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P E N I N S U L A
Monday, April 29, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 179
Capitol priorities
In the news University of Alaska seeking people affected by data breach FAIRBANKS — The University of Alaska is attempting to contact people who may have been affected by a computer data breach. The Daily News-Miner reported Sunday that hacking between January and February 2018 may have compromised email accounts containing a wide variety of personal information. The university is trying to reach those whose information may have been stolen and has set up an information hotline. Investigators determined in March 2018 that email accounts may have been affected by the intrusion that was initially thought to be limited to changing account passwords in the UAOnline Services system. The university says information varies by individual, but may include names, dates of birth, passport and government-issued identification numbers, driver’s license numbers, financial account and student identification numbers, and health and health insurance information.
Troopers investigate road rage involving school bus FAIRBANKS — Officials say two men forced a school bus taking Alaska elementary students home to stop in the middle of the road during an apparent road rage encounter last week. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports Alaska State Troopers are investigating after the car abruptly stopped in front of the bus in the North Pole area, and the men got out to yell at the bus driver last Tuesday. Ticasuk Brown Elementary School interim principal Alicia Lewis said in an email to parents that the bus slowly started moving forward, but the car followed it to the next stop. Lewis said the bus driver held students on the bus until parents arrived. Troopers also were called. Lewis said a monitor was placed on the bus the next day as a precautionary measure. — Associated Press
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As session heads into final weeks, Micciche talks budget, crime bills, PFD By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
With time running out on the 2019 legislative session, Alaska lawmakers will spend the next few weeks negotiating a budget while working furiously to get their agendas passed. In an update on the session so far, Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Kenai/Soldotna, told the Clarion his priority in Juneau is to see lawmakers approve a budget that lowers government spending. “We haven’t gone through our amendments yet, but I’m pushing for as many cuts that are attainable and deliverable this year,” Micciche said. “None of them being a cost shift to local municipalities.” Micciche is also hopeful he will see his five crime bills passed — SB
Seward to welcome new city manager By KAT SORENSEN Peninsula Clarion
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 on Friday, April 12. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
12, SB 32, SB 33, SB 34 and SB 35. The crime bills cover changes to law regarding how sexual as-
sault cases are handled, pre-trial sentencing, probation and parole and crimes related to con-
trolled substances. “It took many evenings of public testimony, but See SEN., page A2
Seward will have a new, permanent city manager come May 1. On Wednesday, Seward City Council approved a three-year contract with Scott Mezaros, former town manager of Meeker, Colorado, with a salary of $140,000 plus benefits. His official start date is May 1. Meszaros was offered the job, filling a vacancy that’s been open since August 2018 when former City Manager Jim Hunt resigned. The role was filled with interim city managers, including Jeff Bridges, who served in the role for six months and helped the city search for a permanent city manager.
See CITY, page A12
Village eyes reindeer plant idea as economic boost By RACHEL D’ORO Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — An Alaska pastor has launched a campaign to help an impoverished Aleut village create a new economy with the plentiful supply of reindeer that roam its isolated island home. John Honan sees great potential for establishing a small commercial reindeer processing plant in Saint George, home to 60 people and an estimated 350 reindeer. Honan, a Protestant pastor who runs an emergency housing ministry on another island, has
This undated photo provided by Pat Pletnikoff shows reindeer traveling on Saint George Island near the village of Saint George. (Pat Pletnikoff via AP)
started a donation drive for equipment, contact-
ing local businesses to get involved, and has set
up a relief fund for Saint George. Donations so far
include a portable band saw, a table saw, two sets of butchering knives and $730 to go toward a refrigerated shipping container he envisions serving as the processing plant building. “Saint George is a neighbouring island, and we love our neighbours,” Honan said. Honan got involved when Saint George Mayor Pat Pletnikoff reached out to tribal leaders in Unalaska for help after an Alaska airline began offering regular flights between the two communities last year. Pletnikoff says at least half of Saint See DEER, page A12
‘Choir for Peace’ to play in Homer next week By Michael Armstrong Homer News
In the spirit of Homer performances of Mozart’s “Requiem,” sung in 2001 and 2002 to honor the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, a community music and art event to be held next weekend addresses a similar theme. How do we find peace in a violent and turbulent world? “Choir for Peace” comes at the subject from
a different direction, though, said Mark Robinson, who shares conducting the choral performance with Homer High School Choir Director Kyle Schneider. “I don’t see this as a grieving thing,” Robinson said. “… I see it as more uplifting and sort of a call to our higher selves, individually and collectively.” Sponsored by Pier One Theatre, the con-
cert brings together the 45-member Homer High School Concert Choir and the 90-member Kenai Peninsula Community Chorus backed by the 32-member Choir for Peace Orchestra. Schneider conducts composer Paul Aitken’s “And None Shall Be Afraid,” a fivepart cantata that concludes the evening. Aitken will visit Homer for a dress rehearsal and one performance.
Jail fire kills 2 prisoners, seriously injures guard NAPAKIAK (AP) — An early morning fire at an Alaska jail killed two inmates and seriously injured a guard who was trying to release them, officials said. Authorities did not immediately identify the victims of the fire Sunday in the village of Napakiak in southwest Alaska, the Anchorage Daily News reported Sunday. Alaska State Troopers received a report around 1:30 a.m. that the jailhouse was “engulfed in flames” and that two prisoners inside their cells “were not able to get free” of their cells.
The injured guard was flown out of the community by a medivac helicopter. Two other guards escaped the building without reported injuries. Aspects of the fire remain under question, including who operated the jail in the village of about 380 people southwest of Bethel, the newspaper reported. It was not immediately known what the victims were in custody for and whether the building was equipped with smoke detectors. A guard reported the blaze was the result of a prisoner setting fire to a mat-
tress, but it was unclear how materials to start a fire got into a cell. Two state troopers from Bethel, two fire marshals from Anchorage and an investigator with the Alaska Bureau of Investigation traveled to Napakiak to investigate Sunday, police said. A 2018 survey of public safety facilities by the Association of Village Council Presidents found problems with windows, door locks and exterior stairs at Napakiak’s public safety building, although it was not immediately clear if that was the same location as the fire.
There also is a special appearance by the Homer Children’s Choir, directed by Britny Bradshaw. Choir for Peace performs at 7 p.m. May 3 and 4 at the Mariner Theatre. Tickets are $18 general, $17 for seniors, $16 for members of the Raven’s Club and $10 for youth. They are available at the Homer Bookstore and at the door. “This particular project has pulled a lot of
people out of the woodwork,” said Laura Norton, production manager. “We have a very large group of new singers. It’s very exciting.” The event also includes spoken word poetry and prose read by Rev. Lisa Talbott of Homer United Methodist Church. An exhibit of 4-inch by 6-inch art is on display in the Homer High School Commons, with work See PEACE, page A2
Father settles lawsuit over withdrawal death in jail WASILLA (AP) — The father of a woman who died of heroin withdrawal in an Alaska jail has settled a wrongful death lawsuit against the state. A judge approved a $400,000 settlement April 19 of the March 2016 lawsuit filed against the Alaska Department of Corrections by John Green, the father of Kellsie Green, The Anchorage Daily News reported Friday. The 24-year-old died five days after entering an Anchorage jail in January 2016. Her death cer-
tificate indicated she died at the Alaska Regional Hospital of malnutrition, dehydration, renal failure and heart dysrhythmia. Alaska State Troopers arrested the woman, described by her family as a five-year heroin addict, at her parents’ request on a community service violation. Green was willing to settle in part because the state released video, audio and depositions and reports from his daughter’s case that he said detail how the system failed his daughter. See JAIL, page A12