News

Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly member Jesse Bjorkman (center) speaks while Aaron Rhoades (right) looks on during an assembly meeting on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly opposes making mayor’s assistant full time

The borough was looking to bring on the mayor’s former chief of staff for the special assistant role

Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly member Jesse Bjorkman (center) speaks while Aaron Rhoades (right) looks on during an assembly meeting on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland gestures while addressing reporters during a news conference Thursday, in Anchorage. Haaland is in the midst of a visit to the state that included a trip to King Cove, a community at the center of a long-running dispute over a proposed land exchange aimed at building a road through a national wildlife refuge. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Interior Secretary Haaland in midst of visit to Alaska

Haaland was in King Cove on Wednesday with Gov. Mike Dunleavy and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski

  • Apr 21, 2022
  • BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
  • State News
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland gestures while addressing reporters during a news conference Thursday, in Anchorage. Haaland is in the midst of a visit to the state that included a trip to King Cove, a community at the center of a long-running dispute over a proposed land exchange aimed at building a road through a national wildlife refuge. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Crystal Locke speaks in support of the donation of an additional .53 acres of land for a community dog park during a presentation to the Kenai City Council on Wednesday, April 20, 2022 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

More land donated for planned Kenai dog park

Organizers say more space will make the park more accommodating

Crystal Locke speaks in support of the donation of an additional .53 acres of land for a community dog park during a presentation to the Kenai City Council on Wednesday, April 20, 2022 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Peter Segall / Juneau Empire The Alaska House of Representatives passed a bill reducing sentences for and clearing records for marijuana possession on Wednesday, April 20, 2022, a day adopted as an unofficial holiday by cannabis users. The maker of the bill said the timing was not intended.

House passes marijuana bill on cannabis ‘holiday’

Bill reduces penalties and clears possession records

Peter Segall / Juneau Empire The Alaska House of Representatives passed a bill reducing sentences for and clearing records for marijuana possession on Wednesday, April 20, 2022, a day adopted as an unofficial holiday by cannabis users. The maker of the bill said the timing was not intended.

Native Youth Olympics celebrate fitness and Alaska history and culture

The Cook Inlet Tribal Council began hosting the Games in 1986, and has held competitions annually

Alaska State Troopers logo.

East peninsula fire leaves resident badly burned

Officials responded to the structure fire at 1:49 a.m. Easter Sunday

Alaska State Troopers logo.
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

More than 1,500 new COVID cases over the past week

The state also reported 13 new deaths

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion Chain link fencing outlines the site of the former Jesse Lee Home on April 3 in Seward.

Contaminated materials at Jesse Lee Home site delay park construction

City administrators gave project updates during a special meeting of the Seward City Council

Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion Chain link fencing outlines the site of the former Jesse Lee Home on April 3 in Seward.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks briefly to reporters as she leaves a courthouse in New York, Feb. 14, 2022. Palin is one of 48 candidates for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, which was held for decades by Republican Rep. Don Young, who died last month. Palin says she’s serious about the run though some critics have questioned her motivations. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Palin on serving in Congress: ‘It would be all about Alaska’

Palin is among 48 candidates running for Alaska’s lone House seat

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks briefly to reporters as she leaves a courthouse in New York, Feb. 14, 2022. Palin is one of 48 candidates for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, which was held for decades by Republican Rep. Don Young, who died last month. Palin says she’s serious about the run though some critics have questioned her motivations. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
Larry Opperman sings the “Green Acres” theme song as part of a radiothon pledge during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Fundraiser brings ‘Green Acres’ theme to assembly

The fundraiser was hosted by KSRM for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Larry Opperman sings the “Green Acres” theme song as part of a radiothon pledge during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Gregg Brelsford, an independent candidate for Alaska’s U.S. House of Representatives seat, poses for a photo on Friday, April 15, 2022, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer New)

‘No drama’ Brelsford running for Congress

Former Republican running as an undeclared candidate touts civic experience

Gregg Brelsford, an independent candidate for Alaska’s U.S. House of Representatives seat, poses for a photo on Friday, April 15, 2022, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer New)
A caribou has holiday lights tangled in its antlers on April 13, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Robin Andree)

Springtime brings out the animals

Wildlife sightings might become more prevalent in the coming weeks

A caribou has holiday lights tangled in its antlers on April 13, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Robin Andree)
Vaughn Dosko is seen in this undated photo. Dosko was awarded region 3 principal of the year by the Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals. (Photos courtesy of the Alaska Council of School Administrators)

