Art for toddlers goes day care
Preschool teacher Rosana Moyer has opened a serious art instruction environment for toddlers on up in a daycare setting. While Mom gets to her doctor’s appointment, she drops off her daughter for a one-hour art lesson.
Even babies get a day at the art studio recently opened by Moyer, a Kachemak Kids Head Start pre-school teacher specializing in art. Her school is open off Heath Street behind the Horizon Satellite company.
Called Girassol Child Care, the tailor-made day care service doesn’t function like a traditional one. Moyer has built a schedule in child-sized blocks: 30 minutes for art instruction that includes learning about a master painter.
“I show them a piece of art by a master and we talk about the painter and his life. Then the kids do a piece of art, not a copy, but they will add elements or take out elements from it,” Moyer said.
‘Deranged’ bear attacks bird-watching biologist
The details of a bear attack Sunday afternoon on the Kasilof beach were about as ripe for tragedy as they come. The incident ended with officers shooting what was described as an older sow just after 5 p.m.
A bird-watching family with three of their kids, one just a baby in a backpack, unarmed and out for a walk along the shore encountered an adult sow brown bear, seemingly “deranged,” acting erratically and aggressively. It did not respond to attempts to chase it away.
M/V Qualifier gears up for research projects in a warming Arctic
There’s more large vessel work than ever before now in the opening Arctic due to melting ice. A new research vessel home-ported in Homer adds to a specialized fleet increasingly in demand for new research possibilities along Alaska’s coast.
David Mastolier, co-owner of the M/V Qualifier 105, recently brought his vessel north after purchasing it in California. It’s a 105-foot vessel made for heavy sea conditions and rugged contract work for everything from supporting under-sea gold mining prospects to scientific work.
Robinson’s Brahms concert draws on grand scale
Performing all seven movements of Johannes Brahms German Requiem poses sufficient challenge to even skilled musicians that many don’t try it.
Not all critics responded favorably to the work when it was first performed in 1869. George Bernard Shaw wrote that “it could only have come from the establishment of a first-class undertaker.”
The requiem nonetheless established Brahms’ reputation as genius. No doubt the German composer would be proud if he could meet Concert Director Mark Robinson who wasn’t sufficiently intimidated.
“The essence of good teaching is that students or individuals in general will rise to whatever bar you set for them,” Robinson said. “This is one of the great mysteries of working with a small town.”
Political shenanigans shut down Kenai Economic Development District funding
Thanks to convoluted political maneuvering, an economic engine used to support small businesses on the Kenai Peninsula is due to expire at the end of June.
The Senate Finance Committee in the closing days of the legislative session could have extended the authorization for the ARDOR, short for Alaska Regional Development Organizations. Instead, its sunset was approved. ARDOR serves as the umbrella over 13 regional districts.
Rep. Seaton’s bill breaks up scallop monopoly
New opportunities should open for commercial fishermen interested in expanding to the scallop industry since the passage of a bill that eliminates a monopoly currently held by a single Washington state operator.
Rep. Paul Seaton has long been an opponent of the vessel limited entry program for Weathervane Scallops and Korean Haircrab, two fisheries lumped together, though very little haircrab exists in state waters. Mostly his objection centered on scallops, a $4.5 million industry in the hands of just two operators. He says it’s inconsistent with the approach taken in the rest of the state water fisheries where the limited entry permit is allocated to a person.
In 2002 the Legislature adopted the temporary permit vessel limited entry program.
“That policy led to a rapid and extreme consolidation,” Seaton said, “leaving 90 percent of the scallop fishery in the hands of a Washington-based corporation.”
Sen. Micciche spends post-session week in Houston
Sen. Peter Micciche spent his post-legislative session week in Houston talking with industry leaders and policy makers about liquified natural gas, a commodity he believes should take a greater role in supplying state revenue.
The legislative session ended on Sunday April 15. On Monday, April 16, Micciche traveled to Houston to take part in the LNG 17 Forum that featured him as a presenter, wearing his hat as the supervisor of the ConocoPhillips LNG plant in Kenai. At the same time, executives of ConocoPhillips met in Houston to discuss the new tax regime of Senate
Bill 21 and announced a renewed commitment for drilling at Kaparak on the North Slope based on the incentives of SB 21. Micciche said he didn’t participate in those talks, but did at LNG 17 that included other legislators and members of the Gov. Sean Parnell administration. The LNG 17 Forum featured an international panel representing the Middle East, Australia, Japan, South America and Africa.
Seaton: End of session brings disappointing oil tax regime
Rep. Paul Seaton leaves the legislative session behind with misgivings about the oil tax credit bill that passed into law minus any of the 11 amendments he offered to protect the state treasury.
One amendment would have acted as a circuit breaker in case the incentives proved an unlucrative drain on state revenue.
“If (SB 21) isn’t working then, the automatic circuit breaker would say ‘We’re not going to renew this if it is not accomplishing its goal.’ That’s the biggest downfall in the bill, is that the (amendment) didn’t make it,” Seaton said Monday.
Seaton’s plan was to reward oil companies for production – or reward them for their performance. It would have required production levels equal to, or greater, than 2012 by 2018-19. If this requirement weren’t met, the per barrel credit would go away for the legacy or older fields.
Group wants plastic bags back in petition drive to put question on the ballot
A group of Homer people are hoping to reverse the grocery bag ban, bringing the banished plastic bag once again into favor for consumers.
All plastic bags under 2.25 mils thick that were used at grocery stores and other retail outlets were banned by city ordinance as of Jan. 1. Since that time, stores are allowed to use up their supply of the bags, but are prohibited from ordering more. It was authored by Councilmen David Lewis and Beau Burgess.
Justin Arnold, Dan Gardner and Marlina Hogdon applied through the Homer City Clerk’s office to circulate a petition for 90 days. In that time period, they must gain 230 signatures in order to place the question on the Oct. 1 general election ballot. The petition is due back to the clerk’s office by June 3.
Peninsula agricultural projects grow to 124 farms
Long winters, short summers, sloppy breakup floods, land rife with spruce trees and stumps making it tough to clear — agriculture in Alaska has its challenges, but that can make the fruits of farming labor all the more satisfying.
With so many difficulties, it can take many people working together to succeed, and that spirit of partnership was the purpose of third annual Kenai Peninsula Ag Forum, presented by the Kenai Peninsula Resource Conservation and Development District.
