Anglers fish on the Kenai River on Tuesday, June 29, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Low early-run king numbers prompt restrictions

The cumulative sonar estimate is 72 large king salmon through May 29

Anglers fish on the Kenai River on Tuesday, June 29, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Senate President Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, is seen here in this June 16, 2021, file photo. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)
Senate President Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, is seen here in this June 16, 2021, file photo. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)
Local veterans participate in the Memorial Day ceremony at Leif Hansen Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, May 30, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

‘We appreciate and honor their sacrifice’

Kenai honors veterans’ service on Memorial Day

Local veterans participate in the Memorial Day ceremony at Leif Hansen Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, May 30, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Signs are placed on Lowell Point Road ahead of the road opening in Seward, Alaska, May 27, 2022, following the May 7 Bear Mountain landslide. (Photo and caption courtesy Kenai Peninsula Borough)

Lowell Point Road reopens after landslide

Locals have relied on water taxi service since the May 7 slide

Signs are placed on Lowell Point Road ahead of the road opening in Seward, Alaska, May 27, 2022, following the May 7 Bear Mountain landslide. (Photo and caption courtesy Kenai Peninsula Borough)
Heather Renner and Tasha Reynolds run and fat bike to the finish line on the Kenai Beach during the 2019 Mouth to Mouth Wild Run & Ride. (Photo courtesy Kaitlin Vadla)

Mouth to Mouth bike race and run returns Monday

The race starts at the mouth of the Kasilof River and ends at the mouth of Kenai River

Heather Renner and Tasha Reynolds run and fat bike to the finish line on the Kenai Beach during the 2019 Mouth to Mouth Wild Run & Ride. (Photo courtesy Kaitlin Vadla)
Demonstrators rally in support of Kenai Peninsula Borough School District teachers and staff outside of the George A. Navarre Admin Building on Thursday, May 26, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

‘Overworked and underpaid’

Rally calls for support for KPBSD staff, teachers

Demonstrators rally in support of Kenai Peninsula Borough School District teachers and staff outside of the George A. Navarre Admin Building on Thursday, May 26, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Mount Redoubt volcano can be seen across Cook Inlet from the shores of South Kenai Beach, in Kenai, Alaska, on April 10, 2022. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Cook Inlet basin energy future lies beyond fossil fuels, conference speakers say

The region that was once famous for oil is teeming with renewables like wind, solar, geothermal and tidal energy

Mount Redoubt volcano can be seen across Cook Inlet from the shores of South Kenai Beach, in Kenai, Alaska, on April 10, 2022. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Tony Izzo, CEO of Matansuka Electric Association, stands with other utility executives on May 25 to describe a $200 million project to upgrade transmission lines along Alaska’s Railbelt. The announcement was made at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference in Anchorage. Curtis Thayer, executive director of the Alaska Energy Authority, is at the far left; Gov. Mike Dunleavy is at the far right. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Utilities in Alaska’s Railbelt announce $200M transmission upgrade project

The upgrade will move more energy from the Bradley Lake Hydroelectric Plant on the Kenai Peninsula

Tony Izzo, CEO of Matansuka Electric Association, stands with other utility executives on May 25 to describe a $200 million project to upgrade transmission lines along Alaska’s Railbelt. The announcement was made at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference in Anchorage. Curtis Thayer, executive director of the Alaska Energy Authority, is at the far left; Gov. Mike Dunleavy is at the far right. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
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)

Emergency harvest of beetle-killed spruce trees approved

The move comes amid an infestation that has spread across Southcentral Alaska

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)
Wood is piled near the entrance to Centennial Park on Thursday, May 26, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. The campground was closed for most of May while the city worked with contractors to remove trees infested with spruce bark beetles from the property. Southcentral Alaska’s current spruce beetle outbreak has already affected 1.6 million acres of land, including 21,000 acres managed by the Kenai Peninsula Borough. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna beetle-kill efforts boosted by $150K grant

The city has focused recent mitigation efforts on city campgrounds

Wood is piled near the entrance to Centennial Park on Thursday, May 26, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. The campground was closed for most of May while the city worked with contractors to remove trees infested with spruce bark beetles from the property. Southcentral Alaska’s current spruce beetle outbreak has already affected 1.6 million acres of land, including 21,000 acres managed by the Kenai Peninsula Borough. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Silver salmon swim in Sucker Creek on Sept. 18, 2020. (Photo by Matt Bowser/Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Project to study effect of climate change on salmon streams

