Peninsula Clarion, November 25, 2014

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Dining

Running

Sterling restaurant opens doors

Video highlights Kenai’s Ostrander

Business/A-5

Sports/A-8

CLARION

Partly cloudy 34/21 More weather on Page A-2

P E N I N S U L A

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2014 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

Vol. 45, Issue 48

Question What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food? n Turkey n Stuffing n Potatoes n Vegetables n Pie n Leftovers 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.

50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday

No indictment in Ferguson Grand jury declines to indict police officer By JIM SALTER and DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press

FERGUSON, Mo. — A grand jury declined Monday to indict white police officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown, the unarmed, black 18-year-old whose fatal shooting sparked weeks of sometimes-violent protests and inflamed deep racial tensions between many African-Americans and police. Within minutes of the announcement by St. Louis County’s top prosecutor, crowds began pouring into Ferguson

streets to protest the decision. Some taunted police, shattered windows and vandalized cars. Several gunshots were also heard. Officers released smoke and pepper spray to disperse the gatherings. Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCulloch said the jury of nine whites and three blacks met on 25 separate days, hearing more than 70 hours of testimony from about 60 witnesses, including three medical examiners and experts on blood, toxicology and firearms. He stressed that jurors were “the only people who heard ev-

ery witness ... and every piece of evidence.” He said many witnesses presented conflicting statements that were inconsistent with the physical evidence. “These grand jurors poured their hearts and soul into this process,” he said. As McCulloch was reading his statement, Michael Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, was sitting atop a vehicle listening to a broadcast of the announceAP Photo/David Goldman ment. When she heard the decision, she burst into tears and A protester flies a black and white flag as many protesters began screaming before being gather in front of the Ferguson Police Department as they listen to the announcement of the grand jury decision Monday in whisked away by supporters. See PROTEST, page A-10 Ferguson, Mo.

Q&A: Alaska LNG review board

In the news State budget director retires

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JUNEAU (AP) — Gov.elect Bill Walker has to submit his first state budget by Dec. 15, and he won’t have the help of the state budget director to craft a document as the state faces a $3 billion deficit because of falling oil prices. Karen Rehfeld retired as of Friday after 35 years with the state, Sharon Leighow, a spokeswoman for Gov. Sean Parnell, said in an email Monday to The Associated Press. Walker will be sworn in to office Dec. 1. Gov. Sarah Palin appointed Rehfeld as Office of Management and Budget director in 2007, a post she’s held through both the Palin and Parnell administrations. “The governor is expected to announce the new budget director this week,” Walker spokeswoman Grace Jang said in an email to The Associated Press on Monday. During a conference held over the weekend in Anchorage, the Alaska Dispatch News reported a transition team official asked for more than 250 Parnell administration team members to submit their resignations. This would include positions like commissioners, deputy commissioners, division directors and special assistants in the governor’s office. Bruce Botelho, a former attorney general under Gov. Tony Knowles and assisting in the transition, asked that the resignations be turned in by Friday.

Index Opinion.................. A-4 Business................ A-5 Nation/World.......... A-6 Sports.....................A-8 Classifieds........... A-11 Comics................. A-15 Pet Tails............... A-16 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.

Interview by RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion

Photo courtesy Alaska Governor’s Office

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre, one of 12 members of the Municipal Advisory Gas Project Review Board, sat down to answer a few questions about the board’s role in advising the state on the proposed Alaska LNG Project.

