Tangled
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Making resolutions, evolving resolutions
A look back at agriculture
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P E N I N S U L A
Vol. 50, Issue 77
In the news
Ballot group turns in signatures for elections proposal JUNEAU — Backers of a proposed ballot initiative aimed at overhauling elections in Alaska have turned in signatures seeking to qualify the measure for this year’s ballot. The group Alaskans for Better Elections said Thursday it had submitted to the Division of Elections more than 41,000 signatures. The group said it was required to gather just over 28,000 qualified signatures. The proposal calls for open primaries, with a single primary ballot, and allowing for rank-choice voting in general elections. It also seeks to strengthen reporting requirements for certain political contributions. A ruling by Superior Court Judge Yvonne Lamoureux in October allowed the group to begin signature gathering after Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer denied the initiative application. Meyer said he based his decision on a Department of Law review that concluded the measure violated a singlesubject rule. Lamoureux found it did not. That case has been appealed but Jason Grenn, a sponsor of the measure, said supporters are moving forward.
Man dies of injuries suffered in Wasilla crash ANCHORAGE — A man has died of injuries suffered in a December traffic crash in Wasilla, police announced. David Bybee, 73, of Anchorage, was injured in a collision at Mile 2 Knik-Goose Bay Road and Endeavor Road. The death is believed to be the 17th on Knik-Goose Bay Road in the past five years, Anchorage television station KTUU reported. The state medical examiner on Tuesday informed Wasilla police that Bybee had died, said police spokeswoman Amanda Graham. The driver of a second vehicle and five passengers were transported to Mat-Su Regional Hospital for treatment. Bybee and one of the passengers later were airlifted to Anchorage. — Associated Press
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Fish panel backs limits on gill netters By Brian Mazurek Peninsula Clarion
The local advisory committee for Upper Cook Inlet fisheries voted Tuesday night to support a proposal that would tighten restrictions on commercial gill net fisheries during late king salmon runs. The Kenai/Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee met at the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association on Jan. 6 and 7 to discuss proposals that have been submitted to the Alaska
Department of Fish and Game’s Board of Fish. These proposals will be considered by the Board of Fish in February when they look to amend the regulations for Upper Cook Inlet Finfish fisheries, and the advisory committee voted Tuesday night to support one of the proposals. The proposal that was supported by the advisory committee, Proposal 108, would reduce the number of hours that the Upper Subdistrict set gill net commercial fishery may be fished as part
of the paired restrictions for the Kenai River Late-Run King Salmon Management Plan. The original proposal excluded the East Foreland Section of the Upper Subdistrict set gill net commercial fishery from the restrictions, but the advisory committee voted to amend the proposal to include that area in the management plan. Currently, the Department of Fish and Game is authorized to impose restrictions on both the sport and commercial fisheries in the
Kenai River in order to meet the sustainable escapement goal of 13,500 to 27,000 king salmon during the late run, which lasts from early July to season closure. Restrictions on one industry are paired to restrictions for the other, so for example if the use of bait is prohibited in the sport fishery, commercial fishing periods are open for no more than 48 hours per week. If both the use of bait and the retention of king salmon are prohibited in the sport fishery, commercial
fishing periods are limited to 24 hours per week. Proposal 108, if adopted by the Board of Fish in February, would cut the hours of operation for commercial fishing in half — 24 hours during times when bait is restricted and 12 hours when both bait and retention are prohibited for the sport fishery. The proposal would also mandate that those periods be limited to one or two 12-hour contiguous periods. See fish, Page A2
State eyes plan to modernize rural 911 The move will hopefully help public safety crisis in remote areas
By Michael S. Lockett Juneau Empire
“Our mission is to train Alaskans to work in Alaska,” said AVTEC Director Cathy Lacompte. “We’re tightly connected to employers and are proving the training they need to be successful in the workforce.” Recently, AVTEC ranked in the top 10% of 4,500 colleges nationwide for student return on investment by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. “Our students also have a completion rate of over 90% with little or no debt,” Lacompte added. “The employment
