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Horses Dems demand update on wild horse plans
Steelers look to get rolling against Dolphins
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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
P E N I N S U L A
Vol. 50, Issue 21
In the news
Police detain suspect in bar shooting ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Anchorage police have arrested a man suspected of firing a shot that struck a bar employee trying to break up a fight. Police say 27-yearold Reynaldo Armstead was taken into custody Sunday on an outstanding warrant. In addition, he was held on suspicion of assault, weapons misconduct and reckless endangerment. Online court documents do not list his attorney. Police shortly before 1:30 a.m. Saturday received a report that patrons of the Gaslight Bar on Fourth Avenue had gotten into a fight and that one of the participants had pulled out a gun. As the man waived the gun around, a male employee tried to break up the fight. Police say the bar employee was shot once in the upper body. He was taken to a hospital in serious condition.
Tuesday, October 29, 2019 • Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
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Sterling woman sentenced in drug case By Victoria Petersen Peninsula Clarion
A Sterling woman is being sentenced to four years in prison for her role in a drug and money laundering conspiracy in Southcentral Alaska, a Monday press release from U.S. Attorney Brian Schroder said. Sterling resident, Susan Bradshaw, 55, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason to four years in prison followed by a three-year term of supervised release, the release said. A co-conspirator, Mark Norman Hanes, was sentenced to federal prison in July. “It doesn’t matter whether drug
dealers and money launderers are in the cities or rural parts of our state, we will find them and prosecute them. Investigating drug distribution rings requires a team effort, including tracking the money,” Schroder said in his release. Between mid-2014 and January 14, 2015, Bradshaw and Hanes were part of a conspiracy that distributed methamphetamine and heroin throughout the region, according to the release. The release says individuals in Anchorage supplied Bradshaw and Hanes with the drugs, driving to meet them at the home they shared in Sterling on at least two occasions
to deliver product. Payment for those drugs would then be made through deposits into bank accounts controlled by the conspiracy, the release said. During a Jan. 14, 2015, search of Bradshaw and Hanes’ property, law enforcement located approximately 1 pound of methamphetamine and a half-pound of heroin in a safe in their bedroom, the release said. The safe also contained more than $5,000 in cash, a loaded Glock handgun, and an envelope that contained a U-Haul magnetic security card and two keys, the release said. The release said the storage locker held methamphetamine and heroin, as well as
Kenai primed for halloween ‘knight’
$148,000 in cash. The release said “Casey, Emergency Only!” was written on the outside of the envelope in Bradshaw’s handwriting. Bradshaw and Hanes were not present at their residence at the time of the search, having traveled to Mexico approximately one week prior, the release said. Following the search, they stayed in Mexico and remained there until they were arrested on or about September 11, 2017. In the defendants’ possession in January 2015, were more than 400 See drugs, Page A3
Meeting on bypass scheduled for today By Victoria Petersen Peninsula Clarion
now-closed Italian restaurant, Romano’s. He declined to say how much he paid, but those licenses can go for as much as $300,000. Fletcher said the main reason he bought the full-service license was because he wants to sell beer from other breweries. “We’re able to bring up some of these beers that no one else can get their hands on,” Fletcher said. “It’s a
There will be an open house Tuesday, for residents interested in learning more about Sterling Highway construction project slated to begin next year between Milepost 45 through 60 in Cooper Landing. The project, which has moved from the environmental analysis phase into the engineering design phase, is expected to be a five year project that will reconstruct existing roadway, widen shoulders, bring roadway curves into compliance, add passing lanes and construct about 1o miles of new road way between Milepost 46 and 55.5, bypassing the town of Cooper Landing. According to the state Department of Transportation project overview, the new roadway will reduce stormwater runoff and potential spill risk into the Kenai River. New intersections will be designed to connect the old and new highways, the overview said, and construction will also include a new bridge spanning Juneau Creek Canyon – soon to be the longest single-span bridge in Alaska. “The project will provide increased safety for recreational activities and river access, reduced noise levels on the river, and decreased visual impacts as seen from the river,” the project overview said. “In terms of wildlife protection, the design features four wildlife crossing structures, including the first wildlife overpass of a highway in Alaska.” The Federal Highway Trust Funds are anticipated to cover 90% of constuction costs of the $375 million project, and the state will be picking
