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P E N I N S U L A
Monday, April 15, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 167
In the news Over $6.2M in unpaid traffic fines are owed to Anchorage ANCHORAGE — Scofflaws owe the city of Anchorage more than $6.2 million in unpaid traffic fines, city officials said. More than 3,000 drivers are on the city’s list of scofflaws. That’s anyone whose delinquent moving violation fines exceed $1,000, KTUU reported. “If you look through the list, it’s just frankly ridiculous,” Lt. Richard Henning told the Anchorage TV station. “People need to take responsibility for what they are doing.” Assistant municipal attorney Pamela Weiss said the list doesn’t just reflect the amount of tickets received. “It means they’ve received $1,000 (in tickets), been found guilty of the offenses and then have not paid it so they are delinquent,” Weiss said. “They are past due.” Scofflaws risk having their vehicles impounded if they come into contact with police or are pulled over for other violations. Among the top 50 violators in Anchorage, one man on the scofflaw list has 77 outstanding tickets. Everyone in the top 50 has at least 25 unpaid tickets. Three people owe more than $10,000 each. The scofflaw law was implemented statewide in 2007 by then-Gov. Sarah Palin, who was later the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate. The scofflaw law was adopted in Anchorage in 2007. Henning said the purpose of the law is to get dangerous drivers off the road. “They should take responsibility for their actions and pay their tickets so they are not on the scofflaw list anymore, and they shouldn’t drive,” he said. Some of the money owed is collected through bank sweeps and Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend garnishments. Impounds may provide additional incentive. Police have had about 430 vehicles towed this year, according to Henning. Last year, nearly 1,200 vehicles were towed under the scofflaw law. Weiss said about $6 million is owed in any given year, and it remains fairly consistent at about 3,000 offenders. — Associated Press
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PFD debate looms over Senate By ALEX MCCARTHY Juneau Empire
During the Alaska House of Representatives budget process, the issue of how the Permanent Fund Dividend fits into the budget hung over legislators like a raincloud threatening to burst. During the Senate’s budget process, the downpour might begin. On Thursday, the House passed its operating budget, featuring about $250 million in cuts but not including any decision about whether the PFD should be used to pay for state government again. According to Senate leaders, the Senate will at least take a shot at figuring out how much the state can afford to pay its residents the annual oil wealth check payout and how much should pay for government services. Senate Majority Leader Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, said she was disappointed in the House’s lack of action on addressing the PFD and said the Senate is looking to place
By KAT SORENSEN Peninsula Clarion
Hoyle, a senior, also spoke, as did Thunder Mountain High School student Kaylani Topou.
The state Board of Fisheries is at the center of two controversies that have brought the attention of fishermen’s associations and a local representative. Kenai Peninsula Fishermen’s Association has called an action alert opposing Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s recent nomination of Judge Karl Johnstone to the seven-member board. Johnstone is a former Superior Court judge and has served as the chair of the Board of Fisheries. The fishermen’s association expressed concern over how Johnstone’s nomination would effect the ratio of sportfishing seats to commercial seats. “The Board of Fisheries is set to be stacked with a ratio of five sport seats and only two commercial fisheries seats,” the association said in a release. “… Karl’s appointment will upset the delicate balance on the (Board of Fisheries) and swings it too far towards sportfish.” On the opposite side, the Kenai River Sportsfishing Association is rallying behind Johnstone. “He was praised by his colleagues on the Board for being approachable, thorough, and interested in feedback and opinions — the type of person Alaskans want representing them on the Board of Fisheries,” the sportsfishing association said in a release. “We need your voice to help to confirm Karl Johnstone, and all the nominees, to the Board of Fisheries.” If confirmed by a majority of legislators, board
See RALLY, page A12
See FISH, page A12
Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, works a calculator as he and Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, listen to public testimony on the state budget in the Senate Finance Committee hearing Friday. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
conversations about the PFD among its top priorities during the budget process. “It looks like the House put the dividend last, it’s their last priority by not funding
(the PFD),” Costello said in an interview Friday, “and the governor has placed the dividend first. The Senate will prioritize the dividend along with public safety and health
