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Vol. 49, Issue 210
Grannie Annie’s crab specialties
Kenai River takes 9 in NAHL Draft
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ANCHORAGE — Anchorage police have released the name of a woman killed last week in a traffic crash. Police say the woman killed Thursday afternoon on the city’s east side was 55-year-old Candace Hathaway. Hathaway was a passenger in a car that collided with a sport utility vehicle at Debarr Road and Edward Street. She died at the scene. A woman driving the car was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. The crash killed a dog in the car. A man driving the SUV was not injured.
CLARION
Wasilla police identify pilot killed in crash near airport ANCHORAGE — Wasilla police have released the name of the pilot killed last week in an airplane crash at the city airport. Police say the man killed Thursday afternoon was 61-year-old John Hutchison of Big Lake. Anchorage television station KTVA reports Hutchison was the only person on board the experimental aircraft. Wasilla police officers spotted the airplane experiencing apparent mechanical issues. They say Hutchison was attempting to return to the airport when he crashed. Clint Johnson of the National Transportation Safety Board says the airplane took off at a steep angle and the left wing dropped before the plane crashed nose first onto a road. The cause of the crash has not been determined. — Associated Press
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Long road ahead Road construction on schedule, but just beginning By Brian Mazurek Peninsula Clarion
JUNEAU — The Alaska Senate on Tuesday narrowly voted down a full dividend payout from the Alaska Permanent Fund this year, with a prominent supporter of the proposal absent. The 10-8 vote came after
Music series starts tonight By Brian Mazurek Peninsula Clarion
Construction crews excavate along the side of the Kenai Spur Highway in Soldotna, on Tuesday. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
than 20 minutes should be expected with possible flagging operations in place. Two 12-hour crews are
working around the clock to get as much of the work done as possible before July. Forkner said the goal
is to avoid delays from increased traffic during the weekend of July 4, as well See ROAD, page A15
Alaska Senate votes down full PFD By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
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Wednesday, June 5, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
The major road construction projects on the peninsula are moving forward on schedule, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be done any time soon. Three major Department of Transportation projects are currently underway, one on the Kenai Spur Highway and two on the Sterling Highway. On the Kenai Spur Highway from Sports Lake Road to Swire Road, crews are widening the road to five lanes — two in each direction with one passing lane — and installing new culverts. Marcus Forkner, DOT project engineer, said Homer Electric Association, ACS Wireless and GCI wireless are currently removing their underground cables from the area so that crews can continue to excavate along the sides of the road. Delays of no more
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In the news Anchorage police release name of woman killed in car crash
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the Senate, by the same tally, adopted an amendment calling for a full payout with checks to qualified residents estimated to be around $3,000. The initial bill proposed $1,600 checks. At least 11 votes were needed for the bill to pass. Sen. Mike Shower, a Wasilla Republican who
has supported a full payout, posted on Facebook Saturday that he would not be in Juneau because of his work. Shower, a pilot, said he had used up vacation and leave time as this year’s sessions have dragged on. The Senate majority’s communications director said Shower has an excusal for the rest of
the special session. Senate Democratic Leader Tom Begich of Anchorage also was absent Tuesday. “We’ll have a dividend for the public we just don’t know the amount. The process continues,” Senate Finance Committee Co-chair PFD, page A2
Wednesdays at Soldotna Creek Park are about to get loud. Tonight marks the first night of the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series, a series of 12 free concerts taking place every Wednesday from June 5 to Aug. 21. Tonight’s concert will be headlined by Blackwater Railroad Company, a folk and bluegrass band based out of Seward. Opening for Blackwater Railroad Company will be the Cow Skinners, a rock group based in the central peninsula. The Cow Skinners will be making their Soldotna Music Series debut, but the folks in Blackwater Railroad Company are no strangers to the event. Andrew Heuiser, the events and programs director for the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce, said that Blackwater has been a staple of the concert series and has made appearances since the event first started in the summer of 2015. In addition to live music, the event will feature local food trucks and craft booths, as well a different See PARK, page A3
Gravel pit controversy continues in Anchor Point By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
From Hans Bilben’s back deck, one can see Mount Redoubt, waves from Cook Inlet crashing on the beach at Anchor Point and hillsides dotted with a handful of homes. Perched on the side of a natural amphitheater, Bilben’s house also overlooks a patch of undeveloped forest that extends across the valley below. Bilben, his wife Jeanne and many of their neighbors fear that their scenic view will be damaged if a proposed gravel pit moves in next door. Emmitt Trimble — owner of Coastal Realty, whose family has been developing and selling property in the area for around 40 years — manages Beachcomber LLC, a company that’s been working for a year to excavate gravel on 27 acres
Pete Kineen, a neighbor of the proposed Beachcomber LLC gravel pit, stands on his deck and points to where the pit could be, on May 2, in Anchor Point. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
of his property. The property, totaling around 40 acres, sits at the bottom of the natural amphitheater, 500
feet from the Anchor River and near several state parks and campgrounds. As a developer, Trimble said one
US court weighs if climate change violates children’s rights By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. — In a courtroom packed with environmental activists, federal judges wrestled Tuesday with whether climate change violates the constitutional rights of young people who have sued the U.S. government over the use of fossil fuels. A Justice Department attorney warned three judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that allowing the case to go to trial would be un-
precedented and open the doors to more lawsuits. “This case would have earth-shattering consequences,” Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark said. He called the lawsuit “a direct attack on the separation of powers” and said the 21 young people who filed it want the courts to direct U.S. energy policy, instead of government officials. The young people are pressing the government to stop promoting the use of fossil fuels, saying
sources like coal and oil cause climate change and violate their Fifth Amendment rights to life, liberty and property. The judges seemed to feel the enormity of the case, which the plaintiffs’ lawyer compared in scope to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling that mandated desegregation of schools in the 1950s. If the case moves forward, the judiciary would be “dealing with different branches of governSee RIGHT, page A15
of his major costs is gravel. He said he wants the property’s 40 or so acres to be multi-use, where 27 acres
is used to mine gravel, and the oceanfront parcels remain untouched, as a legacy property for his daughters. The Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission rarely denies gravel pit permits, but last July, Trimble’s application to excavate his Anchor Point property was denied after hours of public testimony raised concerns about potential disturbances created by the gravel pit, including damaged views, noise, dust, truck traffic and the property values of adjacent property owners, the Clarion previously reported. Commissioners who voted to deny the permit said it wouldn’t meet the noise and visual impact conditions even with additional buffers, according to Clarion archives. “If you are willing to meet the conditions required, you get the permit,” See PIT, page A16
Melting glaciers create new market for Alaska tour operators ANCHORAGE (AP) — The rapid melting of glaciers because of climate change has created a new market for Alaska’s tour operators, officials said. Operators of several tour companies are experiencing an increase in customers booking trips to see the receding glaciers of the nation’s only Arctic state before they lose access to them, The Anchorage Daily News reported Sunday. A new review of glacier research data published in the Journal of Glaciology predicts Alaska’s 25,000 glaciers will lose between
30% and 50% of their mass by the end of this century. There is “more awareness” of the receding glaciers among tourists, said Paul Roderick, operations director for Talkeetna Air Taxi, which flies customers over the ice fields of Denali and the Alaska Range. “‘I’m glad I’m up here seeing these ancient rivers of ice before they disappear.’ People definitely say that,” Roderick said. Some people call Major Marine Tours in Whittier saying they want to see glaciers in Alaska “beSee MELT, page A3