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CLARION
Sun, flurries 30/18 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 45, Issue 114
Question Do you agree with the governor’s plan to expand Medicaid? 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.
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Golf course measure voted down Council opts not to introduce ordinance for donation to purchase Birch Ridge By IAN FOLEY Peninsula Clarion
Soldotna City Council members have shot down the Central Peninsula Health Foundation’s plan to acquire the Birch Ridge Golf Course. At the Soldotna City Council meeting on Wednesday, members of the council
voted against the introduction of an ordinance that would have the city donate $350,000 to the foundation. Council members Keith Baxter, Regina Daniels, Paul Whitney and Meggean Bos voted against introduction or the ordinance. At a Jan. 28 work session held at Soldotna’s city hall, members of the council
heard a proposal from the foundation’s board members requesting the donation. Had the money been donated by the city, it would have accounted for one half of the funds needed to purchase the Soldotna property. Under the proposal, the money from the city would have been contingent upon the foundation receiving a matching grant of $350,000.
The foundation intended to keep the golf course intact in order to ensure residents have a place for exercise. The foundation also planned to use the golf course as a place to have fundraisers. Baxter said that with regard to the current fiscal climate, helping a nonprofit organization acquire a golf course
Through With Chew events planned
In the news Gov. Walker says he’ll dismiss Point Thompson lawsuit
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JUNEAU (AP) — Gov. Bill Walker said Wednesday he will dismiss his lawsuit that challenged a state settlement in a long-running dispute over leases to develop the Point Thomson oil and gas field. The announcement came during a brief appearance before the House Resources Committee, creating a stir within the Capitol given how unusual it is for a sitting governor to testify before a legislative panel. Walker, who took office in December, filed the lawsuit as a private citizen in 2012. Helping him with the case was his law partner at the time, Craig Richards, who is now the attorney general. “It was time,” Walker said in speaking with reporters about the decision. “It was one that I felt needed to come to a close so we can move on.” During Wednesday’s House Resources hearing, Walker maintained that terms of the settlement violated state law and the constitution. He referenced several “illegal acts,” including his view that the settlement attempted to alter the regulatory process for development plans. Walker told the committee that he planned to file a motion to dismiss the case after introducing legislation Friday that would strengthen state laws related to future settlements over oil and gas development. Rep. Mike Hawker, R-Anchorage, noted that a judge had reached different conclusions than Walker and lamented not having the opportunity to make certain there were no strings attached to the governor’s plans.
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation/World.......... A-5 Sports.....................A-6 Arts........................ B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-6 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
See CITY, page A-8
By IAN FOLEY Peninsula Clarion
use, she’s never grown commercially. “We’ll see how this year goes, and if it’s really successful we’ll consider expanding,” Holsonbeke said. “Last year it was a hobby. This year it’s going to be serious.” Chay encouraged gardeners like Holsonbeke by bringing together seven speakers, who presented on subjects ranging from practicalities like signage and booth display to food safety, how to use food assistance
Organizations across the country, including those on the Kenai Peninsula, are promoting “Through With Chew Week.” From Feb. 16-20, smokeless tobacco users can learn about the dangers of chewing tobacco. Free smokeless tobacco quit kits will be available at several locations around the peninsula, including the Peninsula Smokefree Partnership and Peninsula Community Health Services. On Feb. 19, users of smokeless tobacco are encouraged to stop chewing altogether. “The whole week is preparing for that day to quit for 24 hours and hopefully for life,” said Jenny Olendorff, project coordinator for Peninsula Smokefree Partnership. The tobacco quit kits contain information for adult tobacco users on how to receive free nicotine replacement therapy products, such as lozenges and patches. Unlike nicotine lozenges, patches and gum, which are FDA approved, Olendorff said that Peninsula Smokefree Partnership doesn’t promote use of the e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool. Olendorff said that is important to inform people that using smokeless tobacco isn’t a safe alternative to smoking. “While it doesn’t cause emphysema and lung cancer, it causes other, equally bad things like oral cancer, esophageal cancer, gum disease and tooth loss,” Olendorff said. “So, it’s a problem. Smokeless tobacco
See MARKET, page A-8
See CHEW, page A-8
Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion
Letting off steam
A plume of steam rises from the side of Mt. Redoubt, seen from the banks of the Kenai River on Wednesday “When it’s windy, (the steam) gets whisked away, but when it’s calm and clear, it usually has a chance to stay and linger about,” said geologist Game McGimsey of the Alaska Volcano Observatory. According to AVO, the steam does not indicate a coming eruption. “There is nothing unusual happening at Mt. Redoubt,” McGimsey said.
