Turn back the pages — Oct. 10, 1974
Compiled by Julie Rosier
New Councilmen Assumed Duties — Highlight of the city council meeting last Monday evening was the swearing in of new councilmembers, Roy Roehl and Bob Lutz. These men will take the places of Bill Vincent and Emmitt Hill who chose not to run again. Mayor McAnerney welcomed the new councilmembers and presented them with certificates of election. Bernard Hulm, who was successful in his bid for re-election, was not present for the swearing in as he is in San Francisco. Hulm will be sworn in at a later date. City Manager Filip reported on a meeting between Kenai Peninsula managers and mayors which he and Mayor McAnerney had attended in Soldotna on Friday. “We sought additional revenue sharing from the borough. Mayor Thompson was negative and didn’t think it proper, although the attorney for the City of Kenai didn’t see any problems with it. Primarily we wanted funding from the borough for services the municipalities provide — such as fire and police protection both outside and inside city limits.” Filip said managers and mayors discussed changes municipalities must make in their work forces to conform to standards set by OSHA. Filip stated the changes could be numerous and costly, and could put a huge tax burden on communities.
Local Restaurant Changes Hands — The Fo’c’s’le, a Seward seafood restaurant, has recently changed hands, maintaining its nautical decor all the way since the new proprietor is Pete Mineo, well known area fishermen. Pete came to Seward from Pennsylvania five years ago when he decided to get adventuresome and follow his trade as a scalloper to Alaska. His decision to buy the Fo’c’s’le came out of his wish to put down roots in the community. He is presently fishing king crab out of Dutch Harbor. During his absence Frances Johnson is managing the restaurant. Frances is a dinner cook and is known for her cheerful personality. “We hadn’t planned to open the doors until Oct. 25,” said Frances, “but people just began to come and I didn’t like to turn them away.” Present hours at the Fo’c’s’le are from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The restaurant is closed Tuesday but on the Oct. 25 will be open 7 days a week. Pete plans to continue the restaurant policy of featuring seafoods, “utilizing the abundance of fresh Alaskan seafoods in the area such as a king crab, scallops, halibut, king salmon and shrimp,” said Frances. Present plans are to expand the seating capacity of the restaurant to more easily accommodate the influx of people during the summer months.
Old Days Not So Good Says Hensley — Despite an auto accident on the other side of the Peninsula, Senator Willie Hensley made it to Seward Tuesday and spoke before trainees and staff at the Alaska Skill Center. “I practically broke my neck to get here,” he joked. An accident near Soldotna resulted in minor injuries to Hensley, who is running on the Democratic ticket against Congressman Don Young. Hensley noted many of the trainees were from the Interior. “Twenty-five years ago in the bush we didn’t have the opportunity for training like this,” he told them. “We didn’t have access to radio, television or other news media either. The good old days were not so easy,” he added. The Eskimo legislator gave a brief outline of his own educational background — he went to school in Kotzebue, then to high school in Tennessee, 4 years of college in Fairbanks and then the additional studies at George Washington University. “You can’t live in Washington, D.C. without being aware of politics,” said Hensley. “It was there my interest in public service began.” “Politics is one way of solving people’s problems,” stated Hensley. “The Arctic and all of Alaska has serious problems. Things I believe in have become reality. There have been vast improvements in the North.”
Winds Latest Landing Disaster — Things have gotten a little out of hand in Cooper Landing. August brought drought and a fire on Round Mountain. With September came the most extreme flooding of Kenai Lake on record and now October has burst upon us with a wind storm worse than anyone can remember. But notice, nervous ones, the last mentioned is the third calamity in succession. If we consider the old adage about trouble coming in threes, we’re due for a breather! Monday night, Sept. 30, the winds started but at our house we weren’t apprehensive. The electricity went off at 3:30 a.m. Oct. 1, but we expected it back on at any minute. We noticed that three trees were down on our property — one across from the shop. That was enough to interest Helen Rhode and Belva Hamilton, fellow judges at the election polls. The wind was blowing harder and the electricity still off, though the situation near Community Hall was not alarming. However, as the day wore on people coming to vote brought news of what was happening in the community. Trees were going down fast along Snug Harbor Road. Tillie Chapman’s driveway was a barricade of fallen trees. Trooper Radisch was seen stamping out a fire along that road stated when a power line was broken by a falling tree.
Sea views: Energy (editorial) — In the last issue I wrote wind energy, perhaps I should have started this series of articles on energy with some basic facts about energy. I will not do so briefly and I hope facts about energy. I will not do so briefly and I hope clearly. Again I remind the readers that any questions may be sent to me or to the LOG offices. Our industrialized civilization is energy dependent, as everyone knows, and critically so upon the natural abundance of fuels. The Arab nations are forcing the world to re-examine its patterns of living. The question today is what new demands will be made upon the resources we so casually accept as commonplace. The industrial revolution has advanced through water power, wood, coal, and in more recent times, petroleum and natural gas. The fuels that support the new social order are now running low. It has been estimated, and I think reasonably so, that more than half of the oil and gas in the earth has been used up. Fossil fuels (petroleum and gas) are now recognized as a limited resource. It is not renewable when the billions of years for accumulation is considered. Even nuclear fuels come under the category of a finite resource. When all the uranium there has been mined and utilized there is no more — at least on this planet.