River City Academy junior Selena Payment (left) and Heather Marron stand with Payment’s service dog-in-training, Boots, ahead of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education on Monday in Soldotna. Payment, 16, was named a 2021 youth hero through Alaska Communications’ Summer of Heroes program and was honored by the board Monday. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Selena Payment (left) and Heather Marron stand with Payment’s service dog-in-training, Boots, before the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. Payment was named a 2021 youth hero through Alaska Communications’ Summer of Heroes program and was honored by the board Monday. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

River City junior recognized for community service

The scholarship program honors “outstanding youth” in Alaska who are making a difference in their communities.

River City Academy junior Selena Payment (left) and Heather Marron stand with Payment’s service dog-in-training, Boots, ahead of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education on Monday in Soldotna. Payment, 16, was named a 2021 youth hero through Alaska Communications’ Summer of Heroes program and was honored by the board Monday. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Selena Payment (left) and Heather Marron stand with Payment’s service dog-in-training, Boots, before the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. Payment was named a 2021 youth hero through Alaska Communications’ Summer of Heroes program and was honored by the board Monday. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The Marathon Petroleum Kenai Refinery. (Photo provided by Marathon Petroleum)

Marathon mulling sale of Kenai refinery

The company’s Kenai refinery employs about 250 full-time workers

The Marathon Petroleum Kenai Refinery. (Photo provided by Marathon Petroleum)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

3 new deaths, 655 new cases statewide

At Central Peninsula Hospital there were 19 COVID patients on Thursday morning — 18 of them unvaccinated.

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
The Kenai waterfront can be seen from Old Town Kenai on April 27, 2018, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion file)

Kenai council postpones approval of waterfront study contract

The move was to give newly elected members more time to thoroughly acquaint themselves with the project.

The Kenai waterfront can be seen from Old Town Kenai on April 27, 2018, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion file)
Carter Giglio, 8, joined by service dog Barney of Hero Dogs, shows off the bandaid over his injection site after being vaccinated, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021, at Children’s National Hospital in Washington. The U.S. enters a new phase Wednesday in its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, with shots now available to millions of elementary-age children in what health officials hailed as a major breakthrough after more than 18 months of illness, hospitalizations, deaths and disrupted education. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Peninsula preps to vaccinate kids against COVID-19

The CDC on Tuesday extended the emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to the 5 to 11 age group.

Carter Giglio, 8, joined by service dog Barney of Hero Dogs, shows off the bandaid over his injection site after being vaccinated, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021, at Children’s National Hospital in Washington. The U.S. enters a new phase Wednesday in its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, with shots now available to millions of elementary-age children in what health officials hailed as a major breakthrough after more than 18 months of illness, hospitalizations, deaths and disrupted education. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A voter fills out their ballot in the Thunder Mountain High School gymnasium during the 2020 general election. With more than a year to go before the 2022 election, spending is ramping up. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Statewide campaign coffers are filling up

Incumbents are flush with cash, but challengers are growing

A voter fills out their ballot in the Thunder Mountain High School gymnasium during the 2020 general election. With more than a year to go before the 2022 election, spending is ramping up. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Nikiski Fire Station No. 3 is seen on Friday, Aug. 20, 2021 in Nikiski, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly to consider mobile health program for Nikiski

The program would allow patients with some conditions to be monitored or treated at home without needing to call an ambulance.

Nikiski Fire Station No. 3 is seen on Friday, Aug. 20, 2021 in Nikiski, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The new Western Emergency Services water fill station in Happy Valley will provide an additional 20,000 gallons of water for fire suppression. The station is located at Resch Avenue and Sterling Highway. (Photo from Western Emergency Services Facebook)

Happy Valley water station to be ready by end of year

The new station will provide 20,000 gallons of water for fire suppression

The new Western Emergency Services water fill station in Happy Valley will provide an additional 20,000 gallons of water for fire suppression. The station is located at Resch Avenue and Sterling Highway. (Photo from Western Emergency Services Facebook)
Cars wait on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021 while debris is cleared on a section of the Sterling Highway that was blocked by a landslide that took place on Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021, near Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Both lanes open after landslide blocks Sterling Highway in Cooper Landing

The slide was about 250-feet wide and 6- to 8-feet thick with mud and debris.

Cars wait on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021 while debris is cleared on a section of the Sterling Highway that was blocked by a landslide that took place on Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021, near Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Golden-yellow birch trees and spruce frame a view of Aurora Lagoon and Portlock Glacier from a trail in the Cottonwood-Eastland Unit of Kachemak Bay State Park off East End Road on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021, near Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong)

State Parks holds meeting on Eastland-Cottonwood

House Bill 52 could add land to north shore side of Kachemak Bay State Park.

