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P E N I N S U L A
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2015 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 45, Issue 125
Question Do you agree with the University of Alaska Regents’ decision to raise tuition? n Yes, it’s appropriate given the anticipated budget shortfall. n No, it’s not fair to students.
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Former nominee under investigation Maw faces residency questions By DJ SUMMERS Morris News Service-Alaska/ Alaska Journal of Commerce
Gov. Bill Walker’s shakeup of the Alaska Board of Fisheries is off to a rough start. Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks is currently investigating Roland Maw — nominated by Walker to a seat on the board to replace former chair Karl John-
In this July 21, 2013 file photo former Board of Fisheries nominee Roland Maw takes notes during a hearing. Maw withdrew his name from consideration and is now facing an investigation into his residency status in Alaska.
stone — over holding resident licenses in Montana while drawing the benefits of Alaska residency, including Alaska Permanent Fund dividends and resident fish and game licenses. Alaska Department of Fish and Game communications coordinator Candice Bressler on Tuesday said the department will provide Alaska State Troopers with certified copies of Maw’s Alaska licensure.
Photo by Rashah McChesney/ Peninsula Clarion
See MAW, page A-5
K-Beach task force making progress
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In the news Fairbanks lawmaker proposes making July Alaska Peony Month
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JUNEAU (AP) — A Fairbanks representative has proposed designating July 2015 as Alaska Peony Month. HCR 6, from Democratic Rep. David Guttenberg, would proclaim this coming July as Alaska Peony Month to increase awareness of Alaska’s peony industry and mark the achievements of those who work in Alaska’s peony industry. The resolution states that researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks began to study peony cultivation in Interior Alaska in 2001 and that in the last 11 years, Alaska has seen significant growth in the industry.
Inside ‘The presidential power to veto legislation is one I take seriously. But I also take seriously my responsibility to the American people.’ ... See page A-6
‘Have they been slaughtered? Are they still alive? We’re searching for any news.’ ... See page A-8
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-8 Sports...................A-10 Food...................... B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-6 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
In this May 17, 2014 file photo Ted Nichols, 12, and his father John Nichols, of Chugiak, dig for razor clams at Whiskey Gulch. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has closed the beaches on the east side of the Cook Inlet to clamming after data indicated a nearly 80 percent drop in the average number of clams in the population.
Beaches closed to clamming Fish and Game cites drop in razor clam population numbers By BEN BOETTGER Peninsula Clarion
The Kenai Peninsula’s east side razor clam population has crashed, according to Fish and Game abundance data. The Sport Fish Division of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on Tuesday announced that the Cook Inlet’s east shore will be closed to clamming during 2015. The closure will apply to all beaches between the mouth of
the Kenai River and the southern end of Homer Spit. A Fish and Game news release announcing the closure cited Fish and Game’s 2014 abundance studies, which found that average razor clam numbers were 80 percent lower than averages recorded between 1990 and 2012 at Ninilchik’s South Beach, and 94 percent lower than averages recorded between 1998 and 2008 at Clam Gulch.
“Any razor clam harvest in 2015 will likely delay recovery of the Eastside Cook Inlet razor clam populations,” said Carol Kerkvliet, Fish and Game Area Management Biologist in Homer. Previously, Fish and Game decreased the clam bag limit from 60 to 25 on all east-side Cook Inlet beaches in 2013 and 2014, and in 2014 closed clamming on a portion of Ninilchik beach. Fish and Game officials do
not know the cause of the declining clam population, but in the news release said it may be due to “poor spawning and/or settling success.” A new abundance study will take place on Ninilchik Beach in April and May 2015, and samples will be taken from other east side beaches between May and August. Reach Ben Boettger at ben. boettger@peninsulaclarion. com.
The K-Beach High-Water Drainage Task Force is targeting five streets in Kalifornsky Beach subdivisions affected by surface-water flooding as potential culvert construction sites. Buoy Avenue, Patrick Drive, Lori Jo Street and Scott Avenue, Dana Bayes Street, Mistral Street and Farr Street were identified and approved during the task force’s fourth meeting Monday. Task Force co-chair Jim Munter, a retired state hydrologist, said the project is a significant step for addressing the flooding. Each installed culvert is one small step to remedy a much larger issue, he said. “There is a persistent pattern of culverts not being put in,” Munter said. “It is frankly devastating for people.” The Local/Small Scale Subcommittee, one of two subcommittees formed under the task force’s organizational umbrella, will be responsible for managing the study and analysis of the sites, Munter said. If approved, they will likely require approval through the Kenai Peninsula Borough, he said. Attendees decided to attend Tuesday’s assembly meeting to speak as a group about the issue during the section for public comment. Assembly member Kelly Wolf was in attendance See FLOOD, page A-12
Trial for former Nikiski Revenue commissioner talks music teacher delayed By RASHAH MCCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
A former Nikiski teacher accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting one of his students has had his trial pushed back to mid-August due to his lawyer’s busy schedule and a pending request for more information about the victim. During a Tuesday omnibus hearing, assistant public advocate DinaMarie Cale told Kenai Superior Court Judge Carl Bauman that she couldn’t see the case going to trial before the “end of summer.” Former Nikiski Middle-High School music teacher Jeremy Anderson faces 16 counts of sexual abuse in varying degrees. The charges include allegations of more than a dozen sexual en-
counters over a 6-month period in 2013 and 2014. Anderson was charged after a May 8 phone call to Alaska State Troopers regarding a suicidal male and allegations that Anderson had been sexually assaulting a female student. Cale said she had several high-profile cases to argue over the summer, including a murder trial and another sexual assault of a minor case involving a Sterling woman. The victim’s mother was visibly upset when Cale, who appeared telephonically, asked for the trial to be pushed back by several months. “My issue is, we want closure. We would like to see this trial happen, it has already been over seven months,” she See TRIAL, page A-12
about gas pipeline project
By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — Gov. Bill Walker plans to continue to push the major liquefied natural gas project that Alaska has been pursuing with oil and gas and pipeline companies, Revenue Commissioner Randall Hoffbeck told legislators Tuesday. Hoffbeck said that while an alternate gas project recently proposed by Walker would be a competing project, it lags behind the other project in terms of development and essentially would act as a backup as long as the major project, known as Alaska LNG, continues to move forC
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ward. The comments came during Hoffbeck’s confirmation hearing before the House Finance Committee, in which lawmakers sought clarity on Walker’s gas line plans. Walker caused a stir with an opinion piece last week in which he called for increasing the size of a smaller, in-state gas project to give the state another option as it pursues Alaska LNG with BP, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corp., TransCanada Corp. and the
Alaska Gasline Development Corp. Whichever project is first to produce a “solid plan,” with conditions acceptable to the state, will get the state’s full support, Walker wrote in the piece, which was posted on several newspaper websites. He also noted the two projects also might be combined at some point. Some lawmakers worried Walker’s proposal would create an atmosphere of uncertainty over efforts to bring Alaska’s gas to market. A major gas project is seen by many as this oil-dependent state’s next best shot for significant revenues as oil See GAS, page A-12