A sign welcomes travelers to the Kenai Peninsula. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

State population stagnates; peninsula sees small growth

Population of Alaska remained almost unchanged from July 2021 to July 2022

A sign welcomes travelers to the Kenai Peninsula. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A map of 2023 construction projects on the Kenai Peninsula shared during the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District’s Industry Outlook Forum on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, at the Christian Community Church in Homer, Alaska. (Screenshot)

State outlines a year of transportation projects at industry forum

Planning Manager David Post gave a presentation covering the department’s Surface Transportation Program

A map of 2023 construction projects on the Kenai Peninsula shared during the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District’s Industry Outlook Forum on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, at the Christian Community Church in Homer, Alaska. (Screenshot)
Visitor guides await travelers at the Kenai Municipal Airport, Thursday, June 20, 2019, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion file)

Kenai Peninsula tourists trending older, staying longer

Tourism is bouncing back from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic

Visitor guides await travelers at the Kenai Municipal Airport, Thursday, June 20, 2019, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion file)
Chunks of ice float on Mendenhall Lake in front of the Mendenhall Glacier on Monday, May 30, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. A study of all of the world’s 215,000 glaciers published on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, finds even if with the unlikely minimum warming of only a few tenths of a degrees more, the world will lose nearly half its glaciers by the end of the century. With the warming we’re now on track to get, the world will lose two-thirds of its glaciers and overall glacier mass will drop by one-third while sea level rises 4.5 inches just from melting glaciers. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

Study: Two-thirds of glaciers on track to disappear by 2100

The study in Thursday’s journal Science examined all of the globe’s 215,000 land-based glaciers

  • Jan 5, 2023
  • By Seth Borenstein Associated Press
  • State News
Chunks of ice float on Mendenhall Lake in front of the Mendenhall Glacier on Monday, May 30, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. A study of all of the world’s 215,000 glaciers published on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, finds even if with the unlikely minimum warming of only a few tenths of a degrees more, the world will lose nearly half its glaciers by the end of the century. With the warming we’re now on track to get, the world will lose two-thirds of its glaciers and overall glacier mass will drop by one-third while sea level rises 4.5 inches just from melting glaciers. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)
The Kenai Fire Department headquarters are photographed on Feb. 13, 2018, in Kenai, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file)

911 texting soon available

The service will allow residents to contact emergency services via traditional cellphone texting services

The Kenai Fire Department headquarters are photographed on Feb. 13, 2018, in Kenai, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file)
The Kenai/Soldotna Advisory Committee meets at the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Building in Kalifornsky, Alaska, on Jan. 7, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)

Fish and Game advisory committee meeting Monday

There are 67 proposals to the Board of Game impacting the Southcentral region

The Kenai/Soldotna Advisory Committee meets at the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Building in Kalifornsky, Alaska, on Jan. 7, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)
Students smile as they walk to their classes for the first day of fall semester at the University of Alaska Southeast. The University of Alaska is set to receive 360,000 acres of federal land within the next four years, set in motion by a clause included in the recently passed $1.7 trillion federal spending bill. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

University of Alaska set to receive 360,000 acres of federal land

The transfer was set in motion by a clause included in the recently passed $1.7 trillion federal spending bill

Students smile as they walk to their classes for the first day of fall semester at the University of Alaska Southeast. The University of Alaska is set to receive 360,000 acres of federal land within the next four years, set in motion by a clause included in the recently passed $1.7 trillion federal spending bill. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Members of the Kenai Central High School cheerleading team (back row, left to right): Kaitlyn Taylor, Sylvia McGraw, Malena Grieme, Maya Montague, Cali Holmes and Genesis Trevino; (front row, left to right): Makenzie Harden, Ella Romero and Brooklyn Reed stand for a photo at the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on Monday, Jan. 1, 2023, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. (Photo courtesy Brianna Force)

