Kenai Peninsula

A graduate of Kenai Peninsula College gives a thumbs up as graduates proceed into the 54th Annual Kenai Peninsula College Commencement Ceremony at Kenai Central High School on Thursday. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

‘Never be afraid to be a new you’

KPC grads take step toward future in commencement ceremony

 

The date is Oct. 19, 1957. The place is an airport in Kokomo, Indiana. The occasion is her departure from the Midwest. Her ultimate destination is Whittier, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Fair Family Collection)

Jane’s Story

I imagine my mother’s inability at this moment to truly understand the change her life is about to undergo.

 

Kenai Peninsula College graduates proceed into the Renee C. Henderson Auditorium for Kenai Peninsula College’s 53rd annual commencement on Thursday, May 11, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Celebrating ‘a milestone’

Kenai Peninsula College graduates honored at commencement ceremony

 

The Kenai Peninsula Borough building in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file photo)

Survey to measure quality of borough services

The seven-question survey asks residents to rate their overall experience with the borough

The Kenai Peninsula Borough building in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file photo)
Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner-designee John Boyle presents information about carbon capture, utilization and storage during a Soldotna Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Friday, April 14, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

State officials tout carbon capture initiatives at chamber chat

Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner-designee John Boyle attended Friday’s Soldotna Chamber of Commerce luncheon

Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner-designee John Boyle presents information about carbon capture, utilization and storage during a Soldotna Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Friday, April 14, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A visitor to the 2023 Kenai Peninsula Job and Career Fair speaks to representatives of Paradisos Restaurant on Thursday, April 6, 2023 at the Old Carrs Mall in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Building careers on the peninsula

Job seekers get a chance to meet prospective employers at fair

A visitor to the 2023 Kenai Peninsula Job and Career Fair speaks to representatives of Paradisos Restaurant on Thursday, April 6, 2023 at the Old Carrs Mall in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
University of Alaska Anchorage Chancellor Sean Parnell stands outside the main entrance of Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Chancellor: UAA, KPC flexing to meet workforce needs

The visit was for getting some “face-to-face” time with KPC leadership and students

University of Alaska Anchorage Chancellor Sean Parnell stands outside the main entrance of Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Evelyn Cooley competes in the barrel race at the Kenai Peninsula Fair on Aug. 12, 2022, in Ninilchik, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Music, magic, daredevils and pigs

Kenai Peninsula Fair brings an assortment of activities to Ninilchik

Evelyn Cooley competes in the barrel race at the Kenai Peninsula Fair on Aug. 12, 2022, in Ninilchik, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Alaska LNG Project Manager Brad Chastain presents information about the project during a luncheon at the Kenai Chamber Commerce and Visitor Center on Wednesday, July 6, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

‘Window of opportunity’ seen for LNG Project

Brad Chastain presented the current status of the project Wednesday

Alaska LNG Project Manager Brad Chastain presents information about the project during a luncheon at the Kenai Chamber Commerce and Visitor Center on Wednesday, July 6, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Photo provided by the KPC archive of historical photographs Ed Back, left, and Bill Gross chat with Ridgeway homeowner Betty Karsten as they install a natural gas hookup to her home in 1961. Betty and Emmett Karsten became Alaska’s first civilian consumers of natural gas.

Fortune and misfortune on the Kenai — Part 1

Sometimes timing is everything

Photo provided by the KPC archive of historical photographs Ed Back, left, and Bill Gross chat with Ridgeway homeowner Betty Karsten as they install a natural gas hookup to her home in 1961. Betty and Emmett Karsten became Alaska’s first civilian consumers of natural gas.
The spruce-covered cliffs behind Cliff House were the inspiration for the cabin’s name. (Photo courtesy of the Fair Family Collection)

Twists and turns in the history of Cliff House — Part 3

So many oddities. So many contradictions. So many holes in the story.

The spruce-covered cliffs behind Cliff House were the inspiration for the cabin’s name. (Photo courtesy of the Fair Family Collection)
Robert “Bob” Huttle, posing here next to Cliff House, spent the night in this cabin in April 1934 and mused about a possible murder there. (Photo courtesy of the Huttle Collection)

Twists and turns in the history of Cliff House — Part 2

How much of the doctor’s actions Bob Huttle knew when he stayed in Cliff House 10 years later is difficult to know.

Robert “Bob” Huttle, posing here next to Cliff House, spent the night in this cabin in April 1934 and mused about a possible murder there. (Photo courtesy of the Huttle Collection)
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)

Forum brings industry leaders to Kenai

The annual event is hosted by the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District

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)
A truck carries snow recently plowed in Homer, Alaska, on Dec. 7, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)

Another winter storm heads toward peninsula

A winter storm warning was issued Thursday

A truck carries snow recently plowed in Homer, Alaska, on Dec. 7, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)
Two snowmachine-triggered snow slabs are seen below the weather station of Seattle Ridge in Turnagain Pass on Dec. 3, 2021. (Photo courtesy of Chris Flowers and the Chugach Avalanche Center)

Multiple avalanches in Turnagain Pass reported Friday

The center reported Saturday that current avalanche danger was considerable above 1,000 feet and moderate below 1,000 feet.

Two snowmachine-triggered snow slabs are seen below the weather station of Seattle Ridge in Turnagain Pass on Dec. 3, 2021. (Photo courtesy of Chris Flowers and the Chugach Avalanche Center)
A map shows which parts of the Chugach National Forest are open to motorized winter recreation use for the 2021-2022 season. (Map courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)

Parts of Chugach National Forest open to snowmachine use

The 2021-2022 winter motorized season will run through April 30.

A map shows which parts of the Chugach National Forest are open to motorized winter recreation use for the 2021-2022 season. (Map courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)
The welcome sign for the City of Kenai, as seen in this city Facebook page photo.

History with a sense of humor, Part 1

The first part of a two-part collection of humorous tales gleaned from old newspapers on the central Kenai Peninsula.

The welcome sign for the City of Kenai, as seen in this city Facebook page photo.
A spruce bark beetle is seen on the underside of a piece of bark taken from logs stacked near Central Peninsula Landfill on Thursday, July 1, 2021 near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Chugach campgrounds to be closed for beetle kill mitigation

Only one campground will be closed at a time, and updates on closures will be shared to the Chugach National Forest’s website.

A spruce bark beetle is seen on the underside of a piece of bark taken from logs stacked near Central Peninsula Landfill on Thursday, July 1, 2021 near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
An area cleared to make way for the Cooper Landing Bypass project can be seen above the intersection of the Kenai River and Kenai Lake in Cooper Landing, Alaska, on Sept. 6, 2021. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Portion of Sterling Highway to be temporarily closed next week

No through traffic will be allowed between Milepost 57 to 58.5, near Jims’ Landing.

An area cleared to make way for the Cooper Landing Bypass project can be seen above the intersection of the Kenai River and Kenai Lake in Cooper Landing, Alaska, on Sept. 6, 2021. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
This undated John E. Thwaites photo, perhaps taken near Seward, shows the S.S. Dora grounded. (Alaska State Library photo collection)

Resilience of the Dora, part 3

Her long career had come to an end at last.

This undated John E. Thwaites photo, perhaps taken near Seward, shows the S.S. Dora grounded. (Alaska State Library photo collection)