History
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Vol. 49, Issue 216
In the news 2 dead gray whales discovered near Kodiak Island KODIAK — Two dead gray whales have been found in Alaska, raising the whale death toll in the state so far this year to seven, officials said. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed the two whale deaths near Kodiak, The Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Tuesday. NOAA declared an “unusual mortality event” and launched an investigation into the cause of the large number of deaths. A dead gray whale was spotted last week floating and later beached in Kodiak Island’s Portage Bay, southwest of Anchorage, officials said. The whale was about 30 feet long and there was evidence it had been preyed upon by killer whales, said Alaska Regional Health Specialist and Data Manager Kate Savage. The whale was in a state of advanced decomposition, Savage said. During an aerial survey Friday, another dead gray whale was seen floating on the northern side of Aiaktalik Island near Kodiak Island, officials said. The eastern North Pacific gray whale population that migrates from Mexico to the Arctic each summer was last estimated at about 27,000 animals, officials said. More than 150 gray whales deaths have been reported this year in Mexico, Canada and the U.S. The two whale deaths in the Kodiak area bring the U.S. count to 75 as of June 6, officials said. — Assoicated Press
Fish count Anchor River kings • June 11 — 68 • 2019 YTD — 1,800 • 2018 YTD — 452
Kenai River early run kings • June 11 — 206 • 2019 YTD — 2,332 • 2018 YTD — 1,742
Russian River early run sockeye • June 11 — 5,294 • 2019 YTD — 13,765 • 2018 YTD — 178
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Thursday, June 13, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
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Swan Lake Fire grows overnight By Brian Mazurek Peninsula Clarion
The Swan Lake Fire continues to burn in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge northeast of Sterling, and as of Tuesday night it had reached 3,665 acres in size — an increase of 1,000 acres from the previous day. The fire was caused by lightning last Wednesday and is burning in a limited protection area within the refuge. Division of Forestry Public Information Officer Sarah Saarloos said that the area where the fire is burning is dense with highly flammable black spruce and has not seen a natural fire since 1947. As a result, fire managers from the Alaska Division of Forestry are working with refuge personnel to actively monitor the fire while allowing the natural burn process to occur. The fire is about 2.7 miles north of the Sterling Highway at its closest
Partly cloudy
Russian River sockeye catch limits doubled By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
highway and the fire consists mostly of wetlands and sparse patches of fuel that will limit its spread. A
High salmon returns have prompted the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to double the limit for sockeye catch at the Russian River, which opened Tuesday, a press release said. The limit will double from three sockeye salmon to six per day starting Friday through July 14, at the Russian River and a section of the mainstream Upper Kenai River. As of June 11, 13,765 sockeye salmon had passed the Russian River weir. A June 10 staff-conducted survey estimated more than 5,000 fish were in the Russian River Sanctuary Area. “It is exciting to see the number of sockeye salmon that have passed through the Russian River weir and been observed in river,” area management biologist
See FIRE, page A2
See FISH, page A3
The Swan Lake Fire, as seen from the Mystery Hills, burns Wednesday, on the Kenai Peninsula. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
point, but Sarloos said that the fire has mostly spread away from the highway to the northeast and northwest and is not likely to threaten
any critical infrastructure or populated areas. According to a Wednesday update from the Division of Forestry, the area between the
Legislators want to take ‘emotional debate’ out of PFD By Alex McCarthy Juneau Empire
Recent history repeated itself Wednesday. In the House on Wednesday, Rep. Dave Talerico, RHealy, proposed including a $3,000 PFD in this year’s capital budget. After hours of debate where nearly every present representative spoke, the proposal failed, 21-15. That vote came days after the Senate also failed to agree on a PFD amount. On Wednesday morning, the Permanent Fund working group held its first gathering, with the eventual goal of finding an agreeable future for Alaska Permanent Fund earnings and the dividend. There wasn’t much to see in the first meeting, but the co-chairs of the group outlined what they’ll be doing in the next few weeks.