See brewer, Page A3
See meet, Page A3
Neighbors rally to address unsanitary properties ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Residents of a Matanuska-Susitna Borough community want local and state authorities to act against two properties they contend are littered with junk vehicles, squatters and unsanitary conditions. About 100 residents at a meeting Wednesday in Butte complained about owners of two multi-acre “compounds” who have let vehicles accumulate and let people live in them, KTVA-television reported. “When their decisions begin to affect my family, that’s when their rights end and mine begin and I’ve had it,” said David Miller. Butte is an unincorporated community of about 3,600 spread out along 7 miles of the Old Glenn Highway south of Palmer. Mike Sweeney, a resident for more than 40 years, says property behind his home has dozens of broken-down cars and what looks like a small landfill. “Most of what you see right there is straight-up household
Damp
Victoria Petersen / Peninsula Clarion
A couple dozen kids and parents were greeted at the free Kenai Community Library’s Literary Haunted House by a knight in shining armor in Kenai. The event has been put on by the city’s library for four years now, and will open again on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to noon, then from 4 to 6 p.m., on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to noon, then 4 to 6 p.m., and on Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m.
Irked by limits, Anchorage brewer invests in costly full liquor license Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Frustrated by state limits on his beer tasting room, an Anchorage brewer has gotten around the rules by purchasing a full-service liquor license from a now-defunct business. Gabe Fletcher’s new license went into effect at Anchorage Brewing Co. last week, the Anchorage Daily News reported . With the new license, Fletcher’s
business has fewer restrictions than the much less costly special brewery license that costs $1,000 plus fees. His business instead can now stay open later, serve more than three 12-ounce glasses of beer per person, host live bands and sell beer from other breweries. In Alaska, full-service licenses are limited to a finite number linked to population. But license holders can sell them to other businesses. Fletcher got his full license from a
National security official to testify in probe By Mary Clare Jalonick, Eric Tucker and Lisa Mascaro Associated Press
WASHINGTON — For the first time, House investigators expect to hear Tuesday from a current White House official as the impeachment inquiry reaches deeper into the Trump administration and Democrats prepare for the next, public phase of the probe. Alexander Vindman, a military officer and director for European affairs at the National Security Council, appears to be a possible key witness to events surrounding President Donald Trump’s interactions
with Ukraine. He attended President Voldymyr Zelenskiy’s inauguration with a delegation led by Energy Secretary Rick Perry, was part of Ukraine briefings that irritated John Bolton at the White House and may have been on the phone call that launched the impeachment inquiry. The focus comes after Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the House will vote this week on a resolution to affirm the impeachment investigation, set rules for public hearings and outline the potential process for writing articles of impeachment against Trump. It would be the first formal House vote on the impeachment inquiry
and aims to nullify complaints from Trump and his allies — amplified last week when Republicans stormed a secure room used for impeachment interviews — that the process is illegitimate, unfair and lacking in due process. Democrats insisted they weren’t yielding to Republican pressure for a vote. Pelosi dismissed the Republican argument that impeachment can’t begin without formal approval from the House and brushed off their complaints about the closed-door process. “I do not care. I do not care. This is a false thing with them,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. “Understand
it has nothing to do with them. It has to do with how we proceed.” Trump has cited the lack of a House vote as a reason to refuse cooperation with the impeachment investigation. In the wake of Pelosi’s announcement, the White House said nothing had changed. Pelosi “is finally admitting what the rest of America already knew — that Democrats were conducting an unauthorized impeachment proceeding, refusing to give the President due process, and their secret, shady, closed door depositions are completely and irreversibly See probe, Page A3