Kenai

A dipnetter reaches to retrieve a sockeye salmon caught in her net on the Kenai Beach on Tuesday, July 11, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. Tuesday was the second day of the Kenai River personal-use dipnet fishery, which will remain open until July 31. The fishery was relatively quiet Tuesday, with a dipnetter hauling in a fish every once in awhile, and unlike many July weekends, there was plenty of room in the water for more participants. Sockeye salmon have been relatively slow to enter the Kenai this year, with about 94,885 past the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s sonar as of Monday, significantly less than in 2016 but ahead of years like 2013, 2012 and 2011, according to Fish and Game data. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Police prepared for safe dipnet season

As business and traffic ramps up in Kenai as thousands of dipnetters arrive from all over the state, members of the Kenai Police Department find… Continue reading

A dipnetter reaches to retrieve a sockeye salmon caught in her net on the Kenai Beach on Tuesday, July 11, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. Tuesday was the second day of the Kenai River personal-use dipnet fishery, which will remain open until July 31. The fishery was relatively quiet Tuesday, with a dipnetter hauling in a fish every once in awhile, and unlike many July weekends, there was plenty of room in the water for more participants. Sockeye salmon have been relatively slow to enter the Kenai this year, with about 94,885 past the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s sonar as of Monday, significantly less than in 2016 but ahead of years like 2013, 2012 and 2011, according to Fish and Game data. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
Eagle Scout candidate Derek Brown and fellow members of Kenai’s Boy Scout Troop 152 Joey Freeman (left) and Jimmy Freeman (right) paint the flower box outside Kenai’s American Legion post as part of Brown’s Eagle Scout community service project on Monday, July 10, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. To earn Boy Scouting’s highest rank, Brown organized the troop, along with friends and family members, in repainting the flower box red, white, and blue, and planting it with a pattern of red, white, and blue flowers, along with purple petunias to symbolize the Purple Heart military decoration given to wounded soldiers. Brown, who began planning the project about two weeks ago, said his two brothers had previously done Eagle Scout projects to benefit schools and churches. “I wanted to do something for the veterans, and this was the best I could come up with,” Brown said.

Doing a good turn

Eagle Scout candidate Derek Brown and fellow members of Kenai’s Boy Scout Troop 152 Joey Freeman (left) and Jimmy Freeman (right) paint the flower box… Continue reading

Eagle Scout candidate Derek Brown and fellow members of Kenai’s Boy Scout Troop 152 Joey Freeman (left) and Jimmy Freeman (right) paint the flower box outside Kenai’s American Legion post as part of Brown’s Eagle Scout community service project on Monday, July 10, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. To earn Boy Scouting’s highest rank, Brown organized the troop, along with friends and family members, in repainting the flower box red, white, and blue, and planting it with a pattern of red, white, and blue flowers, along with purple petunias to symbolize the Purple Heart military decoration given to wounded soldiers. Brown, who began planning the project about two weeks ago, said his two brothers had previously done Eagle Scout projects to benefit schools and churches. “I wanted to do something for the veterans, and this was the best I could come up with,” Brown said.
Linda Nelson (in wheelchair) and her husband Rodney Nelson hold signs in a demonstration by supporters of women’s health organization Planned Parenthood and opponents of the U.S Senate healthcare bill known as the Better Care Reconciliation Act on Thursday, July 6, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Residents rally for health care

Linda Nelson and her husband Rodney Nelson were among those who turned out in Kenai on Thursday to hold signs in a demonstration by supporters… Continue reading

Linda Nelson (in wheelchair) and her husband Rodney Nelson hold signs in a demonstration by supporters of women’s health organization Planned Parenthood and opponents of the U.S Senate healthcare bill known as the Better Care Reconciliation Act on Thursday, July 6, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Cops vs cows: Kenai police corral unruly cattle

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with details from the resident who called the cattle incident in to the police department. Some cattle bent… Continue reading

Assault charges dropped against Tim Navarre

Assault charges against Tim Navarre, a member of the Kenai City Council and of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Board of Education, were dropped last week… Continue reading

