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Vol. 49, Issue 282
In the news
Suicide awareness event Saturday The Kenaitze Indian Tribe is hosting an event this weekend to promote suicide awareness and prevention. The “You Matter. L;ve” Suicide Awareness and Prevention Walk will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Dena’ina Wellness Center in Old Town Kenai. The community is invited to come together to support those who may be experiencing suicidal thoughts or depression, and those who have experienced loss due to suicide. Alaska has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. According to data from the Department of Health and Social Services released earlier this year, 1,103 people died by suicide in the state between 2012 and 2017. Saturday’s event will include a memorial table, an honor bracelet project, speakers, information resources and giveaways. The first 200 participants will receive a free T-shirt. The event is open to the community and there is no cost to attend. For more information or to preregister, contact the Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s Behavioral Health Support Services Supervisor Kerri Roe at 907-335-7321 or kroe@ kenaitze.org. Participants can also register at the event. — Brian Mazurek
School contract talks to resume Negotiations between the school district and two employee associations will continue in private, after a potential threat shut down a Wednesday contract negotiation meeting between the Kenai Peninsula Education Association, the Kenai Peninsula Education Support Association and the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. Negotiations will be recorded and posted to Facebook, and the dates and times of the meetings will not be disclosed for safety reasons, a Thursday Facebook post from the Kenai Peninsula Education Association said. — Victoria Petersen
Index Local . . . . . . . . . . A3 Opinion . . . . . . . . A4 Nation . . . . . . . . . A5 World . . . . . . . . . A6 Religion . . . . . . . . A7 Sports . . . . . . . . . A8 Classifieds . . . . . . A11 Comics . . . . . . . . A14 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
Week 5
Democrats debate as field narrows
Teams return home for pigskin action
Nation, A5
Sports, A8
Rain 61/44 More weather, Page A2
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CLARION P E N I N S U L A
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Friday, September 13, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
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Soldotna annexation vote postponed The vote was on a resolution to submit Soldotna’s annexation petition to the Local Boundary Commission. By Victoria Petersen Peninsula Clarion
The City of Soldotna postponed its efforts to annex about 4 square miles of land near its boundaries. The Soldotna City Council voted unanimously Thursday night to postpone a resolution to submit their
annexation petition to the Local Boundary Commission, the state entity created through the Alaska Constitution that grants authority to create and alter municipalities and their boundaries. City Manager Stephanie Queen said several possible amendments to the petition were brought to the
administration, and more time would be needed to implement any potential amendments. The resolution was also postponed to allow for a full council to vote, since council member Lisa Parker was absent from Thursday’s meeting. “I know there’s a lot of emotion in here, but we’re listening,” council member Tim Cashman told the audience. In June 2018, the Soldotna City Council passed a
resolution to start drafting a petition to annex seven areas adjacent to the city limits. Tyson Cox, a Soldotna City Council member who also owns property in an area slated for annexation, did not participate in Thursday’s council vote due to a conflict of interest. In the petition, the city said it’s hoping to annex nearby areas as a way to respond to growth and development and to more accurately align the city’s corporate
boundaries with the community that has developed since the city’s incorporation in 1960. Through annexation, Soldotna will have the opportunity to glean millions in tax revenue from additional businesses and residents. Soldotna said annexation could benefit residents by giving them a voice in city government and lowering property tax rates. Residents See Annex, Page A3
Harvest Moon food festival returns By Joey Klecka Peninsula Clarion
“I would suggest to you to give serious consideration to the alternative that has been proposed, known as the Western Alternative,” Bookout said. “It seems to me that this proposed alternative can accomplish all objectives for stakeholders in the area while minimizing the impact — which is significant and permanent — to the residents of the Boulder Point area.” Bookout and most of the other Boulder Point residents who spoke Wednesday night referenced the Western Alternative, which is an alternative route for the pipeline laid out in the draft EIS that makes landfall just south of Boulder Point and then follows the proposed route to the liquefaction facilities. According to the draft EIS,
Local farming and food practices will be on full display this weekend at the Harvest Moon Local Food Festival in Soldotna. Slated for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Soldotna Creek Park, the festival aims to showcase better methods of healthy eating that also inject a healthy boost to the local economy. According to Kenai Soil and Water Conservation District Manager Heidi Chay, the local agriculture industry is experiencing a boom. Chay referenced new statistics from the USDA Census of Agriculture showing that the sales of local foods on the Kenai Peninsula sold directly to consumers tripled from 2012 to 2017, rising from around $300,000 to $1 million in just a five-year span. Chay said several factors were at work to spur that rise, including the peninsula adopting high-tunnel technology at locales such as the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank over the past nine years. “The Kenai Peninsula was an early adopter of high-tunnel technology,” she said. “From small-scale gardening to
See LNG, Page A2
See food, Page A3
Brian Mazurek / Peninsula Clarion
Nikiski resident Linda Huhndorf speaks to members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding the draft environmental impact statement for the Alaska LNG Project at the Nikiski Community Recreation Center on Wednesday.
