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Vol. 49, Issue 235
In the news
Fourth of July heat breaks records in Kenai The city of Kenai hit an all-time temperature high on the Fourth of July. Cynthia Kobold, a meteorologist with the Anchorage office of the National Weather Service, said the city reached 89 degrees on July 4, shattering previous records. The previously recorded all-time high for Kenai was 87 degrees, which occurred June 26, 1953 and again June 18, 1903, Kobold said. While some residents may be enjoying the record heat, a possible reprieve may be on its way. Kobold said there is a 30% chance of showers after 10 a.m. on Friday, and possible showers on Saturday and Sunday. It hasn’t rained in the area since Father’s Day, June 16, and Kobold said there was only .01 inches of rain in that event. Kenai receives an average of 1.07 inches of rain in the month of June and an average of 1.84 inches in the month of July. — Victoria Petersen
Woman drowns in Moose River A woman from China drowned in the Moose River Monday night, according to a dispatch from Alaska State Troopers. Yanting Jin, 18, was found dead by the diving team of the Nikiski Fire Department at around 9:30 p.m., after they responded to reports of an individual disappearing under the water near the Izaak Walton Campground in Sterling. Ken Marsh, public information officer for the Department of Public Safety, said that Jin was swimming in the river with several other people when she and another swimmer began struggling to stay afloat. Marsh said a bystander on the shore managed to pull one of the swimmers out of the water but by that time Jin had disappeared. Brian Crisp, one of the divers for the Nikiski Fire Department, said that it took the team about an hour and a half to find Jin in the river. Harrison Deveer, public safety officer for the Nikiski Fire Department, said that Jin was in Alaska on a work visa, and next of kin has been notified. No foul play is suspected, according to the dispatch. Marsh said that none of the swimmers were wearing life jackets or using flotation devices.
Epic
Grannie Annie on summer cookouts
Local triathletes recount Alaskaman race
Food / A6
Sports / A8
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Override vote uncertain with dueling sessions Lawmakers in Wasilla maintain they are on the right side of the law. By Peter Segall Juneau Empire
Legislators in Juneau are planning to hold a joint session to consider overriding Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s budget vetoes Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., but it remains to be seen whether the 45 legislators needed for an override will be present. Forty-five votes — threequarters of the full Legislature — are necessary to
override Dunleavy’s more than $400 million in lineitem vetoes. But 21 members of the 60-member Alaska Legislature were in Wasilla Tuesday rather than Juneau, where they’re holding a dueling legislative session. “There’s not much we can do when 38 (legislators) aren’t following the law,” said Sen. Mike Shower, R-Wasilla, by phone Tuesday, referring to those in Juneau. Shower and others of the Wasilla contingent believe lawmakers in Juneau are ignoring the law by not convening the session where Dunleavy called for it, in his hometown and
conservative base of Wasilla. Dunleavy said the change of venue would be good for lawmakers who could not finish their work over five months in Juneau this year. Shower said that for him the issue was “black and white” and that those in Juneau need to come to Wasilla to govern. “We’re currently waiting for people to follow the law so we can take up doing business,” he said. Lawmakers in Juneau, the state’s capital and seat of government, on the other hand, are conducting See vote, Page A2
Michael Penn | Juneau Empire
House Finance Committee Co-Chairs Rep. Tammie Wilson, R-North Pole, and Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome, listen to testimony on Tuesday at the Capitol about how Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s budget vetoes will effect local communities around the state.
Homer artists protest Dunleavy veto By Michael Armstrong Homer News
As part of statewide protests by an ad-hoc group of artists and arts supporters against a veto by Gov. Mike Dunleavy of $2.8 million to the Alaska State Council on the Arts, about 10 people on Tuesday afternoon in Homer draped in black a sculpture by artist Sean Derry in front of the Kachemak Bay Campus, Kenai Peninsula College, University of Alaska Anchorage. In an action reminiscent of the more playful shrouding of public buildings by the artist Christo, protesters covered Derry’s sculpture of a table and chairs in black cloth and then wrapped it with orange twine. The group held signs by the sculpture supporting the state arts council, public radio and state services for the needy. They also laid down on the sidewalk around the
art. Joined by several more people, the group walked up Pioneer Avenue to WKFL Park in Homer, where they held signs in front of some women who draped their heads in black cloth. Artist and teacher Asia Freeman, executive director of Bunnell Street Arts Center, said except for its location, the protest was not associated with the Kachemak Bay Campus or sanctioned by university staff. The group chose the site because Derry’s sculpture was commissioned as a 1% for the arts public art project administered by the Alaska State Council on the Arts. The college also has several other public art works commissioned as part of construction and remodeling of old or new buildings, including a sculpture by Homer artist Brad See veto, Page A3
Photo by Michael Armstrong / Homer News
Women draped in black sit down Tuesday at WKFL Park in Homer as part of a statewide art intervention to protest Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a $2.8 million state appropriation to the Alaska State Council on the Arts. They also supported a general override of Dunleavy’s vetoes that will affect funding for the University of Alaska, public radio and other programs.