Ryanna Thurman, right, finishes listening to an oration of Kenai Central High School student Kassandra Renfrow’s poem, one of the winning entries to the Pathways of Poetry contest, Saturday, July 1, 2017 on the trail at Kenai Municipal Park in Kenai, Alaska. A panel of judges chose 12 winners out of 86 student participants, whose poems about nature are placed on signs along the trail. Scanning the codes on the signs brings up a recording of the authors reading their pieces. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion)

Pathways of Poetry connects local talent with nature

Ever wish you had something to listen to while wandering in the woods? Now, there 12 voices hidden among the trees in Kenai, waiting to… Continue reading

Ryanna Thurman, right, finishes listening to an oration of Kenai Central High School student Kassandra Renfrow’s poem, one of the winning entries to the Pathways of Poetry contest, Saturday, July 1, 2017 on the trail at Kenai Municipal Park in Kenai, Alaska. A panel of judges chose 12 winners out of 86 student participants, whose poems about nature are placed on signs along the trail. Scanning the codes on the signs brings up a recording of the authors reading their pieces. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion)

Lawton Acres to have appraisal by July 5

In an ongoing debate about a city of Kenai-owned property contested for its value as either commercial land or a wooded residential buffer, the Kenai… Continue reading

This computer-generated graphic, included in a U.S Army Corps of Engineers report on the Kenai bluff erosion mitigation project, illustrates the Army Corps’ preferred plan to create a rock berm at the base of the bluff, allowing it naturally shift to a stable slope in the next 3 to 15 years, according to the Corps’ projection.

Army Corps finds negative cost-benefit of Kenai bluff erosion project

In a new report on a collaboration with the city of Kenai to halt erosion on the nearly mile-long bluff below Old Town Kenai, the… Continue reading

This computer-generated graphic, included in a U.S Army Corps of Engineers report on the Kenai bluff erosion mitigation project, illustrates the Army Corps’ preferred plan to create a rock berm at the base of the bluff, allowing it naturally shift to a stable slope in the next 3 to 15 years, according to the Corps’ projection.
Rick Koch campaigns in his unsucessful 2016 run for the Alaska House of Representatives during Soldotna’s Progress Days Parade on July 23, 2016. Koch, who served as Kenai’s city manager from 2006 to 2016, was killed on Sunday in a motorcycle accident on the Dalton Highway.

Former Kenai city manager Rick Koch dies in motorcycle accident

Former Kenai city manager Rick Koch was killed in a motorcycle accident on the Dalton Highway on Sunday. According to Alaska State Troopers, Koch, 60,… Continue reading

Rick Koch campaigns in his unsucessful 2016 run for the Alaska House of Representatives during Soldotna’s Progress Days Parade on July 23, 2016. Koch, who served as Kenai’s city manager from 2006 to 2016, was killed on Sunday in a motorcycle accident on the Dalton Highway.
A historical marker hangs on the fence outside the Kenai Bible Church on Monday, June 12, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. The chapel, which overlooks the Kenai River in Old Town Kenai, is the oldest Protestant church in town and will celebrate its 75th anniversary this year. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Bible Church marks 75th anniversary

From out on the dark waters of Cook Inlet near the Kenai River, one of the brightest lights of Kenai comes from the steeple of… Continue reading

A historical marker hangs on the fence outside the Kenai Bible Church on Monday, June 12, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. The chapel, which overlooks the Kenai River in Old Town Kenai, is the oldest Protestant church in town and will celebrate its 75th anniversary this year. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai dipnet app now available

While this summer’s dipnetters fish in the mouth of the Kenai River, the city of Kenai will be fishing for them with a new smartphone… Continue reading

A sign posted near the Kenai Field of Flowers by activist and nieghborhood resident Greg Daniels urges property-owners near Lawton Acres — a 16.5-acre wooded strip of city-owned land that has been the subject of controversial development efforts — to attend a past Kenai City Council meeting, phographed on May 12, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. The Kenai City Council may vote on June 21 or July 5 on whether to preserve Lawton Acres as a park by paying to relieve it from the legal obligation to support the Kenai Municipal Airport.

