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CLARION
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P E N I N S U L A
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 45, Issue 107
Question Would you like to see Sarah Palin run for president in 2016? n Yes 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. Suggested questions may be submitted online or emailed to news@peninsulaclarion.com.
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Soldotna voters say ‘no’ Commission to study home rule rejected By IAN FOLEY Peninsula Clarion
Soldotna voters ended the possibility of the city becoming home rule in the near future. During Tuesday’s special election, voters chose not to form a seven-member charter commission that would have drafted the parameters of how Soldotna would govern
itself under home rule status. The question on the ballot read, “Shall a Charter Commission be elected to prepare a proposed charter?” Unofficial results show “No” votes at 298 while “Yes” votes came in at 170. The seven commissioner candidates on the ballot were Jerry Farrington, Keith Baxter, Dale Bagley, Peggy Mullen, Pete Sprague, Patrick Cowan and Dan Nelson. See VOTE, page A-12
By Ian Foley/Peninsula Clarion
A sign notifies the public of the special election Tuesday at Soldotna City Hall.
In the news Alaska board seeks input on literacy screenings waiver
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FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Board of Education is taking public comments on a proposed rule to allow waiver of early literacy screenings at schools. Written comments are being taken through Feb. 27. Comments also will be taken at a meeting in Juneau that’s scheduled for March 19. The waiver issue emerged in December when the Birch Tree Charter School appeared before the board. The school, which is part of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, requested regulation language to allow for a waiver for literacy screenings. School officials told the board the school does not teach reading in early grades. Susan McCauley with the state education department says the state only requires schools to prepare students for assessments in third grade.
Inside ‘If ever the Yiddish word “chutzpah” applied, this would be it.’ ... See page A-4
‘This is what makes the car go. This is what turns it into a torpedo, a missile.’ ... See page A-6
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-8 Sports...................A-10 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-6
Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Five swans a-landing
DPS could cut 24 jobs JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s Department of Public Safety is proposing to cut 24 permanent fulltime positions, though an official says no layoffs are planned for the affected workers. Kelly Howell is the department’s director of administrative services. She said that figure includes 19 specialized trooper positions that would transfer into currently vacant patrol positions. The budget proposal also would cut additional vacant positions within the troopers and other divisions. The department proposes cutting some nonpermanent positions, too, including four cold case investigators. Other investigators would assume those duties. The budget proposal for next year would add several civilian jobs, such as mechanics, within the Alaska Wildlife Troopers as part of an effort to restructure its aircraft section following a 2013 fatal crash. Budget details were discussed during a House Finance Committee hearing Tuesday.
Several swans take flight over the Kenai River on Sunday near Sterling.
AK Sex Counselors: testing takes a toll workers crowd fund for lobbyist By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District counselors are concerned state regulated standardized testing is taking an unexpected toll on students. At Monday’s School Board meeting, a group of seven counselors, including representatives from Kenai Central High School, Skyview Middle School and Soldotna High School spoke about the detriments of organizing the excess of annual exams.
“I am concerned that we are losing the very activities School Counselors are specifically trained for to excessive test responsibilities,” said District Specialist and Counselor Sara Moore said. “Our counselors are specifically trained for serving students, not for putting stickers on test booklets.” Moore asked the school district’s 16 counselors to take the School Counseling Activity Rating Scale during a meeting on Jan. 23. The survey is designed to rate the actual and
preferred frequency of functions that counselors may perform, she said. Of non-test coordinator counselors, 100 percent routinely advise students regarding academic issues, whereas only 25 percent of test coordinators are able to accomplish academic advising, Moore said. Only 40 percent of non-test coordinator counselors routinely counsel with students regarding personal and family concerns, and that number drops to only 13 percent for test coordinator coun-
selors, she said. “They don’t feel as available to as many students as they want to be, and know they need to be,” Moore said. The school district’s counselors operate under the American School Counselor Association’s National Model, Moore said. The plan recommends that school counselors spend at least 80 percent of their time in direct and indirect services to students in the areas of academic, career, and personal/social development. See TESTS, page A-12
KPB food tax is on the table again By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
The seasonal exemption from sales taxes on non-prepared food items is on the table again. Blaine Gilman introduced the ordinance that would allow for the borough to collect taxes from Sept.1 until May 31 on non-prepared groceries, during Tuesday’s Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting. The borough has missed the opportunity to collect nearly $3 million in tax revenue annually without the exemptions, according to the ordinance. If approved, the generated revenue would go to funding schools. Nikiski resident James
‘Every other tax that we collect in the borough goes also to education. This isn’t an exclusive way to generate funding for schools.’ — James Price Price, who has been fighting the exemption since 2008, said he appreciated being allowed to comment at the initial introduction of the ordinance. He said he did not understand why the borough was trying to tax people’s groceries. “Every other tax that we collect in the borough goes also to education,” Price said. “This
isn’t an exclusive way to generate funding for schools.” The ordinance will open for public comment on March 17. Following Price’s comments, the assembly approved Robert Ernst’s appointment to the Borough Northwest Board Seat, by one vote. Board member Wayne Ogle requested that the assembly dismiss Borough C
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Mayor Mike Navarre’s appointment. “As far as Mr. Ernst is concerned he is a very honorable person, well educated but the perception is…Ernst is involved with the Cook Inletkeeper,” Ogle said. “It is a good organization, but it does not represent business ventures in the Nikiski area, and as a result there is a lot of concern about the trust of the planning commission with that particular point of view.” Assembly member Mako Haggerty said it was fortunate someone was volunteering to take the position while member Kelly Cooper said Ersnt’s experience would diversify the commission, which is why she supported him.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska organization for sex workers is trying to raise money online to fund an advocate’s work lobbying lawmakers in Juneau. Terra Burns is leading the campaign by the group, Community United for Safety and Protection, to raise at least $1,500 through crowdfunding website Tilt. As of Tuesday afternoon, the group had raised more than $900. “It’s really been really hard for people in Alaska’s sex industry to have any voice at all because of stigma and criminalization,” Burns said. Burns, who doesn’t use her real name, is a 33-year-old Fairbanks resident and is staying in a camper in Juneau. She declined to give The Associated Press her real name to protect her safety and because she has advocated under Terra Burns for many years. A bill reintroduced this legislative session would allow victims of sex trafficking to use that as a defense if they are charged with prostitution crimes. The legislation was introduced last year and passed See LOBBY, page A-12