Kenai Peninsula

A sign indicates the turn for Jim’s Landing on Skilak Lake Road on Sunday, June 13, 2021 near Skilak Lake on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

4 rescued after boat breaks loose

The boat broke loose and drifted away from a small island on the Kenai River.

A sign indicates the turn for Jim’s Landing on Skilak Lake Road on Sunday, June 13, 2021 near Skilak Lake on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Ranger Meredith Baker helps Fredrick Bryant decorate a fish mobile at the Kenai Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center on July 6, 2021 for Fish Week. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)

‘Family fishy fun’

Kids turn out for a week of tying, casting and reeling.

Ranger Meredith Baker helps Fredrick Bryant decorate a fish mobile at the Kenai Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center on July 6, 2021 for Fish Week. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
Walt Blauvelt stands on logs near the Central Peninsula Landfill on Thursday, July 1, 2021 near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Walt Blauvelt stands on logs near the Central Peninsula Landfill on Thursday, July 1, 2021 near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
John Hakla from Eagle River heads back into the water while dipnetting on the North Kenai Beach on Wednesday, July 17, 2019. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)

Dipnet area expanded; limits increased on the Kasilof

Dipnetting is only allowed for Alaska residents with personal-use permits.

John Hakla from Eagle River heads back into the water while dipnetting on the North Kenai Beach on Wednesday, July 17, 2019. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)
A sign warning of a June 28, 2021, bear attack is placed at the head of the Kenai River Trail on Skilak Loop Road in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on June 30, 2021. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Man reunites with pup after bear attack

Jason Umbriaco was hospitalized after the brown bear with two cubs bit him twice Sunday.

A sign warning of a June 28, 2021, bear attack is placed at the head of the Kenai River Trail on Skilak Loop Road in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on June 30, 2021. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Seldovia as seen on Thursday, June 24, 2021. The steady rain didn’t stop boats filled with tourists from arriving in town. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)

Seldovia welcomes visitors to celebrate 4th of July

Visitors are invited to celebrate Independence Day in Seldovia with a day full of activities.

Seldovia as seen on Thursday, June 24, 2021. The steady rain didn’t stop boats filled with tourists from arriving in town. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)
A fisherman walks along the Kenai River near Sportsman’s Landing in Cooper Landing, Alaska, on Sept. 8, 2018. (Clarion file)

Sockeye limits increased on Russian and Upper Kenai rivers

The limits are being increased to six per day and 12 in possession on Russian and Upper Kenai rivers.

A fisherman walks along the Kenai River near Sportsman’s Landing in Cooper Landing, Alaska, on Sept. 8, 2018. (Clarion file)
A Piper J3C-65 crash site new Rabbit Foot Lake in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Monday, June 28, 2021, on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. (Photo via Alaska State Troopers)

Plane crashes in refuge

Both occupants were uninjured and declined medical assistance

A Piper J3C-65 crash site new Rabbit Foot Lake in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Monday, June 28, 2021, on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. (Photo via Alaska State Troopers)
Selma Casagranda, a recent Seward High School graduate and lifelong resident of Seward, stands in front of her former school on May 25, 2021. (Young Kim for The Hechinger Report)
Selma Casagranda, a recent Seward High School graduate and lifelong resident of Seward, stands in front of her former school on May 25, 2021. (Young Kim for The Hechinger Report)
Ventis Plume tends to his fire at the end of his 10-day setnet trip at the Kasilof River State Recreational Site in Kasilof, Alaska, on June 25, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)

Dipnetting: It’s a go

The Kasilof River is open for personal use dipnetting through Aug. 7

Ventis Plume tends to his fire at the end of his 10-day setnet trip at the Kasilof River State Recreational Site in Kasilof, Alaska, on June 25, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai River flows through Soldotna, Alaska, on July 14, 2020. (Clarion file)

Fish and Game now accepting habitat rehabilitation proposals

Selected proposals may have up to 50% of the cost of the project reimbursed through the program.

The Kenai River flows through Soldotna, Alaska, on July 14, 2020. (Clarion file)
When Dr. Paul Isaak began providing medical service to the Soldotna-Kenai area, his Soldotna Clinic was located near the current site of the Soldotna Fire Department. Here he stands with his airplane and his nurse, Elizabeth Meadows. (Photo courtesy of the Isaak family)

A hospital is born, slowly (Part 1)

The effort required 10 years — a decade rife with financial snafus, contract disputes, bitter in-fighting, and one delay after another.

