A person peruses packets of seeds in the Soldotna Seed Library at The Goods Sustainable Grocery on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna Seed Library reopens at The Goods

The goal of the library is to share local seeds in order to preserve varieties suited for central peninsula climates

A person peruses packets of seeds in the Soldotna Seed Library at The Goods Sustainable Grocery on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

Kenai Peninsula sees sharp rise in COVID-19 activity

Weekly cases of COVID-19 by region are reported via the department’s Respiratory Virus Snapshot

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Protest signs hang on the entryway wall at the Kenai Peninsula Education Association office on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Protest signs hang on the entryway wall at the Kenai Peninsula Education Association office on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Mersha Tamrat, right, gives free haircuts to attendees at the 13th Annual Project Homeless Connect at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Helping with ‘the step up’

Project Homeless Connect returns for 13th year in Soldotna

Mersha Tamrat, right, gives free haircuts to attendees at the 13th Annual Project Homeless Connect at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Alaska Department of Fish and Game logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Public comment open for Upper Cook Inlet Board of Fisheries meeting

Nearly 200 proposals will be deliberated upon during the meeting

Alaska Department of Fish and Game logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Department of Health logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

COVID activity declines statewide for 2nd week

Cases of COVID-19 had surged upward, statewide, beginning in December

Department of Health logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, sits for an interview at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna students nominated to military academies

The students will compete with other candidates for a spot at the school they have been nominated for

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, sits for an interview at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Snow is cleared from the road during the start of another major snowfall on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022 outside of The Peninsula Clarion offices in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Frigid air to return after snowy respite

A long-term forecast — describing conditions for Thursday through Sunday — says the cold will be sticking around

Snow is cleared from the road during the start of another major snowfall on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022 outside of The Peninsula Clarion offices in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Volunteers sit at rows of tables or in curtained off booths during Project Homeless Connect on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Project Homeless Connect set for Tuesday

The one-day event is intended to provide a place where all area service providers come together to provide referrals, information or services

Volunteers sit at rows of tables or in curtained off booths during Project Homeless Connect on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
An eagle prepares to take off from a branch rimed with frost at the Kenai Bluff Overlook in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Cold settles in

Subzero temperatures forecast to continue through at least Tuesday

An eagle prepares to take off from a branch rimed with frost at the Kenai Bluff Overlook in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Soldotna Police Department is photographed on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna woman arrested for allegedly burgling workplace

The business was identified in charging documents as Lucy’s Market

The Soldotna Police Department is photographed on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Dawson Slaughter

Daniel withdraws, Slaughter’s in for House District 6 race

A torch is being passed in the race to represent the southern Kenai Peninsula in the Alaska House of Representatives. Michael Daniel, who last month… Continue reading

Dawson Slaughter
Todd Smith, who sits in a commercial fishing set net seat, discusses proposals during a meeting of the Kenai/Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee at Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Advisory committee supports dipnets, shorter nets for commercial fisheries

The meeting was among a series scheduled to set recommendations ahead of the Upper Cook Inlet Finfish meeting next month

Todd Smith, who sits in a commercial fishing set net seat, discusses proposals during a meeting of the Kenai/Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee at Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Upper Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone can be seen on this map provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Image via fisheries.noaa.gov)

State responds to proposed Cook Inlet EEZ management

A proposed rule would implement federal management on commercial and recreational salmon fishing in the Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone

Upper Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone can be seen on this map provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Image via fisheries.noaa.gov)
Areas cleared to make way for the Cooper Landing Bypass Project (bottom) can be seen above the Kenai River in Cooper Landing in this August 10, 2021, photo. (Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion file)

Borough plans for 1,000-acre Cooper Landing property take shape

The borough-owned parcel will be bisected by the Cooper Landing Bypass Project

Areas cleared to make way for the Cooper Landing Bypass Project (bottom) can be seen above the Kenai River in Cooper Landing in this August 10, 2021, photo. (Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion file)
A sign welcomes travelers to the Kenai Peninsula on Sept. 1, 2020. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Alaska population steady for 2nd year; Kenai Peninsula sees growth

The Kenai Peninsula Borough is one of the nine that saw growth

A sign welcomes travelers to the Kenai Peninsula on Sept. 1, 2020. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Deena Bishop, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, testifies Saturday during a House Rules Committee meeting. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Peninsula residents weigh in on school funding debate

More than a dozen comments were made by residents of the Kenai Peninsula on S.B. 140

Deena Bishop, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, testifies Saturday during a House Rules Committee meeting. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
The National Weather Service’s map of Southcentral shows a special weather statement for much of Southcentral Alaska, including the Central Kenai Peninsula on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Courtesy National Weather Service)

Cold temperatures could cause high water levels this week

The statement is in effect through Sunday, when temperatures are expected to return to normal

The National Weather Service’s map of Southcentral shows a special weather statement for much of Southcentral Alaska, including the Central Kenai Peninsula on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. (Courtesy National Weather Service)
Kenai Vice Mayor James Baisden, right, speaks in opposition to a resolution that would have voiced the City of Kenai’s support for a legislative increase in school district funding during a city council meeting on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai council OKs resolution backing assembly’s request for a bump to state funding for schools

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is facing a $13 million deficit for the upcoming fiscal year

Kenai Vice Mayor James Baisden, right, speaks in opposition to a resolution that would have voiced the City of Kenai’s support for a legislative increase in school district funding during a city council meeting on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A chart showing the unemployment rate of Alaska compared to that of the United States, included in data from the State Department of Labor and Workforce Development announcing job growth for 2023. (Courtesy Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development)

Alaska added 6,000 jobs in 2023

Oil and gas, transportation, education and health care all saw growth

A chart showing the unemployment rate of Alaska compared to that of the United States, included in data from the State Department of Labor and Workforce Development announcing job growth for 2023. (Courtesy Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development)