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A lone voter fills in their ballot at Soldotna Prep School in Soldotna, Alaska, during Election Day on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Borough, Soldotna, Seward certify election results

Results for multiple borough seats came down to just a handful of votes.

A lone voter fills in their ballot at Soldotna Prep School in Soldotna, Alaska, during Election Day on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A sign indicates the turn for Jim’s Landing on Skilak Lake Road on Sunday, June 13, 2021, near Skilak Lake on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Refuge opens for firewood collection Friday

Cutting is limited to trees already dead and down within the designated areas

A sign indicates the turn for Jim’s Landing on Skilak Lake Road on Sunday, June 13, 2021, near Skilak Lake on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Halloween lights and iconography decorate the corridors of the Haunted Chamber at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

‘Haunted Chamber’ debuts this week

In the maze on Monday were lights, skeletons, spiders and tombstones

Halloween lights and iconography decorate the corridors of the Haunted Chamber at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Laura Burke speaks during a community conversation on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Home-school meeting draws dozens

The event was hosted by the Kenai Peninsula Borough and the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District

Laura Burke speaks during a community conversation on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Elks Lodge Exalted Ruler Allen Burkett presents Kenai Fire Department’s Pete Coots with an award at the Kenai Elks Lodge in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Elks honor Kenai Fire Department

Receiving medals were Captain Pete Coots and Fire Marshal Jeremy Hamilton

Kenai Elks Lodge Exalted Ruler Allen Burkett presents Kenai Fire Department’s Pete Coots with an award at the Kenai Elks Lodge in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Finance Director Liz Hayes, left, testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a budget work session on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Finance Director Liz Hayes, left, testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a budget work session on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Municipal Airport is seen on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Ravn to end service in Kenai

Ravn Alaska and the Kenai Municipal Airport confirmed Friday that the airline will discontinue its Kenai service starting later this month, with the last flights… Continue reading

The Kenai Municipal Airport is seen on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche presents information about the borough during a chamber luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Micciche talks home-schooling, emergency services at joint chamber luncheon

He opened Thursday’s presentation by summarizing the results of a community survey that the borough circulated shortly in February

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche presents information about the borough during a chamber luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai City Hall on Feb. 20, 2020, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai outlaws marijuana drive-thrus

The state, during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowed marijuana establishments to operate drive-thru or walk-up windows

Kenai City Hall on Feb. 20, 2020, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
Bill Holt tells a fishing tale at Odie’s Deli on Friday, June 2, 2017, in Soldotna, Alaska. Holt was among the seven storytellers in the True Tales Told Live, an occasional storytelling event co-founded by Pegge Erkeneff, Jenny Nyman and Kaitlin Vadla. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion file)
Bill Holt tells a fishing tale at Odie’s Deli on Friday, June 2, 2017, in Soldotna, Alaska. Holt was among the seven storytellers in the True Tales Told Live, an occasional storytelling event co-founded by Pegge Erkeneff, Jenny Nyman and Kaitlin Vadla. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion file)
Phil Daniel, left, joins supporters of both himself and Teea Winger in waving signs on the corner of Bridge Access Road and the Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai, Alaska, for election day on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Phil Daniel, left, joins supporters of both himself and Teea Winger in waving signs on the corner of Bridge Access Road and the Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai, Alaska, for election day on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Candidate Bill Elam waves signs on election day on Tuesday, Oct 3, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Voters take to the polls during Tuesday municipal election

Poll workers report low turnout across the central peninsula

Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Candidate Bill Elam waves signs on election day on Tuesday, Oct 3, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Some of the pumpkins submitted to the pumpkin-decorating contest are seen here during the 5th annual Kenai Fall Pumpkin Festival in Kenai, Alaska, on Oct. 10, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)

Kenai’s Fall Pumpkin Fest set for Saturday

The fun actually starts early, as a central element of the festival is a pumpkin decorating contest already underway

Some of the pumpkins submitted to the pumpkin-decorating contest are seen here during the 5th annual Kenai Fall Pumpkin Festival in Kenai, Alaska, on Oct. 10, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)
Aurora Borealis Charter School Art and Music Teacher Eleanor Van Sickle leads students in a performance of "Autumn Canon," a Hungarian song at a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meeting on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Student serenade

Aurora Borealis Charter School students sing at the assembly during the regular school board meeting on Monday

Aurora Borealis Charter School Art and Music Teacher Eleanor Van Sickle leads students in a performance of "Autumn Canon," a Hungarian song at a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meeting on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna Elementary School Principal Dr. Austin Stevenson walks amid natural gas pipes anchored to the outside of school on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

High costs stall work on school bond

A cost estimate for the reconstruction of Soldotna Elementary School came back $13.5 million over budget

Soldotna Elementary School Principal Dr. Austin Stevenson walks amid natural gas pipes anchored to the outside of school on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Bear 747, defending Fat Bear Week Champion, stands on the bank of the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska. The winner of a Thursday matchup between Bear 128 Grazer and Bear 151 Walker will meet 747 in Fat Bear Week competition on Saturday. (Photo courtesy C. Cravatta/National Park Service)

Survival of the fattest

Paunchy ursine competitors go head-to-head in annual Fat Bear Week

Bear 747, defending Fat Bear Week Champion, stands on the bank of the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska. The winner of a Thursday matchup between Bear 128 Grazer and Bear 151 Walker will meet 747 in Fat Bear Week competition on Saturday. (Photo courtesy C. Cravatta/National Park Service)
(City of Seward)

Police standoff closes Seward Highway

Police say standoff was with ‘barricaded individual,’ not escaped inmate

(City of Seward)
Mount Redoubt can be seen across Cook Inlet from North Kenai Beach on Thursday, July 2, 2022. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Alaska not included in feds’ proposed 5-year oil and gas program

The plan includes a historically low number of proposed sales

Mount Redoubt can be seen across Cook Inlet from North Kenai Beach on Thursday, July 2, 2022. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
A copy of "People, Paths, and Places: The Frontier History of Moose Pass, Alaska" stands in sunlight in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Moose Pass to receive award for community historical effort

“People, Paths, and Places: The Frontier History of Moose Pass, Alaska” was a collaboration among community members

A copy of "People, Paths, and Places: The Frontier History of Moose Pass, Alaska" stands in sunlight in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. (Jake Dye/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)

School board president receives award for meritorious service

Debbie Cary, of Ninilchik, is the Alaska Superintendent Association’s 2024 recipient of the Don MacKinnon Excellence in Education Award

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)