Peninsula Clarion, February 20, 2015

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Curling

Big win

The winter sport gains popularity

Kenai’s Cooper nabs state ski race

Outdoors/C1

Sports/B1

Rain and Snow 38/34 More weather on Page A-2

CLARION P E N I N S U L A

Friday-Saturday, February 20-21, 2015 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska 50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday

Vol. 45, Issue 121

Question Are you facing a tax penalty for not having health insurance? n Yes n No

LEGO lovers prepare for lift off Early

kings run closed

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.

By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion

In the news

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Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion

Seward Highway reopens after rock slide near Anchorage

Ivor Ledahl, with his father Brian, plays with LEGOS at the Kenai Public Library’s monthly Lego Club event on Thursday, Feb. 19. This month’s theme was spaceships.

ANCHORAGE — Police say the Seward Highway reopened after crews cleaned up debris from a rock slide that rained debris on the roadway near Anchorage, including a massive boulder that was subsequently involved in a vehicle collision Thursday morning. Police say the driver of the vehicle in the crash sustained minor facial injuries, likely from the airbag deployment. KTUU reports the slide occurred at about 7 a.m. Thursday near milepost 113, south of the weigh station near Potter Marsh. Police spokeswoman Anita Shell says the highway reopened shortly before 9 a.m. after state Department of Transportation crews cleared the roadway. DOT spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy says some boulders, including the one struck by the vehicle, were half the size of an SUV. McCarthy says the slide debris was two feet deep and covered about 20 feet of the roadway.

Youth of the Year award chosen

— Associated Press

Index Local ..................... A-3 Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-5 World..................... A-7 Religion .................A-8 Sports.....................B-1 Outdoors .............. C-1 Classifieds............ C-1 Comics.................. C-8 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.

Teen prepares for next step in Boys and Girls Club program By BEN BOETTGER Peninsula Clarion

Annika Oren’s family moved to Kenai from Fairbanks when she was in elementary school. Soon after arriving, Oren’s mother signed her up for the Kenai Boys and Girl’s club. “I wasn’t getting along with the kids from my school and I was often getting bullied, so she (Oren’s mother) thought the Boys and Girl’s club would be a good way for me to get to know people and make new friends,”

said Oren. “I was there for no more than 15 minutes when a girl came up to me and asked if I wanted to play with her. We’ve been friends for over seven and a half years now.” Oren, presently a Junior at Kenai Central High School, has been involved in Boys and Girls Club activities ever since. She now participates as a staff member at the group’s Kenai clubhouse, where she works in the kitchen, helps kids with homework, and leads games in

the gymnasium. Her story of joining the club is included in a speech she will give as a competitor for the Boy’s and Girl’s club State Youth of the Year award, which will be judged on Friday at the Kenai Teen Center. Heather Schloeman, executive director of the Kenai Peninsula Boys and Girl’s Club, described the Youth of the Year award as “a character and leadership program, eligible for club members 14 to 18 years old.”

The Kenai Boys and Girl’s club held their local Youth of the Year event in late January. Of the three contestants, Oren was the winner, entitling her to compete in this weekend’s state event, in which she will be judged against a competitor from the Anchorage Boys and Girl’s Club. Judges will also select a second winner from members of Alaska’s three separate Boys and Girls clubs for children of military personnel, which will See YOUTH, page A-10

District to change pool operations By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District plans to be operating school pools more efficiently by the start of the 2016 school year. Assistant Superintendent Dave Jones broke down current operations in a series of public meetings held in Seward, Homer and Soldotna this week. More than 70 central Kenai Peninsula residents packed into the Soldotna High School library Wednesday. Jones said the school district wants to make it easier for community members to take advantage of the open and lap swim hours. “When we looked at the overall use of all these groups,

and you look at the pools in our communities, usage is not real high compared to the amount of availability that it could be used,” Jones said. However, instructional needs remain the main function of the pools, Jones said. The facilities are being utilized for that purpose less than what administration had believed, he said. In addition to being more “user friendly,” the school district will be looking at ways to increase the financial viability of the pools, Jones said. This may result in increasing fees, which compared to other school districts in the state, are relatively low, he said. The school district funds the pools through two different budgets, the General Fund and

the Activity Fund, Jones said. Currently, the combined cost of operating the pools is running a nearly $800,000 deficit, he said. The goal is not necessarily to immediately bring that number “down to zero,” but to significantly minimize it, Jones said. The school district’s activity fund budgets the lifeguard salaries and benefits, chemicals and supplies, and the general fund budgets for custodians, pool managers and supervisors. Total cost to operate the school district’s pools is more than $1 million and the generated revenue is $242,116. Jones said he wants to also coordinate the management of the pools. Now the pool manager reports to the school principal.