‘Not a place to put a gas pipeline’ Some residents of the Boulder Point neighborhood in Nikiski express both support and concern over the route of the Alaska LNG Project. By Brian Mazurek Peninsula Clarion
Nikiski residents had a chance Wednesday night to speak their mind regarding a potential natural gas pipeline that could end up in their backyard. During a public comment session at the Nikiski Community Recreation Center, over a dozen people voiced their support for the Alaska LNG Project, as well as their concerns about its impact on the community and the environment. The LNG project is a proposal to extract natural gas from the North Slope that will be transported 800 miles to a liquefaction facility
in Nikiski and exported internationally. The draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project was released in June of this year by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The release of the draft EIS included establishing a 90-day public comment period to allow the public to weigh in on the findings. Most of the people who spoke at the public meeting were residents of Boulder Point, a relatively remote neighborhood north of Nikiski. The currently proposed route for the pipeline as laid out in the draft EIS would travel through Boulder Point as it heads south to the liquefaction facility, but there are
two other alternative routes for the pipeline that are being considered. Debbie McKay of Boulder Point was primarily concerned with the impact that the pipeline would have on the wildlife in the area. “Disturbing this habitat will have a huge impact for generations to come, especially on the black bears … who, every fall, rely on the devil’s club in this area to fatten up for their winter hibernation,” McKay said. Bill Bookout, another Boulder Point resident, has property immediately adjacent to where the proposed pipeline would make landfall. Bookout said that while he and others in the neighborhood support responsible energy development, he is concerned that the impacts to the area are being minimized in the draft EIS.
Rain fails to ease drought on Kenai Peninsula Nanwalek and Seldovia have been suffering water shortages for weeks, due to unprecedented drought conditions. By Victoria Petersen Peninsula Clarion
The Kenai Peninsula still remains in a drought, despite continued rainfall. The northwest portion of the peninsula is in an extreme drought, while the remainder of the peninsula is in a severe drought, according to Thursday’s updated U.S. Drought Monitor map.
The U.S. Drought Monitor — produced in partnership with the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of NebraskaLincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — measures droughts using five levels, level zero being abnormally dry conditions with no drought, and
the fourth level being an exceptional drought. Since June 1 to date, rainfall has been at a near-record low in Southcentral Alaska, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor’s summary of their Thursday findings. “There has been little or no recovery in soil moisture, even at a 2-inch depth,” the summary said. The summary noted that several communities continue to go without fresh water sources, or their reserves are close to running out.
Inside ■■ The Swan Lake Fire slows significantly. Page A2 “The primary concern of the communities is whether they can fill their water storage before winter sets in next month,” the summary said. “Therefore, until a longer stretch of wet weather becomes established, no improvements were made.” Dan Nelson, the emergency manager with the borough’s Office of Emergency Management, has
been working closely with the communities of Nanwalek and Seldovia. Both communities are south of Homer and have been suffering water shortages for weeks, due to unprecedented drought conditions. Nelson reiterates the summary’s findings, saying heavy precipitation is needed to boost the communities’ water reserves. Seldovia’s water source is an open reservoir, feeding into a modern treatment See drought, Page A3