Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
A rainbow trout is lifted into a net during the Sport, Rec and Trade Show at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Saturday.

Sports show ushers in summer

Available for perusal were equipment, services and resources to prepare for summer fun

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
A rainbow trout is lifted into a net during the Sport, Rec and Trade Show at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Saturday.
Kenai City Hall on Feb. 20, 2020, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

Draft Kenai budget proposes flat taxes, small raise for city employees

The meeting brought together various department heads for an in-depth look at the city’s spending plan

Kenai City Hall on Feb. 20, 2020, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, confers with other senators and legislative staff moments before gavelling in the start of this year’s legislative session at the Alaska State Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Senate’s draft operating budget includes outstanding KPBSD pandemic relief funds

Public education advocates, students and staff have doggedly lobbied lawmakers for an increase to the state’s K-12 funding formula

Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, confers with other senators and legislative staff moments before gavelling in the start of this year’s legislative session at the Alaska State Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Alaska State Troopers logo.

Soldotna resident arrested for possession of child pornography

He was arrested “without incident” and taken to Wildwood Pretrial Facility with bail set at $7,000

Alaska State Troopers logo.
The Soldotna Public Library is seen on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna library board updates facility use policy

The changes are the first modifications to the policy in more than a year and took effect April 15

The Soldotna Public Library is seen on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Students of Soldotna Montessori Charter School comb for trash along the banks of the Kenai River at Centennial Park in Soldotna on Thursday.

‘This is their playground’

KPBSD students join fishing groups to pick up trash along Kenai River

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Students of Soldotna Montessori Charter School comb for trash along the banks of the Kenai River at Centennial Park in Soldotna on Thursday.
Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, speaks in support of debating an omnibus education bill in the Alaska House Chambers on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Ruffridge discusses allotment program for correspondence students at virtual town hall

The fate of the program is in limbo following a superior court ruling handed down last month

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, speaks in support of debating an omnibus education bill in the Alaska House Chambers on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Student Representative Maggie Grenier speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District School Board in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, April 1, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly ordinance would designate meeting time for student councils

The ordinance is sponsored by Assembly Vice President Tyson Cox and assembly member Ryan Tunseth

Student Representative Maggie Grenier speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District School Board in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, April 1, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Construction equipment can be seen at the site of the “Future Home of Triumvirate Theatre” in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Construction starts on new Triumvirate Theatre

The start of construction came “1,162 days” after the fire that destroyed the Triumvirate’s former location

Construction equipment can be seen at the site of the “Future Home of Triumvirate Theatre” in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Ben Weagraff from Kenai River Brewing Company works the beer garden at Soldotna Creek Park during the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)

State board OKs Soldotna request for more restaurant alcohol licenses

Twenty more restaurants in Soldotna will be able to serve alcohol following state approval in April of a city petition. The approval, handed down by… Continue reading

Ben Weagraff from Kenai River Brewing Company works the beer garden at Soldotna Creek Park during the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
The badge for the Kenai Police Department

Kenai resident arrested for unlawful exploitation of a minor

The man is charged with unlawful exploitation of a minor, enticement of a minor and third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance

The badge for the Kenai Police Department
A map shows the locations of 17 State Department of Transportation and Public Facilities projects scheduled on the Kenai Peninsula this year. (Courtesy Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)

Road construction begins in parts of Kenai Peninsula, more activity scheduled this summer

A map of projects and information like traffic impacts and start and end dates can be accessed at the DOT website

A map shows the locations of 17 State Department of Transportation and Public Facilities projects scheduled on the Kenai Peninsula this year. (Courtesy Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
Upper Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone can be seen on this map provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Image via fisheries.noaa.gov)

Federal rule for Cook Inlet EEZ commercial fishing published, implements May 30

The rule comes after years of back and forth that began in 2012

Upper Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone can be seen on this map provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Image via fisheries.noaa.gov)
Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Children and families gather around a table to eat cake and write down what they love about their library at a 10th anniversary celebration for the expansion of the Soldotna Public Library on Monday.

‘The most important thing about the library is the people’

Soldotna Public Library marks 10 years since expansion project

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Children and families gather around a table to eat cake and write down what they love about their library at a 10th anniversary celebration for the expansion of the Soldotna Public Library on Monday.
Rep. Sarah Vance, a Homer Republican, discusses a bill she sponsored requiring age verification to visit pornography websites while Rep. Andrew Gray, an Anchorage Democrat who added an amendment prohibiting children under 14 from having social media accounts, listens during a House floor session Friday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

House passes bill banning kids under 14 from social media, requiring age verification for porn sites

Key provisions of proposal comes from legislators at opposite ends of the political spectrum

Rep. Sarah Vance, a Homer Republican, discusses a bill she sponsored requiring age verification to visit pornography websites while Rep. Andrew Gray, an Anchorage Democrat who added an amendment prohibiting children under 14 from having social media accounts, listens during a House floor session Friday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Soldotna City Council member Jordan Chilson attends a council meeting in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 10, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna to further limit plastic shopping bags

The ordinance expands the definition of the kind of bags prohibited in city limits to include any bag designed to carry goods from a vendor’s premises

Soldotna City Council member Jordan Chilson attends a council meeting in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 10, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
From front left, Connections Homeschool Principal Doug Hayman, Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche and KPBSD Superintendent Clayton Holland listen to families during a community conversation on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Senate committee hears correspondence school allotment bill

A superior court judge ruled earlier this month that the allotments are unconstitutional

From front left, Connections Homeschool Principal Doug Hayman, Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche and KPBSD Superintendent Clayton Holland listen to families during a community conversation on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Homer High School sophomore Sierra Mullikin is one of the students who participated in the community walk-in on Wednesday, April 24. Communities across the state of Alaska held walk-ins in support of legislative funding for public education. (Photo by Emilie Springer)

Teachers, staff and community members ‘walk-in’ at 9 district schools

The unions representing Kenai Peninsula Borough School District staff organized a widespread, “walk-in” protest at Kenai, Soldotna, Seward, Homer, Moose Pass and Seldovia schools early… Continue reading

Homer High School sophomore Sierra Mullikin is one of the students who participated in the community walk-in on Wednesday, April 24. Communities across the state of Alaska held walk-ins in support of legislative funding for public education. (Photo by Emilie Springer)
Economist Sam Tappen shares insights about job and economic trends in Alaska and on the Kenai Peninsula during the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District’s Industry Outlook Forum at Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (screenshot)

Kenai Peninsula job outlook outpaces other parts of Alaska

During one of the first panels of the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District’s Industry Outlook Forum, held Thursday in Soldotna, Sam Tappen, an economist with… Continue reading

Economist Sam Tappen shares insights about job and economic trends in Alaska and on the Kenai Peninsula during the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District’s Industry Outlook Forum at Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (screenshot)
Angel Patterson-Moe and Natalie Norris stand in front of one of their Red Eye Rides vehicles in Seward, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Seward’s Red Eye Rides marks 2 years of a ‘little idea’ to connect communities

Around two years ago, Angel Patterson-Moe drove in the middle of the night from Seward to Anchorage and back to pick up Natalie Norris. It’s… Continue reading

Angel Patterson-Moe and Natalie Norris stand in front of one of their Red Eye Rides vehicles in Seward, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)