HISTORICAL MUSEUM & LIBRARY
BOX 205
JUNEAU ALASKA
THIRD YEAR
MAY 17, 1963
PRICE 10 CENTS
NUMBER V>2
Sprinting toward the finish line are three junior high contestants in the Kenai Peninsula Track meet
held Saturday in connection with the Armed Forces Day celebration at Wildwood Station.
Ninilchik Child
Drowns, Rites
Held Thursday
Funeral services for Margaret
Louann Kelly, three-year-old vic
tim of a Ninilchik drowning acci
dent, were conducted at 2 p.m.
Thursday in the Ninilchik Bap
tist Church.
The child was the daughter of
Carl and Doris Kelly of Ninilchik.
She was reported missing at about
2 p m. Tuesday. Searchers found
the child’s body in a flooded root
cellar approximately one and one
half haul's later. The cellar was
filled with about four feet of wa
ter.
The drowning aparently was ac
cidental, according to state police.
Survivors in addition to the pa
rents include two brothers and
two sisters. An uncle of the vic
t:m, Alvin Steik, is employed in
Kenai, at the Kenai Food Center.
Kenai Vote
Tied for City
Councilman
A tie for one of the three-year
terms on the Kenai City Council
was created by the casting of a
single absentee ballot in Tues
day’s city election at Kenai.
Wayne “Smokey” TumSuden,
garage owner-operator, and Billy
McCann, incumbent candidate and
bar owner, each received 98 votes,
following opening of the absentee
ballot at Wednesday night’s City
Council meeting. TumSuden pre
viously led McCann by one vote.
Frances Torkilsen, city clerk,
said Thursday that there will be
a recount of ballots and if the tie
still remains, the decision as to
which man gets the post will be
determined by drawing lots, as is
specified by law in such instances.
Ernie Knackstedt, carpenter,
was the winner of the other three
year term on the City Council.
Knackstedt garnered 100 votes.
Jack Williford, the fourth candi
date for one of the three-year
posts, got 36 votes—gaining one
(Continued on Page 12)
Legislative Meeting
With State GOP Leaders
Success at Soldotna
“Begin work now in electing a
Republican senator to represent
the Kenai Peninsula in the Alas
ka Legislature,” Bruce Kendall,
speaker for the state House of Re
presentatives, emphatically urged
Saturday night at Soldotna.
Kendall was among 21 top rank
ing state Republicans taking a
charter flight from Anchorage to
attend the no-host dinner sponsor
ed by the Greater Soldotna Re
publican Club. The meeting was
considered to be one of the most
successful held in this area.
Anchorage legislators, their
wives and other party leaders
making- the charter flight by Cor
dova Airlines were met with cars
at the Soldotna Airport and trans
ported to Riverside House. The
event drew an attendance of 71
dinner guests in addition to an un
told number of other interested
persons arriving later to hear the
major portion of the discussion.
Practically every community of
the Peninsula was represented.
• Legislators present included
Sen. Vance Phillips, and Repre
sentatives Jack H. White, Keith
H. Miller and Kendall, all from
Anchorage, and the Kenai Penin
<Continued on Page 12)
Eroding River Bank
Dangerous at Kenai,
Parents are Warned
Hazardous conditions existing
on the Kenai River embankment
at Kenai have caused the City of
Kenai to issue a warning to pa
rents urging that they caution
their children against playing
there or going up or down the
river bank at any spot except by
road.
The embankment, especially -in
the bluff area, has eroded badly
this past winter. It has been the
custom, in the past, for children
to climb up or down the embank
ment when going to the river to
fish for hooligan. Due to the win
ter’s erosion, the area is now sub
ject to sloughing, cave-ins and
land slides.
The City hopes to correct the
problem sometime in the future
—but it is a major undertaking
and will require cooperation of the
Corps of Engineers.
The Corps of Engineers has of
fered to talk with the City Coun
cil regarding this soil erosion pro
ject. Accomplishment of the pro
ject, however, is expected to take
years of planning-, design and con
struction as well as a great sum
of money.
All that can be done at present,
the Council says, is to take every
precaution to preserve life and
limb. All parents are urged to
heed the warning for the safety
of their own children.
The Weather
May 9
May 10
May 11
May 12
May 13
May 14
May 15
May 9
May 10
May 11
May 12
May 13
May 14
May 15
Max. Min.
KENAI
41
55
45
50
55
57
57
32
33
36
32
37
'35
28
SOLDOTNA
49
43
53
47
49
54
56
26
32
37
31
38
42
27
Precip.
.17
.02
Trace
None
None
None
None
None
.15
None
.7
None
None
None
Telephone Service Also
Disrupted by Accident
An airplane flying through
Homer Electric Assoc., Inc., pow
er distribution lines in the Sterl
ing area early this morning dis
rupted sendee for HEA consum
ers in the northern portion of the
Kenai Peninsula for about four
hours.
The same accident also disrupt
ed 1 rans-Alaska Telephone sei
vice to the Sterling area for even
longer.
The unofficial report (as the
(Iheechako News went to press),
is that a private plane, piloted by
Ralph Gaetano, flew into power
lines back of the Xaptowne Inn
at about 6:20 a.m. Gaetano is a
registered guide and recently op
ened a gun shop and ammunition
business in the Sterling area. It
is understood that the underpin
ning of the plane was consider
ably damaged when the plane
cracked up. Extent of the pilot’s
injuries, if any, could not be
learned.
The two major breaks in the
HEA lines threw the entire sys
tem north of Kasilof out of work
ing condition. Service was resum
ed at approximately 10:15 a.m.
Estimate of the damage is yet to
be determined.
Federal Aviation Agency,
checked in connection with the ac
cident, replied that reports are in
complete and information avail- ,
able could not be disclosed until ,
officially released.
It is understood, however, that
the airstrip in the area where the
accident oceured is not advertised 1
by FA A, although local planes s
have been landing and taking off t
there at times. t
f
Borough
Referendum
Sought
Application to secure a referen
dum to reject by popular vote the
legislative act concerning manda
tory borough incorporation was
mailed to the Secretary of State
yesterday from Soldotna.
The application contained over
200-signatures with signers repre
senting practically every commun
ity on the Kenai Peninsula.
Sponsors of the application say
they believe that forced incorpo
ration, especially on such a major
matter, is not in the best inter
est of the people.
The 1961 borough law, they
pointed out, provided adequately
for voluntary incorporation and
set standards to be met. Forcible
incorporation bypasses these
standards.
Formation of a borough is an ir
revocable move, proponents of the
referendum point out. It will af
fect people of the area concerned
for the foreseeable future and
should not be done in haste, with
>ut adequate study, planning and
rertainly not without the consent
if the people affected.
BOROUGH MEETING SET
SOLDOTNA — The next regu
ar meeting of the Kenai Penin
ula Borough Study Group will
e at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 26, at
he Soldotna School.
I
* 4
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