Lawton purchase scheduled for June 21, may be delayed

The Kenai City Council may vote on whether to buy Lawton Acres — a 16.49 acre strip of wooded land between the Kenai Spur Highway… Continue reading

A sign posted near the Kenai Field of Flowers by activist and nieghborhood resident Greg Daniels urges property-owners near Lawton Acres — a 16.5-acre wooded strip of city-owned land that has been the subject of controversial development efforts — to attend a past Kenai City Council meeting, phographed on May 12, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. The Kenai City Council may vote on June 21 or July 5 on whether to preserve Lawton Acres as a park by paying to relieve it from the legal obligation to support the Kenai Municipal Airport.
The Surgery Center of Kenai, which is planning to add a second operating room, stands on Friday, June 9, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska.

Surgery Center of Kenai plans new operating room

Editor's note: This story has been changed to correct a reference to the 91 percent drop in Central Peninsula Hospital's net income, orginally referred to… Continue reading

The Surgery Center of Kenai, which is planning to add a second operating room, stands on Friday, June 9, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska.

Kenai passes $26 million budget

The Kenai City Council passed its $26.49 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2018 — to begin July 1 — at their Wednesday meeting,… Continue reading

Kenai Chamber plans silver salmon derby

Move over, Seward — the Kenai River will get its own silver salmon derby this fall. The Kenai Chamber of Commerce is planning a derby… Continue reading

Concerns arise over Kenai silver salmon derby

Not everyone’s totally on board with the idea of an open silver salmon derby on the Kenai River in the fall. The Kenai Chamber of… Continue reading

Kenai partners with Chamber of Commerce for fall silver derby

Kenai’s city government will have a say in how the town’s first silver salmon fishing derby — initiated by the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and… Continue reading

Carrie Gaethle and her children Ayla Gaethle (left) and Andrew Gaethle play in the surf on Kenai’s north beach on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 in Kenai. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Life’s a beach

… Continue reading

Carrie Gaethle and her children Ayla Gaethle (left) and Andrew Gaethle play in the surf on Kenai’s north beach on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 in Kenai. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)
Charles Woodcock of Woodcock’s Hydroseeding sprays a mix of water, fertilizer, paper pulp, and wildflower seeds across the soon-to-be Kenai Field of Flowers on Monday, June 5. Since 2014, Kenai’s municipal government has been turning the vacant city-owned lot into a summer attraction by seeding it with 15 varieties of wildflower, which Kenai Parks and Recreation Director Bob Frates said include lupin, poppies, cosmos, columbine, cornflower, baby’s breath, flax, and forget-me-not. After a drizzling Monday morning, Woodcock started spraying the field at noon — the ground’s dampness, he said, makes it better for seeding. In past years, the flowers have usually started to sprout in mid-July. Frates said that hydroseeding the approximately 55,000 square feet of the field costs about $5,400.

Sow with the flow

Charles Woodcock of Woodcock’s Hydroseeding sprays a mix of water, fertilizer, paper pulp, and wildflower seeds across the soon-to-be Kenai Field of Flowers on Monday,… Continue reading

Charles Woodcock of Woodcock’s Hydroseeding sprays a mix of water, fertilizer, paper pulp, and wildflower seeds across the soon-to-be Kenai Field of Flowers on Monday, June 5. Since 2014, Kenai’s municipal government has been turning the vacant city-owned lot into a summer attraction by seeding it with 15 varieties of wildflower, which Kenai Parks and Recreation Director Bob Frates said include lupin, poppies, cosmos, columbine, cornflower, baby’s breath, flax, and forget-me-not. After a drizzling Monday morning, Woodcock started spraying the field at noon — the ground’s dampness, he said, makes it better for seeding. In past years, the flowers have usually started to sprout in mid-July. Frates said that hydroseeding the approximately 55,000 square feet of the field costs about $5,400.
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Tom Wilkinson, director of nurses, talks about surgical recovery rooms while Jake Savely, surgical tech listens during a tour of the Surgery Center of Kenai, LLC., Tuesday July 22, 2014 in Kenai, Alaska.

Surgery Center of Kenai seeks transfer agreement with CPH

The Surgery Center of Kenai recently opened its doors to patients on Trading Bay Road in Kenai, but it is facing some restrictions on which… Continue reading

Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Tom Wilkinson, director of nurses, talks about surgical recovery rooms while Jake Savely, surgical tech listens during a tour of the Surgery Center of Kenai, LLC., Tuesday July 22, 2014 in Kenai, Alaska.