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Vol. 50, Issue 13
In the news
Accused of documenting killing, man pleads not guilty ANCHORAGE — A man accused of documenting the killing of a woman on a camera memory card has pleaded not guilty. Brian Steven Smith didn’t speak during an arraignment that lasted about a minute Wednesday. A public defender entered his pleas for him. Smith faces charges of murder, sexual assault and evidence tampering in the death of 30-year-old Kathleen Henry. Her body was found near the highway south of Anchorage Oct. 2. A few days earlier, a woman walking in Anchorage found a memory card titled, “Homicide at midtown Marriott.” Police say the card had 39 photos and 12 videos. The videos show a man beating and strangling a woman, telling her to die and laughing. The man’s accent on the tapes helped lead police to Smith, who is from South Africa.
Supporters get OK to gather signatures for oil tax proposal JUNEAU — Supporters of a proposal to rewrite Alaska’s oil tax structure have gotten approval to gather signatures in a bid to qualify the measure for next year’s ballot. Supporters hope to gather 28,501 qualified signatures by the start of the January legislative session. Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer certified the initiative application Tuesday. The campaign behind the proposal says the measure is aimed at Alaska’s legacy oil fields and increasing the state’s share of production revenues. A review by the Department of Law said the measure is difficult to interpret, raises implementation and constitutional questions and could lead to litigation. Still, the review found none of that amounted to legal grounds to deny certification. Robin Brena, a sponsor of the measure, says the intent of the proposal is “pretty darn clear.” See news, Page A3
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Local bikers to share tale of Scottish adventure
NFL Week 7 hopes to deliver more
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W of 1 inner Awa0* 201 Exc rds fo 8 e r Rep llence i o n rt * Ala ska P i n g ! res
CLARION P E N I N S U L A
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Thursday, October 17, 2019 • Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
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Closed station raises concerns
Winter welcome
The closure of the Silvertip Maintenance Station is due to cuts triggered by lower than expected revenue from the motor fuel tax. By Victoria Petersen Peninsula Clarion
the Iditarod, saying it ruins dogs that don’t die on the trail; dogs are kept outdoors in freezing temperatures; and ones that can’t make the grade are killed. Plenty of dogs have run the race multiple times with no harm, Urbach said, noting that Iditarod dogs are outdoor animals that train daily and are at their prime in subzero weather. “There might have been some culling years ago, but that’s not part of the Iditarod’s culture going forward,” Urbach said.
Kenai Peninsula Borough and state leaders have expressed concerns after a maintenance station responsible for winter plowing on the Seward Highway closed Tuesday due to reduced fuel tax revenue. The Alaska Department of Transportation announced the closure of the Silvertip Maintenance Station, located at the junction of the Seward and Hope Highways, in September. The station, built in 1974, has been responsible for the maintenance of the Seward Highway through Turnagain Pass. The maintenance duties of Turnagain Pass will now fall on both the Girdwood Maintenance station and the Crown Point station south of Moose Pass. The closure is due to cuts triggered by lower than expected revenue from the motor fuel tax, which supports the department’s maintenance workers and stations. In addition to the station’s closure, five operator positions were cut from the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities central region. The Seward Highway corridor, which is prone to extreme winter conditions, is facing limited hours of operation. Shannon McCarthy, media liaison with the Department of Transportation, said it will take longer for operators to get to the pass to address maintenance needs. During winter storms, the department can approve extended working hours. Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce made a statement in support of keeping Silvertip Station open. His statement said the station’s closure will further limit snow removal operations, impacting road safety as well as potentially delaying emergency personnel that respond to vehicle accidents within this Seward Highway corridor. “Emergency response is already difficult for this remote area of the Seward Highway,” Pierce said in his statement to the department. “The volunteer emergency responders are tasked with long difficult responses, and this closure will only make their jobs more difficult with more responses as well as increase risks on the Seward Highway during the winter months.” On Wednesday, the mayor told the Clarion that the Seward Highway
See PETA, Page A3
See road, Page A3
Victoria Petersen / Peninsula Clarion
A tree along Ryan’s Creek Trail is dusted with snow on Wednesday in Kenai. The Kenai area was treated to the first glimpses of winter with morning and afternoon snow showers. The National Weather Service Anchorage Office forecasts a slight chance of snow today, followed by weekend rain.
