HOMER NEWS
•HOMER * ALASKA*
Vol. 5 No. 5
"Where The Trail Ends And The Sea Begins”
_July 8, 1954 ___
10 Cents Per Copy
J
■r1 r1
TAX STAND TAKEN
The Kenai Peninsula Public Utility
District No. 1 released the following
statement this week concerning personal
property assessment forms.
"Those individuals who have not sub”
mitted their personal property assess”,
ment forms for 1953 are now subject to
personal property assessment by the
assessor, as provided for bv Resolution
of the Board of Directors Kenai Public
Utility District No. 1, and as indicated
on the reverse side of the Personal Prop”
eriy Assessment return for the hcuse”
holds and business. The taxpayer there”
after will have no further opportunity
to revise such assessment as the assess”
or makes for him. Assessment forms and
assistance for preparation are available
at the FJD office."
BANQUET SET
Plans for the CSG banquet were nearing
completion today, according to Don Smith,
chairman of the affair. The banquet,
honoring the work of William Matthews in
the Citizen1s Study Group, will be held
at 7 p.». Saturday night in the schools
house. Tickets are still available at
■any of the local stores and those plan-*,
ning to attend and who have not already
purchased their tickets are urged to do
so st once.
Ale* Wright of the Heady Hotel is in
charge of the dinner preparations and
has promised a top~notch meal.
4TH CROWD BIG
Several hundred people were on hand
the fourth of July to enjoy the free an~
nual clam feed sponsored by the local
Elks Lodge at the end of the spit. Ap
prcsimaiely 400 pounds of steamed clams
were served during the afternoon.
The area in general enjoyed .the
heavy tourist trade with the local hotels
and tourist cabins reporting full houses.
Business houses open during the holiday
also reported good business.
The largest, single ^oup^consisted of
■embers of the Anchorage Prospectors
Club which came in by chartered bus to
aee the country and enj'oy the holiday.
No accidents were reported and no
other trouble calling .for. police action
was reported.
SALMON CHECK
Cook Inlet saloon are being investi
gated by federal government men,- the An
chorage Fish and Wildlife Service office
has disclosed* -A group of biologists
from the FWSrs Pacific Salmon Investiga
tion has begun tagging operations on the
Inlet and will continue through July 17,
the announcement said* Colored plastic
disks are being attached to the fish in
an experiment designed to gather infor
mation concerning migration rates and
other habits of the different species* A
50“cent reward is being offere4 by the
FWS for the return of tags witn informa
tion as to the date and location of the
catch and the type of fishing gear used*
Tags should be turned over to local FWS
agents or to canneries, or they may be
mailed directly to the Pacific Salmon
Investigations, 2725 Montlake Boulevard,
Seattle.
MOYER ELECTED
Rev, Nelson Moyer was elected presi
dent of the Hotter Chamber of Commerce at
the Tuesday noon meeting at the -Homer
Cafe, Moyer succeeds Howard Myhiii who
was elected 1st vice president of the
organization.
Other officers elected included J. C.
Reynolds, 2nd vice preside ait, Hob Norman,
secretary, Dave Nixon, treasurer, and
Harry Gregoire' and Ethel Scott, direc
tor s.
Other business conducted by the cham
ber included a report by Dan Lorson,
president of the Fair Hoard, who told of
the progress in the cleanup of the fair
grounds. Considerable bulldozing work
had been done, he said, and ample space
was ready for a picnic table.
Past president Myhill also reported
that a windshield stiicker . showing the
bay, the spit and the mountains across
the bay had been chosen for reproduction.
During a discussion concerning the cli
nic and the doctors who are expected to
arrive in August, Myhill stated that the
people need have no worry as to their
coming. There had been the feeling that
Dr. and Mrs. Provonsha. might not come to
Homer if the clinic# would not be ready
for use upon their arrival.
RATE • CHALLENGE
Shipments totaling over 13,00G tons
are now bound for Alaska via eastern and
Gulf ports in order to escape disc rimin'",
atory rates of transcontinental carriers,
the Alaska Development Poard was advised
recently by the General Services Admini-.
stration in Washington.
