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P E N I N S U L A
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2014 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 45, Issue 37
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Growing problem
Question Are you ready for some snow? n Yes, winter is no fun without it. n No, I’m enjoying this mild weather.
School district sees increase in number of homeless students
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 Hawaii shipping company buys Alaska business
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HONOLULU (AP) — The shipping company with the largest share of the Hawaii market is acquiring the Alaska operations of its competitor. The companies said Tuesday that Matson Inc. will buy Horizon Lines, Inc. for $69 million. Matson will also acquire Horizon’s debt. Separately, Horizon will sell its Hawaii operations to The Pasha Group for $142 million and shut down its Puerto Rico business. Horizon has been operating container ships to Alaska since 1964. The company serves Anchorage, Kodiak and Dutch Harbor. Matson CEO Matt Cox says the deal is a rare opportunity to substantially grow the company’s Jones Act business. The Jones Act requires vessels shipping goods between states to have been built in the United States, be crewed and owned by U.S. citizens and fly the U.S. flag.
Inside ‘I think that consensus is growing that there’s going to be more viscosity, more tension with China over the next few years.’ ... See page A-5
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Alaska.................... A-5 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-8 Sports................... A-11 Food...................... B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-7 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Photos by Dan Balmer/Peninsula Clarion
Kenai resident Dave Thompson stands for the Pledge of Allegiance during a salute to veterans celebration Monday at the Kenai Senior Center. Thompson served four years in the U.S. Army and one year overseas during the Vietnam War.
Celebrating heroes
Community pauses to honor those who have served By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, about 160 veterans and community members in Soldotna continued a tradition that began 96 years ago – to remember and honor veterans. Members of the Soldotna Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10046 started the Veterans Day ceremony Tuesday at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex with the posting of the colors. As the flags were brought into the room, the audience stood and saluted the U.S. flag before the silence was broken with the Pledge of Allegiance. The program continued with the singing of the National Anthem and a brief history of Veteran’s Day, which start-
Audience members at the Veterans Day ceremony Tuesday at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex place poppies on a field as a symbolic way to honor fallen veterans.
ed as Armistice Day to commemorate the end of World War I in 1918. Soldotna resident and VFW member Herb Stettler recited Lt. Col. John McCrae’s
poem, “In Flanders Fields,” while members of the audience placed poppies down as a symbol of remembrance of World War I. The ceremony concluded with a 21-gun sa-
lute, playing of taps and a closing benediction. Navy veteran Preston “Nick” Nelson, Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, recognized the audience for coming out in support of those that have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Nelson said Alaska has the largest veteran population per capita with about 77,000 veterans. He said the families of soldiers should be recognized for their support. “To me we have 230,000 veterans,” he said. “Mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters who’ve all experienced anguish while their sons and daughter are overseas in the combat zone. I think about them everyday. To me they are my heroes too.” See VETS, page A-14
The number of homeless students in the Kenai Peninsula school system has grown since this time last year. Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Steve Atwater announced that the number of youth in the Students in Transition program was 36 percent higher at the Oct. 20, Board of Education meeting. He said administrators were unsure of why the number of eligible students had jumped so drastically. The figure has declined slightly since Atwater’s report, said Students in Transition’s Homeless Liaison Kelly King. Currently the number of eligible students is closer to 30 percent more than it was at this time last year, she said. King said students are identified throughout the school year. Currently 147 children and youth are in the program, she said. Youth affected by unstable housing can lose up to one semester of learned material each year with each unplanned school move, King said. The district’s database contains information on the students the district identifies as eligible for Students in Transition services in the past decade, King said. Looking at enrollment numbers for the last 4 years, the average number of homeless students identified in KPBSD each year is 253, she said. The more populated an area is, the more students are reported as homeless, King said. See SCHOOL, page A-14
Fishing again restricted at Stormy Lake By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
Anglers looking to ice fish for Arctic char and Dolly Varden will again be restricted at Nikiski’s Stormy Lake as the Alaska Department of Fish and Game works to allow populations of the two fish to restore themselves to historic levels. The lake, which is located in Captain Cook State Recreation Area, was treated with the piscicide, or fish-killer, rotenone in 2012 to eradicate invasive northern pike. The lake was restocked in 2013 with longnose suckers, rain-
bow trout, Arctic char and Dolly Varden. On Monday, Fish and Game announced that beginning Friday, anglers would not be able to retain the char or Dolly Varden caught between Nov.14 and April 30, 2015 — though Fish and Game surveys indicate that the Arctic char population has been successfully restocked. The Arctic char that were reintroduced to the lake are hatchery-raised fish from eggs that were taken from Stormy Lake. Those char are distinct from others found in the Swanson River watershed and area management biologist Robert Begich said during a 2012 in-
terview that it was a priority for the department to save those fish because they could not be found elsewhere Arctic char grow slowly and have low population densities, according to Fish and Game data, and it is unknown how long it will take for the Stormy Lake fish to sexually mature and re-establish natural production. Sportfishing through the ice is permitted using two closely attended lines, anglers may only use one hook or artificial Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion lure on each line. Other area lakes, such as Rob Massengill, fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department Hidden Lake and Skilak Lake, of Fish and Game, releases Arctic char into Stormy Lake June See CHAR, page A-14 13, 2013 near Nikiski.
Test finds no Fukushima radiation in Cook Inlet water By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
A test on Cook Inlet waters turned up no evidence of radiation emissions from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster having made its way into the area. A crowdsourced funding effort through Cook Inletkeeper raised enough money to fund one test — though the
organization is still soliciting donations for further testing at its crowdrise.com funding page — and the organization on Monday announced the results of its test on water sampled in September, north of Yukon Island in Kachemak Bay. Cook Inletkeeper Executive Director Bob Shavelson said during a June interview that the Fukushima nuclear disaster
had stirred up fear and misinformation and the organization had received a lot of calls from Alaskans concerned about Cook Inlet fisheries. The Japanese reactor was disabled after a major earthquake in 2011, and high radioactive releases were measured during the week following the earthquake, according to the World Nuclear Association. However, the Federal Food C
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and Drug Administration, which is responsible for monitoring the nation’s food supply, has yet to find any evidence of radioactive contamination in U.S. food supplies, according to a March update on the organization’s website. In addition, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Health and Social Services announced in 2014 that the two organiza-
tions’ tests of Alaska’s seafood have shown the product to be safe to consume. The Cook Inlet water sample was analyzed at the Woods Hole Center for Marine and Environmental Radiation and, according to an Inletkeeper media release, the sample contained very little evidence of radioactive material in the water. What was detected is normal backSee TEST, page A-5