From left, Alaska State House candidates Ron Gillham, Ben Carpenter and Justin Ruffridge participate in a candidate forum on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Babcock, Ruffridge bring in most cash in state Senate, House races

Candidates for Legislature report financial support ahead of Tuesday

From left, Alaska State House candidates Ron Gillham, Ben Carpenter and Justin Ruffridge participate in a candidate forum on Monday, Oct. 10, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A map showing tracts available as part of an upcoming state oil and gas lease sale in Cook Inlet. (Map via Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas)
A map showing tracts available as part of an upcoming state oil and gas lease sale in Cook Inlet. (Map via Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas)
A program for “Lame Ducks & Dark Horses is photographed on a table on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A program for “Lame Ducks & Dark Horses is photographed on a table on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Homer Electric Association Board of Directors Dan Furlong, center, cuts the ribbon at a ceremony celebrating HEA’s Tesla battery energy storage system on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

HEA celebrates new battery energy storage system

The system, also called BESS, is made by Tesla

Homer Electric Association Board of Directors Dan Furlong, center, cuts the ribbon at a ceremony celebrating HEA’s Tesla battery energy storage system on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Ronald Dean Beyering. (Photo via Alaska State Troopers)

Man wanted in Funny River shooting, fire remains at large

Troopers located a vehicle associated with Beyering

Ronald Dean Beyering. (Photo via Alaska State Troopers)
A new train car is hooked to a massive crane in preparation for placement on Whistle Hill in Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A new train car is hooked to a massive crane in preparation for placement on Whistle Hill in Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Candidates for Alaska State Senate District C Gary Stevens, on screen, left, and Heath Smith, on screen, right, participate remotely in a forum held at the Soldotna Public Library on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Southern peninsula State Senate candidates face off in Monday forum

Incumbent Gary Stevens and challengers Heath Smith and Walter Jones are all running for the seat

Candidates for Alaska State Senate District C Gary Stevens, on screen, left, and Heath Smith, on screen, right, participate remotely in a forum held at the Soldotna Public Library on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/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)
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)

More snow forecast for central peninsula

The snow was expected to start Tuesday night

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)
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)
Kenai Peninsula residents eat inside Kenai River Brewing Company in Soldotna, Alaska. on May 8, 2020. (Peninsula Clarion file)

Fossils focus of upcoming fireside chat

Kenai Watershed Forum is hosting the talks through November

Kenai Peninsula residents eat inside Kenai River Brewing Company in Soldotna, Alaska. on May 8, 2020. (Peninsula Clarion file)
A person enters the Division of Election’s office at the Mendenhall Mall, where early voting is taking place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through Nov. 8. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Mail-in remains popular for early voters

Half of 30,000 ballots during first week of early arrive via mail, requests far above 2018 midterms

A person enters the Division of Election’s office at the Mendenhall Mall, where early voting is taking place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through Nov. 8. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Signage points the way to the Swan Lake Cabin in the Chugach National Forest on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, near Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Users weigh in on plan for public use cabin

As the U.S. Forest Service prepares to expand the quality and quantity of Alaska’s public use cabins, cabin users are asking for a balance of… Continue reading

Signage points the way to the Swan Lake Cabin in the Chugach National Forest on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022, near Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A girl dressed as Snow White takes candy from a witch at the Orca Theater’s Trunk or Treat in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Oct. 31, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Candy and costumes

Kids get dressed up and peninsula trick-or-treating

A girl dressed as Snow White takes candy from a witch at the Orca Theater’s Trunk or Treat in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Oct. 31, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Patrick Simpson speaks about his recycled plastic lumber project while holding a sample of the finished product at a Kenai Peninsula College Showcase on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Recovery effort turns plastic into lumber

Entrepreneur Patrick Simpson, of Alaska Plastic Recovery, has worked for much of the year with local advocacy groups like Cook Inletkeeper, Regroup, and Sustainable Seward… Continue reading

Patrick Simpson speaks about his recycled plastic lumber project while holding a sample of the finished product at a Kenai Peninsula College Showcase on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Homer hockey team celebrates the Division II state championship Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021, at the Curtis Mendard Sports Complex in Wasilla, Alaska. (Photo by Tim Rockey/Frontiersman)
The Homer hockey team celebrates the Division II state championship Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021, at the Curtis Mendard Sports Complex in Wasilla, Alaska. (Photo by Tim Rockey/Frontiersman)
The northern lights appear over Shishmaref, Alaska, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. Rising sea levels, flooding, increased erosion and loss of protective sea ice and land have led residents of this island community to vote twice to relocate. But more than six years after the last vote, Shishmaref remains in the same place because the relocation is too costly. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Climate migration: Alaska village resists despite threats

Climate change is partially to blame for the rising seas, flooding, erosion and loss of protective ice and land

The northern lights appear over Shishmaref, Alaska, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. Rising sea levels, flooding, increased erosion and loss of protective sea ice and land have led residents of this island community to vote twice to relocate. But more than six years after the last vote, Shishmaref remains in the same place because the relocation is too costly. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The drop-off bay is seen at the Soldotna Landfill on June 27, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file)

Assembly approves more money for borough transfer facility contracts

The Kenai Peninsula Borough needs about $654,000 more than it thought it needed

The drop-off bay is seen at the Soldotna Landfill on June 27, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Consular Masaru Aniya bestows Yasuko Lehtinen with the Foreign Minister Commendation on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Friendship, goodwill and cultural understanding

KPC professor honored for fostering relationship between Kenai Peninsula and Japan

Consular Masaru Aniya bestows Yasuko Lehtinen with the Foreign Minister Commendation on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
In this July 13, 2007, photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. (AP Photo / Al Grillo)

Report on Pebble Mine urges more scrutiny for projects

Backers “tried to trick regulators by pretending to pursue a smaller project with the intention of expanding,” the report said

In this July 13, 2007, photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. (AP Photo / Al Grillo)
United States Sen. Lisa Murkowski, left, a Republican, looks on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022, prior to a U.S. Senate debate in Anchorage, Alaska. She faces Republican Kelly Tshibaka, center, and Democrat Pat Chesbro, right, in the general election. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Murkowski faces Tshibaka and Chesbro in Alaska Senate debate

Topics included the Arctic, the nation’s COVID-19 pandemic response and protecting youth from gun violence

United States Sen. Lisa Murkowski, left, a Republican, looks on Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022, prior to a U.S. Senate debate in Anchorage, Alaska. She faces Republican Kelly Tshibaka, center, and Democrat Pat Chesbro, right, in the general election. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Martha Story and David Story cruise down a hill in the Fat Freddie’s Bike Race and Ramble on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019, in the Caribou Hills near Freddie’s Roadhouse. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Snomads to maintain more of Watermelon Trail

The group applied for an easement with the State of Alaska

Martha Story and David Story cruise down a hill in the Fat Freddie’s Bike Race and Ramble on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019, in the Caribou Hills near Freddie’s Roadhouse. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)