The GSA officials said the new routes
were being used pending rate adjustments
asked of the Transcontinental Freight
Bureau. The GSA, which handles most
government buying for Alaska, will repre-.
sent the territory as well as other gov~
eminent agencies in the rate hearings.
The planned bearings mark another step
dn ther effort to adjust transcontinental
freight rates on goods bound to or from
Alaska, the Alaska Development Poard
said. In some cases, the rates are twice
as high as for shipments bound for Ha~.
wall, Japan or other Pacific ports, the
board officials said.
The development board has labeled the
rate structure "an obstacle to the eco~.
nomic progress of the territory" and has
prepared a special study for the use of
the GSA in the hearings, it was stated.
FLOWN TO BASE
Henry J. Gregg, 33, of Seldovia, suf
fering from a punctured lung caused by a
broken rib, was flown from Seldovia to
Homer Tuesday by Lt. Harry White of the
Kenai Civil Air Patrol. Gregg was then
transferred to a plane belonging to the
71st ..Air Rescue Squadron .and flown to.
Elmendorf Air Force Base.
CHECKS READY .
Homer Thompson, manager of the Kenai
Public Utility District No. 1, has in
formed the NEWS that the payroll checks
for the longshoremen who worked the Coa
stal Monarch are ready and may be picked
up at the PUD office.
At the special meeting of the boar
of directors of the PlTD last Thursd<
night the 1954 budget was studied ar
accepted. The total'amount for the di;
trict was £24,928.55 and the milla^
rate was set at 10 mills.
A broad breakdown of budget expends
tures is as follows:
Public Services: street lights, tele
phone, fuel oil, office lights, electic
costs, etc. £3,688.01. ,
General .Administration: office sals
ries,, assessing axid collecting, offic
supplies, legal and auditing, insurance
bonds, and other administrative costs
6,700.59.
Major improvements: extensions a i
additions for such things as the fire
hall, waste disposal, “fire-pumper an
health clinic, £14,19.1.73.
Contingencie s~ £2,348.22.
Cash on hand and anticipated revenue
estimated by the directors are as fol
lows:
Cash on hand as or January >, ivdm
•87,933.13. Tax revenues estimated
812,000. Business license refund esti
mated, 82,000. Accounts receivable
January 1, 1954, 82,995.42.
' According to Homer Thompson, new man
ager for the PUD, the reason for the de
lay in adoption of the 1954 budget by tb
directors is due to numerous factors
Those factors listed include a lack c
complete information and specification
for the Health Clinic, the special * elec
tion for dissolution of the PUD and tb
computation of real and personal propert
valuation.
It is. -anticipated that programming
for the 1955 budget will begin in Sep
tember of this year, Thompson stated.
BANK GAINS
William Matthews, vice~president o
the Bank of Homer, tod^ay issued .a repor
of the financial condition of the loca
bank in response to a call made k'S- tb
Comptroller of the Currency/’The report^
rthich appears in full on page four oJ
this issue of the NLWS with a comparac
tive statement of condition, reflects
the gains > made during the past year by
the bank. , -
Total resources are up approximately
10 percent from -8389,043.97 to'8398,979.
95 or a gain of £39,336.92, according tc
the statement. >
Deposits gained approximately the same
amount during the year, the statement
show?. The . exact gainwas £33,999,73.
Other items'*showing an increase on
the statement included cash on hand and
due from other banks, U. S. government
and government agency bonds, 4iand the
banking house and equipment.
Loans, though still high, declined
sliightly for the year. . *
Mr. Matthews .stated -that he felt that
the t^ank: was in excellent condition and
that the gains made indicated the confi“
dence of the people of this area in the
institution and its Eastern stockholders.
SKY FI LOTS BACK
Reverend Dale Davis of the Grace Pap~
tist church and five boys, members of
the Sky Pilots returned to Homer Friday
night after spending a week at the Vi<r
tory Bible Camp north of Anchorage.