Thursday

Thursday, May 17, 2012, KodiaK daily Mirror1

CMYK
Over There
Local news for Alaskas Emerald Isle Vol. 74 No. 99
8 pages
50
KodiaK daily Mirror KodiaK daily Mirror
KodiaK daily Mirror
May 17, 2012
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Todays thought
If an article is attractive, or useful, or inexpen-
sive, theyll stop making it tomorrow; if its all
three, they stopped making it yesterday.
Mignon McLaughlin, American journalist (1913-1983)
Today in history
In 1937, Teddy Hill and His Orchestra recorded
King Porter Stomp for RCA Victors Bluebird
label in New York; making his recording debut
was trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.
Today is
Thursday, May 17, the
138th day of 2012.
There are 228 days left
in the year.
Index
Weather ................... 2
Opinion.................... 4
Arts .......................... 5
Variety ..................... 6
Classifeds................ 7
Sports ...................... 8
1111111
Cheesy Cheesy Gordita Gordita CRUNCH CRUNCH
No such thing as too much crunch No such thing as too much crunch
Salmon
season
still on
average
course
Bodybuilder
named
to Alaska
Aerospace
board seat
AT&T
uncaps
faster
cellular
service
Text ban
for drivers
in effect
By JAMES BROOKS
Mirror Editor
As fshermen repair nets and
repaint boats in preparation
for salmon
season, the
Alaska De-
p a r t me n t
of Fish and
Ga me i s
also getting
ready for a
summer of
fsh.
I n Fi s h
and Games annual preseason
meeting Wednesday night, Ko-
diak area management biologist
James Jackson provided new
details of this summers forecast
and insight into how this win-
ters extremely cold tempera-
tures may affect salmon runs.
In short: Not much.
By JAMES BROOKS
Mirror Editor
When the Alaska Aerospace
Corporation holds its regular
board meet-
i ng t oday
in Anchor-
age, a new
member will
ha ve t he
right to sit
at the table.
K o d i a k
Chamber of
Commerce
president Lindsay Knight has
been named to fll a vacant
By NICOLE KLAUSS
Mirror Writer
Cellphone service in Ko-
diak got a lot faster Tuesday,
as AT&T upgraded Kodiaks
service to 4G, skipping the 3G-
only phase completely.
We launched 4G in Ko-
diak, AT&T spokesperson
Anne Marshall said. We
skipped ahead.
AT&T is the frst cellphone
provider to offer 4G, or fourth
generation, service in Kodiak.
The upgraded signal gives
users better voice quality and
quicker data transfers on their
phones.
The technology used for 4G
is the HSPA+, or high speed
packet access, combined with
By NICOLE KLAUSS
Mirror Writer
Hands off your phones. Tex-
ting while driving is offcially
illegal in Alaska.
Gov. Sean Parnell signed the
bill into law on May 10, and it
went into effect May 11.
No Kodiak residents have
received citations since the law
went into effect last Friday, and
it could be a while before the
frst one is issued.
KHS hurdler ready
for another try at state
Funky fish are center
of Saturday show
P
a
g
e

E
i
g
h
t
Page
Five
Sports
Today
Arts &
Entertainment
ANCHORAGE (AP) Two women face possible charges
after authorities say a text message seeking the illegal pur-
chase of alcohol was errantly sent to an Alaska State Trooper.
Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters tells KTUU-TV an
off-duty trooper in Bethel began getting text messages from
an unknown number just after midnight Wednesday.
The trooper, Mike Ingram, responded to the texts and ar-
ranged a meeting. Authorities say the woman who sent the
texts and another alleged buyer showed up to the meeting. So
did Ingram, in uniform.
Alcohol sales are barred in Bethel because no one has been
cleared to sell it.
Text to cop: Want to deal?
No takers for Alaska Peninsula oil leases
By DAN JOLING
Associated Press
ANCHORAGE (AP)
Alaska auctioned off 44 Cook
Inlet tracts for oil and natural
gas development Wednesday,
but no takers were found for a
simultaneous auction on Alaska
Peninsula leases.
This year what youre see-
ing is three primary players
Apache, Hilcorp and Cook
Inlet Energy and basically
doing some fll-in work around
some of their existing lease,
said state Division of Oil and
Gas director Bill Barron. So
thats all real positive, people
are solidifying land holdings to
continue to do their exploration
and development activities.
Wi nni ng bi ds cover ed
234,275 acres about 366
square miles on parcels on
and off shore.
The annual sale drew just
five bidders but together
they submitted high bids of
Sadie Coyle ties a yel-
low ribbon to the fence
in front of the Kodiak
National Guard armory
with Teri Schneider
and Emily Skinner
(background) on
Wednesday afternoon.
The hand-
written
name of
Sgt. Michael
Madriaga
waves in the
wind on a
yellow rib-
bon.
Kodiak Middle school students tie
yellow ribbons to the fence in front of
the Kodiak National Guard armory on
Wednesday afternoon. The ribbons
were emblazoned with the names of
deployed Kodiak soldiers and are in-
tended to recognize that the soldiers
are not forgotten, even though they
are far away.
(Nicole Klauss photos)
Thats all real positive, people
are solidifying land holdings.

