Ashlyn O'Hara

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District student Olivia Ferguson, who also serves as the student representative to KPBSD Board of Education’s information committee, testifies before the board Monday, April 11, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

$65M bond package presented to board of education

The funds would tackle maintenance and repairs at district schools

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District student Olivia Ferguson, who also serves as the student representative to KPBSD Board of Education’s information committee, testifies before the board Monday, April 11, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A spruce bark beetle is seen on the underside of a piece of bark taken from logs stacked near Central Peninsula Landfill on Thursday, July 1, 2021, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna to consider using city funds for tree removal

Legislation would pave the way for the city to use some of its own money to conduct work ahead of summer

A spruce bark beetle is seen on the underside of a piece of bark taken from logs stacked near Central Peninsula Landfill on Thursday, July 1, 2021, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A nine-seat Beechcrafter Super King Air B200 plane sits in a hanger at Kenai Aviation in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai council OKs Kenai Aviation agreements

The airline plans to begin offering flights in May

A nine-seat Beechcrafter Super King Air B200 plane sits in a hanger at Kenai Aviation in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion 
Joanna Samson-Sills works at the Freedom House in Soldotna, Alaska on Monday, April 4, 2022.

Reckoning with the painful legacy of opioids

Peninsula to receive drugmaker settlement funds in wake of crisis

Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion 
Joanna Samson-Sills works at the Freedom House in Soldotna, Alaska on Monday, April 4, 2022.
The Challenger Learning Center is seen here in Kenai, Alaska on Sept. 10, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)

Challenger Learning Center to hold star party Saturday

Friday’s event will be held at the center’s Kenai location and is not requiring RSVPs.

The Challenger Learning Center is seen here in Kenai, Alaska on Sept. 10, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Members of the Kenai City Council participate in a council meeting on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Boys & Girls Clubs looks to city for expansion property

The group is asking the city to consider donating land to a potential property

Members of the Kenai City Council participate in a council meeting on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
An area cleared to make way for the Cooper Landing Bypass project can be seen above the intersection of the Kenai River and Kenai Lake in Cooper Landing, Alaska, on Sept. 6, 2021. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Cooper Landing bypass construction resumes this week

Construction paused last October for the winter season

An area cleared to make way for the Cooper Landing Bypass project can be seen above the intersection of the Kenai River and Kenai Lake in Cooper Landing, Alaska, on Sept. 6, 2021. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Members of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly participate in a meeting on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Tautfest appointed to borough planning commission

Her appointment caps a monthslong process to fill the vacancy

Members of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly participate in a meeting on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A copy of Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” rests against a typewriter on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Off the Shelf: Reckoning with a challenged author in times of censorship

Off the Shelf is a bimonthly literature column written by the staff of The Peninsula Clarion

A copy of Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” rests against a typewriter on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion 
A teapot holds crocheted sunflowers at Already Read bookstore on Thursday in Kenai.

Crocheted sunflowers raise money for Ukrainian refugees

The flowers are sold in multiple businesses around the central peninsula

Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion 
A teapot holds crocheted sunflowers at Already Read bookstore on Thursday in Kenai.
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board member Debbie Cary speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. Cary also served on the borough’s reapportionment board. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board member Debbie Cary speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. Cary also served on the borough’s reapportionment board. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Alaska State Troopers logo.

Missing Wasilla woman found dead

Parthena Kinkead was reported missing by a friend

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Signs warn Fred Meyer customers to prepay if they think they may go over limits while pumping gas on Friday, March 11, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai police ask to use surplus funds for fuel

The cost of fuel per gallon has increased sharply over the last year

Signs warn Fred Meyer customers to prepay if they think they may go over limits while pumping gas on Friday, March 11, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna resident Karyn Griffin, seen here, has joined the list of candidates vying for Alaska’s newly vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The seat was formerly held by Rep. Don Young, who died March 18, 2022, after nearly 50 years in office. (Photo courtesy Karyn Griffin)

Soldotna resident joins bid for US House seat

Karyn Griffin said she is mostly running to raise awareness about different issues

Soldotna resident Karyn Griffin, seen here, has joined the list of candidates vying for Alaska’s newly vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The seat was formerly held by Rep. Don Young, who died March 18, 2022, after nearly 50 years in office. (Photo courtesy Karyn Griffin)
Bruce Vadla, left, and Kaitlin Vadla brainstorm during a community solutions meeting held by Cook Inletkeeper on Thursday, March 31, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Talking trees: Cook Inletkeeper floats tree planting as possible next step

The group convened Thursday at the Soldotna Public Library

Bruce Vadla, left, and Kaitlin Vadla brainstorm during a community solutions meeting held by Cook Inletkeeper on Thursday, March 31, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly convenes on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly gravel pit group to meet next week

The group is a subcommittee of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly convenes on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Bing’s Landing boat launch is seen in this undated photo. (Photo via Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation/dnr.alaska.gov)

Bing’s Landing to close for most of April

State crews will make improvements to the boat launch

Bing’s Landing boat launch is seen in this undated photo. (Photo via Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation/dnr.alaska.gov)
An aerial photo of the 102-acre Loon Lake Fire footprint taken at approximately 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 15, 2021. (Kale Casey/Alaska DNR-Division of Forestry)

Burn permits required starting Friday

The wildfire season ends on Aug. 31 — unless extended via an emergency order

An aerial photo of the 102-acre Loon Lake Fire footprint taken at approximately 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 15, 2021. (Kale Casey/Alaska DNR-Division of Forestry)
Linda Farnsworth-Hutchings attends a Soldotna City Council meeting on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. Farnsworth-Hutchings was one of two names submitted for the Soldotna seat on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission after a monthslong standoff between the city and borough mayor over the appointment. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Monthslong commission delay could end next week

Tautfest’s appointment, if approved, would cap a 10-month process to fill the vacancy

Linda Farnsworth-Hutchings attends a Soldotna City Council meeting on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. Farnsworth-Hutchings was one of two names submitted for the Soldotna seat on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission after a monthslong standoff between the city and borough mayor over the appointment. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
KPBSD Finance Director Elizabeth Hayes (left) gives a presentation on the school district’s FY23 budget at Soldotna High School on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

KPBSD student enrollment higher than projected

Historical enrollment numbers were presented to the KPBSD Board of Education

KPBSD Finance Director Elizabeth Hayes (left) gives a presentation on the school district’s FY23 budget at Soldotna High School on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)