Co-Chairs Rep. Jennifer Johnston, R-Anchorage, left, and Sen. Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks, prepare to gavel into a joint committee to work on the future of the Alaska Permanent Fund dividend at the Capitol on Wednesday. (Michael Penn/ Juneau Empire)
The working group, which includes four senators and four representatives, will come up with recommendations for the Alaska Leg-
islature about everything relating to the permanent fund — how to allocate money within the fund long-term, how much the
dividend will be worth this year and whether they need to change the formula for calculating the dividend. The group — chaired by
Sen. Click Bishop and Rep. Jennifer Johnston — will meet regularly and Bishop told reporters Wednesday that he hopes to have recommendations for the Legislature in 21 days (which would be July 2). Johnston, an Anchorage Republican, said everything is on the table, and both chairs said they’re looking to take a civil and open approach to the meetings. “My hope, just like Sen. Bishop, is that we can have a conversation that is more about the need to develop some kind of policy without emotion,” Johnston told reporters Wednesday. “A lot of times, and this has been going on for quite some time, this has been an emotional debate. Sometimes emotional debates are good, but sometimes they end up with parties yelling See PFD, page A2
Nonprofit pushes for resource extraction in Alaska By Brian Mazurek Peninsula Clarion
A national nonprofit is setting its sights on Alaska to advocate on behalf of workers in the energy and resource extraction industries. Rick Whitbeck is the state director for Power the
Future, and at a Joint Kenai/Soldotna Chamber of Commerce luncheon last Wednesday he spoke about the role his organization plays in pushing for responsible and sustainable resource extraction while protecting the jobs of energy workers in the state. Whitbeck started the pre-
sentation by listing some figures about energy workers and their impact on the state’s economy. Whitbeck said that the oil and gas industries in Alaska employed more than 5,000 people in 2017 and provided over $750 million in wages, while mining operations produced over 9,000 jobs
PCHS welcomes new CEO By Brian Mazurek Peninsula Clarion
Peninsula Community Health Services recently welcomed a new CEO into the organization — Ben Wright from Duluth, Minnesota. Wright has more than 30 years experience as an administrator for organizations that focus on serving at-risk populations and will be bringing his knack for developing innovative programs to PCHS and the central peninsula. Most of the organizations run by Wright have focused on treating and caring for individuals with mental health issues or intellectual disabilities. Wright’s pas-
Ben Wright is the new CEO of Peninsula Community Health Services in Soldotna. (Courtesy Ben Wright)
sion for working for this population started when he was still in college studying to be a teacher rather than
an administrator. In his senior year of undergraduate studies at the University of North Dakota, he was assigned to work at a local mental health facility while also being a student teacher. Wright recalled being a little scared of the prospect, and at the time associated psychiatric hospitals with the one depicted in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” It didn’t help his apprehension that when he walked in, the staff told him he was now the supervisor and immediately left him alone with all the patients. After about a week of working there, however, he came to love the people he was See PCHS, page A3
and $700 million in wages. Revenues from extraction industries, Whitbeck said, account for more than half of the state’s general fund income every year. “In short, energy and natural resource workers in this state are the heartbeat of the workforce,” Whitbeck said. “The soul of Alaska’s
economy.” Power the Future is a relatively new organization founded in 2018 by Daniel Turner, a public relations and communications strategist who previously served as director of events and venue marketing for DC Event Hub, director of straSee POWER, page A3
School district, employees continue contract talks By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Two peninsula education associations remain without a contract after a Tuesday bargaining session with the Kenai Peninsula Borough School district ended without a labor agreement. The district offered ideas for a new contract at the meeting, which took place just weeks after the Kenai Peninsula Education Association and Kenai Peninsula Educational Support Association voted to strike. Although no agreement
was made Tuesday, Pegge Erkeneff, communications liaison with the district, said the district hopes to meet with the associations to bargain later this summer. “The district is open to explore ways to break the impasse, and we hope that the meeting on Tuesday was a step toward a new agreement,” Erkeneff said. David Brighton, president of the Kenai Peninsula Education Association, said the district presented the associations with two ideas, but no details, dollar amounts or written proposSee TALKS, page A3