Bill Barron, state oil and gas director
See LEASES, Page 3
Salmon
See SALMON, Page 3
Texting while driving has been
banned by the state of Alaska,
courtesy of a new bill signed by
Gov. Parnell. (AP Photo)
Knight
See KNIGHT, Page 3
See CELLPHONE, Page 3
a
message
from
here
to
Students tie yellow
ribbons on the armory
fence Wednesday.
See TEXT BAN, Page 3
Thursday, May 17, 2012, KodiaK daily Mirror3
CMYK
3
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486-2408
A wood bison
calf is shown
at the Alaska
Wildlife Con-
servation Cen-
ter on May 9 in
Portage. The
frst wood bi-
son calf of the
year was born
last week at the
Alaska Wildlife
Conservation
Center. Offcials
expect this to
be the frst of
about 40 calves
to be born at
the center this
spring.
(Alaska Wildlife
Conservation
Center/Doug
Lindstrand)
Bison son
Jump hed
Continued from Page 1
Its diffcult to quantify what
(the effect) will be, he said.
This years Fish and Game
forecast calls for 13.2 million
pink salmon across the Kodiak
area and 17 million salmon
overall.
Its not going to be a great
year, its not going to be a bad
year; its going to be an average
year, Jackson said.
Signifcant effects from this
winter will not become appar-
ent until next year, when fsh
that hatch this spring return to
Kodiak Island.
On land, winter conditions
took their toll on Fish and
Game facilities.
Parts of the Karluk River
fsh counting weir were carried
away by an ice dam, as were
some of the weir facilities.
We were just able to get
in there now because the ice
moved out, Jackson said.
A weir on the Ayakulik River
is expected to come online next
week, one on Upper Station by
today, and the weir at Litnik by
the weekend.
The weir in Chignik, which
had an even more savage win-
ter, is still frozen, and counting
may be supplemented by sonar,
Jackson said.
Fish counting was a particu-
lar concern for Athenia Large,
one of more than a dozen
fshermen who listened to Jack-
sons presentation.
Last year, we hired crew
expecting a big run, she said.
When the fsh didnt come
we had to pay our crew for
doing nothing. Were just con-
cerned about accuracy.
Jackson said biologists do
their best, but a forecast is just
that.
Its not a promise, he said.
Commercial salmon fshing
season opens June 1, and Fish
and Games management plan
calls for sockeye fishing to
open in most areas at noon on
June 9.
Fishing is expected to stay
open for 33 hours in most loca-
tions. Additional fshing time
will be determined by sockeye
run strength, the plan states.
Commercial fshing for pink
salmon opens July 6, and the
initial fishing period is 57
hours. Fishing periods of 81
hours each are planned for July
13-16, July 20-23 and July 27-
30. Changes to the schedule are
possible if the pink salmon run
is weaker or stronger than ex-
pected. Similar fshing periods
are possible through August,
the fshing plan states.
Chum salmon fshing periods
are expected to mirror those for
pink salmon.
For the most part, salmon
management hasnt changed
in Kodiak in the last 45 years,
Jackson said. If you were
fshing the last two years, you
know how it runs.
Contact Mirror editor James
Brooks at editor@kodiak
dailymirror.com.
Knight
Continued from Page 1
Text ban
Continued from Page 1
position on the board.
While Knight is best known
for his success in bodybuilding
competitions and as owner of
Kodiak Athletic Club, he said
he will bring brains as well as
brawn to the board that governs
the activities of the state-run
company.
When I frst moved to the
island, it all seemed to be a
bunch of secret scientists out
there and I didnt know
much about it, he said.
As a member of Kodiaks
morning Rotary club and the
chamber, he learned more
about Alaska Aerospace and the
Kodiak Launch Complex.
While he admits he doesnt
know anything about rockets,
he said he expects his talents
will be put to use educating
Kodiak about Alaska Aero-
space projects.
I think my contribution
would be in the (public rela-
tions) area, he said.
Knights path to taking a
board seat lasted almost fve
months.
(Borough Mayor) Jerome
Selby put my name out there,
Knight said. This was back in
January, Im guessing.
Selby was traveling Wednes-
day and could not be reached
for comment.
Following the nomination,
Knight was interviewed at
length by Jason Hooley, the
state director of boards and
commissions.
His application was vetted,
and todays meeting will be
his frst as a voting member of
the nine-person board. Two ad-
ditional board members do not
have voting privileges.
Two voting slots on the board
are reserved for members of the
Kodiak community, but one of
those positions has been vacant
since January when Patricia
Tabon of North Pacifc Fuel
resigned.
Tom Walters, owner of Mari-
time Helicopters, will continue
to fll the other Kodiak position
