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P E N I N S U L A
MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2015 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 45, Issue 87
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Despite drop, Slope work strong
Question How do you feel about the low price of oil? n I’m worried about the negative impact on the state budget. n I’m happy about the positive impact on my personal budget. n I have a mixed opinion.
Construction season moves ahead
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 HEA maintenance work continues along the Sterling Highway C
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Homer Electric crews are continuing to work on a maintenance project in the Kasilof area that will require intermittent power outages during the months of January and February. The crews will be installing new fuses along the power line which will improve the reliability of electric service. The outages will occur in the area from the intersection of Kalifornsky Beach Road and the Sterling Highway in Kasilof south to Mile 127 on the Sterling Highway, between Clam Gulch and Ninilchik. The outages will be isolated to the particular location where the crews are working and will generally last about 30 minutes, but some could be longer depending on the required work. HEA recommends members take steps to protect all sensitive electronic equipment in your home and business. For additional information, call 1-800-478-855. — Staff report
Inside ‘I figured, why wait? It’s like opening your Christmas presents a little early.’ ... See page A-6
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Police, Courts........ A-5 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-7 Sports.....................A-8 Schools.................. B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-6 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
By TIM BRADNER Morris News Service-Alaska/Alaska Journal of Commerce
businesses do, he said. Vendors need to apply for a temporary use permit to operate in Soldotna during any time of year, Johnson said. The process is an umbrella for anything interim, including weekend street shows, market or fairs, he said. Since the majority of Soldotna’s revenue comes from sales tax, creating a “business friendly” atmosphere in the city is critical, Johnson said. No other revenue source brings in more than $1 million annually for the city, whereas sales tax accounted for about $7.85 million in 2015, according to the 2015 fiscal year operating budget. Nearly one dozen mobile vendors, including food and non-food merchants, have sought permits in the city in the last three years, Johnson said. That is three to four per year, he said. Businesses have sold anything from ammo to food to fresh fruit inside the city, Johnson said. They are low impact
It’s a seeming paradox: Oil prices are still sliding as North Slope crude closed at about $55 per barrel Jan. 6, but this year’s winter construction season is shaping up to be one of the strongest ever. Industry employment, the most reliable indicator of activity, set new records in October and November, according to data from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. There were 15,100 at work in the industry in October and 15,000 in November, although the November data is still preliminary. That’s up by about 800 compared to the same months of 2013 and by 1,000 compared to October and November of 2012. Most of the 2014-15 winter activity has to do with projects previously launched, however, and capital spending decisions to be made by the North Slope producers in early 2015 may set a different tone. In 2014, ConocoPhillips announced a 50 percent increase in its 2014 Alaska capital budget and BP, the other major Slope operating company, announced a 25 percent increase for 2014. Those budgets will be reviewed in early 2015, however. For now the industry is still riding with the momentum from a surge of new activity following the Legislature’s approval of a revamped oil production tax in 2013. Work continuing this winter includes the $4 billion Point Thomson gas and condensate project east of Prudhoe Bay, where ExxonMobil Corp. is continuing construction. The company will be moving a drill
See MOBILE, page A-10
See SLOPE, page A-10
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Here comes the sun
The sun rises over Headquarters Lake near the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge visitors center on Friday in Soldotna. With sunrise at 10:02 a.m. and sunset at 4:25 p.m. today, the central Kenai Peninsula is gaining 3 minutes, 32 seconds of daylight.
Soldotna talks food trucks Planning and Zoning looks at permit issues for mobile businesses By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Mobile vendors have established a presence as a lucrative model in Soldotna. The city’s planning and zoning department and the owners and operators of the migratory businesses have agreed the setup is mutually beneficial. City staff, the Planning and Zoning Commission and the owners of Blue Moon Burgers initiated the discussion about creating policy that would address the requirements of operating the unique businesses within city limits at a commission work session Wednesday. “It is good to let all vendors come in because it benefits the city,” said commission member Colleen Denbrock. “It is good for us and it is good for them.” Soldotna’s city Planning and Geographic Information Systems Technician Austin Johnson said the current permitting process required of the vendors is burdening for both parties. Permitting standards need to
Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion
Dean Bostwick and his dog Buddy stop at the AK Taco Shack food truck August 29, 2014 in Soldotna. The city is discussing issues with permitting for mobile businesses.
be in place that minimize the time staff is focused on approval and enforcement and does not burden the business owner, Denbrock said. Commission Vice Chair Brandon Foster said regulations should address safety, parking and access. Standards should focus on
aesthetics to maintain a focus on downtown beautification efforts, which are a challenge to fairly enforce, said Commission member Jenny Smithwick. Signage standards will likely fall under signage code, Johnson said. Mobile trucks will likely have to adhere to the same requirements permanent
Trial delayed for man facing Commissioner assault, kidnapping charges candidates go to game, fish boards By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
Trial for a Soldotna man facing charges of sexual assault of two women in two separate 2013 home invasions has been delayed until April while the defense awaits more audio recordings for the case. Shane Heiman, 39, who worked as a handyman before his incarceration, returned to Kenai Superior Court for his seventh trial call Wednesday wearing a yellow jumpsuit. His trial would have started today but public defender Josh Cooley requested a 60-day continuance. Cooley said he is waiting on transcripts for all of the audio recordings that were made in connection with the case and
declined to comment further. Superior Court Judge Charles Huguelet set Heiman’s trial for the week of April 6. When Huguelet asked the defendant if he would waive his right for speedy trial once again, Heiman paused and sighed before he said yes. Heiman has been in custody since his Dec. 13, 2013 arrest after Soldotna police and Alaska State Troopers found enough evidence to link him to a report of a burglary, assault and attempted rape of a 23-year-old woman at a Soldotna residence earlier that night. In that incident, troopers allege Heiman broke into a woman’s cabin on Tobacco Lane after he shut off power to the cabin. The 23-year-old wom-
an woke up to find Heiman standing over her with a hunting knife and a headlamp. The woman was able to escape to a nearby relative’s house. The victim told police she recognized her attacker as Heiman, from when he worked on the house a few months earlier, according to court documents. A month earlier on Nov. 11, 2013, troopers allege Heiman kidnapped an 18-yearold woman from her Soldotna apartment and raped her repeatedly. The woman told police Heiman entered her apartment around 4 a.m. and tied her up at knifepoint. She reported he had a headlamp in his hands and he put a fast food bag over her head. The woman was able See TRIAL, page A-10 C
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FAIRBANKS — Alaskans could find out this week who will be nominated as the state’s new commissioner of the Department of Fish and Game. The state boards of Fisheries and Game will hold a joint session Wednesday in Juneau to develop a list of qualified candidates that can be submitted to Gov. Bill Walker. The boards may interview applicants but will not take public testimony. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports acting Commissioner Sam Cotten,
a former Alaska lawmaker, and three others have applied. Walker named Cotten acting Fish and Game commissioner Dec. 1. The other candidates are Zachary Hill, a postdoctoral pharmaceutical researcher in San Francisco, Gregory Woods, a transportation terminal manager for a trucking and railroad company in South Carolina, and Roland Maw, director of a Cook Inlet commercial fisherman’s association. — The Associated Press