News

Snow is cleared from a parking lot at the Kenai Municipal Airport on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Urgent winter storm watch issued for western Kenai Peninsula

Total snow accumulations of 8 to 16 inches are possible

Snow is cleared from a parking lot at the Kenai Municipal Airport on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Chelsea Berg, a nurse at Peninsula Community Health Services, administers a flu shot during a free drive-thru flu shot event at Kenai Central High School on Oct. 24, 2020. (Peninsula Clarion file)

Flu more widespread, arriving earlier than previous years, state reports

Positive lab reports of influenza this week is higher than the peaks of the last four seasons

Chelsea Berg, a nurse at Peninsula Community Health Services, administers a flu shot during a free drive-thru flu shot event at Kenai Central High School on Oct. 24, 2020. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Mountain View Elementary School teacher Callie Giordano demonstrates with students “word building” with practices from the University of Florida Literacy Institute during a board of education meeting on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Mountain View students demo literacy curriculum at school board meeting

Principal Karl Kircher said the Alaska Reads Act is “foremost” on the minds of the school community

Mountain View Elementary School teacher Callie Giordano demonstrates with students “word building” with practices from the University of Florida Literacy Institute during a board of education meeting on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A parent takes a selfie with a child and Santa and Mrs. Claus in Nuiqsut, Alaska, on Nov. 29, 2022. Operation Santa Claus, the Alaska National Guard’s outreach program, attempts to bring Santa and Mrs. Claus and gifts to children in two or three Alaska Native villages each year, including Nuiqsut in 2022. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Santa visit brings joy to a frosty Alaska Inupiat village

Operation Santa Claus began back in 1956

  • Dec 9, 2022
  • By Mark Thiessen Associated Press
  • State News
A parent takes a selfie with a child and Santa and Mrs. Claus in Nuiqsut, Alaska, on Nov. 29, 2022. Operation Santa Claus, the Alaska National Guard’s outreach program, attempts to bring Santa and Mrs. Claus and gifts to children in two or three Alaska Native villages each year, including Nuiqsut in 2022. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Martine Cyriacks Sorensen poses in her store, Faux Ever Green, on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, on East End Road in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Emilie Springer/Homer News)

Faux Ever Green finds seasonal home

Mission: to keep items out of landfills.

Martine Cyriacks Sorensen poses in her store, Faux Ever Green, on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, on East End Road in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Emilie Springer/Homer News)
The Kenai Peninsula College Main Entrance on Aug. 18, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Next KPC Showcase to tackle Russia/Alaska relations

The featured presenter is Kenai Peninsula College Assistant Professor of History Dr. Jeffrey Meyers

The Kenai Peninsula College Main Entrance on Aug. 18, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kasilof River can be seen in June 2019. (Clarion file)

Kasilof sockeye run strongest of season, report finds

The department forecast about 941,000 sockeye in the Kasilof, when the actual run was about 1.5 million

The Kasilof River can be seen in June 2019. (Clarion file)
Alaska State Rep. David Eastman, a Wasilla Republican, is shown seated on the House floor on April 29, 2022, in Juneau. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer File)

Judge weighs how to proceed on case against Eastman

A lawsuit alleges that the lawmaker’s ties to the far-right Oath Keepers group disqualifies him from holding office

  • Dec 8, 2022
  • By Becky Bohrer Associated Press
Alaska State Rep. David Eastman, a Wasilla Republican, is shown seated on the House floor on April 29, 2022, in Juneau. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer File)
Robert Winter loads duffel bags into a car, part of a donation by the Kenai Peninsula Association of Realtors to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Students in Transition Program on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, at Kenai Catering in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

A gift to look forward to

Kenai Peninsula Association of Realtors donates 40 bags to local students

Robert Winter loads duffel bags into a car, part of a donation by the Kenai Peninsula Association of Realtors to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Students in Transition Program on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, at Kenai Catering in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai City Streets foreman Curt Wagoner drives a city sander equipped with a belly blade along the Kenai Spur Highway on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. The City of Kenai is not responsible for maintaining state roads. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai street crew treats, clears city roads