Planting new connections Farmers market roundtable provides networking, education By BEN BOETTGER Peninsula Clarion
Alaska not only presents farmers with different growing conditions than the Lower 48, but different market conditions as well. A workshop held on Wednesday at Kenai’s Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association building invited prospective farmers on the Kenai Peninsula to learn about both. Organizer Heidi Chay of the Kenai Soil and Water Conservation District said that the
workshop, entitled “Scaling Up: Ready for the Farmer’s Market,” was aimed at hobbyists looking to become business owners. “What we’re seeing is that all of the markets could use more vendors, and that there’s a lot of demand for local food,” Chay said. “The thrust of this event is to inspire those successful gardeners and high tunnel growers who are already scaling up and giving away food to their friends and family to think about becoming vendors.”
Workshop attendee Chelsea Holsonbeke is one such successful grower. “We put in our own homebuilt high tunnel last year, and we did a bunch of preliminary experiments just to see what we could grow really well, and we were really successful, grew way more than we could eat, and decided that this year we’re going to look into making a business, going to farmer’s markets,” Holsonbeke said. Although Holsonbeke has grown vegetables for personal
Fabe stresses rural, Aerospace Corp. privatization? tribal interactions By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
By MOLLY DISCHNER Associated Press
JUNEAU — Alaska Supreme Court Chief Justice Dana Fabe on Wednesday stressed the importance of working with tribal courts and the need to maintain rural access to the court system during her annual address to lawmakers. Fabe, who is in her third term, delivered her State of the Judiciary address to a joint session of the Alaska Legislature. The court system, like other state agencies, is looking at budget cuts for the coming year, Fabe said. Fabe said the court system
is eyeing operational changes to cut costs, but some measures could take time to implement. She noted the importance of maintaining a presence in rural Alaska, despite any cuts. “This will likely be our greatest challenge, to resist the financial pressures to centralize our operations in hub communities and insist that Alaskans come to those hubs for justice, or do without,” Fabe said. She also talked about new rules that define procedures for referring cases to local restorative justice programs and tribal courts’ role in making decisions on tribal children. See COURT, page A-8
JUNEAU — The president and CEO of Alaska Aerospace Corp. said Wednesday that the state-owned corporation would like to become a private company. Craig Campbell told the Senate Finance Committee he does not believe shutting down the corporation and the Kodiak Launch Complex that it owns and operates would be a good decision, given the investment that’s been made and the future opportunities. He also said if the state put the facility up for sale, as some have suggested, it would probably be disappointed in C
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the response. The privatization concept has been discussed with Gov. Bill Walker’s chief of staff and worked on over the last week or so, Campbell said. Privatization would allow Alaska Aerospace “to create value that sometime in the future would return the value the state expected in the first place,” he said. There has been no private sector interest in buying the corporation and the launch complex, but there’s more to discuss regarding the idea of privatization, Campbell said. In an interview later, he said he plans to bring up the issue of privatization at an upcoming board meeting.
“We need to have a stronger economic base to make a strong value for any sale that may happen in the future,” he said. The chairman of Alaska Aerospace’s board of directors, Pat Gamble, told the committee it’s important for the corporation to get through the next few years. “We either make it or we don’t,” he said. But he said the corporation sees real potential. The state created Alaska Aerospace in 1991 to develop an aerospace sector for Alaska’s economy. Campbell said a mistake was to focus on launching small rockets. See SPACE, page A-8