Bankers, builders and more call for override By Ben Hohenstatt Juneau Empire
Bankers, home builders, Alaska Natives, health care professionals, nonprofit leaders and more all had one message for the Legislature: Override the governor’s vetoes. During Tuesday afternoon’s House Finance Committee meeting, there were almost two hours of invited testimony delivered in support of overriding Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s 182
line-item budget vetoes totalling over $400 million. At 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, a joint session of the House and Senate is scheduled for consideration of veto overrides. “I can’t put into words how serious this is and how important it is to override the governor’s veto package,” said Steve Lundgren, who spoke on behalf of the Alaska Bankers Association. He said while the association generally favors smaller government, it does not support governor’s approach
— more than $400 million in vetoes — to the Legislature-approved budget. Lundgren said slashes to support for the University of Alaska and school bond debt reimbursement could hurt bond ratings and banks throughout the state. Rep. Tammie Wilson, R-North Pole, co-chair of the committee, asked if spending at a defecit hurts bond ratings. Lundgren said over a long enough timeline it could but in the immediate
future it would not be as damaging as the governor’s vetoes. “We do believe that a step-down approach would be looked at favorably by the rating agencies, but the significant decrease will create so many unknowns, and I think that’s what got the attention of rating agencies,” he said. Similarly, Jeff Twait of the “rightleaning” Alaska State Home Building See override, Page A3
Swan Lake Fire prompts open fire ban in state By Brian Mzaurek
After a brief period of slowed growth, the Swan Lake Fire flared up again on Monday — reaching 99,086 acres, according to an update from the Northwest 13 Incident Management Team. Peninsula Clarion
Due to exceptionally warm and dry conditions on the Kenai Peninsula, the fire is consuming fuels that would normally be resistant to burning. To the north and east, the fire continued to spread through black spruce. Heading east into the mountains, fire growth has slowed through alpine vegetation and patches of aspen and other hardwoods. The south and
west flanks of the blaze saw successful containment as the fire remained within established fire lines along the east fork of Moose River. In response to current extreme fire danger, all open fires are prohibited immediately, including campfires, until further notice, in Kenai Peninsula State Parks, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Kenai Fjords National
Park and Chugach National Forest lands on the Kenai Peninsula. Use of cooking stoves and gas grills is allowed. In addition, Kenai Peninsula State Parks will allow the use of charcoal in contained cooking grills but these remain prohibited on other listed public lands. See fire, Page A14
— Brian Mazurek
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Cuts leave officer program on shaky ground By Brian Mzaurek and Victoria Petersen Peninsula Clarion
On June 28, the same day U.S. Attorney General William Barr declared a law enforcement emergency in rural Alaska, and made more than $10 million available for the state to address public safety concerns in Alaska’s Native villages, Gov. Mike Dunleavy presented $444 million in line-item vetoes, including a $3 million cut to the Village Public Safety
Officer Program (VPSO). The program trains and facilitates law enforcement in rural Alaska through Native corporations, and village safety officers are often the first line of defense in emergency situations. Safety officers are certified peace officers with arrest powers, as well as certified emergency trauma technicians. They are also trained in firefighting, law enforcement and search and rescue. The cut will not result in any job losses or communities losing their
officers, Matt Shuckerow, spokesperson for Dunleavy, said. Public safety has been one of the governor’s main priorities since taking office. In his State of the State address, he told Alaskans that public safety was priority number one. Captain Andrew Merrill, who is the Department of Public Safety’s statewide director for the VPSO program, said that day-to-day operations will not be affected by the cut. The reduction in funds will, however, prevent any new hires from being made,
Leonard Wallner, VPSO program coordinator for the Chugachmiut Native Corporation, said. Chugachmiut employs village safety officers in Chenega and Tatitlek and has openings in Nanwalek and Port Graham. Wallner said he doesn’t know how he will fill those positions with the proposed budget. He said he and the other regional VPSO coordinators have been left with a lot of questions as to the future of the program. See cuts, Page A14