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P E N I N S U L A
THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2015 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 45, Issue 132
In the news Troopers find man who fled from Kasilof traffic stop
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An Eagle River man who Alaska State Troopers say led them on a high speed chase a c r o s s the Kenai Peninsula before crashing and fleeing into the woods on the Seward Highway, Tanner has been captured. Andre Tanner, 32, was found by U.S. Marshals and Alaska State Troopers in a parked car at Knik Goose Bay Raod and Fairview Loop in Wasilla. Tanner, a passenger, was being driven by Anchorage resident Melissa Bradley who was arrested for hindering prosecution, according to a trooper dispatch. When Tanner was taken into custody, he had a wrist injury and was admitted to the Mat-Su Regional Hospital for treatment before being taken to the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility on an outstanding warrant for a parole violation and a warrant for reckless driving and failure to stop.
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Borough hires oil and gas adviser Former federal gas line coordinator joins staff By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
A presidential appointee to the Federal Office for Alaska Gas Line Projects will join the Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor’s Office as an oil and gas adviser. Larry Persily, is set to join borough staff on March 13, when he travels to Anchorage to attend the next meeting of a municipal gas advisory board designed to review the Alaska LNG project. Persily had been leading the federal coordinating office since 2010 and was following the behemoth Alaska LNG project closely in that
role. “In that sense, the federal government paid to train me so the borough doesn’t have to,” Persily said. In his new position, Persily will continue to monitor the Alaska LNG project — particularly the Federal Energy Regulator Commission’s environmental impact statement on the project. “That’s the kind of experience and expertise that he has ... he’ll be writing reports for the assembly and the administration, coordinating community meetings and things like that which we’ll need to do for planning and identifying project
impacts,” said Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre. While the Alaska LNG project, which is estimated by investors to cost between $45$65 billion to launch, will be the primary focus of Persily’s position with the borough currently, Navarre said the new position was designed to offer support on all oil and gas issues that the borough faces. Persily has worked on oil and gas issues pertaining to Alaska for more than a decade, including as an associate director to the Alaska Governor’s Office in Washington and as an aide to the Alaska State House See STAFF, page A-10
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
In this October 28, 2014 file photo, Larry Persily, then-federal coordinator in the Federal Office for Alaska Gas Line Projects, speaks about the environmental assessment needed for the Alaska LNG project to progress in Soldotna. Persily has joined the borough administration as an oil and gas adviser.
Study: Nonprofits boost economy
— Rashah McChesney
By IAN FOLEY Peninsula Clarion
Man dies on Hidden Lake ice fishing trip A Sterling man was killed Tuesday after he and two friends went ice fishing on Hidden Lake in Kasilof. Central Emergency Services divers and Alaska State Troopers recovered David S. Riss’ body floating in an open section of water in the lake after his friends reported that he was missing, according to a trooper dispatch. Riss, 45, Arthur Fena, 47, and Herbert Myddelton, all Sterling residents, drove a Dodge Caravan onto the lake Tuesday evening to go ice fishing. Riss left the van to fish elsewhere on the lake, but didn’t return to the group’s camp by nightfall, according to the dispatch. Fena and Myddelton went searching for Riss. Both fell through the ice but were able to get out of the lake and get back to their camp to warm up by a fire, according to the dispatch. The two called for help the next morning. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer traveled to the lake and found Riss’s body by midmorning Wednesday. The van has not yet been found, according to the dispatch. Riss’ body will be taken to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage for an autopsy, however troopers don’t suspect foul play.
cording to the resolution. Nikiski resident James Price, who has been fighting the sales tax for more than half a decade, said the ordinance “is the worst possible way to increase funding.” He asked the school board not to endorse grocery sales tax as a form of generating revenue. Assembly member Blaine Gilman said the $3 million the sales tax would raise would make it easier for the assembly
Non-profit organizations play an integral role in Alaska’s economy. That was the message from Dennis McMillian, CEO of The Foraker Group, on Wednesday at the joint Kenai-Soldotna Chamber of Commerce luncheon held in Kenai. “We are the people who build community,” said McMillian, referring to non-profits. “We are the people who make community healthy and keep it healthy.” McMillian, whose company provides services and consultancy to non-profits, said that several years ago, Alaska’s non-profit market became oversaturated. He cited 2010, when there were over 7,000 non-profits in the state. “That’s one non-profit for every 100 people,” McMillian said. “Nationally, the norm is one non-profit for every 200 people, so twice the density as the rest of the country.” Due to a variety of factors, the number of non-profit organizations has been decreasing in Alaska. McMillian said there are approximately 5,700 nonprofits currently in the state, and that number still continues to decrease. “We do think that trend will continue into the future,” he said. “Some of it will have to do with not being able to get enough board members. Some
See TAX, page A-10
See STUDY, page A-10
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Open water Two men fish on the Kenai River Sunday in Cooper Landing.
School board stays out of tax debate Despite deficit, members reluctant to support grocery tax measure By KELLY SULLIVAN Peninsula Clarion
The Board of Education will not formally support the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly’s ordinance that would allow for year-round taxation of non-prepared food items. The request was introduced in the form of a resolution, put before the school board during Monday’s meeting. Board members Lynn Hohl and Tim Navarre drafted the laydown
document. The resolution was constructed as a possible means of convincing the borough assembly to fund education to the cap during this year, Navarre said. The resolution was devised following a school board work session Monday, where Assistant Superintendent Dave Jones reported on the fiscal year 2016 budget, he said. Jones reported the maximum allowable contribution the borough can make this year is
more than $4 million more than what the district is budgeting. The school district is currently predicting the 2016 deficit at $8.8 million, according to the fiscal year budget scenarios and information document. The sales tax exemption has resulted in a loss of nearly $16.7 million in revenues from Jan. 9, 2009 through fiscal year 2014, according to the resolution. The sales tax would have generated $3.3 million for the borough during the 2014 fiscal year, ac-
— Staff report
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Medicaid expansion event brings out lawmakers By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — Legislators, aides and others heard an alternate viewpoint on Medicaid expansion Wednesday from a senior fellow with an organization that has referred to the “dangers” expansion poses in states that opt for it. Christie Herrera, with the Foundation for Government Accountability, spoke to problems she said some states have experienced, including enrollment numbers that far exceed-
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ed projections. Herrera spoke during an informal “lunch and learn,” sponsored by Sen. Mike Dunleavy and put on by Americans for Prosperity-Alaska. The group is part of the national Americans for Prosperity organization and opposes Medicaid expansion. Dunleavy, R-Wasilla, said earlier this week that he is still
trying to understand what expansion is all about — what it could look like and what it might mean — and believes getting as much information as possible on the issue benefits everybody. At least 14 legislators — Republicans and Democrats — attended at least part of the event, which was crowded. She was challenged on some points by Democratic lawmakers and the president of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association, who support expansion. While state health CommisC
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sioner Valerie Davidson has given presentations on expansion during various legislative hearings, those meetings were focused on hearing from the administration and were not open to testimony from challenging or opposing viewpoints. The House has not taken up a bill calling for expansion from minority Democrats. Davidson, who also attended Wednesday, questioned Herrera’s use of data in Arizona and Maine showing experiences those states had in expanding Medicaid on their own before
the federal health care law under which Alaska is considering expanding coverage. One difference between expansion before the law and after, Davidson said later, is the federal match rate. Herrera said those states, billed as cautionary tales, provide a longer-term view of data and are relevant because they included the same population as those who are eligible for expansion under the health care law. Herrera also said some states See EVENT, page A-10