Volunteers guided participants around an open room Wednesday at the Kenai Merit Inn. They had identified the participants’ high-need areas and directed them along to the appropriate services.

The participants were the Central Peninsula’s homeless, a mostly unseen segment of the area’s population. Their involvement in the second annual Project Homeless Connect came from necessity rather than desire. The appreciation throughout the event felt palpable, however.

On Friday, Kenai Superior Court Judge Carl Bauman found a Soldotna man guilty of seven counts of possession of child pornography. The judgment was handed down following a three-day court trial.

Kevin Patterson, 40, originally faced ten felony charges: eight counts of possession of child pornography and two for distribution. The state agreed to dismiss the distribution charges after Patterson waived his right to a jury trial on the eight counts of possession, according to court records.

It began as nothing more than a small knot in the middle of Randy Jeffreys’ forehead. No big deal, his family thought. Within three days the knot disappeared.

During Randy Jeffreys’ third visit to the Central Peninsula Hospital emergency room, an inquisitive Dr. James Zirul discovered the persistent knot’s cause; it was a Pott’s puffy tumor, a rare bone infection. The tumor grew and overtook most of the Nikiski resident’s facial features, said Randy’s wife, Lesa Jeffreys.

A map of Soldotna’s parks, trails, river boardwalks and bike paths was pinned onto a bulletin board. To its right, a similar aerial photograph displayed Soldotna 30 years ago; it lacked many of the other’s features.

Soldotna resident Dawni Giuger examined the maps with a friend, pointing at unfamiliar trails.

“I’d like more trails that allow dogs,” she said. “That’s a big deal. I think people feel safer when they have an animal with them. It’s pretty limited with what’s available.”