care and transportation and these important state priorities.” Gov. Mike Dunleavy campaigned on the promise See PFD, page A2
Kids rally at Capitol for school funding By ALEX MCCARTHY Juneau Empire
Katie McKenna stood on the steps of the Alaska State Capitol and spoke forcefully into the microphone. She wanted to make sure Gov. Mike Dunleavy heard her. “Your budget plan abandons us,” the JuneauDouglas High School junior said, pausing as a crowd of more than 400 people applauded. “My generation wants to know, do you have children? Are you OK with how you’re valuing young people across Alaska? We students feel you view us as a writeoff cost.” McKenna was one of nearly a dozen speakers who stood in the Saturday sunlight and urged those in the Capitol to prioritize education. The rally, called Fund Our Future, brought together hundreds
Board of Fisheries at center of criticism
Flanked by younger students holding signs, Juneau-Douglas High School junior Katie McKenna speaks at the Fund Our Future rally on the steps of the Alaska State Capitol on Saturday. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)
of students, educators, advocates, lawmakers and community members in opposition to hefty cuts to education in Dunleavy’s
budget proposal. The event leaned heavily on student speakers, including McKenna. Fellow Crimson Bear Arias
White House: Migrants to sanctuary cities not a top choice By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump wants to explore a twice-rejected proposal to send migrants to “sanctuary cities,” but that is not the preferred solution to fix the straining immigration system, the White House said Sunday. Press secretary Sarah Sanders said it was one of many options, though she
hoped Congress would work with the president on a comprehensive immigration overhaul. The Trump administration is dealing with an ever-increasing number of Central American migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, an influx that has pushed the immigration system to the breaking point. Laws make it hard to quickly return Central
Americans, and many of them spend years in the U.S. waiting for their immigration cases to play out. Others claim asylum and wait just as long, living and working in the U.S. as they wait. “Sanctuary cities” are mostly left-leaning places such as New York City and San Francisco where laws prohibit local police and correction officers from working with immigration
Borough to vote on school district supplemental funding ordinance By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
An ordinance that may help retain some of the district’s non-tenured teachers will be voted on at Tuesday’s Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting. The ordinance would appropriate $2,423,955 for the school district’s fiscal year 2019 budget. After the joint assembly and school board meeting on March 5, Superintendent Sean Dusek submitted a let-
ter to the assembly asking to fund the school district for 2019. The maximum amount allowable at this time is $2,423,955. Public comment on the ordinance was taken on April 2, since Tuesday’s meeting will be held in Seward. Residents will have the opportunity to provide more public comment, either in person at the meeting in Seward, or through teleconference sites established at the borough’s assembly chambers
in Soldotna and in Homer. “During that work session the school district provided information supporting its need for maximum funding from the borough for the FY 2019 budget based on proposals to significantly reduce state funding for education in both FY 2019 and FY 2020, as well as other state cuts in funding,” according to a memo from assembly members Willy Dunne and Hal Smalley, the ordinance See SCHOOL, page A3
officials to help arrest and deport people living here illegally. Trump seized on reports last week of the proposal that sought to send migrants already detained to Democratic locations or transport migrants that have just crossed the U.S.Mexico border to sanctuary cities. Sanders said the idea would be to spread out the number of migrants so the
strain would not be on “one or two border communities.” “The president likes the idea and Democrats have said they want these individuals into their communities so let’s see if it works and everybody gets a win out of it,” Sanders said. “Again, this is not the ideal situation.” Trump tweeted on Saturday evening that the U.S. See WH, page A3
Escape Route road trade with state tabled By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
A proposed public roads exchange that would have handed off the Nikiski Emergency Escape Route to the state has been shelved. At the April 2 Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting, assembly member Kenn Carpenter said the borough roads department and state couldn’t come to an agreement on the exchange. “These are roads that the borough and the state
have been working on trading throughout the borough here,” he said. “Things haven’t been going too well, so we’re going to ask to table it here after the public meeting.” In an October letter to Kenai Peninsula Borough Road Service Area Roads Director Dil Uhlin, the Alaska Department of Transportation’s Peninsula District Superintendent Carl High outlined a proposal to trade ownership and maintenance See ROAD, page A2