Members of the Municipal Advisory Gas Project Review Board meet with Gov. Sean Parnell to discuss potential impacts of the Rashah McChesney: Alaska LNG Project. Where is the balancing point

Board gives municipalities voice

voiced concerns that the state would change the tax structure without weighing the concerns of those who would be directly affected by the change. The existing oil and gas pipeline tax structure is a major source of revenue for the state, but the structure for taxing a liquefied natural gas pipeline does not exist, and must be developed. The 12-member board includes the mayors of the North Slope, Fairbanks North Star, Denali, Matanuska-Susitna and Kenai Peninsula boroughs, in addition to the commissioners of the Department of Revenue,

between which tax structure would be best for the boroughs and which would be best for the project’s backers? Kenai Peninsula Borough Mike Navarre: I think that’s one of the financial considerations. If you front-load a project like this, you change the economics, maybe to the extent that it doesn’t go anywhere. Whereas, if you equalize it and you’re willing to allow the project to be built — these are 20-year and 30-year contracts. This project will be here for a long time. McChesney: Does it seem like a payment in lieu of taxes would result in less revenue for the municipalities? Is it less of a guaranteed source of revenue than the current property tax structure? Navarre: I don’t think a

See BOARD, page A-10

See Q&A, page A-10

Group weighs in on potential impacts of Alaska LNG Project By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion

After months of meetings, a municipal board formed to give Gov. Sean Parnell input on the proposed Alaska LNG Project has been inundated with information on the project and is working toward a recommendation on the controversial move from the current property tax model to a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILT model. At least one member of the board, Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre, said he has become more comfortable with the idea of a PILT

as the meetings progress. The Alaska LNG Project includes an 800-mile pipeline to move liquefied natural gas from the North Slope to Southcentral, an LNG plant at Nikiski and a major gas processing plant on the North Slope. When considering changes to the existing tax structure, Navarre said he had to take a statewide perspective rather than one that only considered the needs of the Kenai Peninsula Borough. “For (the Kenai Peninsula Borough) it would probably be better if we just did it under the existing tax structure

as we have the (majority of the taxable portions of the project) sited here. We’re getting a good portion of the tax value,” he said. “But, currently under the statutes, the state doesn’t get any revenues off of LNG facilities … So, for the rest of the state, I think a PILT works better because there are impacts all over the state because of this project, and those impacts need to be compensated.” The Municipal Advisory Gas Project Review Board was formed in March of 2014 after mayors from municipalities across the state, which stand to be affected by the pipeline,

Former teacher faces Judge invalidates part of additional charges By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion

A former Nikiski MiddleHigh School music teacher faces several new counts of sexual abuse after accusations surfaced in May that he had an ongoing sexual relationship with one of his female students. Jeremy T. Anderson, 37, will be arraigned in Kenai Superior Court Tuesday. He is alleged to have assaulted a then 15-yearold minor several times over a six-month period than ended in May of 2014. Anderson faces 16 counts of sexual abuse in

varying degrees. The indictment documents an extensive timeline of the alleged physical encounters between Anderson, a married father, and the girl. Alaska State Troopers say those encounters began in late 2013 with Anderson fondling the girl in the school’s choir and band rooms, according to court documents. The alleged incidents escalated and Anderson is charged with having sex with the girl repeatedly in 2014, until she told another teacher about the relationship, according to court See CHARGE, page A-2

school funding mechanism

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press

ANCHORAGE — A superior court judge has invalidated the state of Alaska’s requirement that local school districts help pay for education, which could leave a cashstrapped state on the hook for more than $220 million in additional funding statewide. Judge William Carey ruled the contribution is a dedicated fund, which violate the state constitution’s provision that C

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no state tax or license will be earmarked for any special purpose. Carey ruled in the case Friday, but copies of the decision weren’t available online from the Ketchikan court. The state Department of Law distributed copies of the decision Monday. Under state statute, districts must pay a certain percentage of its taxable real and personal property for its share of local school districts. For Ketchikan, that amounted to about $4 million in 2013.

“We are disappointed with the superior court’s decision invalidating the local contribution requirement for school funding. The State maintains that because the local contribution is simply the borough’s share of the cost of educating its students and because the local contribution is funded with borough revenue, the local contribution is not a source of state revenue and is not subject to the dedicated funds provision,” the Alaska See SCHOOL, page A-10


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