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Vol. 50, Issue 7
In the news
State accepts SoPrep’s closure The state has recognized the closure of Soldotna Prep School and its consolidation with Soldotna High School in accordance with state statute. This fall, Soldotna Prep did not open its doors to local ninth graders. The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education voted to close and consolidate the school in May. This fall, the ninth graders originally housed in Soldotna Prep joined the 10th, 11th and 12th grade students already using the Soldotna High campus. A Sept. 24 letter from the state Department of Education and Early Development accepted the closure and consolidation. “ The department appreciates the district’s efforts to work in cooperation with the families of Soldotna as this closure and transition takes place,” the letter said. According to state statute, the district may not submit a request to the department to reopen Soldotna Prep until seven or more years have passed since the date of the closure. If that time comes, the district will also need to provide evidence that Soldotna High School is overcapacity. Soldotna Prep School has been turned back over to the borough, which will decide what is next for the building. Over the summer, incident management teams tackling the Swan Lake Fire this summer headquartered themselves in the building. — Victoria Petersen
Report: Agency lost $600M on Tongass forest JUNEAU — The U.S. Forest Service has lost nearly $600 million through its management of Tongass National Forest in Alaska, according to a new report. The study by the nonpartisan group Taxpayers for Common Sense calculated the losses through roadbuilding and timber sales, CoastAlaska reported Monday. The average net loss has been about $30 million See news, Page A3
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Strong
‘Grannie’ Annie shares recipes for cakes, fritters and more
Kenai netters beat Nikiski on special night
Food / A7
Sports / A9
Rain 51/38 More weather, Page A2
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White House: Probe ‘illegitimate’ By Zeke Miller and Jill Colbin Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The White House declared Tuesday it will halt any and all cooperation with what it termed the “illegitimate” impeachment probe by House Democrats, sharpening the constitutional clash between President Donald Trump and Congress. Trump attorneys sent a lengthy letter to House leaders bluntly stating White House refusal to participate in the inquiry that was given a boost by last week’s release of a whistleblower’s complaint that the president sought political favors from Ukraine. “Given that your inquiry lacks any legitimate constitutional foundation, any pretense of fairness, or even the
most elementary due process protections, the Executive Branch cannot be expected to participate in it,” White House Counsel Pat Cipollone wrote. That means no additional witnesses under administration purview will be permitted to appear in front of Congress or comply with document requests, a senior official said. The White House is objecting that the House has not voted to begin an impeachment investigation into Trump. It also claims that Trump’s due process rights are being violated. House intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff tweeted in response that Trump’s refusal to cooperate with the inquiry signals an attitude that “the president is above the law.” “The Constitution says otherwise,”
he asserted. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has insisted the House is well within its rules to conduct oversight of the executive branch under the Constitution regardless of a formal impeachment inquiry vote. “Mr. President, you are not above the law,” Pelosi said in a statement Tuesday night. “You will be held accountable.” The Constitution states the House has the sole power of impeachment, and that the Senate has the sole power to conduct impeachment trials. It specifies that a president can be removed from office for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors,” if supported by a two-thirds Senate vote. But it offers little guidance beyond that on
proceedings. The White House letter marks the beginning of a new all-out strategy to counter the impeachment threat to Trump. Aides have been honing their approach after two weeks of what allies have described as a listless and unfocused response to the probe. The president himself is sticking with the same Trump-as-victim rhetoric he has used for more than a year. “People understand that it’s a fraud. It’s a scam. It’s a witch hunt,” he said on Monday. “I think it makes it harder to do my job. But I do my job, and I do it better than anybody has done it for the first two and half years.” Early Tuesday, Trump escalated his fight with Congress by blocking See probe, Page A15
EPA sued over mine restrictions
Finding a safer road
By Becky Bohrer Associated Press
