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CLARION
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P E N I N S U L A
MONDAY, JANUARY 6, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 82
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
Gov, Senate stir political winds
Question What type of New Year’s resolutions are you planning to make? n Lose weight, eat healthier or exercise more; n Quit smoking or drinking; n Better manage your finances; n Improve your education or career; n Volunteer; n Other; n None. To place your vote and comment, visit our Web site at www. peninsulaclarion. com. Results and selected comments will be posted each Tuesday in the Clarion, and a new question will be asked.
In the news
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Cross-over crash sends 7 to hospital HOMER — A cross-over accident on the Sterling Highway sent seven people to the hospital, including one with life-threatening injuries. The Alaska State Troopers say the accident occurred Saturday morning when a northbound vehicle crossed the centerline and struck a southbound van. Authorities say 53-year-old Dale Keefer was a passenger in the southbound vehicle. The Anchor Point man was sent to South Peninsula Hospital with life threatening injuries. The driver of the southbound vehicle was also sent to the hospital. The driver of the northbound vehicle and four children who were passengers were also transported to the hospital with minor injuries. Authorities are still investigating the crash. — The Associated Press
By Tim Bradner Morris News Service-Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce
Photos by Dan Balmer/Peninsula Clarion
Above: Brenda Ahlberg tries out her skate skis while receiving instruction from Kent Peterson Sunday afternoon at Tsalteshi Trails. Peterson, who is a ski coach at Skyview, volunteered his time to teach beginners proper technique over the weekend. Below: A group practices skate skiing on Sunday at Tsalteshi Trails.
Picking up ski tips Coach offers lessons to locals By DAN BALMER Peninsula Clarion
While out skiing at Tsalteshi Trails the weekend after Christmas, Kent Peterson noticed a few people on the hill testing out their new skate skis. Peterson, who is a cross-country ski coach at Skyview High School, saw that the novice skiers could use a little help. “I know its that time of year when people get new gear for Christmas and probably are
‘It’s important to make sure that we don’t resume losing wetlands to a greater extent than we can restore them.’ ... See page A-2
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with the turnout. Ten people came out Saturday and 12 skiers showed up on Sunday. Peterson said he saw several people with rented gear from Beemun’s and Wilderness Way, which he recommends as a good way to try out the sport before making the investment
to purchase the equipment. Rob Carson, who attended the ski clinic both days, said he rented his skate skis, boots and poles from Beemun’s for $30 for the entire weekend. Carson said he and his wife have looked into buying their own See SKI, page A-12
See GOV, page A-12
Education task force report gives few answers By JENNIFER CANFIELD Morris News Service-Alaska Juneau Empire
Inside
making New Year’s resolutions to get in shape,” Peterson said. “So I thought since I had some free time during the winter break it would be awesome to offer some tips. Otherwise people would get frustrated and quit and the skis would sit in the attic.” Peterson sent out a Facebook post through both the Tsalteshi Trails and Beemun’s Ski Loft page to offer free one-hour lessons on Saturday and Sunday. He was pleasantly surprised
August and November seem a long way off but the political winds will be stirring soon for the primary and general elections. The hot topics for the primary election, which is often a snoozer in Alaska, is the ballot referendum on Senate Bill 21, the oil tax reform bill passed by the Legislature last April, and the square-off between Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, former Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan and 2010 Republican Senate nominee Joe Miller for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democrat Mark Begich. Whoever wins in the Treadwell-Sullivan-Miller primary will face Begich in November. However, there is one other primary contest featuring a Dan Sullivan, this one Anchorage’s current mayor, who is running for lieutenant governor in the Republican primary against Anchorage state Sen. Lesil McGuire. Gov. Sean Parnell is standing for reelection in 2014 and so far has no primary challenge in August, but he faces two challengers in the November general election, one being former Valdez Mayor Bill Walker, running as an independent, and the other the Democrat candidate Byron Mallott. Walker and Mallot are likely to run energetic, lively campaigns, and Parnell may benefit from a three-way race where his opponents may split votes while he enjoys a consolidated base.
