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Residents warned of bear encounters KODIAK — Alaska residents were warned to be aware of Kodiak bears after multiple sightings and encounters were reported near residential areas, wildlife authorities said. Alaska Wildlife Troopers confirmed at least three bears could be recognized as frequent visitors to areas inside Kodiak city limits on Kodiak Island, Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Friday. A bear was seen Wednesday night walking toward the docks by King’s Diner near the Kodiak Police Department station, authorities said. Kodiak bears often break fences and gates and enter vehicles in search of food, troopers said. “The idea that one of the bears can open vehicles is something that hasn’t happened in the past,” Sgt. Todd Mountain said. “Bears are smart. They learn. If the door is unlocked they will grab (the door handle) with their teeth.” Although this is a normal occurrence in other areas, it is new in Kodiak, Mountain said. Kodiak bears are a subspecies of brown bears and are known as the largest bears in the world, wildlife officials said. Residents are urged to carry pepper spray and bells especially when hiking, walking a dog in the dark or on foggy days with low visibility, authorities said. “Surprising a bear is probably the biggest danger. If you make noise, for the most part the bear knows you’re there,” Mountain said. “A large majority of the time, bears don’t want to be in the same space with you either. They are a wild animal and will do what they can to get out of danger.”
Police chief quits after 13 months on the job NOME — The police chief who led efforts to audit more than 460 old sexual assault cases in See news, Page A2
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Sunday, October 13, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Voters largely skip municipal elections By Victoria Petersen Peninsula Clarion
Less than a quarter of registered voters cast their ballot for this year’s municipal election. The voter turnout this year was 18.03%, Borough Clerk Johni Blankenship told the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly at their Tuesday meeting. While this year’s turnout wasn’t far off from last year’s, which saw 18.7% of registered voters vote, this year’s turnout is the lowest in more than five years. In 2012, the turnout was just over 13%. In 2017, during a mayoral election, the turnout was nearly doubled at 33.6%. This year, seven out of 29 precincts had a voter turnout of 20% or higher, Blankenship
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$1 newsstands daily/$1.50 Sunday Percentage of voters who cast a ballot Voter Turnout 1991-2019 1991-2019 Kenai Peninsula Borough Municipal Elections 40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
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1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 said. Four of the precincts were in the cities and the other three were in vote-by-mail Year precincts. Percentage of voters who cast a ballot During last year’s general election in 2014-2019 Kenai Peninsula November, 54.6% of registered voters in Voter Turnout on the District, 29, 30 and 31 — which cover central, 40 southern and northern peninsula communities — came out to the polls, according 30 to official results from the Alaska Division of Elections. The official state turnout was 20 49.84%. 33.6 26 In last year’s August primary election, 25% 22.4 21 10 18.7 18.03 of registered voters in District 29, 30, and 31 came out to vote. 0 During the 2016 general election, 65.2% of 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 peninsula voters came out to the polls, and in the 2014 general election, 58.9% of area voters Year cast a ballot. Graphics by Victoria Petersen / Peninsula Clarion
As climate series wraps up, focus is on solutions
On the hunt for pumpkins
By Victoria Petersen Peninsula Clarion
Joey Klecka / Peninsula Clarion
A child gets her face painted Saturday at the fourth annual Fall Pumpkin Festival at Millennium Square in Kenai. A crisp, autumn breeze greeted crowds as the festival returned with a variety of activities to choose from, including hay rides, scarecrows, a petting zoo and food vendors, while live music entertained the crowd. The event also saw the debut of a hay maze and pumpkin pick, which allowed children to find their favorite pumpkin and paint it.
The seventh and final event in the Drawdown: Book to Action Climate Series will culminate with the group’s top solutions for responding to a changing climate. The series, hosted by Cook Inletkeeper and KenaiChange, has hosted six meetings over the last several months. Each meeting uses the book “Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming” as a jumping off point for community members to discuss and brainstorm local solutions to climate change. “We will be reviewing and evaluating the solutions we have brainstormed over the past six months and voting on our first solution to implement at the local level,” the event’s announcement said. Each meeting has dived into different topics like food and agriculture, transportation, land use, energy and others. Kaitlin Vadla, Cook Inletkeeper, said that numerous ideas for solutions have come See climate, Page A9
No confidence vote, delay shake up UA By Peter Segall Juneau Empire
University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen on Thursday released a video where he acknowledged his role in contributing to a “fractured” university system. In the video Johnsen says that he has been able to reflect on his management of the restructuring process. “What I’ve learned is that I stayed in that crisis mode that I was in over the spring and summer, trying to fight
off that huge budget cut, and I didn’t adjust to our new, still urgent, reality,” Johnsen said in the video. The video was released after an emergency meeting Monday where the University of Alaska Board of Regents voted to delay consideration of consolidating the university system into a single accredited university. At the meeting, the regents held a closed door executive session where it decided to halt the consolidation process until after UA Fairbanks had completed its accreditation process
in 2021, as well as to suspend the academic review processes that had been taking place systemwide. The restructuring process began after the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced massive cuts to the state budget, originally proposing $136 million cut from the UA system. In August, Dunleavy signed an agreement with the Board of Regents which would cut only $70 million and over a three-year period. In exchange, the regents agreed to a number of cost-cutting
measures such as increased online classes and reduction of administrative overhead. The decision to halt consolidation came following a Sept. 30 letter to the Regents and Johnsen from the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), the local accrediting agency, expressing concern at the manner in which the University of Alaska’s restructuring was taking place. See UA, Page A2
Trump backs Giuliani; cut ties, some aides wish By Darlene Superville, Jonathan Lemire and Zeke Miller Associated Press
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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Saturday stood behind personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, one of his highest-profile and most vocal defenders, amid reports that federal prosecutors in the city Giuliani led as mayor are eyeing
him for possible lobbying violations. Behind the scenes, however, many of Trump’s closest aides and advisers, inside and outside the White House, quietly wish the president would cut ties with Giuliani, whose leadership of New York after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks earned him worldwide admiration and the moniker of “America’s mayor.” Giuliani was a force in Trump’s defense during the lengthy Russia
investigation by the special counsel. Yet the effort to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller led Giuliani to Ukraine, which now entangles the former federal prosecutor and mayor in legal jeopardy and is central to the danger threatening the presidency he labored to protect. The New York Times reported Friday, citing a pair of anonymous sources familiar with the matter, that the investigation is linked to Giuliani’s
efforts to undermine Marie Yovanovitch, formerly the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan has declined to comment on the Times report. Two Florida businessmen with ties to Giuliani were charged Thursday with federal campaign finance violations. Both played key roles in Giuliani’s efforts to get Ukraine See trump, Page A8