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P E N I N S U L A
Monday, April 22, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 173
In the news Former Girdwood baseball star killed in California accident ANCHORAGE — A former Alaska high school baseball star has died after being struck by a car in California. The Anchorage Daily News reported Sunday that 19-year-old Sladen Mohl of Girdwood, Alaska, died Thursday night in Torrance, California. Torrance police say Mohl was standing on an island separating lanes near an intersection when a 16-year-old girl driving a Toyota Highlander ran a red light and struck him before hitting two other vehicles. Police say the driver is suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Mohl was treated by emergency personnel but died at the scene in the Los Angeles suburb. Mohl was in his freshman year playing catcher at Torrance’s El Camino College and was a 2017 all-Cook Inlet Conference choice from South High School in Anchorage.
Authorities find body of missing Texas man FAIRBANKS — Alaska authorities say search and rescue dogs have found the body of a Texas man who went missing in Fairbanks. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the body of 55-year-old Travis Tyre was located last Thursday near the hotel where he had been staying in the city’s west side. Alaska State Troopers say they don’t believe foul play was involved in his death, but the investigation is continuing. Tyre was reported missing April 14. Troopers say his body has been sent to the state medical examiner’s office in Anchorage for an autopsy. — Associated Press
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Homer explores school consolidation By Megan Pacer Homer News
As the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District makes contingency plans in case Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed cuts to education funding go through unaltered, Homer area residents learned more last week about how those plans might affect students in the community. The district held an ex-
ploratory meeting last Monday at Homer High School to discuss the possibility of consolidating the high school with Homer Middle School. If it happened, the middle school building would be closed and its students and staff moved into the high school campus. Dunleavy’s proposed budget would mean a $22.4 million reduction to the peninsula’s school district alone. Thus, the district is making
plans to be able to deal with the worst case scenario. Local Alaska Senate representative Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, has said it’s unlikely Dunleavy’s budget will go through as-is, especially when it comes to education funding. Interim Superintendent John O’Brien said consolidation of the two Homer schools is not the most likely option the district is looking at. He explained that, logistically, it
makes the most sense to consolidate Soldotna High School and Soldotna Prep, which currently houses freshmen. “Please know that this is not a done deal,” O’Brien said. “… This is just the very beginning of our conversation with the Homer community about this potential consolidation.” Consolidating the schools would save the district about $459,000 in operating costs See SCHOOL , page A2
Mueller report fallout continues Trump called on spy chiefs for help as Mueller probe began By DEB RIECHMANN and SUSANNAH GEORGE Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Two months before special counsel Robert Mueller was appointed in the spring of 2017, President Donald Trump picked up the phone and called the head of the largest U.S. intelligence agency. Trump told Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, that news stories alleging that Trump’s 2016 White House campaign had ties to Russia were false and the president asked whether Rogers could do anything to counter them. Rogers and his deputy Richard Ledgett, who was present for the call, were taken aback. Afterward, Ledgett wrote a memo about the conversation and Trump’s request. He and Rogers signed it and stashed it in a safe. Ledgett said it was the “most unusual thing he had experienced in 40 years
Special Counsel Robert Mueller departs Easter services at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Sunday, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
of government service.” Trump’s outreach to Rogers, who retired last year, and other top intelligence officials stands in sharp con-
trast to his public, combative stance toward his intelligence agencies. At the time of the call, Trump was just some 60 days into his presidency,
but he already had managed to alienate large parts of the intelligence apparatus with comments denigrating the See REPORT, page A3
Small quakes hit Prince William Sound, Southcentral VALDEZ (AP) — The Alaska Earthquake Center reports that a small earthquake has hit the Prince William Sound region of Alaska. The Fairbanks-based center says a magnitude 3.0 earthquake struck at 11:48 a.m. Sunday about 24 miles northwest of Valdez, which has about 3,900 residents. The center adds that residents of Valdez felt it. The earthquake had a depth of 11 miles. The center says that at 6:04 p.m. Sunday, a magnitude 3.1 earthquake hit a spot 26 miles east of Knik-Fairview, a town of about 900 people in the Anchorage metropolitan area. The earthquake had a depth of 20 miles. The center says that at 10:31 p.m. Saturday, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake hit the Andreanof Islands region of Alaska, which is about 11,200 miles west of Anchorage. This earthquake had a depth of about 8 miles. At 7:39 p.m. Saturday, a magnitude 2.9 earthquake hit a spot 4 miles southwest of Sterling. The center says the earthquake had a depth of about 22 miles and was felt in Sterling.