The organization will partner with the United States Geological Survey

Silver salmon swim in Sucker Creek on Sept. 18, 2020. (Photo by Matt Bowser/Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)
This May 4, 2022, photo shows oceanographers Andrew McDonnell, left, and Claudine Hauri, middle, along with engineer Joran Kemme after an underwater glider was pulled aboard the University of Alaska Fairbanks research vessel Nanuq from the Gulf of Alaska. The glider was fitted with special sensors to study ocean acidification. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

An ocean first: Underwater drone tracks CO2 in Alaska gulf

The autonomous vehicle was deployed in the Gulf of Alaska

This May 4, 2022, photo shows oceanographers Andrew McDonnell, left, and Claudine Hauri, middle, along with engineer Joran Kemme after an underwater glider was pulled aboard the University of Alaska Fairbanks research vessel Nanuq from the Gulf of Alaska. The glider was fitted with special sensors to study ocean acidification. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
The Caribou Fire (#135) can be seen burning about 23 miles northeast of Homer and about 2 miles west of Fox River on May 25, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Fenya Basargin)

Officials warn of wildfire danger ahead of Memorial weekend

Firefighters responded to the Caribou Fire 23 miles northeast of Homer this week

The Caribou Fire (#135) can be seen burning about 23 miles northeast of Homer and about 2 miles west of Fox River on May 25, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Fenya Basargin)
Having made its maiden voyage to Homer in 2003, the USCGC Hickory left Homer on Friday, May 20, 2022, on its way to Baltimore, Maryland, where it will be refurbished before heading to Guam. In December, the USCGC Aspen will arrive in Homer to take the Hickory’s place. (Photo by McKibben Jackinsky)

Hickory changes command — and leaves Homer

After 20 years in Homer, Hickory sails off to new assignment in Guam, with Aspen to replace cutter here

Having made its maiden voyage to Homer in 2003, the USCGC Hickory left Homer on Friday, May 20, 2022, on its way to Baltimore, Maryland, where it will be refurbished before heading to Guam. In December, the USCGC Aspen will arrive in Homer to take the Hickory’s place. (Photo by McKibben Jackinsky)
A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)

Ninilchik River and Deep Creek to open sport fishing

Sport fishing will be open for three upcoming weekends

A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
Courtesy Photo / Chris West
Emily Anderson’s second album “Salt & Water” will be released on Friday. The second album from the L.A.-based singer-songwriter from Fairbanks deals with challenging emotions via some surprisingly sunny tunes.
Courtesy Photo / Chris West
Emily Anderson’s second album “Salt & Water” will be released on Friday. The second album from the L.A.-based singer-songwriter from Fairbanks deals with challenging emotions via some surprisingly sunny tunes.
A cruise ship is docked in Seward, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Cruise passengers encouraged to test before docking in Seward

The request comes as new COVID cases are increasing in Alaska

A cruise ship is docked in Seward, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
In this July 13, 2007, photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing restrictions that would hinder plans for a copper and gold mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. It is the latest in a long-running dispute over efforts by developers to advance a mine in a region known for its salmon runs. (AP Photo/Al Grillo, File)

Restrictions proposed in Pebble Mine fight

Critics of the project called the move an important step in a yearslong fight to stop the mine

In this July 13, 2007, photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing restrictions that would hinder plans for a copper and gold mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. It is the latest in a long-running dispute over efforts by developers to advance a mine in a region known for its salmon runs. (AP Photo/Al Grillo, File)
Armands Veksejs, Hager Elserry, Dady Thitisakulwong, and Haewon Hong attend a farewell potluck barbecue in Nikiski on Monday, May 23, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

‘A life in a year’

Foreign exchange students receive send-off in Nikiski

Armands Veksejs, Hager Elserry, Dady Thitisakulwong, and Haewon Hong attend a farewell potluck barbecue in Nikiski on Monday, May 23, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, stands in the Peninsula Clarion offices on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Micciche will not seek reelection

His announcement comes a week after the end of the 32nd Alaska Legislature

Sen. Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, stands in the Peninsula Clarion offices on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)