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Medicaid dental cuts a pain to some ANCHORAGE — Budget vetoes by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy eliminated Medicaid dental coverage for adults — a $27 million cut that is having an impact. KTUU reports that Michael Shelden had plans to get dentures after having all his teeth pulled following years of dental pain. The plan fell through after the governor’s veto, and Shelden said he can’t afford the $2,000 down payment to proceed with his plan. “I cried,” he said. “I wake up and I cry at night.” Now, he is only eating soft food such as soup and baked potatoes. The Alaska Dental Society calls the budget cut disappointing, saying the coverage aims to treat problems before they reach costly proportions. “By treating cavities and gum disease early Medicaid recipients are able to avoid more costly treatment or if the cavity reaches the stage of causing an infection possibly a trip to an ER,” the group said. While announcing his budget vetoes in June, Dunleavy said his goal of restoring a full dividend payment to Alaskans from the Alaska Permanent Fund could help them pay for some affected services. “This budget touches practically every Alaskan,” he said at the time. “It’s not necessarily going to be easy, we never said it would be, but we do believe that in some of these cases a full statutory PFD could mitigate some of the issues.” Shelden said he was already counting on a full dividend to help pay for rent, food and other expenses.
14 cities in state have officers with records ANCHORAGE — At least 14 cities in Alaska have employed police officers whose criminal records should have prevented them from being hired under state law, the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica reported Saturday. The news organizations said they found more than 34 officers who should have been ineligible for these jobs. In all but three cases, the police hires were never reported by the city governments to the state’s Department of Public Safety, as See news, Page A3
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Sunday, July 21, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 243
In the news
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‘Reverse sweep,’ capital budget bill OK’d By Ben Hohenstatt Juneau Empire
A 19-0 Senate vote Saturday could mean big things for the state’s financial picture depending on what the House and Gov. Mike Dunleavy do next. The Senate approved Senate Bill 2002, which funds the capital budget and includes “reverse sweep” language. The sweep is an
annual bookkeeping oddity in which hundreds of millions of dollars in various state accounts are “swept” into the Constitutional Budget Reserve. Typically, a “reverse sweep” moves the money back into the original accounts, but the Legislature did not approve a reverse sweep when it sent a bill to the governor. “This bill is a do-over, it’s a reset if you will,” said Sen. Natasha von Imhof,
R-Anchorage. “I urge a ‘yes’ vote on this bill.” Her fellow senators did exactly that. The House Finance Committee voted Saturday to move the bill out of committee, which sets up Sunday as a likely date of a vote. The House is set to adjourn at 1 p.m., and the Senate at 2 p.m. Every meeting and session held Saturday primarily focused on the
reverse sweep aspect of the bill. Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, said on the Senate floor Saturday the impacts of that weren’t fully understood at the time. Historically, funds that provide college scholarships and subsidize electricity have not been swept, but the Dunleavy administration is examining See sweep, Page A3
1 killed in floatplane accident By Megan Pacer Homer News
Brian Mazurek / Peninsula Clarion
A participant in the 2019 Disability Pride Celebration in Soldotna Creek Park tries his hand at the dunk tank Saturday.
Skill sets proudly displayed Disability Pride Celebration on Saturday draws a big crowd By Brian Mazurek Peninsula Clarion
Just because someone is in a wheelchair doesn’t mean they can’t compete in a good old-fashioned cake walk. This Saturday, more than a hundred central peninsula residents turned out to show off their pride and support for their disabled friends and family during the second annual Disability Pride Celebration in Soldotna Creek Park. Organizers Nikki Marcano, from Frontier Community Services, and Maggie Winston, of the Independent Living Center,
hosted the event. Winston said that attendance in just the first hour had tripled from the previous year. Winston and Marcano said that a number of local businesses and organizations donated their services for the day and helped make it a success, including Geneva Woods Medical Supplies, Snappy Turtle Photobooths, Consumer Direct, Riverside Assisted Living, The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, Coca Cola, the Peninsula Points on Prevention Coalition, Hope Community Resources and the local Zumba group. As local band Hot Mess took the
stage to play some classic rock ‘n’ roll, kids and adults alike spent the day enjoying games and activities. The priority for the organizers was to make everything as accessible as possible, and volunteers were stationed at each activity to assist anyone who needed a little help. There was a slip-and-slide equipped with inflatable pool toys, a face-painting booth manned by John Stocks of Mad Creations Tattoo Parlor and a dunk tank where people got the chance to soak Frontier’s executive director, See pride, Page A3
shop talk
‘It’s been pretty wonderful’ Relocating can bring a downturn in business, but that’s not the case for River City Books, Lucy’s Market.
See plane, Page A2
8 years for drug, moneylaundering scheme By Brian Mazurek Peninsula Clarion
By Joey Klecka Peninsula Clarion
A longtime Soldotna bookstore has joined forces with a revamped natural foods market to prove that businesses can be environmentally friendly and successful. Soldotna’s River City Books and speciality store Lucy’s Market recently moved to a new spot — just down the road from Walgreens, alongside Kenai River Brewing — that houses a building designed for environmental sustainability. River City has been around for decades — it will be celebrating its 20-year anniversary next month — as a favorite spot for local bibliophiles. When the store’s lease at its previous location on East Redoubt next door to the Fred Meyer went unrenewed, it was time to look for a new home, owner Peggy Mullen said.
A man from Maryland is dead and his child is in critical condition after a floatplane accident near the mouth of Tutka Bay, across Kachemak Bay from Homer, on Friday morning. Joseph Patanella, 57, was found dead on arrival to South Peninsula Hospital just before noon Friday, according to Alaska State Troopers and SPH Spokesperson Derotha Ferraro. He, his wife and his three children were aboard the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver floatplane along with an adult male relative when it suffered an unknown accident while trying to take off near Tutka Bay. Petty Officer Amanda Norcross with the U.S. Coast Guard 17th District said representatives of Tutka Bay Lodge reported the accident to the Coast Guard. The family was staying at the lodge as guests, the Associated Press reported. “Initial reports, they stated that the aircraft was conducting a departure in the middle of the (Tutka) bay,” Norcross said. The plane then “aborted the takeoff,” she said, and never actually left the water, according to what was reported to the Coast Guard. Alaska State Troopers responded along with members of the Homer Volunteer Fire Department in the trooper patrol vessel Augustine and removed the six passengers and pilot from the plane. Once transported back to the Homer Harbor, they were all taken to South Peninsula Hospital by ambulances from
Joey Klecka / Peninsula Clarion
Rows of artisian cheeses sit on display in Lucy’s Market in Soldotna.
She decided to relocate to land that was once a farm for the Mullen family, which then turned it into a laundromat business and then a horse pasture for her sister. The plot of land went unused for years and was overgrown with birch and willow trees. Now, the once-empty plot features a storefront with a sleek look new.
With large, white letters adorning its side, the building faces traffic at the Kenai Spur and Sterling highways — giving passersby an invitation to step in. “Even though we’re not directly on the highway, we’re directly visible,” said Kelsey Shields, owner of Lucy’s See relocate, Page A2
A Sterling man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for his role in a drug and money laundering conspiracy, according to a Friday press release from the U.S. District Attorney’s Office. Mark Norman Hanes, 52, was sentenced to eight years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for his role in distributing methamphetamine and heroin throughout Southcentral Alaska. Documents filed in the case between mid-2014 and Jan. 14, 2015 show that individuals in Anchorage supplied Hanes with the drugs, driving to meet him near his home in Sterling on at least two occasions to deliver product. Payment for those drugs would then be made through deposits into bank accounts connected to See prison, Page A3