Luminaria light the path of the Third Annual StarLight StarBright winter solstice skiing fundraiser at the Kenai Golf Course in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Illuminating the darkest night

StarLight StarBright winter solstice skiing fundraiser benefits the American Cancer Society

Luminaria light the path of the Third Annual StarLight StarBright winter solstice skiing fundraiser at the Kenai Golf Course in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Courthouse is photographed on February 26, 2019, in Kenai, Alaska. (Clarion file)

Kenai resident pleads guilty to 2020 homicide

He was sentenced to 70 years, with 35 suspended

Kenai Courthouse is photographed on February 26, 2019, in Kenai, Alaska. (Clarion file)
Soldotna city council members, staff and residents break ground on the Soldotna Field House project on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Peninsula groups among Rasmuson grant awardees

The City of Soldotna, Love INC and Kenai Peninsula Housing Initiatives will receive $770,000 in grant funds

Soldotna city council members, staff and residents break ground on the Soldotna Field House project on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Santa Claus joins children for some hockey action during A Day with the Clauses festivities at Daubenspeck Park in Kenai on Monday.

Skating with Santa

Santa Claus arrived on an ATV and hit the ice himself, skating, playing hockey and greeting children

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Santa Claus joins children for some hockey action during A Day with the Clauses festivities at Daubenspeck Park in Kenai on Monday.
Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion
Cassidi Cameron, left, and Tim Dillon stand in Dillon’s office at the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District on Dec. 12 near Kenai.

KPEDD director prepares to pass the torch

Tim Dillon to step down as head of the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District at the end of the month

Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion
Cassidi Cameron, left, and Tim Dillon stand in Dillon’s office at the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District on Dec. 12 near Kenai.
Signs direct visitors at the City of Seward’s city hall annex on Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021, in Seward, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Seward electric rates to increase by $0.06 per kilowatt hour Jan. 1

Seward twice in 2023 voted not to sell the utility to Homer Electric Association

Signs direct visitors at the City of Seward’s city hall annex on Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021, in Seward, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A snowmachine rider takes advantage of two feet of fresh snow on a field down Murwood Avenue in Soldotna, Alaska on Monday, Dec. 12, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Snowmachine use closed in parts of Chugach National Forest, opened in refuge

On the refuge, all areas “traditionally open to snowmachine use” are now open

A snowmachine rider takes advantage of two feet of fresh snow on a field down Murwood Avenue in Soldotna, Alaska on Monday, Dec. 12, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
U.S. Department of Justice Logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai woman sentenced in bankruptcy fraud case

Saray Lockwood formerly operated Kenai Dental Clinic with her late-husband Dr. Glenn Lockwood

U.S. Department of Justice Logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna City Hall is seen on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna adopts 4% bed tax

The tax applies to all hotels, motels, inns, lodges and short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs and Vrbos

Soldotna City Hall is seen on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Peninsula Association of Realtors sits with duffel bags of Christmas gifts donated to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Students in Transition program at Kenai Catering in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Realtors donate duffel bags in annual tradition

The Students in Transition program serves students experiencing housing instability

The Kenai Peninsula Association of Realtors sits with duffel bags of Christmas gifts donated to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Students in Transition program at Kenai Catering in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Audience members listen to Iris Fontana, of the Satanic Temple, deliver an invocation during a Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. Fontana was the last person to deliver an assembly invocation before a new borough policy, which says only borough volunteer chaplains may deliver the invocation, takes effect. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Satanic Temple gets last word as assembly ends open invocation policy

Effective Jan. 1, assembly invocations will be delivered exclusively by volunteer chaplains who serve the borough’s fire and emergency medical service areas

Audience members listen to Iris Fontana, of the Satanic Temple, deliver an invocation during a Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. Fontana was the last person to deliver an assembly invocation before a new borough policy, which says only borough volunteer chaplains may deliver the invocation, takes effect. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Skis poke out of the snow minutes before the start of StarLight StarBright: A Winter Solstice Ski Event on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022, at the Kenai Golf Course in Kenai, Alaska.

Skiers to illuminate solstice night for annual fundraiser

The event benefits Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society

Skis poke out of the snow minutes before the start of StarLight StarBright: A Winter Solstice Ski Event on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022, at the Kenai Golf Course in Kenai, Alaska.
Santa and Mrs. Claus wait for children to arrive during Breakfast with Santa at the Kenai Senior Center in Kenai, Alaska on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Making the most of winter break

Holiday festivities include crafting, caroling, scavenger hunts and a whole lot of Santa

Santa and Mrs. Claus wait for children to arrive during Breakfast with Santa at the Kenai Senior Center in Kenai, Alaska on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A design of the proposed new Kenai Peninsula Borough logo, left, and the current borough logo. (Logos via Kenai Peninsula Borough)

Assembly mulls borough logo rebrand

The borough’s current logo is “dated, difficult to scale, and too detailed to be effective,” according to legislation proposing the change

A design of the proposed new Kenai Peninsula Borough logo, left, and the current borough logo. (Logos via Kenai Peninsula Borough)
Alaska State Troopers logo.

Woman arrested after allegedly shooting neighbor’s house

The woman had been trying to break up a dog fight, troopers said

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Alaska Department of Fish and Game logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Alaska Department of Fish and Game logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Alaska Department of Fish and Game logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Teresa Becher watches as beluga whales swim up the Kenai River on Saturday, April 24, 2021. She and her volunteer team monitor belugas in the Cook Inlet. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion file)

Ship noise may impact endangered Cook Inlet belugas, study finds

Cook Inlet sees traffic and noise from commercial shipping, the international airport, military operations and oil and gas exploration

Teresa Becher watches as beluga whales swim up the Kenai River on Saturday, April 24, 2021. She and her volunteer team monitor belugas in the Cook Inlet. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion file)
Western Emergency Services logo. Homer News file photo
Western Emergency Services logo. Homer News file photo
Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Jenna Bedford, of Kenai Reindeer Farm, sits next to her reindeer with Juliana Bedford during the Fourth Annual Holiday Cheer Christmas Bazaar at the Old Carrs Mall in Kenai on Saturday.

Reindeer on the town

Antlered animals are making appearances at bazaars and holiday events

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Jenna Bedford, of Kenai Reindeer Farm, sits next to her reindeer with Juliana Bedford during the Fourth Annual Holiday Cheer Christmas Bazaar at the Old Carrs Mall in Kenai on Saturday.
A powerline covered in snow is seen along Murwood Avenue in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Windstorm causes 2 large power outages

The storm was the result of a strong low pressure system moving up from the North Pacific

A powerline covered in snow is seen along Murwood Avenue in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)