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Wednesday, August 3, 2005

Twins open tourney with win
The American Legion Twins baseball team of Kenai opened the Alaska state tournament with a 10-2 win over West Anchorage Tuesday at Mulcahy Stadium in Anchorage.

Ramirez drives in four for Red Sox
BOSTON  Manny Ramirez added to his major league-leading RBI total with a three-run homer and a run-scoring single, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 6-4 Tuesday night for their sixth consecutive victory.

Pirates defeat Braves
ATLANTA  Zach Duke pitched into the ninth inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates got home runs from Jose Castillo and Chris Duffy to snap a five-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory Monday over the Atlanta Braves.

Palmeiro suspended for steroids
NEW YORK  Rafael Palmeiro poked his finger in the air for emphasis and raised his voice with all the indignation of a man falsely accused.

White Sox topple Orioles
BALTIMORE  Hours after Rafael Palmeiro was suspended for violating baseball's steroid policy, the Chicago White Sox capped a miserable day for Baltimore by sending the Orioles to their 12th loss in 13 games and completing a four-game sweep.

Sports Briefs
The All-Alaska Baseball League team, as compiled by the Mat-Su Frontiersman newspaper and the Anchorage Bucs, was announced Wednesday. Peninsula Oilers pitcher Ty Davis made the roster as did Nick Kliebert, who was voted on as a utility player.

Mary, Mary! See how her garden grows
Mary Bell says that she is, “Just someone who likes to grow plants.” Yet, a walk through “Mary’s garden” at Bob and Jeannie Penny’s home on the Kenai River is like opening an issue of Better Homes and Gardens. The terraced array of flowers, vegetables, berries, and fruit trees echoes the creativity of an agriculture and landscape architect. Mary has been gardening at the Penny’s for 14 some years, “When Bob put in this place I helped him put in all the landscaping,” said Bell. Mary’s father, Oscar Vogel, was one of the early big game master guides on the Kenai Peninsula, so Mary comes by her love of the Alaskan outdoors naturally. Likewise she has developed her horticultural talents naturally, with no formal training, “I get help, I ask a lot people for their advice and ideas on what works best and I listen to just about anybody who will share their knowledge with me and it’s paid off,” said Mary.

Outdoors with John Perkovich
OK OK, I am really sorry that John has to work so much, I promise to get him a laptop someday so he can write these stories from work. John works a 12 and 12 shift across the inlet. He has never been one to sleep much so on his hours off he finds time to fit in some Pike fishing, berry picking, and bear spying. Right now he is so busy on his time off while he is across the inlet picking berries and scoping out the bears, I am not sure he would have time to write a story even if he could, oh yeah he would. So here we go again!! Each year about this time, it seems the population of the Kenai Peninsula really swells. The number of residents at the Perkovich house also increases. Funny how that happens. Each year we have a special guest that comes from California to enjoy our splendid fishing. Last year he brought his son and this year he brought his 4 delightful brothers. These types of guests are great, no entertaining needed, they had all their trips planned out and we barely saw them enough to say good night. Well we did enjoy some meals with them and they did take Travis with them to help fish for reds a couple of days.

Grand opening for new family business
Anthony Pisa has been working with automotive drive trains for some 17 years and has now decided to use his expertise to open his own family business to be known as Anthony’s Transmission and Drivetrain.

Library program gets backing from many sources
We'd like to thank all the children, teens, parents and volunteers who made the Soldotna Public Library's summer reading program a great success this year. Thank you to the Kenai Performers for their production of "The Ugly Duckling," by A.A. Milne, and the generous loan of the king's throne for the story time sessions; program volunteers, Kerri Burns-Norris, Pat Gilbreath, Jenni Larsen and Brenna Talbot; and Marti Wilkison for the loan of her dragon art for our special dragon display.

Earl Rodney Lovejoy Jr.
Kenai resident Earl Rodney Lovejoy Jr. died Saturday, July 30, 2005, at the Central Peninsula General Hospital in Soldotna. He was 51.

Task force mission clarified by member
As an Agrium Task Force participant, I take exception to the comments expressed by Lois Epstein of the Cook Inlet Keeper (Clarion, July 28.) The task force was charged by the governor to determine what could be done to keep Agrium up and running after Nov. 1. Simply put, the employees of Agrium and the Kenai Peninsula need those jobs.

Reader says peaceful solutions the best approach
I'm pleased to see there are veterans advocating for peace in Kenai, as well as Soldotna. Given the pervasive power over mentality of our cultural context, it is sometimes difficult to see that there are almost always, if not always, nonviolent solutions to problems. As I know from my own life's experience, we all have things to learn about how we perpetuate violence in the world and in our personal lives.

