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Vol. 49, Issue 198
In the news Corps corrects end date for Pebble project comment period JUNEAU — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has corrected the closing date for the extended comment period for a draft environmental review of a proposed copper and gold mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. The corps earlier this month said it was extending the comment period from 90 days to 120 days and said it would end June 29. However, John Budnik, a spokesman for the corps, said by email Monday that a formal comment period cannot close on a weekend. He says the new close date is July 1. The Pebble Limited Partnership wants to develop the mine in Southwest Alaska. Critics of the project fear it could impact a major salmon fishery.
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Knopp censured by Republicans By Brian Mazurek Peninsula Clarion
Rep. Gary Knopp, RKenai/Soldotna, faced an official censure on Friday from the Alaska Republican Party State Central Committee for his role in forming a majority coalition with Democratic representatives at the beginning of this year’s legislative session. Glenn Clary, chairman of the State Central Committee, said that the censure will have three major consequences for Knopp: Knopp will no longer receive any official support — financial or otherwise — from the Alaska Republican Party; a primary chal-
Rep. Gary Knopp, R-Kenai/Soldotna, and Rep. Dave Talerico, R-Healy, sit next to each other after Knopp voted not to confirm Talerico as Speaker of the House on Feb. 5. (Alex McCarthy | Juneau Empire)
lenger to Knopp will be supported by the party and Knopp will be prohibited
from participating in any official Alaska Republican Party activities.
As of now, two people have already filed as primary challengers against Knopp, who is up for reelection in 2020: Ron Gillham, who previously ran against Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, in the last election cycle, and former Rep. Kelly Wolf. Clary said that the Alaska Republican Party has not yet endorsed either of these candidates. The motion for censure was made during Friday’s Republican Party committee meeting in Kenai by Jason Floyd, a member of the District 30 Republicans and a constituent of Knopp. According to the language in the motion, Knopp “enSee REP, page A2
Troopers arrest suspect in death of Fairbanks woman FAIRBANKS — Alaska State Troopers have arrested a 25-yearold Fairbanks man suspected of killing a 69-year-old woman with whom he had been staying. A trooper patrolling Friday north of North Pole spotted Patrick Marsh walking. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports Marsh provided a false name but troopers positively identified and arrested him. Marsh is charged with killing Trisha Pearson on May 12 at her home west of Fairbanks. Prosecutors say a home video surveillance system installed by another of Pearson’s tenants captured images of Marsh striking Pearson with pieces of furniture and strangling her. Prosecutors say Marsh covered Pearson’s body and left the house in her sport utility vehicle. The SUV was found abandoned in east Fairbanks. Other tenants asked a friend to check on Pearson. Her body was found May 13. — Associated Press
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Caroline Huber, left, and Derek Brown graduated from the IDEA Homeschool program at the Kenai Central High School on Saturday. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
A unique ceremony for a unique school IDEA home-school students graduate By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
A statewide home-school program graduated 45 Kenai Peninsula students Saturday afternoon. IDEA Homeschool is a statewide home-schooling program that began out of
the Galena City School District in 1997. The program has a handful of local offices across the state, including on the Kenai Peninsula, where the program serves nearly 1,000 students. “It’s an amazing program,” Dean O’Dell, the site
administrator for the local office, said. “We serve quite a few families here.” O’Dell said the IDEA Homeschool graduation is not a typical ceremony. “Our ceremony is a little different than most,” O’Dell said. “Instead of administrators handing diplomas to
Crime bill vote delayed By Ben Hohenstatt Juneau Empire
Representatives hadn’t seen a new crime bill more than an hour after the legislation was expected on the House floor Monday, and they expected the delay was just getting started. A delayed afternoon flight, 4 p.m. caucusing and 5 p.m. public testimony combined to form an hourslong delay for an expected 3 p.m. vote on House Bill 49. “The intent is to go tonight even if it’s a little bit later than we normally would like and take a vote on the crime bill,” Rep. Lance Pruitt, R-Anchorage, told the Juneau Empire.
“It’s just kind of a weird special session delay.” Rep. Tammie Wilson, R-North Pole, agreed the
delay was an odd one in light of the sunny weather in Southeast Alaska. See VOTE, page A2
Troopers begin high-visibility enforcement campaign By Brian Mazurek Peninsula Clarion
Alaskans can expect to see a higher number of State Troopers on the highways for the next two weeks, and those troopers will specifically be on the
students, we encourage the parents to take part and hand the diplomas to the students. It’s really quite special and unlike most ceremonies.” Caroline Huber, a senior who graduated this year, said her favorite part of studying in the program was See IDEA, page A3
lookout for people who aren’t wearing their seat belt. Alaska State and Wildlife Troopers have begun their Annual Click It or Ticket high-visibility enforcement efforts across the state, according to
a Monday press release from the Department of Public Safety. Colonel Barry Wilson, director of the Alaska State Troopers, said that the main focus of the campaign is to save lives. See HIGH, page A3
School board approves some nontenured teacher contracts By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Sixty two non-tenured teachers will avoid pink slips at the end of this year. At Thursday’s Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meeting, the school board moved to offer contracts to more than 60 teachers across the district. The jobs weren’t secure due to fiscal uncertainty around Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed budget and the local contribution from the borough. Education funding is in a more certain place, now that Gov. Dunleavy has promised to not veto education funding and the borough says they’ll fund to the cap, or to the maximum allowable by statute. “The only reason the district waited on NonTenured teacher contracts was due to the fiscal uncertainty of state funding for FY20,” Pegge Erkeneff, communications liaison for the district, said in an email. The contracts are based on contracts that were set to expire last June, but are still in effect. Since May 8, the district and two employee associations, Kenai Peninsula Education Association and Kenai Peninsula Education Support Association, have been negotiating a new contract in several collective bargaining meetings, to replace the outdated agreement. Thursday’s session ended with no conSee BOARD, page A3
Fatalities confirmed in floatplane crash By Ben Hohenstatt Juneau Empire
Tammie Wilson, R-North Pole, speaks about the House’s work on the crime bill at the canyon Monday. (Michael Penn/Juneau Empire)
Partly cloudy
Two people died after a floatplane crashed in the water near Ketchikan late Monday afternoon. A pilot and a single passenger died after a Taquan Air Beaver floatplane crashed in Metlakatla Harbor at 4:10 p.m., according to a press release from the emergency Operations Center in Ketchikan. No others were aboard the plane. The names of the deceased in Monday’s crash were not released Monday evening pending notification of next of kin. The fatal crash comes one week after a fatal mid-air collision involving two floatplanes near Ketchikan. Six died and 10 were injured in that crash. A Taquan Air Beaver was also involved in that crash. Both of the deceased were brought to the Annette Island Service Unit, and good Samaritans brought the Beaver to the beach until it could be secured, according to the release.
The U.S. Coast Guard received a report of the crash at 4:10 p.m., according to Public Affairs Specialist Lauren Dean. “The Coast Guard has responded to that, but we’re not the lead on that case,” Dean said. She said Metlakatla Police, Alaska State Troopers, local EMS and good Samaritans were able to assist the people aboard the floatplane before the Coast Guard was on the scene. Fifteen members of the Metlakatla Volunteer Fire Department responded to the crash. A seine boat was first on scene. The Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad dispatched a 26-foot rescue boat at 4:56 p.m. with eight volunteers, according to the release. While circumstances of the crash have not been released, Jerry Kiffer, Incident Commander for Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad told the Juneau Empire that while he could not speak to the exact conditions in Metlakatla Harbor visibility was good and See CRASH, page A3