When Tammy Vollom-Matturro and several of her Kenai Peninsula Orchestra peers approached their conductor Mark Robinson almost 10 years ago asking to play Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9", Robinson laughed at the request.

Not in a derisive way, but in a that's-virtually-impossible kind of way.

"A lot of people shy away from it because of how big it is," Vollom-Matturro said of Beethoven's behemoth of a symphony. 

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly approved Tuesday a two-month-old ordinance that, through amendments, became a shadow of its original intent.

Ordinance 2011-24 was introduced in early June by assembly president Gary Knopp and originally sought to add an extra term to the time assembly members could serve before being required to take a break in service. It also sought to redefine a term as three full years.

Alaska’s biggest oil companies are reporting strong profits from the North Slope this year, but Gov. Sean Parnell is still saying oil taxes need to be lowered because oil production is declining.

“There is an undeniable fact: oil production is down — sharply. We can’t afford to do nothing,” said Sharon Leighow, Parnell’s spokeswoman.

Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, called Parnell’s proposal to reduce state oil taxes an “unwarranted giveaway.”

In the last week ConocoPhillips Co. and BP plc reported profits for the first half of the year.

Alaska’s state energy authority is preparing to file a preliminary license application with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a 600-megawatt hydro project in Watana, on the upper Susitna River north of Anchorage, Gov. Sean Parnell announced June 25.

The Alaska Energy Authority is also recruiting staff for the core project development team, the governor said. Parnell recently signed new state legislation authorizing the project as well as a $67.5 million state appropriation for work on the preliminary FERC license application this year.