Furniture business helps set the stage
I would like to thank Bailey's Furniture for its continuing support of local theater. For the third summer running, Bailey's has graciously loaned the Triumvirate Theatre furniture for sets. Our production of "Little Nell," the Progress Days melodrama, was greatly enhanced by the loan of the furniture. The folks at Bailey's are always friendly and helpful, and they truly supports the arts in our community.

Sponsors shore up support for restoration
In the sprit of collaborative support, "we" with the Youth Restoration Corps would like to thank the following contributors who became our partners in an effort to support YRC's promotion of stewardship as we continue our restoration program here in Southcentral Alaska and begin the world class Resurrection Creek restoration project.

Performance was positively medieval
You have a wonderful group over on that side of the peninsula. The Kenai Peninsula branch of the Society of Creative Anachronisms, the Shire of Hrafnsfjordr, recently traveled all the way over to Seward to appear at the final program of the Dragons, Dreams and Daring Deeds children's summer reading club.

Randall Martin Walstrand
Randall Martin Walstrand of Eureka, Calif., died Sunday, July 24, 2005, from injuries sustained in a vehicle accident in Homer. He was 17.

Soldotna will sport new road
At a glance, it would appear the city of Soldotna is planning to thumb its nose at a half million federal dollars, and instead pay $317,000 in city money for a new road into the Soldotna Sports Center.

Hammond dies
JUNEAU  Jay Hammond, a rugged bush pilot and hunting guide who served two terms as Alaska's governor and helped create the Alaska Permanent Fund, died in his sleep at his Lake Clark home at 83.

Former Alaska Gov Hammond dead at 83
JUNEAU  Jay Hammond, a bush pilot and hunting guide who served two terms as governor during the pivotal years that helped define modern Alaska, died Tuesday. He was 83.

Sockeye season 9th biggest
The 2005 Upper Cook Inlet commercial fishing harvest is shaping up to be one of the strongest on record.

Pretty deadly
One of the more colorful mushrooms commonly found on the Kenai Peninsula is the amanita muscaria, or fly agaric, such as these popping up in Sterling on Thursday morning. Though appealing to the eye, amanitas are not recommended for consumption. Some deliver fatal results.

Alaska gets roads money
ANCHORAGE  Anchorage and Ketchikan will not be the only Alaska cities to see construction projects from a new federal highways bill.

Sterling bridge issue raised
Residents will have the opportunity to speak about gravel pits, fire stations and a new bridge at tonight's Kenai Peninsula Borough assembly meeting.

Celebration of scouting turns tragic in seconds
No Alaskan can hear about this week's Boy Scout tragedy without feeling the pain shared by all who know the victims. What was a routine camp activity  setting up a pavilion-style tent at a national jamboree in Virginia  turned deadly when a tent pole hit an overhead power line

Around the Peninsula
KCHS cheerleading meets today
Social Security to be discussed
Food bank seeking volunteers
4-H work days set
Kids' celebration set
KCHS swim, diving set to begin
Swim clinic planned
Women's run seeks volunteers

Owens reports to camp on time
For once, Terrell Owens had nothing to say.
The disgruntled wide receiver showed up at Philadelphia Eagles training camp on Monday night, but declined to speak to reporters who chronicled his every move.

Kenai Golf Report
July has up and gone, and I don't know if anyone else has noticed that things are already starting to change color  the grass in the river flats, the rhubarb in my garden, and I am in denial, and I am not talking about a river in Egypt.

Bird Homestead Golf Report
The Funny River Festival Golf Tournament was a big success. The winning team consisted of Mike Chenault, Vern Hamm and Tim Dipple. Long drive for the men went to Mike Chenault. Mike also received closest to the pin honors.

Atlanta, Columbus join busy free agent action
The new-look NHL has some brand new players in the free agent market.
Dishing out big contracts to big players is no longer a summertime activity limited to large-market teams. Welcome to the party, Columbus and Atlanta.

Blockbuster: Busy day in NBA
The NBA was back in business Tuesday following a one-month moratorium, and the biggest deal in league history  a five-team, 13-player trade sending Antoine Walker from Boston to Miami  was pulled off by Jerry West, Pat Riley, Danny Ainge and others.

Carlyle takes over as Mighty Ducks coach
ANAHEIM, Calif.  Former Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Randy Carlyle was hired Monday as the new coach of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, completing the makeover of a team that also has changed owners and general manager this year.