The Alaska Department of Public Safety has two initiatives to consolidate and update emergency communications across the state. “In 80% of the state, if you call 911, you’ll get routed through a bunch of trunks and end up in Fairbanks. One of our patrol detachments is bigger than the state of Texas,” said Leon Morgan, the deputy commissioner for the Alaska DPS, in a phone interview. “If we don’t know where you are, we can’t respond. We’re doing the best we can to give service to our citizens no matter where they are in the state.” The initiatives will make it so that anyone who calls 911 in Alaska will have their location immediately identified, as long as they’re in cell service range, Morgan said. The protocol is called Enhanced 911, and is present throughout the Lower 48 and in urban centers in Alaska. However, Morgan said, rural Alaska is lagging behind. “The city of Juneau has a very modern, professional emergency communication service. In our rural areas, in Southeast Alaska, we don’t have that technology,” Morgan said. “You can buy something on Amazon, but if you dial 911, we still don’t know where you are. This will change that.” The initiatives have two main angles of attack. The first is to give all Alaska telecom providers
See outlook, Page A3
See 911, Page A3
Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion
Seward High School students (from left) Tayten Barhaug, Lindy Guernsey and Akilena Veach demonstrate their Caring for the Kenai project, drones to help map the flood planes of Seward, during the Industry Outlook Forum in Seward on Wednesday.
Forum discusses peninsula’s 2020 economic outlook By Kat Sorensen For the Peninsula Clarion
The fourth annual Industry Outlook Forum on Wednesday in Seward brought together economic leaders on the Kenai Peninsula and highlighted different avenues that continue to make the Kenai Peninsula, and Alaska, competitive. The event, hosted by the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District (KPEDD), featured representatives from industries found throughout the borough, including workforce development, tourism, manufacturing,
agriculture, oil and gas, the census and the Alaska Railroad. “We are the most diverse borough in the state,” said Tim Dillon, executive director of KPEDD and event organizer. “It’s not just all gas and oil or marine, there is so many different things we can touch on.”
AVTEC The forum was held at the Alaska Vocational Technical Center (AVTEC), a postsecondary career and technical school that offers classes in a variety of fields, from maritime to culinary.
Iranians shot down airliner, Western leaders declare Associated Press
WASHINGTON — It is “highly likely” that Iran shot down the civilian Ukrainian jetliner that crashed near Tehran late Tuesday, killing all 176 people on board, U.S., Canadian and British officials declared Thursday. They said the fiery missile strike could well have been a mistake amid rocket launches and high tension throughout the region. The crash came just a few hours after Iran launched a ballistic attack against Iraqi military bases housing U.S.
troops in its violent confrontation with Washington over the U.S. drone strike that killed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general. The airliner could have been mistaken for a threat, said four U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose country lost at least 63 citizens in the downing, said in Toronto: “We have intelligence from multiple sources including our allies and our own intelligence. The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an
Iranian surface-to-air missile.” Likewise, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, “There is now a body of information that the flight was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile.” The assessment that 176 people were killed as collateral damage in the Iranian-U.S. conflict cast a new pall over what had at first appeared to be a relatively calm aftermath following the U.S. military operation that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. See iran, Page A3
Ex-governor Walker chosen for Harvard fellowship By Becky Bohrer Associated Press
JUNEAU — Bill Walker, who was one of the country’s few politically unaffiliated governors, plans to discuss with students bridging the political divide during an upcoming, on-campus residency at Harvard University. The former Alaska governor is among six people chosen as resident fellows for the spring semester at the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School. The fellows will live on the
Massachusetts campus for the spring semester, mentor students and lead an eight week, notfor-credit study group, according to the institute. Walker, who left office in late 2018, said he spoke to students during a visit last year and enjoyed the experience. He expects as part of the program to discuss running and governing as an independent and bridging the political divide. “I think that’s really one of the things that they’re See walker, Page A2