Mary Lou Bottorff, a survivor of Holy Cross Mission, holds a picture taken of her en route to Holy Cross Mission taken in Nome in 1948, when she was eight years old, inside the Tyotkas Elder Center on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

‘You don’t understand unless you lived it’

On day of remebrance, two elders share stories of childhood in a boarding school

Mary Lou Bottorff, a survivor of Holy Cross Mission, holds a picture taken of her en route to Holy Cross Mission taken in Nome in 1948, when she was eight years old, inside the Tyotkas Elder Center on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)

Kenai River late-run kings designated a stock of management concern

The board-set optimal escapement goal for large late-run Kenai River king salmon has not been achieved in the four years that it has been in place

A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan speaks before the Board of Game during their Southcentral meeting on Friday, March 17, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska.

Board of Fisheries will not move Upper Cook Inlet meeting to Kenai Peninsula

The board on Oct. 13 discussed requests received from local organizations and governments to move to the Kenai Peninsula

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan speaks before the Board of Game during their Southcentral meeting on Friday, March 17, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska.
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)
A plow truck clears snow from the Kenai Spur Highway on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022 in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

DOT commissioner: New road maintenance strategy could reduce brine use by 40%

Vehicle corrosion and associated costs, threats to public safety and environmental impacts were the top concerns

A plow truck clears snow from the Kenai Spur Highway on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022 in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
From left, Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education members Jason Tauriainen, Kelley Cizek, Dianne MacRae and Penny Vadla are sworn in by District Secretary Nikkol Sipes during a special school board meeting on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

School board swears in new members, reorganizes

Kelley Cizek, Dianne MacRae, Jason Tauriainen and Penny Vadla took oaths of office during the meeting

From left, Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education members Jason Tauriainen, Kelley Cizek, Dianne MacRae and Penny Vadla are sworn in by District Secretary Nikkol Sipes during a special school board meeting on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
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MediCenter indicted on 115 felony counts

MediCenter offices in Kenai were searched in July of 2019

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Gary Hollier pulls a sockeye salmon from a set gillnet at a test site for selective harvest setnet gear in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Preliminary results released for selective setnet test

That test was to assess a shallower net intended to better target “abundant” sockeye while reducing harvest on “weaker” kings

Gary Hollier pulls a sockeye salmon from a set gillnet at a test site for selective harvest setnet gear in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A sign welcomes visitors on July 7, 2021, in Seward, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Seward medical center adds mammography services

In Alaska, cancer is the leading cause of death, and breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed

A sign welcomes visitors on July 7, 2021, in Seward, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Photo courtesy Josiah Martin/Kenai Peninsula Food Bank
Jon Kruger hands an award for Trophy Catch of the Day to a participant of Catching for a Cause at the Cannery Lodge in Kenai.

Marathon fundraiser raises $80,000 for food bank

Participants spent two days networking and fishing, first at Big River Lakes across Cook Inlet and then on the Kenai River

Photo courtesy Josiah Martin/Kenai Peninsula Food Bank
Jon Kruger hands an award for Trophy Catch of the Day to a participant of Catching for a Cause at the Cannery Lodge in Kenai.
Nurse Tracy Silta draws a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the walk-in clinic at the intersection of the Kenai Spur and Sterling Highways in Soldotna, Alaska on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)

Updated COVID-19 vaccine locally available

The updated vaccines available in Alaska are produced by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech

Nurse Tracy Silta draws a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the walk-in clinic at the intersection of the Kenai Spur and Sterling Highways in Soldotna, Alaska on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. (Camille Botello / 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)
Bear 128 Grazer, with her recognizable blonde ears, wades through the water of the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Felicia Jimenez/National Park Service)

Grazer named weighty winner of Fat Bear Week

Over the course of six days of voting, she proved herself the fattest bear of Katmai National Park

Bear 128 Grazer, with her recognizable blonde ears, wades through the water of the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Felicia Jimenez/National Park Service)
A lone voter fills in their ballot at Soldotna Prep School in Soldotna, Alaska, during Election Day on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Borough, Soldotna, Seward certify election results

Results for multiple borough seats came down to just a handful of votes.

A lone voter fills in their ballot at Soldotna Prep School in Soldotna, Alaska, during Election Day on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
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)

Refuge opens for firewood collection Friday

Cutting is limited to trees already dead and down within the designated areas

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)
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)
Laura Burke speaks during a community conversation on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Home-school meeting draws dozens

The event was hosted by the Kenai Peninsula Borough and the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District

Laura Burke speaks during a community conversation on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Elks Lodge Exalted Ruler Allen Burkett presents Kenai Fire Department’s Pete Coots with an award at the Kenai Elks Lodge in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Elks honor Kenai Fire Department

Receiving medals were Captain Pete Coots and Fire Marshal Jeremy Hamilton

Kenai Elks Lodge Exalted Ruler Allen Burkett presents Kenai Fire Department’s Pete Coots with an award at the Kenai Elks Lodge in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Finance Director Liz Hayes, left, testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a budget work session on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Finance Director Liz Hayes, left, testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a budget work session on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Municipal Airport is seen on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Ravn to end service in Kenai

Ravn Alaska and the Kenai Municipal Airport confirmed Friday that the airline will discontinue its Kenai service starting later this month, with the last flights… Continue reading

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