Iditarod head, PETA leader to meet By Rachel D’Oro Associated Press
ANCHORAGE — The new head of Alaska’s Iditarod plans to meet with a leader of an animal welfare group that’s devoted to ending the world’s most famous sled dog race, which it sees as a cruel, deadly event for its canine participants. Organizers of the 1,000-mile wilderness trek have for decades ignored or taken a defensive stance against People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach, who took the helm of the organization in July. The old response hasn’t worked, Urbach said. He has started talking to PETA about dog care and will meet Thursday with the group’s executive vice president Tracy Reiman in Los Angeles. “I’m coming in with open ears and eyes, to have an objective conversation about animal welfare,” Urbach said Tuesday. “If there’s something we can learn from their organization, I’m willing to listen.” Reiman plans to talk about the differences between “the needs and behavior of dogs and those of humans,” she said in an email to The Associated Press. She said it will be the third time she has talked with Urbach. The Thursday meeting will be the first in person, after Urbach asked to meet. Reiman noted that as a former CEO of USA Triathlon, Urbach knows endurance sports but not when applied to dogs. “You can’t extrapolate from human experiences in endurance racing and apply the result to dogs who are driven past their limits,”
Michael Dinneen / Associated Press file
Anchorage resident Terry Fischer, with his Alaskan Husky Litho, happens into the People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA protest prior to the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, on March 3, 2018. PETA is the biggest critic of the world’s most famous sled dog race, but new Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach has started discussions with the animal rights group and plans a sit-down meeting with PETA on Thursday in Los Angeles.
she said. The Thursday summit, as Urbach calls it, comes after a difficult time for the Iditarod that was marked in recent years by escalating pressure from animal activists over multiple dog deaths, a 2017 dog-doping scandal and the loss of big-name sponsors. Urbach said the Iditarod and PETA both care about animal welfare, and he hopes the two can find common ground through education about the race and treatment of the dogs. However, he said PETA has long spread “grossly inaccurate and inflammatory” information about
Ex-Pompeo aide testifies; Senate talks trial By Lisa Mascaro, Mary Claire Jalonick and Matt lee Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The swiftmoving impeachment probe pushed onward Wednesday as a former top State Department aide testified that the Trump administration’s politicization of foreign policy contributed to his resignation, while the Senate GOP leader briefed colleagues on a possible Christmas impeachment trial. The day’s events, interrupted by an explosive meeting at the White House, churned as longtime State
Department officials are speaking out under subpoena — some revealing striking new details — about the actions Trump, and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, took toward Ukraine that have sparked the House impeachment inquiry. On Wednesday, Michael McKinley, a career foreign service officer and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s de facto chief of staff, told investigators behind closed doors that he could no longer look the other way amid the Trump administration’s dealings with Ukraine, which were among the reasons he ended his 37-year career last week, according to multiple
people familiar with the testimony, who, like others who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, were not authorized to discuss it. “I was disturbed by the implication that foreign governments were being approached to procure negative information on political opponents,” McKinley testified, according to a former colleague familiar with his remarks. The impeachment inquiry revolves around a whistleblower’s complaint that Trump was pushing Ukraine’s leader into opening an investigation of a company connected to the son of
Trump’s potential 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden. It is illegal to solicit or receive foreign help in a U.S. election. Among McKinley’s concerns was the administration’s failure to support Ukrainian Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, who was ousted in March on orders from Trump. McKinley, who as a Latin America expert was not specifically involved in Ukraine, was also frustrated that there had been no response to an August inspector general’s report that found significant evidence of leadership and management problems, including See inquiry, Page A2