Hard work and good attitudes pay off

Kenai Central Cheerleading performs at Citrus Bowl in Florida

Members of the Kenai Central High School cheerleading team (back row, left to right): Kaitlyn Taylor, Sylvia McGraw, Malena Grieme, Maya Montague, Cali Holmes and Genesis Trevino; (front row, left to right): Makenzie Harden, Ella Romero and Brooklyn Reed stand for a photo at the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on Monday, Jan. 1, 2023, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. (Photo courtesy Brianna Force)
Matt Clarke and Homer Harbor crew assess vessel sunk vessel in Homer Harbor on Dec. 27, 2022. (Photo provided by Harbor crew)

Homer Harbor crew and team salvage submersed sailboat

Wet winter conditions create heavy ice on decks

Matt Clarke and Homer Harbor crew assess vessel sunk vessel in Homer Harbor on Dec. 27, 2022. (Photo provided by Harbor crew)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

COVID-19: Hospitalizations down, borough cases spike

Early Tuesday, the state reported that a data issue had delayed the update of hospitalization info since Dec. 14

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Alaska state Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla, sits in the House on April 29, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo / Becky Bohrer)

Man who challenged lawmaker eligibility won’t appeal

His attorneys argued that the division failed to investigate Eastman’s eligibility under the so-called disloyalty clause of the state constitution

Alaska state Rep. David Eastman, R-Wasilla, sits in the House on April 29, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo / Becky Bohrer)
Alaska Association of Realtors President Dale Bagely presents a regional real estate update during the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District’s 2022 Industry Outlook Forum on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

KPEDD forum to offer overview of peninsula economic projects

The all-day forum will feature panels on topics including mariculture, oil and gas, food sustainability, tourism and broadband

Alaska Association of Realtors President Dale Bagely presents a regional real estate update during the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District’s 2022 Industry Outlook Forum on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Mount Redoubt can be seen acoss Cook Inlet from North Kenai Beach on Thursday, July 2, 2022. (Peninsula Clarion file)

Hilcorp lone bidder in state Cook Inlet lease sale

Hilcorp Alaska stands to claim 22,783 acres for a total of $359,483.23

Mount Redoubt can be seen acoss Cook Inlet from North Kenai Beach on Thursday, July 2, 2022. (Peninsula Clarion file)
The Kasilof River can be seen in June 2019. (Clarion file)

State to update public on Kasilof boat retrieval

Alaska State Parks has acquired two lots on Williamson Drive in Kasilof for the project

The Kasilof River can be seen in June 2019. (Clarion file)
Alaska State Troopers logo.

Seward resident arrested after Department of Public Safety advisory

The advisory, published around 3 a.m., said that 44-year-old Cash Christensen was sought by the Seward Police Department

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Peninsula Clarion File 
Mounts Iliamna and Redoubt are seen at sunset on Feb. 22, 2022, in Kenai.

Hilcorp makes lone bid for Cook Inlet oil and gas lease sale

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management was offering leases for 193 blocks totaling some 958,000 acres

Peninsula Clarion File 
Mounts Iliamna and Redoubt are seen at sunset on Feb. 22, 2022, in Kenai.
A humpback whale breaches near Juneau, Alaska. (Heidi Pearson/ NOAA/NMFS)

The role of whales as carbon sinks explored in new paper

University of Alaska Southeast biologist was lead author on the paper

A humpback whale breaches near Juneau, Alaska. (Heidi Pearson/ NOAA/NMFS)
A sign welcomes visitors on July 7, 2021, in Seward, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
A sign welcomes visitors on July 7, 2021, in Seward, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
A school bus sits in the parking lot of the University of Southeast Alaska Tech Center downtown. In the fall of 2024, a new commercial driver’s license education training program is expected to be offered at the campus. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

UAS to establish Juneau-based CDL program amid driver shortage

New program could put driver shortage in the rear-view mirror.

A school bus sits in the parking lot of the University of Southeast Alaska Tech Center downtown. In the fall of 2024, a new commercial driver’s license education training program is expected to be offered at the campus. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Jon Boehmler grinds the floors at the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, as part of a flooring renovation on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

New year, new floor, new shows

Kenai Art Center to open two exhibitions next week alongside debut of renovated floor

Jon Boehmler grinds the floors at the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, as part of a flooring renovation on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)