12503041-2-21-14

Tickets available at Sport King, Play It Again Sports, FT WW, Eielson, Downtown Museum,

Gene’s Chrysler & NP Polar Expresso

I CE D OGS H OCKEY I CE D OGS H OCKEY Ice Dogs vs .

Kenai River Brown Bears

Fri., Feb. 21, at 7:30 Sat., Feb. 22, at 7:30 Big Dipper Arena

ERA Alaska Cup: Battle of the 2 Alaska Teams Continues

MILITARY APPRECIATION WEEKEND Come check out the specialty jerseys that

will be auctioned off during the game!

Sponsored by (formerly Era Alaska)

75 cents FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2014 newsminer.com

T H E V O I C E O F I N T E R I O R A L A S K A S I N C E 1 9 0 3

The weather.Today will be sunny.

High today ................2Low tonight ........... -19

WEATHER » A7

GOODMORNING

Classified » C1 | Comics » C7 | Dear Abby » Latitude 65 | Markets » C6 | Obituaries » A5 | Opinion » A6 | Outdoors » B1 | Weather » A7INSIDE

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Alaska Board of Game approves “targeted hunts” for nuisance moose in Fairbanks. » A4Inside Today

CHALLENGE ACCEPTEDLocal bikers enter world’s longest human-powered race.

OUTDOORSPage B1

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Aurora forecast.Auroral activity will be active. Weather permit-ting, active displays will be visible overhead from Barrow to Anchorage and Juneau.This information is provid-ed by aurora forecasters at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. For more infor-mation about the aurora, visit http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast

ALL ABOARDActing workshop seeks to get more Alaska Natives involved in Interior theater and film scene.

ALASKAPage A2

A CHANCE TO SHINEConcerto competition features young Fairbanks talent.

LATITUDE 65

SOURDOUGH JACK:

“Looks like it’s gonna be another good aurora viewin’ night. Too bad I can’t stay up late enough to see it.”

Hearing focuses on sulfolane’s safetyBy Matt BuxtonMBUXTON@NEWSMINER.COM

JUNEAU — Just how much sulfolane is safe has been a simmering battle that heated up when Flint Hills cited cleanup costs in its plan to shut down production at its North Pole refinery.

Sulfolane is a chemical that spilled from the refinery and into North Pole’s ground water before Flint Hills bought

the plant.The state argues just 14 parts per bil-

lion of sulfolane is safe for North Pole residents. Flint Hills Refinery says 362 parts per billion, nearly 26 times higher than the state’s level, should be accept-able.

Facing the layoffs of 80 employees and the shrinking of the railroad’s revenues, lawmakers want answers.

On Thursday, the director of the

state’s Division of Spill Prevention and Response, Kristin Ryan, defended the state’s decision-making to a House bud-get committee.

The issue, Ryan said, is little research has been done on sulfolane’s health impacts. It’s known to cause weakened immune systems in lab rats, and chronic exposure can cause problems in the liver and kidneys, but its health impacts on humans are much less clear, especially with long-term exposure.

“There is considerable ambiguity,” she said, “which is why the division has decided to apply so many uncertain-ty factors to the cleanup level. Because

we’re just not sure how it impacts humans, we’re not sure where it’s going and there’s a lot of unknowns still.

“When we don’t know things, we try to err on the side of caution,” she said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently completed an analysis of safe sulfolane levels at the request of the state. That finding came in at 16 parts per billion.

Both Flint Hills and the state used the EPA’s research as a starting point to reach their levels, but Ryan said the state used a wider margin of error.

Lawmakers back away from claims that state is being too strict regarding Flint Hills cleanup

CLEANUP » A7

Officials: Much public input on pending air regulationsBy Matt BuxtonMBUXTON@NEWSMINER.COM

JUNEAU — State officials gave a brief update on pending air quality regula-tions aimed at cleaning up wintertime air pollution in Fairbanks and North Pole to lawmakers Thursday.

Department of Environmental Con-servation Commissioner Larry Har-tig and Air Quality Division Director Alice Edwards spoke to a House bud-get committee, saying that the state received a mountain of comments on its pending regulations.

“We’ve got a lot of public comments that have come in, and I’ve personally

District acquiesces to parents, halts hiring at Denali

By Weston MorrowWMORROW@NEWSMINER.COM

The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District has paused its search for a new Denali Elementary School principal after pressure from parents.

Parents at Denali testified at the school board meeting Tuesday, expressing concern and disappointment about the hiring pro-cess to replace retir-ing principal Tim Doran. Parents told the school board they felt the superinten-dent had not actively sought parent or staff input and worried he intended to rush Doran’s replacement.

School board president Heidi Haas instructed superintendent Pete Lew-is not to take any action in the hiring process until after the board had a chance to discuss the hiring process as a group during its next meeting, which will take place March 4.

Will not resume its principal search until after board meets

Lewis

SCHOOLS » A7

AIR » A7

The team Three Amici celebrates getting its first round word correct during the 22nd annual Biz Bee on Thursday evening at the Westmark. Supporting the annual fundraiser for the Literacy Council from left are Megan Comolli, Nick Torres and Rachel Andeer. SAM HARREL/NEWS-MINER

Not wanting to hear the kazoo announce

their misspelled word, Sarah Obed,

middle, plugs her ears as she

and teammates Jordan Sanford,

left, and Natasha Singh participate

in the bee. The three, sponsored by Tanana Chiefs

Conference and Doyon, Limited, bought their way

back into the game in support of the

Literacy Council.

SAM HARREL/NEWS-

MINER

SPELLBOUND

UA leaders reticent on campus gun bill Staff ReportNEWSROOM@NEWSMINER.COM

University of Alaska officials were resistant this week to taking any stances on a bill in the Legislature that would force the allowance of firearms throughout UA campuses.

Senate Bill 176, introduced last week by Sen. John Coghill, R-North Pole, would prohibit the universi-ty from enacting any firearms bans on its campuses except in restrict-ed access areas where visitors are screened.

The Board of Regents — the body in charge of the UA system — met Thursday in Fairbanks. At the meet-ing, neither UA President Patrick Gamble nor Board Chair Patri-cia Jacobson was willing to take a stance on Coghill’s bill.

“I’m waiting to see if anything

comes up in the board meeting today and how the board reacts to that,” Gamble said. “Since it is a board meeting day, I would defer to them first for a response.”

Jacobson spoke to the complexity of carrying firearms on campuses because of the varied legal sta-tus of different areas on each cam-pus but did not say whether or not she felt Coghill’s bill pointed out a legitimate issue with UA policies.

“The board is constitutionally required to govern university prem-ises. We must balance rights of individuals while ensuring safe and responsible operation,” Jacobson said in an email. “Our universities are complex places. They actually

have many of the features of places and situations in which the Legisla-ture criminalizes or restricts posses-sion of weapons.”

Jacobson pointed out the prev-alence of reasons guns might be illegal in certain areas of campus, such as daycare centers or areas where students younger than 18 are taught.

The university allows firearms on campus in certain places as long as they are locked in a vehicle or kept in a specially designated weap-ons locker. They are not allowed in classrooms, labs, offices or other buildings such as concert halls.

Coghill said he believes the uni-versity’s policy goes against the state’s law and as a state institution should not be allowed to implement such bans on firearm carrying.Contact the newsroom at 459-7520.

Gamble