Jacob Dye

Ben Mattox performs as part of BenJammin & The Jammin Band during the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Jammin one last time

BenJammin and the Jammin Band play final show Saturday

Ben Mattox performs as part of BenJammin & The Jammin Band during the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Taylor Zakhar Perez portrays Alex Claremont-Diaz and Nicholas Galitzine portrays Prince Henry in “Red, White and Royal Blue.” (Photo courtesy Amazon Studios)

On the Screen: A romance for idealists

‘Red, White and Royal Blue’ a surprisingly biting romcom

Taylor Zakhar Perez portrays Alex Claremont-Diaz and Nicholas Galitzine portrays Prince Henry in “Red, White and Royal Blue.” (Photo courtesy Amazon Studios)
Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel prepares to spin one of the wheels that determine the magic weight at the closing ceremony of the Kenai Silver Salmon Derby on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Silver Salmon Derby returns

The event is unique among fishing derbies for its use of the “magic weight”

Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel prepares to spin one of the wheels that determine the magic weight at the closing ceremony of the Kenai Silver Salmon Derby on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The new portable dance floor is seen in use at the Kenai Performers theater in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Jodene McAuliffe)

Dance floor debut

Kenai Performers launch regular dance programming with weeklong social workshop

The new portable dance floor is seen in use at the Kenai Performers theater in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Jodene McAuliffe)
The badge for the Kenai Police Department.

Kenai Police arrest 2 on charges of kidnapping, assault

The alleged incident was reported Saturday

The badge for the Kenai Police Department.
Alaska State Troopers logo.

Unrelated collisions Monday leave 2 dead

One was a resident of Clam Gulch, the other of Wisconsin.

Alaska State Troopers logo.
A fallen tree reaches onto Kalifornky Beach Road in Soldotna, Alaska, as cars drive by on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Electricity, networks interrupted during wind storm

9,000 HEA customers reported outages by 5 p.m.

A fallen tree reaches onto Kalifornky Beach Road in Soldotna, Alaska, as cars drive by on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Sterling Highway cuts through areas of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge where burns from the Swan Lake can be seen, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Prescribed burns will produce visible smoke near highways

The burns are part of ongoing spruce beetle mitigation efforts

The Sterling Highway cuts through areas of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge where burns from the Swan Lake can be seen, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
A Civil Air Patrol cadet serves lunch to attendees of the Old Timer’s Luncheon at the Kenai Senior Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Old Timer’s Luncheon makes a comeback

The event started “at least 35 years ago” as a group of homesteading women who would get together once a week

A Civil Air Patrol cadet serves lunch to attendees of the Old Timer’s Luncheon at the Kenai Senior Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Anna Lewald, left, a registered nurse at South Peninsula Hospital, gives Dave Aplin, right, an influenza vaccine at a flu and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine clinic Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, at Homer High School in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

State recommends flu vaccination in September and October

That guidance says that everyone over 6 months should be vaccinated

Anna Lewald, left, a registered nurse at South Peninsula Hospital, gives Dave Aplin, right, an influenza vaccine at a flu and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine clinic Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, at Homer High School in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Trees flex under the wind outside the Peninsula Clarion offices in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Strong winds through Friday evening

Gusts were forecast up to 55 miles per hour overnight

Trees flex under the wind outside the Peninsula Clarion offices in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Artwork donated for the Harvest Auction hangs at the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Art Center’s annual Harvest Auction opens Friday

Throughout August, art was donated by members of the community

Artwork donated for the Harvest Auction hangs at the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Tribal Council Chair Ronette Stanton and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge participate in a press conference announcing $7.5 million in federal funding designated for the Kenaitze/Salamatof Tribally Designated Housing Entity at the Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht Campus in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Federal official announces $7.5 million for tribe’s low-income housing

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge visited Kenai on Wednesday

Tribal Council Chair Ronette Stanton and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge participate in a press conference announcing $7.5 million in federal funding designated for the Kenaitze/Salamatof Tribally Designated Housing Entity at the Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht Campus in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Blackwater Railroad Company’s Tyson Davis, Matt Faubion and Ben Sayers perform during the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Peninsula responses sought for Alaska Music Census

The survey is anonymous, and will be open until 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2

Blackwater Railroad Company’s Tyson Davis, Matt Faubion and Ben Sayers perform during the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
Madison Kosma watches as beluga whales swim up the Kenai River at Cunningham Park on Saturday, April 24, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Local ‘community scientists’ monitor endangered beluga population

Alaska Beluga Monitoring Program trains volunteers to collect information about the Cook Inlet beluga population

Madison Kosma watches as beluga whales swim up the Kenai River at Cunningham Park on Saturday, April 24, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Certified Nurse Assistant program graduates stand for a photo at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Nursing assistant graduates celebrated

New hospital program tackles staffing issues, sees locals take first step into health care

Certified Nurse Assistant program graduates stand for a photo at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A sockeye salmon rests atop a cooler at the mouth of the Kasilof River on Monday, June 26, 2023, in Kasilof, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Sockeye wrapping up, coho still on the way

Northern Kenai Fishing Report for Aug. 25, 2023

A sockeye salmon rests atop a cooler at the mouth of the Kasilof River on Monday, June 26, 2023, in Kasilof, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Mock-up illustration of in-development Kahtnu Area Transit Bus (Image courtesy Kenaitze Indian Tribe)

Community input sought for Kenaitze’s public bus service

Kahtnu Area Transit will be available to the general public

Mock-up illustration of in-development Kahtnu Area Transit Bus (Image courtesy Kenaitze Indian Tribe)
Scott Warner performs as part of Hot Mess at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna Music Series nears the close of another ‘incredible’ year

As of Aug. 16, the Soldotna Music Series had drawn more than 15,700 attendees

Scott Warner performs as part of Hot Mess at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)