Connections Homeschool students prepare to enter the auditorium ahead of the Connections Homeschool graduation ceremony on Thursday, May 18, 2023, at Soldotna High School in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Connections Homeschool students prepare to enter the auditorium ahead of the Connections Homeschool graduation ceremony on Thursday, May 18, 2023, at Soldotna High School in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Coach Dan Gensel (front left) celebrates Soldotna High School’s first team-sport state championship on Friday, Feb. 12, 1993 in Soldotna, Alaska. Gensel, who led the Soldotna High School girls basketball team to victory, had promised his team earlier in the season that he would get his ear pierced if they won the state title. (Rusty Swan/Peninsula Clarion)

Gensel dies at 66

The longtime KSRM sports director spent two decades as Soldotna coach and teacher

Coach Dan Gensel (front left) celebrates Soldotna High School’s first team-sport state championship on Friday, Feb. 12, 1993 in Soldotna, Alaska. Gensel, who led the Soldotna High School girls basketball team to victory, had promised his team earlier in the season that he would get his ear pierced if they won the state title. (Rusty Swan/Peninsula Clarion)
River City Academy graduates celebrate Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at River City Academy inside Skyview Middle School just outside of Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

River City Academy graduates 26

Twenty also are students at Kenai Peninsula Middle College

River City Academy graduates celebrate Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at River City Academy inside Skyview Middle School just outside of Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Central High School graduates prepare to enter the auditorium for their graduation ceremony on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Central High School graduates prepare to enter the auditorium for their graduation ceremony on Wednesday, May 17, 2023, at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward graduate Renee Elhard parades down 4th Avenue in Seward, Alaska on Friday, May 12, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Seward graduates 24

The town held a celebratory parade for the seniors on Friday

Seward graduate Renee Elhard parades down 4th Avenue in Seward, Alaska on Friday, May 12, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Graphic by Ashlyn O’Hara

Assembly takes in boundaries of Nikiski advisory group

The western boundary of the Nikiski Advisory Planning Commission now follows the eastern shore of Cook Inlet

Graphic by Ashlyn O’Hara
Nikiski Middle/High School graduates prepare to receive diplomas at a ceremony on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 in Nikiski, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski Middle/High School graduates prepare to receive diplomas at a ceremony on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 in Nikiski, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The Bookey property is seen in the foreground, with the Eagle Rock boat launch parking lot in the far right of the photo. (Photo by Carl Johnson/courtesy Great Land Trust)

35 acres next to Eagle Rock Boat Launch purchased for conservation

The land was sold on the condition that it will be permanently managed for public access, recreation and habitat protection

The Bookey property is seen in the foreground, with the Eagle Rock boat launch parking lot in the far right of the photo. (Photo by Carl Johnson/courtesy Great Land Trust)
In this aerial photo chunks of ice follow flooding from an ice jam in Crooked Creek, Alaska, May 15, 2023. Ice jams along two Alaska rivers unleashed major flooding over the weekend. (Jennifer Wallace, Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management via AP)

Breaking ice jams, rapid snowmelt flood homes, businesses and roads across Alaska

Flooding across Alaska has inundated scores of homes, with several of them knocked from their foundations by large ice chunks, and shut one of the… Continue reading

In this aerial photo chunks of ice follow flooding from an ice jam in Crooked Creek, Alaska, May 15, 2023. Ice jams along two Alaska rivers unleashed major flooding over the weekend. (Jennifer Wallace, Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management via AP)
Signage marks the entrance of the City of Kenai’s slash disposal site on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai slash disposal site to open Friday

This summer will be the second consecutive year that the city has made the site available for slash disposal

Signage marks the entrance of the City of Kenai’s slash disposal site on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Rep. Justin Ruffridge works in the Alaska State Capitol building on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)

Ruffridge vet bill heads to governor’s desk

The bill exempts veterinarians from opioid monitoring program

Rep. Justin Ruffridge works in the Alaska State Capitol building on Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

COVID-19: Hospitalizations rise, cases still low

According to state data, 27 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Alaska

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Alaska State Veterinarian Dr. Bob Gerlach gives a presentation on Avian Influenza Virus at the 4-H Agriculture Expo in Soldotna, Alaska, on Aug. 5, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Avian influenza expected to return to Alaska with migrating birds

The variant is described as “highly pathogenic” because it has the ability to kill poultry — representing a threat to food security and economics.

Alaska State Veterinarian Dr. Bob Gerlach gives a presentation on Avian Influenza Virus at the 4-H Agriculture Expo in Soldotna, Alaska, on Aug. 5, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
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)

Secretaries to see pay boost after reclassification

Twenty-three secretaries working at schools in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District will be paid more during the upcoming school year. That’s following the successful… Continue reading

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)
Graduates walk in to a ceremony at Soldotna High School on Monday, May 15, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

‘You have been set up for success’

Soldotna High School graduates more than 120 at Monday night ceremony

Graduates walk in to a ceremony at Soldotna High School on Monday, May 15, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The USS Zumwalt docks in Seward, Alaska, on Friday, May 12, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

USS Zumwalt docks in Seward on way to exercises

The ship, which is usually based in California, is in Alaska to participate in Northern Edge

The USS Zumwalt docks in Seward, Alaska, on Friday, May 12, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Alternative High School graduates deliver roses to their supporters during a graduation ceremony on Monday, May 15, 2023, at Kenai Alternative High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Alternative High School graduates deliver roses to their supporters during a graduation ceremony on Monday, May 15, 2023, at Kenai Alternative High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A freshly stocked rainbow trout swims in Johnson Lake during Salmon Celebration on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at Johnson Lake in Kasilof, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Local lakes stocked with catchable trout, hooligan improving

Northern Kenai Fishing Report for May 12

A freshly stocked rainbow trout swims in Johnson Lake during Salmon Celebration on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at Johnson Lake in Kasilof, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kachemak Bay Campus Director Dr. Reid Brewer welcomes KBC graduates and audience members to the 2023 commencement ceremony on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)

Kachemak Bay Campus returns to in-person commencement ceremony

The campus conferred 62 degrees and certificates during its 53rd annual commencement hosted on Wednesday

Kachemak Bay Campus Director Dr. Reid Brewer welcomes KBC graduates and audience members to the 2023 commencement ceremony on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Soldotna City Council member Jordan Chilson, right, speaks during a council meeting on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna council OKs insurance overhaul for city employees

The plan changes are expected to save the city and employees roughly $477,000

Soldotna City Council member Jordan Chilson, right, speaks during a council meeting on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)