Thai coconut red curry soup can be made as spicy or mild as you choose. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)

A punch of color to brighten gray spring days

When the gray starts to seep into my soul, I try to burn it out with spice

Thai coconut red curry soup can be made as spicy or mild as you choose. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
Nick Varney

Unhinged Alaska: The passing of March

I don’t know why her latest weather hysterics maxed me out on the Grouch Scale but it did.

Nick Varney
After 18 years at Leavenworth prison in Kansas, William Dempsey was returned to McNeil Island federal penitentiary in Washington in April 1939. He would escape from McNeil nine months later. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)

A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 9

On Jan. 30, 1940, nearly eight months later, Dempsey, while on a road gang in a heavy fog, slipped away from the work detail.

After 18 years at Leavenworth prison in Kansas, William Dempsey was returned to McNeil Island federal penitentiary in Washington in April 1939. He would escape from McNeil nine months later. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)
John Messick’s “Compass Lines” is displayed at the Kenai Peninsula College Bookstore in Soldotna, Alaska on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Messick reflects on path forward in ‘Compass Lines’

“Compass Lines,” a new book by John Messick, a local writer and Assistant Professor of Writing at Kenai Peninsula College, is something he describes as… Continue reading

John Messick’s “Compass Lines” is displayed at the Kenai Peninsula College Bookstore in Soldotna, Alaska on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Keanu Reeves portrays John Wick in "John Wick: Chapter 4." (Photo courtesy Lionsgate)

On the Screen: ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ goes out on top

In the showstopping, approximately 40-minute long, third-act action sequence of “John Wick: Chapter 4,” star Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski prove — for the… Continue reading

Keanu Reeves portrays John Wick in "John Wick: Chapter 4." (Photo courtesy Lionsgate)
Will Morrow (courtesy)

Springing ahead

I’m not ready to spring ahead

Will Morrow (courtesy)
Murder suspect William Dempsey is pictured shortly after he was captured on the outskirts of Seward in early September 1919. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)

A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 8

Dempsey spent more than a decade attempting to persuade a judge to recommend him for executive clemency

Murder suspect William Dempsey is pictured shortly after he was captured on the outskirts of Seward in early September 1919. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)
Promotional image via the Performing Arts Society
Promotional image via the Performing Arts Society
The author holds a copy of Greta Thunberg’s, “No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference,” inside the Peninsula Clarion building on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Off the Shelf: Thunberg speeches pack a punch

“No One Is Too Small to Make A Difference” is a compilation of 16 essays given by the climate activist

The author holds a copy of Greta Thunberg’s, “No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference,” inside the Peninsula Clarion building on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
White chocolate cranberry cake is served with fresh cranberries. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)

Hard-to-ruin cranberry cake

This white chocolate cranberry cake is easy to make and hard to ruin — perfect for my students aged 3, 6, 7 and 7.

White chocolate cranberry cake is served with fresh cranberries. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)

Life in the Pedestrian Lane: It’s March

March is the trickster month, probably why we see so much raven activity these days

Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)
After Pres. Woodrow Wilson commuted his death sentence to life in prison, William Dempsey (inmate #3572) was delivered from Alaska to the federal penitentiary on McNeil Island, Wash. These were his intake photos. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)

A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 7

The opening line of Dempsey’s first letter to Bunnell — dated March 19, 1926 — got right to the point

After Pres. Woodrow Wilson commuted his death sentence to life in prison, William Dempsey (inmate #3572) was delivered from Alaska to the federal penitentiary on McNeil Island, Wash. These were his intake photos. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)
Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Pedro Pascal as Joel in “The Last of Us.” (Photo courtesy HBO)

On the Screen: ‘The Last of Us’ perfectly adapts a masterpiece

HBO unquestionably knew they had a hit on their hands

Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Pedro Pascal as Joel in “The Last of Us.” (Photo courtesy HBO)
Chocolate cake is topped with white chocolate cream cheese frosting. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)

A cake topped with love (and white chocolate cream cheese)

He loved the frosting so much he said he never wants anything else on his cake

Chocolate cake is topped with white chocolate cream cheese frosting. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
In 1914, Pres. Woodrow Wilson appointed Charles Bunnell to be the judge of the Federal District Court for the Third and Fourth divisions of the Alaska Territory. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)

A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 6

Prosecution lawyers were fortunate to have a fallback plan: witnesses to the crime.

In 1914, Pres. Woodrow Wilson appointed Charles Bunnell to be the judge of the Federal District Court for the Third and Fourth divisions of the Alaska Territory. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)
The author displays her daily vitamin, three yellowish clear bubbles of Vitamin D, and 20 mg of Paxil. (Photo by Meredith Harber/Minister’s Message)

Minister’s Message: Accepting all parts of your story of growth

I started taking Paxil almost six years ago, after a lifelong struggle with anxiety and depression

The author displays her daily vitamin, three yellowish clear bubbles of Vitamin D, and 20 mg of Paxil. (Photo by Meredith Harber/Minister’s Message)
Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion 
A copy of Marie Aubert’s “Grown Ups” sits on a desk in The Peninsula Clarion building on Wednesday in Kenai.

Off the Shelf: Good for her

Marie Aubert’s “Grown Ups” caught my attention with a flashy cover and a review from Independent Ireland on the cover

Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion 
A copy of Marie Aubert’s “Grown Ups” sits on a desk in The Peninsula Clarion building on Wednesday in Kenai.
Kenai Peninsula Writers’ Contest logo (Homer Council on the Arts/courtesy)
Kenai Peninsula Writers’ Contest logo (Homer Council on the Arts/courtesy)
Alaska-style spanakopita includes salmon with the traditional spinach and feta. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)

On the Strawberry Patch: Spanakopita — Alaska style

I have been deep cleaning, organizing, rearranging and generally revitalizing our home these last couple weeks

Alaska-style spanakopita includes salmon with the traditional spinach and feta. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
As a teen-ager convicted of larceny in 1916, William Dempsey was incarcerated at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. (Image from the National Register of Historical Places)

A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 3

The lines of history are most accurately understood in retrospect.

As a teen-ager convicted of larceny in 1916, William Dempsey was incarcerated at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. (Image from the National Register of Historical Places)