Alaska Gov. Bill Walker has appointed several more people to boards and commissions in the state.
The Governor’s office released a second list of appointments which included Kenai Peninsula residents — five people from the central Kenai Peninsula have been appointed thus far.
Some of those appointments have garnered more attention than others. Kasilof resident Roland Maw’s appointment to Alaska’s Board of Fisheries drew so many phone calls and emails to the state’s House Resources Committee that his first confirmation hearing was delayed, according to an Associated Press article.
If confirmed, Maw will be serving his first term on the fisheries regulation board.
Other appointees, like Soldotna’s Linda Hutchings, have been reappointed to positions they’ve held previously. Hutchings was first appointed to the Alaska Workers’ Compensation Board in 2005.
Kenai Police Chief Gus Sandahl has been on the Alaska Police Standards Council since 2011 while Soldotna doctor Craig Humphreys has been on the State Medical Board since 2014.
One new appointment from Soldotna, David Edwards-Smith, has been tapped for the state’s Board of Massage Therapists. The board is a new one and is an outgrowth of a bill signed into law by former Gov. Sean Parnell in 2014 which requires all massage therapists practicing in Alaska to have a state-issued massage license.
The five-member board will issue regulations on massage licensing and practice, establish continuing education requirements and determine disciplinary actions according to the bill.
Reach Rashah McChesney at Rashah.mcchesney@peninsulaclarion.com.
