A 6 a.m. alarm clock signaled the beginning of Tuesday for Trisha Davis of Nikolaevsk. By 5:30 p.m., she was finally having her first meal of the day. Around 7 p.m., she received word her day was far from over.

That’s not unusual for Davis right now. She is currently in New York, serving as a Red Cross staff wellness nurse supervisor in response to Hurricane Sandy.

“I’m usually in bed about 11 or 11:30 p.m.,” Davis told the Homer News.

With the general election quickly approaching, the two candidates for House District 30 met Tuesday in a debate sponsored by the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center.

Before an audience of about 30 people, incumbent Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, and opponent Liz Diament, Democrat, addressed eight questions prepared by HCOC Executive Director Monte Davis, HCOC members and the evening’s moderator, Aaron Selbig, KBBI news director. The candidates were supplied copies of the questions on Friday.

There was big news when the Kenai Peninsula Borough School Board made its annual visit to Homer last week. Bruce Johnson, executive director of the Alaska Association of School Administrators, announced that Dr. Steve Atwater, Kenai Peninsula Borough School District superintendent, has been named the 2013 Alaska Superintendent of the Year. He will compete with other state honorees for the national superintendent award in mid-February.

Two weeks ago, Catie Bursch, marine educator and illustrator for the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve, began getting calls about something red in the water. The initial concern expressed was red tide, a common term used to describe a harmful algal bloom.

Bursch knew where to turn to solve the mystery.

“I coordinate a program where locals volunteer to collect water samples to look for toxins that could result in toxic shellfish,” said Bursch. “It’s cool because I have this volunteer pool I could call for samples from around the bay. And I got them very quickly.”