The Kenai Peninsula
HISTORICAL MU
iiU X 20 3
*Mp AO ALASKA
SEUM & LIBRARY
J j>.
iillKU i LAK
MAY 3, 1963
PRICE TEN CENTS
NUMBER 130
\\ alter Jerde (third from left), district governor for International Toastmasters, officiated at the re
cent installation of new officers for the Kaknu Toastmasters Club of Kenai-Soldotna. Shown here, left
to right, are Jack McGuire, president; George Denison, educational vice president; Jerde; Robert
Wade, administrative vice president; George Navarre, treasurer; Robert Bielefeld, sergeant at arms;
Fredrick Hoffmann, secretary, and (seated) Fritz Hall, outgoing president.
Negotiation to Break
Labor Deadlock Fails,
Standard Plugs Wells
Attempts to negotiate a work
contract between representatives
of Reading and Bates Drilling Co.
and the Alaska Petroleum Crafts
Council continues to be stalemat
ed. Picketing of the two Standard
Oil Co. of Calif, wells in Swanson
River Field, affected by the
strike, is still going on, however
picket lines reportedly are de
creasing daily.
The strike was called at mid
night on April 13 by Alaska Pe
troleum Crafts Council on the
two deep exploratory wells that
Reading and Bates Co. was drill
ing for Standard. Workers on the
wells walked off the job early
Easter Sunday morning. Stand
ard later decided to plug and
abandon the wells and released
the drilling contractor-.
Several meetings held at An
chorage last week between repre
sentatives of the two groups and
federal mediator Barney Toner,
were recessed by mutual consent.
Although Toner said he would
have a continuing interest in the
The Weather
Apr. 25
Apr. 26
Apr. 27
Apr. 28
Apr. 29
Apr. 30
May 1
Max. Min. Precip.
KENAI
49 34
50
51
48
45
45
49
37
32
30
29
28
25
Apr. 25
Apr. 26
Apr. 27
Apr. 28
Apr. 29
Apr. 30
Ma,r 1
SOLDOTNA
49 30
47 34
50 37
No Reading
51 28
48 26
48 23
Trace
None
None
None
Nona
None
None
None
None
None
Taken
None
None
None
dispute, he left for Fairbanks
Monday saying “nothing can be
accomplished at this time. There
is a complete impasse on more
than one of the critical issues.”
Failure to reach an initial work
agreement was given as the orig
inal cause for calling the strike.
Recent talks again stalled on the
issue of anti-discrimination or
preferential hiring for local resi
dents, according to Harold Groo
thius, negotiator for the union
group.
Another main point of conten
tion involved certain safety mea
sures requested by the union in
the proposed labor contract.
According to Groothius, the
Council is of the opinion that
there are plenty of workers avail
able among people making their
homes in Alaska and the union
believes they should have prefer
ence for jobs while the drilling
company representative apparent
(Continued on Page 16)
Has Commercial
Fishing Licenses
Deputy Magistrate Jess Nichol
as has been authorized to handle
individual commercial fishing li
censes, the Kenai Chamber of
Commerce has been advised in a
letter from the Department of
Revenue. Knowing the importance
of the fishing industry to the
area, the Chamber had requested
that fishing licenses be sold in
Kenai. The Deputy Magistrate’s
offices in Kenai are open from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through
Friday each week.
Gear and vessel licenses will
continue to be handled by the
Fish and Game Department and
the Fish and Game License Di
vision of the Department of Reve
nue.
New Manager
SEWARD — A contract for
managing the Seward small boat
harbor has been offered to the
Johnson and Gentles Co. contin
gent on their building a marine
railway with a capacity of up to
250 tons. It is expected that the
contract will be signed next Mon
day.
Wildwood Invites Public
To Armed Forces Day Show
Wildwood Station again opens its
doors and welcomes the public to
help celebrate Armed Forces Day,
Saturday, May 11, 1963.
Preparations are now in pro
gress so that all concerned may
spend an enjoyable afternoon vi
siting the military displays and
activities.
Programmed activities start at
12 noon at which time “Open
House” will begin.
There will be military displays
on Post, an Army aircraft display
■ ‘’~e r * r» Field, Kenai, the
215 Army Band will be present
and the Peninsula Elementary
Track Meet will be run.
Periodically throughout the af
ternoon there will be STARCOM
Orientations—a look at our large
communications system in action
and a brief description of its mis
sion.
The public is invited and it is
hoped that many of the people in
the area will take advantage of
this opportunity to see the mili
tary in action and to help cele
brate Armed Forces Day.
Borough Group Okays
Mandatory Incorporation
After Talk With Cease
Ronald Cease, director of the
Local Affairs Agency, Juneau,
spent more than four hours in
Soldotna Sunday explaining mat
ters of borough incorporation to
a large number of Kenai Penin
sula residents attending a special
meeting of the Kenai Peninsula
Borough Study Group.
The meeting, called expressly
for consultation with the Lotal
Affairs chief, drew more than 100
persons representing practically
every community on the Peninsu
la. Dr. J. B. Deisher, of Seward,
as chairman, officiated in con
ducting the meeting, which was
also attended by Sen. Yule Kil
cher of Homer,
One of the principal questions
the group wished to put to Cease
was if the May 15 deadline for
presenting a petition for incor
poration under local option could
be extended. Following his talk,
however, no such motion was
made.
Rescinding of a motion for
mandatory borough incorporation,
made at the borough study meet
ing on April 20, did not take
STERLING SCHOOL BIDS
OPENED
Bids for a second addition to the
Sterling school were opened re
cently in Juneau. No notice of
official awarding of the contract
had been received at press time
but the apparent low bidder was
the F and W Construction Com
pany of Anchorage with a bid of
$107,900 (not including alter
nates).
place. This motion, made by
Frank Mullen of Soldotna and
passed by a 31-24 vote at the
previous meeting-, stands as ap
proved. The motion called for
borough incorporation under man
datory provisions of CSHB 90,
recently included in Alaska laws,
and the Borough Act of 1961 as
amended.
Considerable discussion after
passage of Mullen’s motion in
cluded a possibility that it be re
scinded if the group, after con
sultation with Cease, should de
cide there was time to file a pe
tition asking for incorporation un
der local option.
No Time For Petition
Cease said the time element wag
a problem and even if the petition
could be prepared by the May 15
deadline there was an even chance
that it might fail to be approved
and that time and effort would
be wasted.
He advised the group, if decid
ing on accepting the mandatory
route for incorporation by tha
(Continued on Page 4)
Boat Grid
SEWARD — Small boat harbor
facilities have been greatly im
proved with the addition of a new
60’ by 26’ grid, large enough to
handle most sport and fishing
boats. Use of this grid for in
spection or repair of hulls is free.
Application for use of the grid
may be made to either the Small
Boat Harbor manager or the City
manager.
UNIFUME
HEATING OILS
CALL
Soldotna Delivery Kenai Delivery
262-4418 283-7705
DON BAILEY
• UNION OIL CONSIGNEE •