A two-page report by the state’s education task force released Thursday has left a lot to be desired by Juneau’s legislative delegation. House Sustainable Education Task Force co-chair Rep. Lynn Gattis, R-Wasilla, said the report was only preliminary and that the group has until 2015 to complete a full report. The task force was created by a House resolution in the last days of the 2013 session. It was
appropriated $250,000 and was tasked with performing an analysis of public education funding. The resolution that created the task force was detailed in what the report needed to include. Cost estimates, evaluations and comparisons of everything from pension, health care, energy and pupil transportation costs to core academic requirements and the base student allocation were listed as items that should be in the task force’s report. While the resolution specifies that the group will expire Jan. 1, 2015, it also says that “a report of findings and recommendations
of the task force and submitting additional reports the task force considers advisable” be submitted to the governor, the Legislature and the Department of Education and Early Development by Jan. 1, 2014. “It’s a big, big subject and to think that a group of people could answer all the questions — to not only a nationally huge question, but also Alaska, and we’re so different in different areas — we would be doing a disservice to public education if we thought we had all the answers in five or six months,” Gattis said Friday. The task force hasn’t set dead-
lines to develop the many complicated aspects of the report, but Gattis said that it will be completed. “The next step is to utilize both of the committees, the Education Committee and the Finance committee, to explore some other unanswered questions, to have a couple more task force meetings, and to, quite frankly, produce legislation that our caucus can move forward and say ‘This is what we need to do,’” Gattis said. Gattis chairs the House Education Committee and the task force’s other co-chair, Tammie Wilson, is on the House Finance
Committee. The 650-word report released Thursday includes seven bullet points that outline the task force’s declaration that “Achieving a sustainable future will require new ways of thinking.” • Invest in technology that is compatible with local infrastructure. • Establish regional residential education centers to enhance secondary education . • Expand public choice in education opportunities to include: boarding, charter, virtual, homeschool and neighborhood See REPORT, page A-12
Jury finds Tyonek man not guilty of all charges By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
After hearing the alleged victim’s and the defendant’s accounts of a September incident, a Kenai Superior Court jury found a Tyonek man accused of kidnapping and assault not guilty of all charges on Friday. The state had alleged Virgil McCord, 37, had beaten his then girlfriend, Valerie Sigourney, 44, of Anchorage, on Sept. 20, 2013 in Tyonek. It charged him with kidnapping and two felony
assault charges as well as two misdemeanor charges — fourthdegree assault and fourth-degree criminal mischief. Public Defender Andy Pevehouse called two witnesses Friday, McCord’s grandfather, who appeared telephonically, and the defendant. McCord told the jury about his relationship with Sigourney, saying he had liked that Sigourney was active, sweet and loved kids. But he said they had arguments about her drinking, and he didn’t like when she spent
time with certain people in the village because they influenced her drinking. He said he also had an issue with the amount of attention she gave to one of her friend’s husbands, but he wasn’t jealous. Then Pevehouse questioned McCord about the September incident. McCord said he picked Sigourney up from her friend’s home to go for a drive and to go moose hunting. He said she had started drinking at her friend’s house and brought a bottle of whiskey with for the drive. McC
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Cord testified he had a little bit to drink but not enough to get drunk or even buzzed, but he said Sigourney became intoxicated. McCord said it was getting dark when the couple got into an argument about Sigourney’s drinking. He thought she drank too much. He said she asked him to take her home. He testified he said “OK” and planned to turn around at the airstrip about half of a mile ahead. Before he got there, he said Sigourney jumped out of the pickup while he was
driving. He said he tried to stop her by grabbing her sweatshirt. “When my arm popped out (of its socket), I let go,” he said. McCord said he had little mobility in his right arm. He testified that he thought he put the pickup in park and got out after Sigourney, who had jumped out of the truck and was lying in the road. But the truck wasn’t in park so he tried to go after it, and it got stuck in the ditch. McCord said when he got to Sigourney she looked See TRIAL, page A-12