Sentencing began at the Kenai Courthouse Tuesday for a crime committed 30 years ago.

Jimmy Eacker is charged with killing Toni Lister, who was 29 when her body was found April 17, 1982, in the woods near the Seward city dump. After a 2010 sentence of 99 years in prison was thrown out due to withheld evidence, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in December 2011.

The courtroom was packed with Lister's family and friends, as well as the defendant's friends and half brother.

For the past two weeks, volunteer mariners have conducted free boat examinations on the Central Peninsula, marking the approach of Memorial Day weekend and boating season.

Members of the Kenai Flotilla of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary have examined various personal-use boats to determine if the boats meet federal and state requirements.

"We look for valid registration, personal flotation devices, fire extinguisher," said George Leighton, vice flotilla commander. "And depending on the vessel, we check for other requirements."

In spite of the persistent cloudy weather and scattered showers, the Alaska Division of Forestry on the Kenai Peninsula has responded to five wildland fires on private properties since last Friday.

Potential for fires, due to areas with accumulated dead grasses, will continue through the next two months, said Sharon Roesch, Division of Forestry fire prevention officer.

"We expect the fire risk to persist well into the rainy season," she said. "It just depends on if the area gets the normal advent of more moisture into July."

Standing on a hard surface becomes taxing after too long, having had his knee replaced for the second time this winter, but that hasn’t stopped Lief Jenkinson of Kasilof from organizing Cohoe Firewise. 

The local wildfire safety group has few members. However, Jenkinson remains energetic about the group’s work.