A five-man crew is tasked with plowing and treating 80 miles of roads

Kenai City Streets foreman Curt Wagoner drives a city sander equipped with a belly blade along the Kenai Spur Highway on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. The City of Kenai is not responsible for maintaining state roads. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Homer News Editor Michael Armstrong, left, and Senior Reporter Emilie Springer pose for a photo on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, at the paper offices in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Charlie Menke/Homer News)

Homer News editor Armstrong will retire

Armstrong started working at the Homer News in 1999

Homer News Editor Michael Armstrong, left, and Senior Reporter Emilie Springer pose for a photo on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, at the paper offices in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Charlie Menke/Homer News)
U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo Two crewmembers from Coast Guard Cutter Naushon and a member from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement (NOAA OLE) pose for a picture with allegedly illegally-retained halibut in Homer, Alaska, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. While conducting a boarding of a commercial fishing vessel, a Cutter Naushon boarding team member discovered a total of 117 pounds of illegally-retained halibut aboard the vessel and handed them over to NOAA OLE representatives in Homer.

USCG, NOAA seize illegal halibut

Naushon boarding crew discovers unlogged halibut.

U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo Two crewmembers from Coast Guard Cutter Naushon and a member from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement (NOAA OLE) pose for a picture with allegedly illegally-retained halibut in Homer, Alaska, Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022. While conducting a boarding of a commercial fishing vessel, a Cutter Naushon boarding team member discovered a total of 117 pounds of illegally-retained halibut aboard the vessel and handed them over to NOAA OLE representatives in Homer.
A mock-up of an A-Frame property that would be located across the street from the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies Wynn Nature Center and used by the Homer Forest Charter School shows places for classroom yurts, a dormitory and kitchen, a parking area with bus parking and staff housing. The configuration was presented Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School Board of Education. (Via Homer Forest Charter School presentation to school board)

Efforts to open K-8 nature school in Homer delayed

Charter organizers proposed changing the school’s opening date from 2023 to 2024

A mock-up of an A-Frame property that would be located across the street from the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies Wynn Nature Center and used by the Homer Forest Charter School shows places for classroom yurts, a dormitory and kitchen, a parking area with bus parking and staff housing. The configuration was presented Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School Board of Education. (Via Homer Forest Charter School presentation to school board)
Alaska Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai explains the ranked choice voting process as the results are tallied during an Alaska Public Media broadcast, Nov. 23, 2022, at her office in Juneau. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Elections division head to step down Friday

Fenumiai made the decision to retire in September, a division spokesperson said

Alaska Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai explains the ranked choice voting process as the results are tallied during an Alaska Public Media broadcast, Nov. 23, 2022, at her office in Juneau. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

COVID-19 cases continue to spike

Cases rise in Kenai Peninsula Borough for 3rd straight week

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Gingerbread houses are displayed at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Gingerbread houses rule

10th annual gingerbread house competition returns to Kenai Chamber of Commerce

Gingerbread houses are displayed at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A plow truck clears snow as it moves down the Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Up to a foot of snow expected on Kenai Peninsula through Wednesday

Winter weather advisory is in effect

A plow truck clears snow as it moves down the Kenai Spur Highway in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kinley Ferguson tells Santa Claus what she wants for Christmas during Christmas in the Park festivities on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Christmas in the Park welcomes the holiday season to Soldotna

Santa headlines celebration with caroling, Nativity, cocoa and fireworks

Kinley Ferguson tells Santa Claus what she wants for Christmas during Christmas in the Park festivities on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Children decorate Christmas cookies, part of Christmas Comes to Nikiski festivities on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, at Nikiski Community Recreation Center in Nikiski, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Christmas crafts and Santa photos

Nikiski holds start of annual December celebration

Children decorate Christmas cookies, part of Christmas Comes to Nikiski festivities on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, at Nikiski Community Recreation Center in Nikiski, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A Kenai Peninsula Food Bank truck in the Food Bank parking lot on Aug. 4, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Food Bank fundraiser to auction Legos, offer Santa photos to pets

Bark, Block n’ Bowl will take place on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m.

A Kenai Peninsula Food Bank truck in the Food Bank parking lot on Aug. 4, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)