Eroding bluffs can be seen on Kenai North Beach in Kenai, Alaska, on June 3, 2021. (Peninsula Clarion file)

Kenai council thanks Dunleavy for proposed bluff funds

Gov. Mike Dunleavy including funding for Kenai bluff erosion in his proposed budget

Eroding bluffs can be seen on Kenai North Beach in Kenai, Alaska, on June 3, 2021. (Peninsula Clarion file)
A holds locker is seen at the Soldotna Public Library on Friday, Jan. 15 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai council approves library grants

Some funds will go toward buying a holds locker that allows material pickup when the library is closed

A holds locker is seen at the Soldotna Public Library on Friday, Jan. 15 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

Amid steep rise in COVID-19 cases, officials see reasons for optimism

COVID cases increased 145% from this week to last week, according to state data.

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Photo by Haley Ritchie/Yukon News
Birders Jenny Trapnell and Jim Hawkings participated in the annual Christmas Bird Count in downtown Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada, on Dec. 26 — part of the worldwide count that included Homer.

9,900 birds reported during Homer Christmas Bird Count

The count identified 71 species on Dec. 18, 2021.

Photo by Haley Ritchie/Yukon News
Birders Jenny Trapnell and Jim Hawkings participated in the annual Christmas Bird Count in downtown Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada, on Dec. 26 — part of the worldwide count that included Homer.
State Sen. Peter Micciche fields questions from constituents during a joint chamber luncheon on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022 at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Micciche briefs community ahead of session

Micciche seeks path forward on budget, looks to pass legislation on fishing permits, alcohol regulations

State Sen. Peter Micciche fields questions from constituents during a joint chamber luncheon on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022 at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Chairs at the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly chambers are decorated with paper cutouts on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022, at the George A. Navarre Borough Admin Building in Soldotna, Alaska. The cutouts were intended to represent Central Peninsula Hospital patients who died of COVID-19. During public testimony given Tuesday, several members of the public expressed the desire for alternative treatments for COVID-19 and protested CPH’s treatment methods. (Photo courtesy Katherine Uei)

Assembly approves state health grant

The money was made available under a grant program in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chairs at the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly chambers are decorated with paper cutouts on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022, at the George A. Navarre Borough Admin Building in Soldotna, Alaska. The cutouts were intended to represent Central Peninsula Hospital patients who died of COVID-19. During public testimony given Tuesday, several members of the public expressed the desire for alternative treatments for COVID-19 and protested CPH’s treatment methods. (Photo courtesy Katherine Uei)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

Statewide average case numbers double in 1 week

Alaska reported an estimated rolling average of 583.3 cases per 100,000 people daily over the past seven days.

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
A sign advertising testing for COVID-19 is seen at Capstone Clinic in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Testing ‘key component’ as COVID cases spike

There was a 145% increase in COVID cases from the week of Dec. 22 to the week of Dec. 29.

A sign advertising testing for COVID-19 is seen at Capstone Clinic in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Image via labor.alaska.gov

Uncertainty clouds future of state’s economy; modest job growth expected

That’s according to the January edition of “Alaska Economic Trends”

Image via labor.alaska.gov
Cars drive along the Kenai Spur Highway near Eagle Rock Drive on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2021 near Kenai, Alaska. The highway will be widened under a state transportation project. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

2nd phase of project to widen Kenai Spur to start this summer

The first phase of the project widened the highway between Swires Road and Eagle Rock Drive

Cars drive along the Kenai Spur Highway near Eagle Rock Drive on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2021 near Kenai, Alaska. The highway will be widened under a state transportation project. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Internet cables (Peninsula Clarion file)

ACS outage restored after phones, internet go down

The company isolated a fiber issue between Kenai and Soldotna

Internet cables (Peninsula Clarion file)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, leave the chamber after a vote on Capitol Hill in Washington, early Wednesday, May 10, 2017. Jay Allen Johnson, 65, who faced charges of sending a series of profanity-laced voice messages to the two senators, entered guilty pleas, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022, in federal court in Fairbanks, Alaska, to two counts of threatening to kill a U.S. official. U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline accepted Johnson’s pleas and set sentencing for April 8. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Alaska man who threatened to kill senators pleads guilty

He faces up 10 years in jail on each charge.

  • Jan 4, 2022
  • By Mark Thiessen Associated Press
  • State News
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, leave the chamber after a vote on Capitol Hill in Washington, early Wednesday, May 10, 2017. Jay Allen Johnson, 65, who faced charges of sending a series of profanity-laced voice messages to the two senators, entered guilty pleas, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022, in federal court in Fairbanks, Alaska, to two counts of threatening to kill a U.S. official. U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline accepted Johnson’s pleas and set sentencing for April 8. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation building in October 2020. (Peter Segall/Juneau Empire file)

PFD filing period opens

The 2022 PFD application period opened Jan. 1 and will close on March 31.

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation building in October 2020. (Peter Segall/Juneau Empire file)
The Alaska State Capitol is seen here in this June 7, 2021, file photo. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)

Higher Alaska lawmaker salary, allowance cut proposed

The proposal would raise the annual salary for Alaska lawmakers from $50,400 to $64,000

The Alaska State Capitol is seen here in this June 7, 2021, file photo. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)
Birds grow at Dana Armstrong’s farm in Nikiski, Alaska. Armstrong is the director of the Kenai Peninsula Poultry Project — a 501(c)3 organization with the goal of providing healthy poultry options for central peninsula residents in need. (Courtesy of Dana Armstrong)

Local farmer aims to donate poultry to residents in need

She said she will process and donate both live poultry and cuts of meat to the local food banks and church pantries.

Birds grow at Dana Armstrong’s farm in Nikiski, Alaska. Armstrong is the director of the Kenai Peninsula Poultry Project — a 501(c)3 organization with the goal of providing healthy poultry options for central peninsula residents in need. (Courtesy of Dana Armstrong)
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks with U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell after a House select committee hearing on the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill in Washington, on July 27, 2021. (Jim Bourg/Pool via AP, File)

Jan. 6 committee prepares to go public

In the coming months, members of the panel will start to reveal their findings

  • Jan 3, 2022
  • By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press
  • State News
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks with U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell after a House select committee hearing on the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill in Washington, on July 27, 2021. (Jim Bourg/Pool via AP, File)
A DHSS graphic shows most regions of Alaska to be at high alert level as of Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (Screenshot)

2022 kicks off with a rush of COVID cases

More than 2,800 cases reported over last five days

A DHSS graphic shows most regions of Alaska to be at high alert level as of Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. (Screenshot)
A Ravn Airlines plane arrives in Anchorage to transport passengers to Kenai after more than two hours of delay on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. Windy conditions delayed flights to and from the peninsula over the weekend. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)”

Severe winds hammer Southcentral

The winds caused flight cancellations, power outages and local road closures

A Ravn Airlines plane arrives in Anchorage to transport passengers to Kenai after more than two hours of delay on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. Windy conditions delayed flights to and from the peninsula over the weekend. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)”
Alaska State Troopers logo.
Alaska State Troopers logo.
Kenai Courthouse is photographed on February 26, 2019 in Kenai, Alaska. (Clarion file)
Kenai Courthouse is photographed on February 26, 2019 in Kenai, Alaska. (Clarion file)