KBBI - Homer

After more than two decades of Republican control, the Alaska House is now led by a bipartisan caucus. Democrats make up the majority of the 22-member caucus, along with two independents and three Republicans.

Republican Rep. Paul Seaton of Homer is a member of the caucus and the newly appointed co-chair of the House Finance Committee. Seaton said he joined the bipartisan coalition because the legislature must move forward on developing a sustainable fiscal plan.

“I do not think it was at all fiscally conservative just to deplete our savings accounts in the last couple years instead of looking at how do we diversify our revenue,” Seaton said.

The caucus has already begun to discuss a new fiscal plan, Seaton said. One key component is the institution of a broad-based tax.

“We don’t pay any state sales tax, we don’t pay any state income tax, we don’t pay any state property tax,” Seaton said. “Yet we receive all of these services, whether it’s corrections, the courts, the troopers, the roads, all of those things. So that’s why we need a broad-based tax.”

A multi-part approach will help distribute the burden among Alaskans, Seaton said.

“A broad-based tax can be designed to hit higher income individuals, whereas a reduction in the PFD hits lower income individuals,” Seaton said. “So you can get more of an equality or an equitable distribution of the pain across Alaskans.”

The Alaska House will reconvene during the next legislative session beginning Jan. 17.

For the past four months, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly has debated whether it should restrict who is allowed to give the invocation, or prayer, that begins each meeting.

The controversy began in early August, when a member of the Satanic Temple gave the invocation.

In response, the Borough Assembly instituted a new policy in which only people or associations on a pre-approved list may give the invocation.

Critics said this restrictive policy may put the Borough at risk of a lawsuit, but efforts to amend it have stalled.

According to a memorandum released from Borough Mayor Mike Navarre’s office on Nov. 9, the assembly has received quote “numerous comments challenging the legality” of the invocation policy.

Borough Assembly President Kelly Cooper and Assembly Member Dale Bagley introduced a resolution on Nov. 22 that would have amended the current policy.

In a statement to the Borough Assembly, Cooper argued that they should not restrict who is allowed to give the invocation.

“In my opinion, the policy we now have has many problems,” Cooper said. “The very notion that any belief system would want to exclude another belief is beyond me. We represent every single person in this Borough.”

For nearly an hour, the Assembly heard public testimony on the resolution.

Nancy Hendrickson of Kenai expressed frustration about the amount of time the Assembly has spent debating the invocation issue.

“That you would even consider spending any more time or money on this issue troubles me,” Hendrickson said. “Each of you has a responsibility to uphold the Constitution. I’m charging you with that responsibility this night.”

Sterling resident Peggy Peterson asked the assembly to reconsider the idea of replacing the invocation with a moment of silence.

“Having a moment of silence does not prohibit free exercise of religion,” she said. “Every person here would be free to pray as they saw fit. That would not only protect religious freedom, it would avoid alienating members of the community. An added bonus? It doesn’t violate the Constitution.”

Eric Glatt, staff attorney for the ACLU of Alaska reiterated that the Borough should not control who is allowed to give the invocation.

“Tests that control which members of the public may offer invocations before Assembly meetings violate core constitutional principles,” Glatt said. “The ACLU believes the best policy is the simplest policy. Return to the successful practice of allowing anyone in the Borough to give an invocation on a first come, first served basis or do without invocations altogether.”

After some debate, the Assembly approved an amended version of the resolution in a 5-4 vote, which would have eliminated the invocation policy altogether.

But as the meeting came to a close, Assembly Member Blaine Gillman gave notice of reconsideration.

This temporarily halts any action on the issue and returns the assembly to the current invocation policy.

Currently, any assembly member can give notice of reconsideration unless a resolution passes by super majority.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly will now have the option to reconsider the resolution at their next meeting on Dec. 6.

On the chilly plains of North Dakota, organizers estimate that around 2,500 people are now gathered near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation to support the Great Sioux Nation, or Oceti Sakowin, in their efforts to stop an oil pipeline from crossing under the Missouri River near their reservation.

The demonstrators, who call themselves water protectors, say they have been facing increasing violence from local law enforcement.

Recently, two Athabascan men from Alaska visited the camps in Cannonball, ND.

Some people participate in direct actions – peaceful protests near the path of the pipeline.

Samuel Johns an Anchorage resident who is Ahtna and Gwich’in Athabascan, originally from Copper Center, said that’s where the trouble comes in.

“They are unarmed,” Johns said. “They just want to protect the water and they are being maced, they are being shot by rubber bullets.”

On Nov. 20, demonstrators reported being shot by law enforcement with rubber bullets and water cannons in below freezing temperatures.

Organizers report several people went to the hospital for treatment.

The $3.7 billion, nearly 1,200-mile long pipeline is being built by a Texas-based corporation called Energy Transfer Partners.

In order to complete the pipeline, the company wants to drill under the Missouri River.

