Kenai

Kenai City Clerk Shellie Saner (right) administers an oath of office to Henry Knackstedt during a Kenai City Council meeting on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023 in Kenai, Alaska. Knackstedt was elected to the council during the Oct. 3 election. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai council swears in 2 new members

Henry Knackstedt and Phillip Daniel took their oaths of office

Kenai City Clerk Shellie Saner (right) administers an oath of office to Henry Knackstedt during a Kenai City Council meeting on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023 in Kenai, Alaska. Knackstedt was elected to the council during the Oct. 3 election. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Joel Caldwell shows off the new Tecnam Traveller on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Aviation to add 14 weekly flights between Kenai and Anchorage

The expansion will come just over a week after Ravn Alaska discontinues service at the Kenai Municipal Airport.

Joel Caldwell shows off the new Tecnam Traveller on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Municipal Airport is seen on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Grant to add 50 weekly flights between Kenai and Anchorage

The change will go into effect on Oct. 21, the day after the last flights to or from Kenai by Ravn Alaska

The Kenai Municipal Airport is seen on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Spot Arcade Games is seen in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

4 arrested in connection to alleged illegal gambling operations

Troopers executed search warrants on The Spot in Kenai and The Arctic Spot in Soldotna

The Spot Arcade Games is seen in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Halloween lights and iconography decorate the corridors of the Haunted Chamber at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

‘Haunted Chamber’ debuts this week

In the maze on Monday were lights, skeletons, spiders and tombstones

Halloween lights and iconography decorate the corridors of the Haunted Chamber at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai City Hall on Feb. 20, 2020, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai outlaws marijuana drive-thrus

The state, during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowed marijuana establishments to operate drive-thru or walk-up windows

Kenai City Hall on Feb. 20, 2020, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
Some of the pumpkins submitted to the pumpkin-decorating contest are seen here during the 5th annual Kenai Fall Pumpkin Festival in Kenai, Alaska, on Oct. 10, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)

Kenai’s Fall Pumpkin Fest set for Saturday

The fun actually starts early, as a central element of the festival is a pumpkin decorating contest already underway

Some of the pumpkins submitted to the pumpkin-decorating contest are seen here during the 5th annual Kenai Fall Pumpkin Festival in Kenai, Alaska, on Oct. 10, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)
Clockwise from bottom left: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Alaska Division Commander Col. Jeff Palazzini, Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael Connor participate in a signing ceremony for a project partnership agreement for the Kenai Bluff Stabilization Project at the Kenai Senior Center on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Bluff stabilization agreement signed

The agreement allows the project to go out to bid and construction to begin

Clockwise from bottom left: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Alaska Division Commander Col. Jeff Palazzini, Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael Connor participate in a signing ceremony for a project partnership agreement for the Kenai Bluff Stabilization Project at the Kenai Senior Center on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Abigal Craig, youth winner of the Seventh Annual Kenai Silver Salmon Derby, is presented a novelty check by Kenai River Sportfishing Association Executive Director Shannon Martin, City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Samantha Springer at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Silver Salmon Derby nets fish, funds for river protection

116 fish were weighed by 79 anglers across the six days of competition

Abigal Craig, youth winner of the Seventh Annual Kenai Silver Salmon Derby, is presented a novelty check by Kenai River Sportfishing Association Executive Director Shannon Martin, City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Samantha Springer at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Erosion of the Kenai bluff near the Kenai Senior Center. (Photo by Aidan Curtin courtesy Scott Curtin)

Kenai to sign bluff stabilization agreement Monday

A signing event will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Kenai Senior Center

Erosion of the Kenai bluff near the Kenai Senior Center. (Photo by Aidan Curtin courtesy Scott Curtin)
(File photo)

Kenai mulls future of marijuana drive-thrus

The state has made permanent COVID-era rules that allowed marijuana establishments to offer drive-thru and walk-up services

(File photo)
Victoria Askin photographs a gravemarker in the Kenai Cemetery as part of a city imaging project on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Volunteers help build visual database of Kenai cemetery plots

The cataloging will allow someone to check on the condition or maintenance of a specific grave

Victoria Askin photographs a gravemarker in the Kenai Cemetery as part of a city imaging project on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Teea Winger, Henry Knackstedt and Phil Daniel participate in a Kenai City Council candidate forum at the Kenai Community Library in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai council candidates convene for Thursday forum

Three of the four candidates for Kenai City Council convened in the Kenai Community Library on Thursday evening to share their thoughts on waterfront revitalization,… Continue reading

Teea Winger, Henry Knackstedt and Phil Daniel participate in a Kenai City Council candidate forum at the Kenai Community Library in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Staff from the Alaska SeaLife Center help release two harbor seal pups into Cook Inlet on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

SeaLife Center sends off seals at Kenai beach

Harbor seals Tuber and Darth Tater were rescued from Kenai and Nikiski earlier this year

Staff from the Alaska SeaLife Center help release two harbor seal pups into Cook Inlet on Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel prepares to spin one of the wheels that determine the magic weight at the closing ceremony of the Kenai Silver Salmon Derby on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Silver Salmon Derby returns

The event is unique among fishing derbies for its use of the “magic weight”

Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel prepares to spin one of the wheels that determine the magic weight at the closing ceremony of the Kenai Silver Salmon Derby on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Tribal Council Chair Ronette Stanton and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge participate in a press conference announcing $7.5 million in federal funding designated for the Kenaitze/Salamatof Tribally Designated Housing Entity at the Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht Campus in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Federal official announces $7.5 million for tribe’s low-income housing

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge visited Kenai on Wednesday

Tribal Council Chair Ronette Stanton and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia L. Fudge participate in a press conference announcing $7.5 million in federal funding designated for the Kenaitze/Salamatof Tribally Designated Housing Entity at the Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht Campus in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Teague Vanek barbecues salmon during Industry Appreciation Day festivities at the Kenai softball greenstrip in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Industry Appreciation Day celebrates ‘pioneers’ of local economy

Hundreds gathered on the Kenai softball greenstrip Saturday

Teague Vanek barbecues salmon during Industry Appreciation Day festivities at the Kenai softball greenstrip in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The sidewalk in front of Paradiso’s Restaurant shows cracks on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai to replace Paradiso’s sidewalk

Multiple large sections of sidewalk near the restaurant will be replaced

The sidewalk in front of Paradiso’s Restaurant shows cracks on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai City Hall on Feb. 20, 2020, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai will not bond water treatment project

The City of Kenai will not put before city voters a bond question related to the planned reconstruction of the city’s Water Treatment Plant pump… Continue reading

Kenai City Hall on Feb. 20, 2020, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
Sample ballots are displayed ahead of the Oct. 4 municipal election at an absentee in-person polling place in Kenai City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Sample ballots are displayed ahead of the Oct. 4 municipal election at an absentee in-person polling place in Kenai City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)