The logo for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is displayed inside the George A. Navarre Borough Admin Building on Thursday, July 22, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

KPBSD to use grant funds for elementary counselor positions

The district budgeted about $626,000 for elementary school counselors for the current fiscal year

The logo for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is displayed inside the George A. Navarre Borough Admin Building on Thursday, July 22, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A fallen tree reaches onto Kalifornky Beach Road in Soldotna, Alaska, as cars drive by on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Electricity, networks interrupted during wind storm

9,000 HEA customers reported outages by 5 p.m.

A fallen tree reaches onto Kalifornky Beach Road in Soldotna, Alaska, as cars drive by on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The George A. Navarre Kenai Peninsula Borough building. (Peninsula Clarion file photo)
The George A. Navarre Kenai Peninsula Borough building. (Peninsula Clarion file photo)
The Sterling Highway cuts through areas of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge where burns from the Swan Lake can be seen, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Prescribed burns will produce visible smoke near highways

The burns are part of ongoing spruce beetle mitigation efforts

The Sterling Highway cuts through areas of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge where burns from the Swan Lake can be seen, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
A Civil Air Patrol cadet serves lunch to attendees of the Old Timer’s Luncheon at the Kenai Senior Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Old Timer’s Luncheon makes a comeback

The event started “at least 35 years ago” as a group of homesteading women who would get together once a week

A Civil Air Patrol cadet serves lunch to attendees of the Old Timer’s Luncheon at the Kenai Senior Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Anna Lewald, left, a registered nurse at South Peninsula Hospital, gives Dave Aplin, right, an influenza vaccine at a flu and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine clinic Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, at Homer High School in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

State recommends flu vaccination in September and October

That guidance says that everyone over 6 months should be vaccinated

Anna Lewald, left, a registered nurse at South Peninsula Hospital, gives Dave Aplin, right, an influenza vaccine at a flu and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine clinic Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, at Homer High School in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Forum flyer by Ashlyn O'Hara.

Election 2023: 1st Clarion, KDLL candidate forum is Monday

Three city council candidates and one mayor candidate will share their thoughts about issues facing Soldotna

Forum flyer by Ashlyn O'Hara.
Sample ballots are displayed ahead of the Oct. 4 municipal election at an absentee in-person polling place in Kenai City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Sample ballots are displayed ahead of the Oct. 4 municipal election at an absentee in-person polling place in Kenai City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A sign opposing the participation of trans girls in girls sports is propped against a fire hydrant outside of the George A. Navarre Admin Building on Thursday, June 8, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. The Alaska Board of Education met in the building to discuss a resolution that would ban trans girls from girls high school sports. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

State Board of Education bars trans girls from girls high school sports teams

Schools or school districts must create separate athletic categories for cisgender girls and other student athletes

A sign opposing the participation of trans girls in girls sports is propped against a fire hydrant outside of the George A. Navarre Admin Building on Thursday, June 8, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. The Alaska Board of Education met in the building to discuss a resolution that would ban trans girls from girls high school sports. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Trees flex under the wind outside the Peninsula Clarion offices in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Strong winds through Friday evening

Gusts were forecast up to 55 miles per hour overnight

Trees flex under the wind outside the Peninsula Clarion offices in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A sign welcomes visitors to AlaSkins and the River Terrace RV Park on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A sign welcomes visitors to AlaSkins and the River Terrace RV Park on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy signs S.B. 7 into law at Papoose Milling on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Big Lake, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s Office)

Dunleavy signs lumber bill

Sponsored by Nikiski Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, the bill establishes a lumber grade training program

Gov. Mike Dunleavy signs S.B. 7 into law at Papoose Milling on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Big Lake, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s Office)
Tribal Council Chair Ronette Stanton and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge participate in a press conference announcing $7.5 million in federal funding designated for the Kenaitze/Salamatof Tribally Designated Housing Entity at the Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht Campus in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Federal official announces $7.5 million for tribe’s low-income housing

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge visited Kenai on Wednesday

Tribal Council Chair Ronette Stanton and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge participate in a press conference announcing $7.5 million in federal funding designated for the Kenaitze/Salamatof Tribally Designated Housing Entity at the Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht Campus in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Blackwater Railroad Company’s Tyson Davis, Matt Faubion and Ben Sayers perform during the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Peninsula responses sought for Alaska Music Census

The survey is anonymous, and will be open until 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2

Blackwater Railroad Company’s Tyson Davis, Matt Faubion and Ben Sayers perform during the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
A sign opposing the participation of trans girls in girls sports is propped against a fire hydrant outside of the George A. Navarre Admin Building on Thursday, June 8, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. The Alaska Board of Education met in the building to discuss a resolution that would ban trans girls from girls high school sports. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

State board of ed to take up transgender sports issue Thursday

The board will consider whether or not to separate cisgender girls, other student athletes

A sign opposing the participation of trans girls in girls sports is propped against a fire hydrant outside of the George A. Navarre Admin Building on Thursday, June 8, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. The Alaska Board of Education met in the building to discuss a resolution that would ban trans girls from girls high school sports. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Crews respond to a flood event at the Lowell Creek Tunnel outflow. (Photo courtesy Seward Public Works Director Doug Schoessler)

Seward considers legislative priority list

Many of the projects are carried over from last year’s list

Crews respond to a flood event at the Lowell Creek Tunnel outflow. (Photo courtesy Seward Public Works Director Doug Schoessler)
Madison Kosma watches as beluga whales swim up the Kenai River at Cunningham Park on Saturday, April 24, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Local ‘community scientists’ monitor endangered beluga population

Alaska Beluga Monitoring Program trains volunteers to collect information about the Cook Inlet beluga population

Madison Kosma watches as beluga whales swim up the Kenai River at Cunningham Park on Saturday, April 24, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Certified Nurse Assistant program graduates stand for a photo at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Nursing assistant graduates celebrated

New hospital program tackles staffing issues, sees locals take first step into health care

Certified Nurse Assistant program graduates stand for a photo at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, Alaska, on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna Police Officer David Bower, right, sits with his lawyer, Andy Pevehouse, during a bail hearing at the Kenai Courthouse in Kenai, Alaska, on Aug. 16, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna police reviewing policies after officer’s arrest

The officer was arrested on a fourth-degree domestic violence assault charge

Soldotna Police Officer David Bower, right, sits with his lawyer, Andy Pevehouse, during a bail hearing at the Kenai Courthouse in Kenai, Alaska, on Aug. 16, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)