When Dr. Paul Isaak began providing medical service to the Soldotna-Kenai area, his Soldotna Clinic was located near the current site of the Soldotna Fire Department. Here he stands with his airplane and his nurse, Elizabeth Meadows. (Photo courtesy of the Isaak family)
Part of the hose line laid around the perimeter of the 102-acre Loon Lake Fire to help firefighters extinguish any hot spots is seen on Thursday, June 17, 2021 on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. (Bryan Quimby/Gannett Glacier Fire Crew)

Loon Lake Fire reaches 100% containment

The 102-acre fire was first reported on the evening of June 12 and is said to have been caused by lightning.

Part of the hose line laid around the perimeter of the 102-acre Loon Lake Fire to help firefighters extinguish any hot spots is seen on Thursday, June 17, 2021 on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. (Bryan Quimby/Gannett Glacier Fire Crew)
A man fishes on the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)

New bait restrictions on Kenai and Kasilof king fishing

On the Kenai River, bait will be prohibited from the mouth upstream to the outlet of Skilak Lake.

A man fishes on the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
Bryan Quimby/Gannett Glacier Fire Crew
Part of the hose line has been laid around the perimeter of the 102-acre Loon Lake Fire to help firefighters extinguish any hot spots that are found, photographed on Thursday.

Loon Lake Fire 70% contained

The 102-acre fire was first reported on Saturday evening and is the result of lightning.

Bryan Quimby/Gannett Glacier Fire Crew
Part of the hose line has been laid around the perimeter of the 102-acre Loon Lake Fire to help firefighters extinguish any hot spots that are found, photographed on Thursday.
A boat is lifted out of the water at Northern Enterprises Boat Yard on Kachemak Drive. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)

Northern Enterprise Boat Yard in Homer expands business

The largest privately owned dry dock marina in Alaska is expanding its docks and boat-lifting capabilities

A boat is lifted out of the water at Northern Enterprises Boat Yard on Kachemak Drive. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)
An aerial photo of the 102-acre Loon Lake Fire footprint taken at approximately 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 15, 2021. Swan Lake is in the background to the right. (Kale Casey/Alaska DNR-Division of Forestry)

Loon Lake Fire 30% contained

The fire covered about 102 acres as of Wednesday.

An aerial photo of the 102-acre Loon Lake Fire footprint taken at approximately 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 15, 2021. Swan Lake is in the background to the right. (Kale Casey/Alaska DNR-Division of Forestry)
Kale Casey/Alaska DNR-Division of Forestry
An aerial photo of the 102-acre Loon Lake Fire footprint taken at approximately 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. Swan Lake is in the background to the right.

Burn suspension in effect as firefighters work to contain Loon Lake Fire

The fire, about 10 miles northeast of Sterling, had grown to just over 100 acres as of Tuesday.

Kale Casey/Alaska DNR-Division of Forestry
An aerial photo of the 102-acre Loon Lake Fire footprint taken at approximately 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. Swan Lake is in the background to the right.
Cheechako News file photo from KPC’s Kenai Peninsula Historical Photo Repository
Joe Faa, who in 1965 sold 10 acres of his Soldotna homestead as a construction site for a new hospital, poses here in about 1961 with his prize horse Danny. Faa’s horse corral and hay fields are the reason for the name Corral Street in Soldotna.

A hospital is born, slowly (Part 5)

It had been almost five full years since the start of a project to establish a hospital for the central Kenai Peninsula.

Cheechako News file photo from KPC’s Kenai Peninsula Historical Photo Repository
Joe Faa, who in 1965 sold 10 acres of his Soldotna homestead as a construction site for a new hospital, poses here in about 1961 with his prize horse Danny. Faa’s horse corral and hay fields are the reason for the name Corral Street in Soldotna.
Smoke can be seen rising from areas scarred by the Swan Lake Fire on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019 at Mile 10 of Skilak Loop Road, on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Study finds scientific evidence of “zombie fires” in Alaska, Arctic

Zombie fires in boreal forests are associated with hot summers and deep burning into organic soil.

Smoke can be seen rising from areas scarred by the Swan Lake Fire on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019 at Mile 10 of Skilak Loop Road, on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)