Juneau retailers would like to see onsite pot consumption By Ben Hohenstatt Juneau Empire
Amy Herrick hopes she doesn’t see wrappers, roaches or other signs of marijuana use on public trails in the coming months. However, the store manager for Alaska Kush Company, admits even though the marijuana retailer prints warnings against public consumption on its bags, people tend to toke indiscriminately. “It’s a super sad thing,” Herrick said during an interview with the Juneau Empire. That’s one of the reasons she said Alaska Kush Company is excited about recent City and Borough of Juneau Committee of the Whole decisions to look into po-
Amy Herrick, manager at the Alaskan Kush Company downtown retail store, talks about the possibility of opening an onsite consumption space on Tuesday in Juneau. (Michael Penn/Juneau Empire)
tentially changing city ordinances allowing onsite consumption of marijuana at marijuana shops. “It’s really great it’s back on the table,” Herrick said.
“We don’t want people consuming in the streets.” While local discussions are far from settled, as of April 11, free-standing stores can apply for en-
dorsements from the state to allow customers to consume on their premises, which is not allowed by city ordinance. The state’s regulations specify a number of conditions a retailer must meet for onsite consumption and those regulations have the backing of the marijuana industry. “The official position of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association is we support the regs as written,” said AMIA President Brandon Emmett in a phone interview with the Juneau Empire. These include stipulations that the smoking area be separate from the rest of the store by either a separate ventilation system and secure door or by being out-
doors. There are also limits on how much can be sold to a person in one day — edible products not to exceed 10 milligrams of THC and bud or flower not to exceed one gram, according to the regulations. Concentrates including wax, shatter and vape cartridges are not allowed. “Alaska Kush Company is definitely interested in onsite consumption,” Herrick said. So is Green Elephant, said the marijuana retailer’s co-owner Jennifer Canfield, but she said in a phone interview it’s not an incredibly pressing concern. Other marijuana retailers in Juneau did not return calls seeking comment. “We have the space, and See POT, page A2
Ketchikan teacher, pastor Former southern peninsula nurses allege age discrimination sentenced for sex abuse By Michael Armstrong Homer News
A group of former South Peninsula Hospital nurses have filed a civil suit alleging age discrimination by hospital managers. In a suit filed on March 15 in Homer District Court against South Peninsula Hospital Inc. — the nonprofit organization that operates the hospital — Chris Long, Laurie Stargel, Brian Miller, Louise St. Laurent and Katherine White claim they lost their jobs as part of a pattern of age discrimination by the hospital’s chief nursing offi-
cer and other managers. All of the plaintiffs were 50 years or older at the time. In the complaint filed by Long et al.’s Anchorage lawyer, Michael Flanigan, they claim actions of SPH management personnel “involved a concerted plan and scheme to force the plaintiffs to leave as employees and staff, due to their age.” The goal was “to rid the hospital of nursing staff over 50 years of age and replace them with younger, far less experienced and cheaper nursing staff, despite the fact that the plaintiffs were highly qualified and experienced and contributed greatly to the pro-
viding of quality care at the hospital,” Flanigan wrote in the complaint. In the complaint, Long claimed he worked 10 years as a registered nurse, or RN, and later as assistant surgical services manager. In November 2017, Long signed a contract with SPH to work as assistant surgical services manager in a job sharing arrangement with St. Laurent. He was to work six-month stretches. St. Laurent had worked as an operating room nurse. Long’s contract would continue even if St. Laurent left. St. Laurent claimed that See AGE, page A3
KETCHIKAN (AP) — A former high school teacher and pastor in southeast Alaska will be going to prison for sexually abusing a teenage girl at a school, a church and his home. Douglas Edwards, 60, was sentenced last week to 18 years in prison with 12 years suspended after pleading guilty in February to one count of sexual abuse of a minor, the Ketchikan Daily News reported . The former Ketchikan High School teacher placed his hand inside the victim’s “shirt, underneath her bra,
and rubbed or touched her bare breast” multiple times between August and November 2017, Edwards said in the plea agreement. He groped the teen, who was under the age of 16, under the guise of hugging, he said. The encounters occurred at the high school, his home, and the First Baptist Church of Ketchikan, Edwards said in the agreement. The victim and her family told authorities that the groping occurred at least 10 to 15 times. “He took advantage of those positions of trust,” See ABUSE, page A3