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Vol. 49, Issue 227
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Migrants face violence in Mexico
A look at dogwood plant
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Sports/A8
CLARION
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Friday-Saturday, June 28-29, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
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Assembly may halt invocations
In the news Fireworks use and sales suspended A suspension on the use and sale of fireworks is in effect for the Kenai Peninsula Borough. The Alaska State Fire Marshal’s Office, in cooperation with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources/Division of Forestry, is also implementing fireworks suspensions for Fairbanks North Star Borough, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Kodiak Borough, Copper River Valley, including Glennallen south to Valdez, Western Alaska, including McGrath and points west, Tanana Valley north of the Alaska Range, Northern Panhandle, including Haines in the north, Skagway, and Juneau to the south. The suspension will remain in effect until further notice. The decision was based on hot, dry weather and a high to very high fire danger, according to a Thursday press release from the Department of Public Safety. “Our firefighting resources and capabilities on the ground and in the air are stretched thin,” State Fire Marshal Richard Boothby said in the release. “That combined with the weather forecast going into next week, the safety of Alaskans and visitors is paramount. The suspension of the sale and use of fireworks will assist in protecting life and property.” Currently, 102 uncontained fires covering 273,551 acres, including the Swan Lake Fire on the Kenai Peninsula and the Shovel Creek fire outside of Fairbanks, are burning in Alaska. For wildfire updates and fire safety information, visit akfireinfo.com.
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
The Swan Lake Fire can be seen from the East Fork Moose River bridge on Thursday. (Photo courtesy Robert Kuiper)
Swan Lake Fire continues to grow By BRIAN MAZUREK Peninsula Clarion
The southbound lane of the Sterling Highway was reopened as of noon on Thursday, after fire crews
completed their burnout operations along the road. Both lanes were still moving slowly due to a posted speed limit of 35 mph and Alaska State Troopers were on scene enforcing
the speed limit, according to an update from the Alaska Interagency Incident Management Team. There is still a possibility of lane closure over the next few days as
the incident management team continues to monitor the fire’s progression. As of Thursday morning, the Swan Lake Fire had reached 48,199 acres See FIRE, page A15
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly is considering raising the sales tax cap, and removing voters’ ability to decide if the cap should be increased.
During its Tuesday meeting, the assembly will discuss an ordinance that would increase the maximum amount subject to borough sales tax from $500 to $1,000, and vote on an ordinance that would repeal the borough code that requires
voter approval to increase the sales tax cap. The ordinance to increase the maximum amount subject to borough sales tax was introduced by Mayor Charlie Pierce and assembly member Kenn Carpenter. The ordinance is aimed
at maintaining future fund balances, according to the ordinance document. “Due to the continuing uncertainty about state and local revenues, the decline in state assistance to municipalities, the increasing loss in property tax revenues to
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the borough from exemptions on real property, and increasing reliance on borough funding for the school district, the borough must take steps to maintain its unrestricted fund balance into the future within financially See TAX, page A15
By KAT SORENSEN Peninsula Clarion
“Who is this economy really working for? It’s doing great for a thinner and thinner slice at the top ...”
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See HALT, page A3
Soldotna, Kenai to merge animal shelters
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An ordinance eliminating the invocations during Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meetings will be introduced at Tuesday’s meeting. Assembly member Willy Dunne is sponsoring the ordinance, which would end the offering of invocations before the beginning of assembly meetings. The ordinance comes after a resident and member of the Satanic Temple, Iris Fontana, provided an invocation at the June 18 meeting, which prompted walkouts from borough officials and a protest outside the borough building. In a June 20 memo from Dunne to the assembly, he says recent invocations have resulted in controversial and divisive actions in the community. “Borough assembly policy states that invocations are presented to meet the spiritual needs of assembly members,” the memo reads. “However, recent invoca-
Assembly looks to raise sales tax cap, remove voter OK
— Clarion Staff
Index
Mostly sunny
A fisherman handles his catch at the mouth of the Kasilof River during the opening day of dipnetting on Tuesday. Kasilof River personal use salmon dipnetting is open June 25 through Aug. 7. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/ Peninsula Clarion)
The city of Soldotna has decided to close its animal shelter and consolidate with Kenai to care for impounded animals. The Soldotna City Council passed a resolution at its meeting Wednesday night to enter a one-year agreement with Kenai to provide animal shelter services for Soldotna animals at the Kenai animal shelter. Starting July 1, Soldotna will pay $42,000 to Kenai for the care of 150 animals. Soldotna will pay an additional $284 for each See MERGE, page A3
High court keeps citizenship question off census for now By MARK SHERMAN and JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press
WASHINGTON — In a surprising move, the Supreme Court on Thursday kept the Trump administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census for now, and the question’s opponents say there’s no time to revisit the
issue before next week’s scheduled start to the printing of census forms. But President Donald Trump said on Twitter after the decision that he’s asked lawyers if they can “delay the Census, no matter how long” until the “United States Supreme Court is given additional information from which it can make a final and decisive decision” on the is-
sue. Under federal law the census must begin on April 1, 2020. A former director of the Census Bureau said he believed Congress would have to change the law for the count to be delayed. The issue of whether to add the citizenship question to the census is a politically charged one. Democratic cities and states who oppose adding it argue that they’d
get less federal money and fewer representatives in Congress if the question is asked because it would discourage the participation of minorities, primarily Hispanics, who tend to support Democrats. During arguments in the case at the Supreme Court in April it seemed as though the Trump administration would win because Chief Justice
John Roberts and other conservatives appointed by Republican presidents did not appear to see anything wrong with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’ decision to add the question. Ultimately, however, Roberts joined the court’s four more liberal members in saying the administration’s current justification for the question See COURT, page A2