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P E N I N S U L A
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2015 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 45, Issue 131
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. 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 emailed to news@peninsulaclarion.com.
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Habitat champion applies fish board By RASHAH MCCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
A Kenai Peninsula resident known for his habitat advocacy has applied to be on Alaska’s Board of Fisheries. Robert Ruffner, outgoing founder and executive director of the Soldotnabased Kenai Watershed Forum, applied for the board in February. Gov. Bill Walker has two board seats to fill after former Board of Fisheries Chairman Karl Johnstone resigned
early upon learning that he would not vert and fish passage be appointed for another term. Board projects on the Kenai of Fisheries member Orville HuntingPeninsula. ton’s term expires in June. The board “He believes pasis tasked with setting statewide fisheries sionately in good regulations. habitat, adequate fish Ruffner joins at least 12 other people passage, and the rewho have applied for a seat since the moval of non-native beginning of 2015, according a list proplants and invasive vided by Walker’s Boards and Commis- Robert Ruffner species,” wrote chairsion’s Director Karen Gillis. man of the Kenai Ruffner is a 19-year resident of SolArea Fishermen’s dotna and has supervised dozens of cul- Coalition Dwight Kramer in an email.
Kramer, a longtime advocate for private angling opportunity on the Kenai River, also applied for a seat on the Board of Fisheries. However, upon learning that Ruffner had also applied Kramer sent Walker a letter of endorsement for Ruffner. “I’m still leaving my name in the hat, in case Robert (Ruffner) changes his mind but as long as he’s interested, I think he would serve the South Central area better than anyone else could,” Kramer wrote in an email.
Alaska’s judicial selection up for debate
In the news
By BEN BOETTGER Peninsula Clarion
Daylight saving time bill springs forward By MOLLY DISCHNER Associated Press C
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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A Senate committee has advanced legislation that would eliminate daylight saving time and allow for consideration of another time zone in Alaska. The bill would exempt Alaskans from advancing their clocks each spring. It would also direct the governor to ask the U.S. Department of Transportation to consider moving part or all of Alaska to Pacific time. Sen. Anna MacKinnon originally proposed the bill to end daylight saving time in Alaska and introduced the amendment to consider another time zone. Most of Alaska is currently on the same time zone, except for the western Aleutians, which are in the same time zone as Hawaii, one hour behind Alaska. Respondents to a survey from MacKinnon’s office generally supported eliminating daylight saving time.
Inside ‘Sanity is prevailing.’ ... See page A-5
Photo by Michael Dinneen/for the Clarion
LC, a 12-year-old English Setter works as a certified therapy dog at Peninsula Radiation Oncology in Soldotna, Alaska.
Palliating pooch
English setter soothes patients at new cancer treatment center By IAN FOLEY Peninsula Clarion
At Peninsula Radiation Oncology in Soldotna, a new therapy is available to help patients cope with cancer treatment. Her name is LC, a 12-yearold English Setter. As a certified therapy dog, LC is regularly present in the building’s lobby to help patients relax and relieve stress before receiving treatment. Before becoming certified more than a year ago, LC was
the pet of Dr. James Blom, one of the center’s radiation oncologists. Now, she is part of the treatment center’s family. “She has been such a joy, and such a blessing for each and every patient,” said Jennifer Bostelman, Peninsula Radiation Oncology front office coordinator. Bostelman said that LC has made a big difference in patients’ lives. One example of LC’s calming influence she cited was when a patient had extremely high blood pressure
Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-5 World..................... A-7 Sports.....................A-8 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-6
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and couldn’t be treated without first calming down. Bostelman said the patient opted to sit in the lobby and pet LC instead of treating her blood pressure at the hospital. “It wasn’t 20 or 30 minutes later she went back in [the treatment room] and took her blood pressure and she was perfectly fine, and she was able to get treated,” Bostelman said. Bostelman said similar stories are not uncommon at Peninsula Radiation Oncology. Soldotna isn’t the only place
where therapy dogs are used. They are becoming common at hospitals throughout the nation including the Mayo Clinic, and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. According to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which has been using therapy dogs since 2007, canines have many therapeutic benefits including reducing anxiety, providing a comfortable environment, and decreasing the need for pain medicine. See DOG, page A-10
When Alaska constitutional delegate Ralph Rivers spoke in 1956 on the duties of the Judicial Council empowered by the then-new state constitution for choosing members of the state government’s judicial branch, he described it as a way of finding “the tallest timber” — that is, the most qualified judges — for constructing Alaska’s courts. The phrase was quoted by Alaska Senior Judge Elaine Andrews and two other speakers during a luncheon talk at the Kenai visitor center on Tuesday, where the subject was judicial selection in Alaska, and a proposed constitutional change to the makeup of the Judicial Council responsible for that selection. The Judicial council is a seven-member voting body composed of three attorneys selected by the membership of the Alaska Bar Association, three non-attorneys appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the legislature, and the chief justice of the Alaska supreme court, who serves as chairperson but only votes in order to break a tie. According to its website, a task of the council is to “screen applicants for judicial vacancies and nominate the most qualified applicants for appointment by the governor.” In this year’s legislative session, Senator Pete Kelly, RSee JUDGES, page A-10
Dusek tapped for top KPBSD spot By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
Index
See BOF, page A-10
Interim superintendent Sean Dusek will assume the superintendent of schools position on July 1, 2015. The Board of Education voted unanimously to offer the job to the 22year Kenai Peninsula Borough School District veteran following public interviews Tuesday. “It is very humbling,” Dusek said. “I arrived in this district 24 years ago and never dreamed of being in this position.” The school board also conducted an interview with Kimberly Bergey, who is currently fills the role of principal, teacher and test coordinator in the Iditarod Area School District, and was previously Superintendent of Schools in the Denali Borough School District. Both candidates were given the same set of questions, which included two twenty-minute periods to answer eight
“prompts.” They were then asked three James questions given during the interviews by the school board with five minutes to answer each. The school board received public feedback following the two interviews and also incorporated the results of a survey conducted by the school district that asked Kenai Peninsula community members to weigh in on what traits they want in a superintendent, said School board president Joe Arness. The school board will sit down with Dusek during a to-be-scheduled work session to negotiate the terms of his contract, Arness said. The salary will be between $140,000 and $165,000 annually, according to the application advertisement released by the school district. Montana’s Eureka Public School District Superintendent C
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Mepham, Idaho’s McCall-Donnelly School District former Superintendent Glen Szymoniak were also selected by the school board as potential candidates for the position during a Feb. 16 meeting.
See KPBSD, page A-10