Sites individually determine staffing, fees, chemicals and testing methods used in the buildings, pool schedule and pool temperatures, he said. Potentially the pools could coordinate so that, for example, one pool would be heated slightly warmer than others in the area for groups that use it for arthritis therapy, Jones said. Wrapping up Wednesday’s meeting Jones said the greater issue of the school district’s pools stems from tight budgets and asked each attendee to take the time to ask the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly to fund the school district to the fullest amount possible this year. Reach Kelly Sullivan at kelly. sullivan@peninsulclarion.com.

For the second year in a row the Kenai River will be closed to fishing for early run king salmon. The river will be closed to king fishing downstream of Slikok Creek through June 30 to protect early run king salmon. Managers have also closed the river to king fishing upstream of Slikok Creek through July 31 to protect spawning early run kings, said Fish and Game Sport Fish Division Area Management Biologist Robert Begich. While the king salmon management actions are largely similar to the 2014 preseason actions, anglers will have an opportunity to harvest Kasilof River king salmon during the early run. Anglers will be allowed to keep a naturally produced or hatchery fish on Saturdays during May and June, Begich said, but the fishery will be restricted to a single-hook and no bait. “Based on what we’ve seen at the weir, at the assessment site on Crooked Creek the last few years … they’re not producing well enough to do three days of harvest,” he said. “We feel that we can allow some harvest down there and still meet the needs for achieving escapement and then also a brood stock program for stocking.” Fish and Game released the emergency orders for the Kenai and Kasilof rivers on Thursday. Fish and Game also issued a number of emergency orders to conserve king salmon on southern Kenai Peninsula streams, including the Anchor River, Deep Creek and Ninilchik River. According to the Fish and Game release: — The Anchor River drainage is closed to sport fishing on the first and fifth opening weekend and the five Wednesday openings in May and June. These dates correspond to May 16-18 (first opening weekend); June 13-15 (fifth opening weekend); and Wednesday openings of May 20, 27 and June 3, 10, 17. — The Anchor River drainage is closed to sport fishing upstream of the Old Sterling Highway Bridge located approximately 550 feet below the junction of the North and South Forks during the Memorial Day opening weekend and the following two weekends. These dates correspond to May 23-25 (Memorial Day opening weekend) and May 3031; June 1 and June 6-8. See KINGS, page A-10

Walker makes plans to boost viability of gas line By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press

JUNEAU — Gov. Bill Walker said he plans to retool an in-state natural gas pipeline project into an export project, prompting concerns from some lawmakers about the message that sends as Alaska continues to pursue a separate major gas

line. In an opinion piece published on newspaper websites, Walker said he’s pleased with the progress that has been made on the major liquefied natural gas project the state is pursuing with BP PLC, ExxonMobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, TransCanada Corp. and the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., or AGDC.

It would include an 800-mile pipeline to move North Slope gas to a plant where it would be chilled, loaded onto tankers and shipped to Asia. He told reporters Thursday that the state would continue to assist that project any way it can, and if there is any way to speed the effort, he looks forward to doing that. But he also C

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said he didn’t want to pin all the state’s hopes on it. He said the administration would pursue the major project while also moving to increase the size and volume of the smaller project. A larger volume would make it economic to provide energy for Alaskans and meet export market needs, he said in the opinion piece.

Whichever is first to produce a “solid plan” with terms acceptable to the state would get full state support, he wrote. Or, he said, the two might be combined. Walker’s opinion piece was posted online Wednesday night, hours after company representatives told lawmakers that the See GAS, page A-10


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