providing the most effective and customer-focused response possible to assist Alaska small businesses with federal disaster loans,” Acting Administrator Chris Pilkerton said in the release. “We will be swift in our efforts to help these small businesses recover from the financial impacts of this disaster.” The loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact, the release said. “Disaster loans can provide vital
JUNEAU — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency improperly withdrew proposed restrictions on mining activity in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by critics of the proposed Pebble Mine. The lawsuit is the latest development in the ongoing fight over plans to develop a copper and gold deposit in southwest Alaska. Opponents of the Pebble Mine worry about the impact it could have on the region known for its salmon habitat, including a prominent sockeye salmon fishery. The Pebble Limited Partnership, which wants to develop the mine, is seeking approval of a key permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A spokeswoman in the EPA’s regional office said by email that the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation. Under the Obama administration, EPA proposed restrictions on development in the Bristol Bay region but never finalized them. The agency looked at three mine scenarios, two of which it said were based on statements made by Northern Dynasty Minerals, the project’s owner. EPA, at the time, said it had reason to believe that mining of the deposit at any of the sizes it analyzed could result in “significant and unacceptable adverse effects” on streams, wetlands, lakes and ponds and the fisheries they support. The proposal called for restricting discharge of dredged or fill material into waters that would cause loss of certain amounts of streams or wetlands or streamflow alterations. A 2017 settlement agreement between EPA and the Pebble partnership called for EPA to initiate a process for withdrawing the proposed restrictions. But that effort was halted last year, with the EPA saying it had serious concerns about the impacts of mining in the region and wanted more information. Earlier this year, a memo released by the EPA from its general counsel called for its regional administrator to resume consideration of whether to withdraw the proposed restrictions. The memo was released shortly before the EPA in July submitted comments on the corps’ draft environmental review, which the regional administrator said likely underestimated impacts the project could have on fish and other resources. The agency, later that month, announced it was withdrawing the proposed restrictions, saying they were based on hypothetical mine
See loans, Page A16
See mine, Page A16
Victoria Petersen / Peninsula Clarion
Students from Redoubt Elementary, Soldotna Elementary and Soldotna Montessori School participate in the International Walk to School Day event Tuesday, which has been happening in Soldotna every year for more than a decade. International Walk to School Day promotes creating year-round safe routes to schools and aims to involve communities in walking and biking to school.
School board OKs agreement By Victoria Petersen Peninsula Clarion
The school board voted to approve contract agreements for district employees at their Monday meeting. The contract agreement was made by the district and two employee associations in the early morning of Sept. 17, hours before an employee strike was set to begin. The Kenai Peninsula Education
Association, the Kenai Peninsula Education Support Association and the district had been negotiating for a contract for nearly 600 days, and bargaining snagged on the rising cost of health care. While the district and the employee associations agreed on the contract, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education had the final say on approving the contract.
Both contracts, one for each association, passed with “yes” votes from every school board member present, except for board member Greg Madden, who voted “no” to supporting both of the associations’ contracts. Board member Dan Castimore had an excused absence from the meeting. Board members See contract, Page A16
Loans available for businesses affected by Swan Lake Fire By Victoria Petersen Peninsula Clarion
The federal government is offering disaster loans for local businesses impacted by the Swan Lake Fire, which has burned over 160,000 acres near Sterling. After an Oct. 2 request from Gov. Mike Dunleavy, the U.S. Small Business Administration made a disaster declaration in response to the Swan Lake Fire, an Oct. 8 press release from Small Business Administration said. In Cooper Landing, where the local economy relies heavily on
summer tourism, local businesses were forced to shut their doors and cease services for much of the summer due to heavy smoke from the fire and impending evacuation notices. The Small Business Administration’s Assistance is available to businesses in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, Kodiak Island Borough, Lake and Peninsula Borough, Matanuska Susitna Borough, the Municipality of Anchorage, the Chugach Regional Educational Attendance Area, and the Iditarod Regional Educational Attendance Area. “SBA is strongly committed to