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Vol. 49, Issue 224
No-hitter
Migrant kids moved after news reports
Twins pitchers combine for gem
Nation/A5
Sports/A8
CLARION
64/49 More weather on Page A2
W of 1 inner Awa 0* 201 Exc rds f 8 o e Rep llence r in or ti * Ala n ska g ! Pres s
P E N I N S U L A
Tuesday, June 25, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
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$1 newsstands daily/$1.50 Sunday
Kenai airport to receive $1.2 million federal grant
In the news Anchorage man suspected of shooting into upstairs apartment ANCHORAGE — A south Anchorage woman didn’t call police when she heard an argument and a noise from the apartment below. She changed her mind a few hours later when she saw bullet holes. Police investigating Sunday night determined that a bullet had passed through her floor and into her ceiling. Officers checked the apartment below and found a man on a couch, a holster, empty liquor bottles and a shell casing. After obtaining a search warrant, they found a bullet hole in his ceiling and the gun that apparently made it. They took the man into custody on suspicion of assault, weapons misconduct, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest. A woman in the lower apartment said she had argued with the man, retreated into a bedroom and heard a shot.
Passengers in fatal airplane crash were from Michigan ANCHORAGE — Alaska State Troopers have released the names of two Michigan residents killed in a weekend small airplane crash on the Kenai Peninsula. Troopers say the passengers killed in the crash of the private plane Friday night have been tentatively identified as 42-year-old Michael John Timmer and 43-year-old Traci Pauline Timmer of Hopkins, Michigan. The pilot, 63-yearold Kem Sibbitt of Fairbanks also died. The Helio Courier airplane went down on land near Little Johnstone Lake, which is near Johnstone Bay about 30 miles southeast of Seward. All three bodies were recovered Saturday. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash. — Associated Press
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Partly sunny
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
The Kenai Municipal Airport will receive a $1.2 million grant to repair runways, aprons and taxiways from the Federal Aviation Administration, according to a press release from U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. The FAA is awarding $495 million in airport inThe glow from the Swan Lake Fire can be seen on the horizon from the east entrance of Skilak Lake Road on frastructure grants, the secSunday. The fire, located just north of Sterling, grew to 32,300 acres over the weekend. (Photo by Erin Thompson/ ond allotment of the total Peninsula Clarion) $3.18 billion in the Airport Improvement Program, which is offering funding for airports across the country, totaling 358 grants for By VICTORIA PETERSEN dent Management Team. Sterling Highway, where Lake Campground, Kel- 327 airports in 46 states and Peninsula Clarion Firefighting efforts in- traffic may be delayed be- ly Campground, Seven the Pacific Islands, accordtensified as north-north- tween Milepost 58 and 75 Lakes Trail, Skyline Trail ing to the release. The Swan Lake Fire west winds pushed the due to low visibility. and Jean Lake Camp“The construction and just north of Sterling is lightning-caused fire into Over the weekend, ground. equipment supported by estimated at 32,300 acres the Mystery Creek Road the Kenai Wildlife RefAll the Skilak Wildlife this funding increases the with 379 personnel work- area, crossing established uge closed recreation Recreation Area trails, airports’ safety, emergency ing to contain it, accord- containment lines, ac- areas, including Bot- campgrounds and day response capabilities, and ing to a Monday update cording to the update. tenintnin Lake, Watson use areas were cleared by capacity, and could support from the Kenai Peninsula The fire is expected Lake Campground, Egu- law enforcement and are further economic growth Borough and Alaska Inci- to be 2 miles from the men Lake Trail, Petersen See FIRE, page A2 See FED, page A3
Rec areas closed as fire grows
Lawmakers reject Wasilla as site for special session By Mark Thiessen Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — Alaska lawmakers have rejected Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s location of his hometown of Wasilla for a special session that starts next month. The Alaska Legislature will instead convene in Juneau on July 8 and then hold a majority of its meetings in Anchorage, House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, an independent from Dillingham, and Senate President Cathy Giessel, an Anchorage Republican, said in a joint statement. “The majority of legislators in both bodies considers it our right to determine the location and venue best equipped to conduct business on the governor’s special session call, while providing the most access to as many Alaskans possible,” the statement said. “Instead of convening in Wasilla, legislative leadership is attempting to retreat back to Juneau,” Dunleavy said in a statement, adding
This June 14 file photo shows Gov. Mike Dunleavy leading state and local officials out of Wasilla Middle School in Wasilla to a news conference. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
that state law gives a governor the authority to set the location for a special session. “This move to negate the special session in
Wasilla has no legal basis.” When asked what happens if lawmakers actually convene in Juneau instead of Wasilla, Dunleavy’s
‘Not Trump’s Tongass’
Rally backs continued conservation
spokesman Matt Shuckerow said: “We’re going to wait and see what happens. We hope that they think better of this and choose to
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
The block in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Saturday morning temporarily turned into a cardboard rainforest. Turn Out for the Tongass Rally participants — roughly 150 in all — bobbed and waved tree- and salmon-shaped picket signs to the pounding drums of Yees Ku Oo, a multicultural dance group that helped kick off the hourlong rally in support of the 2001 National Roadless Rule. The U.S. Forest Service is in the process of developing a state-specific program for the Alaska Roadless Rule that could open parts of the Ton-
Over the course of the summer, the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank will be presenting its Food For Thought series to help engage residents in learning more about food and nutrition. The short lectures last around 30 to 45 minutes, Greg Meyer, food bank executive director, said. The series also includes a free dinner in the bank’s Fireweed Diner. The series will cover topics related to food, like helping attendees decipher food labels, how to use beans and lentils for tasty meals or finding nutritious foods to give picky eaters. Meyer said the lecture
gass National Forest to development. The Forest Service established the Roadless Rule to protect
roadless forests, which constitute about onethird of all National ForSee RALLY, page A2
See SITE, page A3
Food bank hosts Food For Thought lecture series
By Nolin Ainsworth Juneau Empire
Wanda “Kashudoha” Loescher Culp, Tlingit activist and WECAN Tongass coordinator, speaks during a Tongass Rally to show local support for the 2001 National Roadless Rule in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Saturday. (Photo by Michael Penn/Juneau Empire)
come meet in Wasilla.” Dunleavy had called the session for Wasilla, home to his conservative base. Dunleavy said a change of location for the second special session this year would be good for lawmakers, who have not completed their work in five months in Juneau. Lawmakers from the region, the Matanuska-Sustina Borough, or the Mat-Su Valley as it’s known, touted the fact that unlike Juneau, Wasilla is on the state’s road system. Juneau is accessible by only plane or boats, but a majority of the state’s residents could drive to Wasilla. “The fact that legislative leadership plans to run away from the Mat-Su Valley back to their hiding places in Juneau is extremely illuminating,” said House Minority Leader Lance Pruitt, an Anchorage Republican. “The legislative leadership has already tried to have these conversations on the budget,
series’ goal is to bring awareness about healthier, local foods, and to help people use the commodities they have at home or at the food bank. “We’re trying to help people stretch their dollar, use local foods in their gardens or from farmers markets to eat a little bit healthier,” Meyer said. The series takes place 5 to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays, in conjunction with the Farmers Fresh Market, which is in the food bank parking lot from 3 to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays. Meyer said they planned it this way so locals could visit the farmers market and pick up healthy, local fruits and vegetables and apply what they learn in See FOOD, page A3