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CLARION P E N I N S U L A
Vol. 50, Issue 24
In the news
UAF seeks to add esports to activities, curriculum FAIRBANKS — The University of Alaska Fairbanks plans to incorporate competitive video gaming, known as esports, into student curriculum and activities. Citing student interest, the school intends to offer a business class next fall related to esports and find a space on campus where students can gather to compete, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. A class already offered by the School of Management helped organize the university’s esports and gaming summit this year. It drew about 300 people and featured esports industry professionals. School of Management Dean Mark Herrmann said it’s looking at sources of funding outside the university for the gaming space currently being considered in Wood Center. He hopes the space can provide room for esports and for students to engage in other activities such as the game “Dungeons and Dragons.” Bryan Uher, acting dean of the College of Rural and Community Development, recently obtained a $1 million, five-year grant to develop a “content creation” program intended to provide training in a specific field. Uher said younger people he has talked to at rural campuses are interested in classes involving content creation such as working on social media platforms. It’s “a job you can do from your home,” he said, noting that course delivery would allow rural students to stay in their communities while getting the education to build a business.
Landlord nixes spaceport project HILO, Hawaii — A Hawaii landowner has decided not to go forward with a satellite launch facility. Alaska Aerospace Corp. was in talks to potentially build Pacific Spaceport Complex Hawaii on W.H. Shipman land near Keeau on the Big Island. The company operates a similar satellite launch facility in Kodiak, Alaska. The Hawaii See news, Page A2
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House approves impeachment rules By ALAN FRAM and MATTHEW DALY Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Democrats swept a rules package for their impeachment probe of President Donald Trump through a divided House Thursday, as the chamber’s first vote on the investigation highlighted the partisan breach the issue has only deepened. By 232-196, lawmakers approved the procedures they’ll follow as weeks of closed-door interviews with witnesses evolve into public committee hearings and — almost certainly — votes on whether the House should recommend Trump’s removal. All voting Republicans opposed the package. Every voting Democrat but two supported it. Underscoring the pressure Trump has heaped on See rules, Page A16
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. gavels as the House votes 232-196 to pass resolution on impeachment procedure to move forward into the next phase of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump in the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Voting opens for Soldotna music series grant By Brian Mazurek Peninsula Clarion
Peninsula residents have the opportunity to directly impact the future of Soldotna’s summer music series. The city of Soldotna is in the running for receiving
the Levitt AMP Grant Award for the summer of 2020. The award is a matching grant of $25,000 provided through the Mortimer and Mimi Levitt Foundation that is given to small and mid-sized towns with the purpose of “strengthening the social fabric of America through the power of free,
live music,” according to their website. Fifteen cities will receive the grant, and the recipients are chosen through online public voting. Soldotna is one of 33 cities currently in the running. Starting Friday morning at 10 a.m., anyone can sign up to vote for Soldotna as one of the
winners. To vote for Soldotna, people can go to Levitt.org and click on the banner that says “Sign up to vote.” All that’s needed is a name and a valid email address. Voting runs from Nov. 1 to Nov. 20. Soldotna Chamber of Commerce Events and Programs Director Andy
Connecting through stories True Tales Told Live to host workshop events
Heuiser said that they will know by Dec. 20 if Soldotna is awarded the grant. A link to vote will also be on the Soldotna Chamber website, and Heuiser said that they will be at Kenai Peninsula College next week spreading the word about the grant. See grant, Page A16
Police identify body found in CPH parking lot
By Joey Klecka
By Brian Mazurek
Peninsula Clarion
Peninsula Clarion
Telling a good story begins with knowing how to craft the right words together while connecting with an audience. November will be the perfect time to hone the storytelling craft with the True Tales, Told Live storytelling workshop, which will be held every Tuesday in November. True Tales Told Live took shape in 2016 as the brainchild of Soldotna’s Jenny Neyman, Kaitlyn Vadla and Pegge Erkeneff, and has been a staple at Odie’s Deli in Soldotna since then, popping up every few months or so. The events are particularly popular in the winter months when the creative juices really get flowing from being cooped up inside. Neyman said the workshop is being hosted in partnership with Soldotna Community Schools, and will focus on the process of storytelling from draft to performance. She said she hopes that teaming up with Vadla for the four-week
Soldotna Police have identified a man who was found dead in the parking lot of Central Peninsula Hospital. Charles M. Brady, 52, was discovered in the front seat of a pickup truck by hospital security staff while they were patrolling the parking lot Wednesday morning. Soldotna Police and Central Emergency Services responded to the scene at 7:35 a.m and quickly determined that Brady was dead. Lt. Duane Kant with the Soldotna Police Department said Thursday that next of kin have been notified and Brady’s body has been sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage for autopsy. Kant said that it could be several weeks before the results from the autopsy are sent back to his department. At this time an investigation is ongoing, but Kant said that there were no obvious signs of foul play at the scene of the incident. Security staff told police that the truck had been parked in the parking lot for several days, Kant said.
Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion file
Bill Holt tells a fishing tale at Odie’s Deli on Friday, June 2, 2017, in Soldotna. Holt was among the seven storytellers in True Tales Told Live, an occasional storytelling event co-founded by Pegge Erkeneff, Jenny Neyman and Kaitlin Vadla.
workshop will provide the community a solid base to start from. “We’re kind of expecting a range of things,” Neyman said. “On one
level, we started (True Tales) because the three of us believe pretty deeply in the power and See story, Page A2
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Borough to establish habitat protection work group By Victoria Petersen Peninsula Clarion
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly is set to establish a work group to examine regulations regarding anadromous habitat protection within the Kenai River and Cook Inlet watersheds. The Anadromous Streams Habitat Protection
Work Group would assess current permit processes and recommend potential amendments to code regulating habitat protection for anadromous fish, which are fish that migrate from salt water to spawn in fresh water, like salmon. In 1996, the borough assembly established regulation ensuring habitat protection of anadromous fish. In 2013, the assembly enacted
code requiring a staff review of the habitat protections to occur every five years, beginning in 2015. The work group would go through the public process, and review the borough code as it relates to anadromous habitat protection, taking advantage of new information and techniques, the resolution said. The work group may also seek to “correct deficiencies
or difficulties” and recommend whether regulations should be amended. The group will review the code also to make sure it is consistent with the purpose and findings of the new comprehensive plan, which will also be heard at the assembly Nov. 5. Representatives from the clerk’s office, legal department and planning department will support the work
group, along with at least one assembly member, one planning commissioner and five members of the public, who will be appointed by the mayor. The work group shall conclude with a final report by March 23, 2020, unless its time is extended by the assembly. The resolution will be heard at Tuesday’s borough assembly meeting.