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Texas, Baylor scuffle in overtime
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CLARION
Some rain 40/29 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2015 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 45, Issue 130
Question Is this an early spring? n Yes, it sure feels like it. n No, we still have some winter left. To place your vote and comment, visit our Web site at www. peninsulaclarion. com.
In the news Warm weather forces Iditarod start off river
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FAIRBANKS (AP) — The start of the world’s most famous sled dog race has changed again. Authorities with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race last month moved the start of the race from Willow to Fairbanks because of a lack of snow in the greater Anchorage area. Now, the race is getting a new start location within Fairbanks. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports warmer weather prompted concern that ice on the Chena River is too thin to accommodate the weight of mushers, dogs and volunteers needed at the start. Officials on Monday announced the race will move a couple hundred feet north and start on land March 9. Mushers will travel for a few miles before jumping back on the river. The ceremonial start remains in Anchorage on Saturday morning.
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Tensions flare over pipeline project House, governor at odds over AGDC role By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — Tensions flared Monday between members of the Alaska House and Gov. Bill Walker over how best to advance state efforts to secure a major gas pipeline project, with a visibly upset Walker denouncing a bill from the speaker of the House as “the most un-Alaskan thing I’ve ever seen put together.” House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, introduced legislation that would limit the role of a state-backed corporation in an alternate gas line project proposed by Walk-
er. The state has been pursuing a major liquefied natural gas project, known as Alaska LNG, with BP, ExxonMobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, TransCanada Corp. and the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., or AGDC, which Chenault and other lawmakers want to ensure remains the state’s primary focus. The bill states that the AGDC could not be involved with an alternate export or liquefied natural gas project until the earliest of three events: the state or another party withdrawing from Alaska LNG; Alaska LNG entering its next phase, a decision for which is expected next year; or July 1, 2017. It also
says the AGDC cannot market gas owned or controlled by another party without that party’s written consent. Walker held a news conference to respond to the bill, which he said would hurt the state’s negotiating position with Alaska LNG and promised a veto if it reached his desk. At times, he held up and shook a copy of the bill, scrawled with handwritten notes. Walker shook things up last month with an opinion piece AP Photo/Becky Bohrer in which he proposed increasing the size of a smaller stand- Gov. Bill Walker holds a print out of a bill introduced in the Alasalone gas line project, one ini- ka House that would limit participation by the Alaska Gasline tially aimed at providing gas to Development Corp. in an alternate gas line project during a See GAS, page A-8 news conference Monday in Juneau.
City unveils its new website Soldotna site offers more functionality By IAN FOLEY Peninsula Clarion
High winds knock out power in Kaktovik ANCHORAGE (AP) — An Alaska village on the Beaufort Sea is digging out from a weekend blizzard that featured winds approaching hurricane levels. The Saturday night storm piled snow high against doors and windows in the village of Kaktovik and knocked out power. “It was the worst I’ve ever seen,” said Flora Rexford, who has lived in Kaktovik all her life. “Dumpsters were flying around.” The National Weather Service recorded a gust of 76 mph — just into hurricane territory — 80 miles west of the village at Point Thomson, the Alaska Dispatch News, reported. The agency’s meteorologists didn’t know the wind speed at Kaktovik.
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Business................ A-5 Nation/World.......... A-6 Sports.....................A-9 Classifieds........... A-11 Comics................. A-14 Pet Tails............... A-15 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Spotted A lynx takes a stroll down Skilak Loop Road on Sunday near Cooper Landing.
Panel considers marijuana plant limits By MOLLY DISCHNER Associated Press
JUNEAU — A House committee is trying to determine how much pot can be grown at one house. The House Community and Regional Affairs Committee will consider a 12-plant limit for each house as part of its bill addressing municipalities’ role in regulating marijuana. The voter initiative allows an individual to possess up to six plants, three of which can be mature. An aide to Rep. Cathy Til-
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ton, R-Wasilla, chair of that committee, said municipalities have raised concerns about how many plants can be grown at a household with multiple people, and the limit was meant to provide clarity. However, a memo from Legislative Affairs’ legal services division said that limiting the number of plants allowed in one home could be an infringement
of personal privacy rights and violate equal protection rights. The state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control board has also weighed in on the matter, but it came up with a different answer. In a frequently-asked-questions page on its website, the board said that each household can only have six plants, based on the state’s possession laws. In a January memo, the Fairbanks North Star Borough also recommended that the state make it clear that each individual be considered in possession of all the plants in his or her household, which would effectively
limit each house to six plants. The committee is considering the limit as part of a bill that addresses municipalities’ ability to get involved in regulating the new marijuana industry and other personal-use concerns. The bill also includes optout provisions for villages and other small communities that cannot currently prohibit the new industry under the wording of the initiative. Initiative sponsors have said they support the effort to enable those communities to opt-out. The committee is expected to discuss the bill on Tuesday.
The city of Soldotna’s website has received a makeover. The new site, which launched last week, offers a more modern version of its predecessor. It also has a new address, www. soldotna.org. “(The site is) full of increased functionality designed to connect you with the information and contact information that you need to move forward,” according to the new site. Development of the site took a little more than a year, according to Austin Johnson, planning and GIS technician for the city of Soldotna. It was created by Vision Internet, a Californiabased company that has produced more than 500 government websites in the United States and Canada, according to its website. Johnson said the city was due for a new website. “(The old site) looked like it had been around for a couple of decades,” he said. Aside from being more aesthetically pleasing, the new site provides several other benefits, including easier navigation and social media connectivity. “The coolest feature is the calendar,” he said. “We can add See SITE, page A-8
Midwest utility offers proposal to shore up Railbelt grid By ELWOOD BREHMER Morris News Service-Alaska/ Alaska Journal of Commerce
A Midwest utility company hopes to help Alaska fix its strained Railbelt electric transmission system. Xcel Energy Inc. representatives presented to the House and Senate Energy committees on Feb. 19 about ways the company could facilitate private investment in new power lines for the region. Studies commissioned by groups including the Alaska
Energy Authority have estimated $900 million to $1 billion worth of upgrades to Railbelt transmission lines is needed in the coming years to increase capacity and improve reliability. Utility leaders often point out that in some places only a single line connects the Railbelt intertie. Major transmission infrastructure upgrades in the past have been paid for at least partially with state funds. “There are two kinds of transmission problems and (the
Railbelt) has both of them,” Alaska Railbelt Utility Cooperative Transmission and Electric Co. Executive Director David Gillespie said in an interview. ARCTEC, as it is commonly known, is a utility consortium made of Chugach Electric Association, Matanuska Electric Association, Seward Electric System and Golden Valley Electric Association. First among the problems, Gillespie said, is the aforementioned lack of transmission infrastructure; and second is how existing infrastructure is manC
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aged. The six area utilities each own portions of the overall system and add a tariff to power sent through their section of lines. This leads to what is known as “rate pancaking,” when electricity sent through multiple line sections is hit with multiple tariffs. While it is done for the right reasons — each utility is simply charging for use of its property — it can inhibit what otherwise could be an economic endeavor, Gillespie said. Such rate pancaking is a
large reason why Cook Inlet Region Inc. could not make Phase 2 of its Fire Island Wind project viable, according to company representatives. The added tariffs did not make purchasing Fire Island Wind power feasible for Golden Valley Electric Association in the Interior, where electric generation is typically more expensive than in Southcentral. CIRI recently announced it has suspended plans to double the size of its 11-turbine wind farm off of Anchorage. See GRID, page A-8