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P E N I N S U L A
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2015 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 45, Issue 123
Question
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
School district readies for new state tests
As the snow melts
Are you facing a tax penalty for not having health insurance? 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 e-mailed to news@peninsulaclarion.com.
By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Program Director Norman Cohen echoed the sentiment. “Our goal was to provide capital in the region for economic development purposes that would not otherwise be funded by banks,” Cohen said. The Nature Conservancy is perhaps best known for buying land for the purpose of preserving it, but that’s only part of what it does to follow its mission of conserving the lands and waters. “We see that investments in economic development are a way to get the kind of change we’re looking for,” Cohen said. “Sustainability” has several meanings for Haa Aani and the Nature Conservancy. It refers both to environmental practices and stable economies. According to state of Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development economic
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District students will take the Alaska Measures of Progress, or AMP, standardized test on March 30. The assessment is now a statewide requirement for grades three through 10 and is meant to evaluate a student’s grasp of Alaska English Language Arts and Mathematics standards, according to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. “In contrast to the Adequate Yearly Progress standardized bubble tests, AMP testing is online and adaptive,” said school district spokesperson Pegge Erkeneff. “The real-time results will measure student strengths and weaknesses, and be adaptive in order to generate activities to address these areas.” The data taken from the tests is meant to assist educators in making adjustments for their students within the classroom, Erkeneff said. As students take the tests through out their school career, teachers can develop their in-class assessments and activities to further individualize how they help their students, she said. “Computer-based assessments are able to adjust the difficulty of questions to a student’s responses and provide greater score precision,” according to the department of education. “For example, if a student performs well on a set of questions with intermediate difficulty, she will be presented with a more challenging set.” The state now requires all graduating students to have taken the WorkKeys, SAT or the ACT, said school counselor LaDawn Druce, who helps to coordinate the tests through out the school district. Governor Sean Parnell signed legislation on May 13, 2014 that repealed the Alaska High School Graduation Qualifying Exam, and replaced it
See HAA, page A-8
See TEST, page A-8
In the news Yukon Quest ends with last musher crossing finish C
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FAIRBANKS, Alaska — The last musher has crossed the finish line in the 2015 Yukon Quest. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports 48-yearold Rob Cooke of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, claimed the red lantern Friday after what he called “13 days of hell” in the 1,000-mile race. The British-born musher suffered a frost-bitten nose in temperatures that dipped well below minus 40 in the early part of the race. He says he pushed his team too hard early when the when extreme cold should have dictated a slower approach. He says he nearly scratched twice but was rejuvenated by race volunteers during long rests. He says earning the finisher’s patch made the ordeal worth it. —Associated Press
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Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion
Chuck and Debbie Lamb brought their 1-year-old pit bull Missy to Soldotna Creek Park on Sunday for her daily exercise the couple said is necessary because of her high levels of energy. They were hoping the ground would have not been covered in ice, and while the dog skidded a few times while running after her toy, she didn’t seem to mind the conditions, they said. Forecasters are calling for a mix of rain and snow today.
Sustainability in the Southeast Haa Aani gets funding from Nature Conservancy By MELISSA GRIFFITHS Juneau Empire
JUNEAU, Alaska — With sustainable Southeast Alaska businesses as a goal, the Nature Conservancy has partnered with Haa Aani for yet another program. The conservation organization and the Sealaska Corp. offshoot have announced that the Nature Conservancy is investing $500,000 in Haa Aani’s Community Development Fund, a program that loans money to entrepreneurs and shareholders in Southeast Alaska who can’t or don’t get bank loans. The fund primarily serves rural communities by providing developmental services and capital in the form of small-business and micro-loans. The two groups already cooperate on the Path to Prosperity contest, which awards prizes to companies that benefit their
‘We see that investments in economic development are a way to get the kind of change we’re looking for.’ — Norman Cohen, TNC’s Southeast Alaska Program Director
communities through local employment and other impacts. This year, $40,000 prizes were awarded to Port Chilkoot Distillery and Fairweather Ski Works, both of Haines. “Haa Aani LLC was established in 2009 with a mission of supporting a prosperous region by developing a healthy and thriving economy,” said Haa Aani Economic Development Coordinator Alana Peterson. “We do that through sustainability lens.” The fund was seeded with
$500,000 from Haa Aani in February 2012 and received nonprofit tax-exempt status in February 2013. Today, the fund contains well over $2 million, and the additional $500,000 from the Nature Conservancy is expected to allow it to support more Southeast businesses. Peterson said the partnership, and the cash investment, seemed natural because the organizations “have such similar goals.” TNC’s Southeast Alaska
Budget closeouts up for discussion in Legislature By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU, Alaska — The big news at the Capitol this past week was Gov. Bill Walker’s gas line proposal, one that some legislators fear will create an atmosphere of uncertainty over efforts to bring Alaska’s gas to market. The state has been pursuing a major liquefied natural gas project, known as Alaska LNG, with BP, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corp., TransCanada Corp. and the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., or AGDC. Walker said that will continue. But in an opinion piece published on newspaper websites Wednesday night, Walker said
he was concerned about what would happen if that project falters and therefore, he wanted to increase the size of a smaller, in-state gas project so the state would have another option. Whichever project is first to produce a “solid plan,” with conditions acceptable to the state, will get the state’s full support, he wrote. Or, the two might be combined at some point, he said. AGDC has been pursuing the smaller project on the state’s behalf. The piece was posted hours after company representatives and a deputy Natural Resources commissioner told lawmakers the parties were working together and the project was on track for a decision next year
The opinion piece ‘pretty much lays out that we’re in competition now with our partners.’ — House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski
on whether to move to the next phase. The opinion piece “pretty much lays out that we’re in competition now with our partners,” said House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, who has raised concerns with Walker’s new plan. Walker said while the companies are working well with Alaska now, he wants to ensure C
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the state has an economically viable gas line “not beholden to potentially changing priorities” by the companies over the next few years. It’s in Alaska’s best interest to have two options, he wrote in an emailed response to questions Friday. He said he doesn’t see that legislative changes would be needed, though Chenault said lawmakers are looking into
that. It would be an in-state pipeline that would provide gas to Alaskans and to a liquefied natural gas terminal developed by others, Walker said. Walker announced his plans when he did because he said Alaskans and the Legislature deserve to know the direction he’s heading on the gas line. Legislative leaders are looking forward to greater clarity on that direction. Here are three things to watch: House Finance subcommittees aim to finish work that will inform the House Finance Committee’s rewrite of the operating budget. The House is taking the See BUDGET, page A-8