on the board of directors. Rep.
Alan Austerman, R-Kodiak,
flls one of the non-voting po-
sitions.
Alaska Aerospace is prepar-
ing a $125 million project to
build a new launch pad at its
Narrow Cape complex. The
project is a partnership with
Lockheed Martin and is the
largest for the corporation since
Kodiak Launch Complex was
built.
Contact Mirror editor James
Brooks at editor@kodiak
dailymirror.com.
Kodiak law enforcement of-
fcials believe the texting while
driving ban will prove chal-
lenging to enforce.
Its something well enforce,
but it will be diffcult, said
Alaska State Troopers Sgt.
Chris Hill. Its most likely
citations that get issued for a
violation like this are going to
be the result of a motor vehicle
accident. Were not going out
and looking for this like we are
with DUIs.
In 2008, lawmakers passed
legislation intended to ban text
messaging while driving in
Alaska. In 2011, judges across
the state ruled the law did
not explicitly state the word
texting, and they overturned
citations. Legislators decided to
pass a more specifc law rather
than go through the legal ap-
peals process.
The new law now reads: A
person commits the crime of
driving while texting, while
communicating on a computer,
or while a screen device is
operating if the person is driv-
ing a motor vehicle, and the
person is reading or typing a
text message or other nonvoice
message or communication on
a cellular telephone, personal
data assistant, computer, or any
other similar means capable of
providing a visual display that
is in the view of the driver in a
normal driving position while
the vehicle is in motion and
while the person is driving.
This new wording means
people cant text, post on Face-
book or use applications while
driving.
Kodiak police chief T.C.
Kamai said the Kodiak Police
Department has not issued any
citations since the no texting
while driving law came out in
2008.
Were going to have to de-
vise a method for enforcement
that is fair and reasonable,
Kamai said.
The police department has
not decided if that means issu-
ing warnings the frst time or
immediately documenting it as
an offense.
Preliminary information
suggests this will be a misde-
meanor offense, Kamai said.
Fines for the offense will be
decided in court.
Contact Mirror writer Nicole
Klauss at nklauss@kodiak
dailymirror.com.
Cellphone
Continued from Page 1
enhanced backhaul, which
delivers speeds close to four
times faster than some 3G
speeds.
AT&T is constantly looking
at improving service and up-
grading, Marshall said. This
is part of our upgrade plan.
Kodiak AT&T store manager
Richie Barton said word has
spread fast about the new net-
work speeds in Kodiak.
People have been calling,
coming in and seeing it posted
on Facebook, Barton said.
Its a big difference. Speed-
wise its about three times as
fast.
Barton has been the manager
of Kodiaks AT&T store for
four years. He hopes Kodiak
customers will come in for
phone upgrades so they can
take advantage of the faster
speeds.
Not all phones are compat-
ible with the new 4G network.
Some AT&T phones will only
receive 3G service and will
show 3G in the top corner of
the phone.
On some it will say 4G, if
you have a compatible device,
Marshall said. It depends on
the device you have and the
software.
The AT&T store in Kodiak
sells several phones compat-
ible with the 4G network like,
the iPhone 4S and HTC OneX,
among others.
AT&T also turned on 4G
cellphone towers in Homer on
Tuesday.
Eventually AT&T plans to
upgrade Alaska to LTE, short
for long-term evolution, for
even faster service, although
that could take a while.
The biggest challenge with
providing upgrades in Alaska
is the weather.
Our challenges in Alaska
are frequently the weather be-
cause we have to wait until we
can dig in the ground and it is
sometimes frozen, Marshall
said.
Contact Mirror writer Nicole
Klauss at nklauss@kodiak
dailymirror.com.
For the
most part,
salmon
management
hasnt
changed in
Kodiak in
the last 45
years.

James Jackson
Leases
Continued from Page 1
$6.8 million, making the sale
the second largest since 1999,
when the state began the area-
wide lease model.
Barron said the sale contin-
ued a renaissance for the drill-
ing area south of Anchorage
that supplies Alaskas largest
city with natural gas. Alaska
received just fve bids for Cook
Inlet region tracts in 2009 and
37 bids in 2010. The number
increased to 110 last year when
Apache Alaska Corp. jumped
in with 91 high bids.
This is just a continuation
of a really good trend for the
inlet, Barron said. This is just
the next step.
Houston-based Apache was
active again Wednesday, sub-
mitting 14 bids, including
seven in which the company
was high bidder for a total bid
amount of $1.8 million.
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kodiakdailymirror.
com