to 50 members, that are in the ACA metallic plans, will see an average 5.3 percent increase in 2015 preSee RATES, page A-3
Hunting for whale, votes Campaign workers get out the rural Alaska vote By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
BARROW — Three children whiz by on a snowmobile as Gabe Tegoseak, crunching through icy streets in the town that’s as far north as you can go and still be in the United States, is hunting for votes. He’s tired after a late night spent butchering one of three bowhead whales that subsistence hunters towed in from the pewter-colored waters of the
Chukchi Sea. Slabs of blubber cover front yards all over town, and Tegoseak has some whale of his own to cut up and cook at home. But not yet. There is an election coming soon, and doors await his knock. Harold Snowball answers one of them. “Are you a Republican or Democrat, do you mind if I ask?” says Tegoseak. Snowball thinks he’s a registered Democrat but says he votes for who he believes will do a better job.
In this case, that will probably be Alaska’s Democratic U.S. senator, Mark Begich. “Yeah!” Tegoseak says with a fist pump, and later makes a note of this on a spreadsheet. It takes 22 hours and four connections to get from Washington to Barrow, a place where the sun will set two weeks after AP Photo/Gregory Bull Election Day and not rise for two months. Gas is $7 a gallon, Campaign worker Gabe Tegoseak makes a note on a list of off-brand milk nearly $11. Polar voters he keeps on his phone as he gets a promise card to bears sometimes prowl the edge vote for Sen. Mark Begich from a resident while canvassing in See RURAL, page A-10 Barrow Oct. 9.
Paid Advertisement
C
M