Kenai Middle School administrator receives principal of the year award

Vaughn Dosko, the principal at Kenai Middle School, attributed the award to his students and staff

Vaughn Dosko is seen in this undated photo. Dosko was awarded region 3 principal of the year by the Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals. (Photos courtesy of the Alaska Council of School Administrators)
(From left) Mike Frost, Monica Frost, Tara Sweeney and Sue Carter attend a campaign meet and greet at Addie Camp on Saturday, April 16, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. Sweeney is running to fill the seat of former U.S. House Rep. Don Young, who died in March. (Photo courtesy Karina Waller)

Sweeney brings Congressional campaign to the central peninsula

She is one of 48 candidates vying for Alaska’s vacant U.S. House seat

(From left) Mike Frost, Monica Frost, Tara Sweeney and Sue Carter attend a campaign meet and greet at Addie Camp on Saturday, April 16, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. Sweeney is running to fill the seat of former U.S. House Rep. Don Young, who died in March. (Photo courtesy Karina Waller)
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature at the Alaska State Capitol on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. In his annual address to state lawmakers, Sullivan was highly critical of the environmentally focused policies of the Biden Administration and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, who’s visiting Alaska this week. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Sullivan gives annual address to Legislature

The senator had harsh words for Haaland, White House

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature at the Alaska State Capitol on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. In his annual address to state lawmakers, Sullivan was highly critical of the environmentally focused policies of the Biden Administration and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, who’s visiting Alaska this week. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
Signs hang on the entryway wall at the Kenai Peninsula Education Association office in Soldotna, Alaska, in this Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, file photo. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

‘It’s time to go’

COVID stress, workload cited among reasons some staff are leaving the school district

Signs hang on the entryway wall at the Kenai Peninsula Education Association office in Soldotna, Alaska, in this Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, file photo. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A Forest Service fire crew gets brief during an operation. Fire crews from Alaska are frequently deployed to the Lower 48 to help combat wildfires that are growing larger and closer to urban areas in many cases. (Courtesy photo / Parker Anders)

Into the fire: Alaska’s wildlands firefighters eye coming dry season

Alaska’s wildlands firefighters lend a hand where needed nationwide.

A Forest Service fire crew gets brief during an operation. Fire crews from Alaska are frequently deployed to the Lower 48 to help combat wildfires that are growing larger and closer to urban areas in many cases. (Courtesy photo / Parker Anders)
Michael Patz, raised in Juneau, stands on the ice in front of the icebreaker S.A. Agulhas II next to a sign showing the location of the wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s vessel, the Endurance, in this March 2022 photo. The ship was rediscovered March 5, 2022, by searchers aboard the icebreaker. (Courtesy photo/Michael Patz)

‘My interest was in the adventure’: Man from Juneau talks role in finding long-lost ship near Antarctica

Cold ice, clear water and lots of sealife.

Michael Patz, raised in Juneau, stands on the ice in front of the icebreaker S.A. Agulhas II next to a sign showing the location of the wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s vessel, the Endurance, in this March 2022 photo. The ship was rediscovered March 5, 2022, by searchers aboard the icebreaker. (Courtesy photo/Michael Patz)
A fishing vessel fleet off the coast of Seward, Alaska, participates in oil spill response training hosted by the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council (RCAC), along with members of the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, on Thursday, April 14, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

‘The prevention proves that it’s working’

Community seminar explores oil spill preparedness in Seward

A fishing vessel fleet off the coast of Seward, Alaska, participates in oil spill response training hosted by the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council (RCAC), along with members of the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, on Thursday, April 14, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, and Mitt Romney of Utah, left, who say they will vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic nomination to the Supreme Court, smile as they greet each other outside the chamber, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Murkowski continues to have a substantial cash advantage over her opponent backed by former President Donald Trump, who has vowed revenge on the incumbent Alaska Republican. Murkowski brought in more than $1.5 million in the three-month period ending March 31, 2022, according to Federal Election Commission filings. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Murkowski maintains cash advantage over Trump-backed hopeful

Republican Kelly Tshibaka, who is challenging Murkowski, raised $673,383 during the last quarter

Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, and Mitt Romney of Utah, left, who say they will vote to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic nomination to the Supreme Court, smile as they greet each other outside the chamber, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Murkowski continues to have a substantial cash advantage over her opponent backed by former President Donald Trump, who has vowed revenge on the incumbent Alaska Republican. Murkowski brought in more than $1.5 million in the three-month period ending March 31, 2022, according to Federal Election Commission filings. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)