The pipeline would ship crude oil across four states.

The tribe said the pipeline is a threat to their water supply and that construction threatens sacred sites.

The federal government has halted construction, but the companies building the pipeline have asked a federal court to let them complete the project.

Fred John Jr. an Ahtna Athabascan elder from Delta Junction, also traveled to the camp.

John is also concerned that local law enforcement are overstepping their authority.

“They come with their stick, they come with their mace against peaceful protectors,” John said. “And it doesn’t seem right to me. We have more right to be on that land. It’s tribal land plus contested treaty land.”

Demonstrators have been occupying privately owned land in the path of the pipeline, claiming that they are the land’s rightful owners under an 1851 treaty with the U.S. government.

The men say they hope to return to Standing Rock soon with a group to help with construction and winterization projects before the bitter North Dakota winter sets in.

A Homer man was found dead early Monday morning near Anchor Point after not returning from a kayaking trip on Sunday.

The son of Kenneth Jones, 72, called police Sunday evening to report his father missing, Homer Police Chief Mark Robl said.

Jones, who had set out from Beluga Slough in his kayak for a routine paddle, had not shown up at his destination of nearby Mariner Park.

“Immediately upon hearing this news, the Homer Police Department launched a search of the beach areas, we notified the Coast Guard and the Alaska State Troopers,” Robl said. “The Coast Guard responded with a helicopter which searched our local area or several hours. His body was not found until approximately 2:30 in the morning when a local fishing vessel came across it in the area of Anchor Point.”

Searchers found Jones’ body about one mile from his kayak, said Robl and both were floating approximately a half-mile off shore.

Jones was a longtime commercial fisherman.

Jones’ body is being transported to the state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre has proposed an ordinance that would pay for legal costs related to the Borough Assembly’s new invocation policy.

According to a memorandum from the Mayor’s office released Nov. 9, the Assembly has “received numerous comments challenging the legality” of the invocation policy.

The proposed ordinance would appropriate $75,000 to cover legal costs if the invocation policy is challenged in court. The ACLU of Alaska has already stated that, as the invocations policy stands, it is unconstitutional and they plan to challenge it in court.

Assembly President Kelly Cooper has expressed opposition to the new policy.

“From day one, it’s been about doing the right thing. I don’t understand how any belief system could want to exclude another. It seems to go against what their teachings are. I just feel very strongly that anyone who wants to give an invocation should be able to do it. They shouldn’t have to be associated with an association,” said Cooper.

The Assembly passed a resolution on Oct. 11, revising its policy on the invocation, or prayer, that begins each meeting. Under the new policy, only people or associations on a pre-approved list will be allowed to give the invocation.

She and Assembly Member Dale Bagley are proposing an amendment to try to fix the resolution that revised the invocation policy.

But Joshua Decker, the Executive Director of the ACLU of Alaska says the amendment does not go far enough.

“We do know that the Constitution says the government cannot be in the business of declaring which religions are okay. When we wrote our letter to the Assembly we clearly said the constitutional problems, that once government invites prayer into the public sphere it must be open to everyone and any judgments that the Borough Assembly makes about the criteria that a group must meet before any of its members may give an invocation are to quote the U.S. Supreme court are, “wholly inappropriate.” And unfortunately, the proposed amendment still suffers from the same fundamental constitutional problem,” said Decker.

Decker says, rather than putting aside funds to defend the policy, the Assembly should stop the invocations altogether or let anyone offer them.

In their letter to the Borough Assembly, the ACLU asked the Assembly to fix the unconstitutional policy by Nov. 28. They have one more Assembly meeting before the end of November, on Nov. 22.

Mayor Navarre attempted to veto the invocation policy resolution on Oct. 25, but the Borough Assembly overrode the veto in a 6 to 3 vote.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly will discuss Navarre’s proposed ordinance along with Cooper and Bagley’s at their next meeting on Nov. 22.

A public hearing on the Mayor’s ordinance allocating funds for legal costs associated with the invocations policy is scheduled for Dec. 6.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story was updated to reflect the ACLU of Alaska’s stance on a resolution proposed to fix the invocation policy.

A fishing vessel burned in the Homer Port and Harbor early Thursday morning, Nov. 4.

Harbor Master Bryan Hawkins said the vessel was a total loss.

“It was reported as an explosion and fire. It was aboard a 32-foot fiberglass commercial fishing vessel,” Hawkins said. “It was called in by a private citizen. (A) Harbor officer also called it in shortly after 1 a.m., in fact the call was 1:03 a.m. The fire department responded very quickly as did other additional harbor staff.”

The Linda Kay was docked at D float, near the Salty Dawg Saloon, Hawkins said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

There were no reports of injuries or damage to other vessels or harbor facilities.

Hawkins said the owners of the boat live in Anchorage and fish in Bristol Bay.

They have been notified.

He said the vessel was insured.

The boat was pulled out of the water and placed in a boatyard on Thursday.