Golden-yellow birch trees and spruce frame a view of Aurora Lagoon and Portlock Glacier from a trail in the Cottonwood-Eastland Unit of Kachemak Bay State Park off East End Road on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021, near Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong)
Debris is cleared on a section of the Sterling Highway on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021 near Cooper Landing, Alaska. A landslide on Sunday morning blocked both lanes of the highway, which had partially reopened Monday. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Traffic moving with delays in Cooper Landing after landslide

The landslide happened on a section of road between Mileposts 49 and 51 on the Sterling Highway.

Debris is cleared on a section of the Sterling Highway on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021 near Cooper Landing, Alaska. A landslide on Sunday morning blocked both lanes of the highway, which had partially reopened Monday. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
KPBSD Itinerant Counselor Natali Jones reads “All Are Welcome” by Alexandra Penfold in support of the LGBTQ+ community during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. Treatment of LGBTQ+ students within the school district dominated public testimony during the board’s Monday night meeting. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

‘Everyone deserves to have a safe learning environment’

Students, teachers speak out about LGBTQ+ inclusion at school board meeting.

KPBSD Itinerant Counselor Natali Jones reads “All Are Welcome” by Alexandra Penfold in support of the LGBTQ+ community during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. Treatment of LGBTQ+ students within the school district dominated public testimony during the board’s Monday night meeting. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Salmon harvested in Cook Inlet are preserved in a cooler on Saturday, July 10, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)

Commercial fishing sees jump in salmon harvest this season

When compared to the period between 1975 to 2020, this season is the third-highest on record for both total salmon and total pounds harvested.

Salmon harvested in Cook Inlet are preserved in a cooler on Saturday, July 10, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

6 more COVID deaths statewide

One of the recently reported deaths was a Kenai Peninsula woman in her 70s.

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Screenshot
Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to a Western Governors Association workshop held in Ketchikan on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. Dunleavy gave the opening remarks Tuesday and said President Joe Biden’s policies were hurting Alaska.

Dunleavy criticizes Biden policies during multistate conference

In remarks before Ketchikan meeting, gov says Biden ‘canceled’ state projects.

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Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to a Western Governors Association workshop held in Ketchikan on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. Dunleavy gave the opening remarks Tuesday and said President Joe Biden’s policies were hurting Alaska.
Amber Groff of Anchorage won the adult $49,000 cash prize for week seven of the COVID-19 vaccine incentive program “Give AK Shot.” (Photo provided)

Anchorage, North Pole residents win week 7 vaccination lottery

The final week of the lottery is open to both newly vaccinated and those vaccinated prior to the start of the campaign.

Amber Groff of Anchorage won the adult $49,000 cash prize for week seven of the COVID-19 vaccine incentive program “Give AK Shot.” (Photo provided)
A landslide covers part of the Sterling Highway near Cooper Landing on Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021 near Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)

One lane of the Sterling Highway reopens after landslide

The single lane will be open during even hours and closed during odd hours.

A landslide covers part of the Sterling Highway near Cooper Landing on Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021 near Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

More than 1,500 new cases, 3 new deaths

Central Peninsula Hospital was operating at 122% capacity on Monday and treating 60 patients.

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Relatives of Luis Enrique Rodriguez, who died of COVID-19, visit where he was buried on a hill at the El Pajonal de Cogua Natural Reserve, in Cogua, north of Bogota, Colombia, Monday, Oct. 25, 2021. Rodriguez died May 14, 2021. Relatives bury the ashes of their loved ones who died of coronavirus and plant a tree in their memory. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)

COVID-19’s global death toll tops 5 million

The U.S. alone has recorded over 745,000 lives lost, more than any other nation.

Relatives of Luis Enrique Rodriguez, who died of COVID-19, visit where he was buried on a hill at the El Pajonal de Cogua Natural Reserve, in Cogua, north of Bogota, Colombia, Monday, Oct. 25, 2021. Rodriguez died May 14, 2021. Relatives bury the ashes of their loved ones who died of coronavirus and plant a tree in their memory. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
A sign in downtown Seldovia is photographed on Sept. 27, 2021. (Peninsula Clarion file)

Seldovia increases sales tax to fund new grader

The tax increase will bump Seldovia’s sales tax during the second and third quarter from 4.5% to 6.5%.

A sign in downtown Seldovia is photographed on Sept. 27, 2021. (Peninsula Clarion file)