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A roadside sign welcomes drivers to Nikiski, Alaska, on Jan. 7, 2019. (Clarion file)

Nikiski man arrested in connection to Saturday power outage

The outage affected about 35 residents around Emerald Street

A roadside sign welcomes drivers to Nikiski, Alaska, on Jan. 7, 2019. (Clarion file)
Photos by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion Mynarae Glover stands on her father, James Glover’s shouders during a performance by Medium Build on the River Stage at Salmonfest in Ninilchik, on Friday.

Art, advocacy and acoustics

Salmonfest 2023 makes for weekend of music and festivity in Ninilchik

Photos by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion Mynarae Glover stands on her father, James Glover’s shouders during a performance by Medium Build on the River Stage at Salmonfest in Ninilchik, on Friday.
Outlaw Body and Paint’s Wesley Jackson (center) testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly about the affects of calcium chloride brine on vehicles he treats during a meeting on Tuesday in Soldotna. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

DOT to review salt brine use on peninsula roads

Multiple people, including automotive workers, testified in opposition to the use of the salt brine

Outlaw Body and Paint’s Wesley Jackson (center) testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly about the affects of calcium chloride brine on vehicles he treats during a meeting on Tuesday in Soldotna. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Foliage surrounds the Soldotna Police Department sign on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna police offer arrested on domestic violence assault charge

The officer has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation

Foliage surrounds the Soldotna Police Department sign on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
From left, Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly members Bill Elam, Brent Johnson, Tyson Cox and Brent Hibbert attend an assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Election issues tackled at assembly

The body created a voter turnout working group and approved other changes to borough election code

From left, Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly members Bill Elam, Brent Johnson, Tyson Cox and Brent Hibbert attend an assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A Mackey Lake voter fills out a special mayoral ballot at Soldotna Prep School on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Candidate filing period for local offices now open

Aspiring candidates will have until Aug. 15 to file their candidacy

A Mackey Lake voter fills out a special mayoral ballot at Soldotna Prep School on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Flowers bloom at Soldotna City Hall on Wednesday, June 24, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna approves capital budget

The budget will pay for multiple big city projects over the next 11 months

Flowers bloom at Soldotna City Hall on Wednesday, June 24, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
People vote in polling booths at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

3 cities oppose alignment of borough, state election days

The Soldotna City Council on Wednesday became the latest group to object to the proposed alignment

People vote in polling booths at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Snow falls on a “vote here” sign outside of Seward City Hall on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, in Seward, Alaska. Residents voted in a special election to determine whether or not to sell the city’s electric utility and to change the city’s residency requirements for city manager. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Seward council puts electric utility sale back on ballot

City voters in a special election defeated by just seven votes the sale of Seward Electric to HEA

Snow falls on a “vote here” sign outside of Seward City Hall on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, in Seward, Alaska. Residents voted in a special election to determine whether or not to sell the city’s electric utility and to change the city’s residency requirements for city manager. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
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)

Bypass project costs jump, state looks for more funding

The long-planned project aims to reduce traffic congestion through Cooper Landing

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)
Lisa Parker, vice mayor of Soldotna, celebrates after throwing the ceremonial first pitch before a game between the Peninsula Oilers and the Mat-Su Miners on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna council member looks to boost city presence at community events

The group is brainstorming ways to boost its visibility around town

Lisa Parker, vice mayor of Soldotna, celebrates after throwing the ceremonial first pitch before a game between the Peninsula Oilers and the Mat-Su Miners on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, at Coral Seymour Memorial Park in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A tip jar collects money for Cooper Landing Emergency Services inside the Sunrise Cafe on Saturday, July 8, 2023, in Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Borough to probe eastern peninsula, rather than Cooper Landing, emergency service area

The service area would need to implement a mill rate between 3.7 and 3.95, according to estimates

A tip jar collects money for Cooper Landing Emergency Services inside the Sunrise Cafe on Saturday, July 8, 2023, in Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A firefighter from Cooper Landing Emergency Services refills a water tanker at the banks of the Kenai River in Cooper Landing, Alaska on Aug. 30, 2019. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)

Cooper Landing considers emergency service area for region

The community is currently served by Cooper Landing Emergency Services

A firefighter from Cooper Landing Emergency Services refills a water tanker at the banks of the Kenai River in Cooper Landing, Alaska on Aug. 30, 2019. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Alaska State Troopers investigate a shooting scene on Monday, Aug. 23, 2021, at the Anchor Point Warehouse in Anchor Point, Alaska, at the store on the Sterling Highway in which an Alaska State Trooper was shot.(Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Anchor Point man convicted of attempted murder, other charges in 2021 trooper shooting

The shooting prompted an overnight manhunt

Alaska State Troopers investigate a shooting scene on Monday, Aug. 23, 2021, at the Anchor Point Warehouse in Anchor Point, Alaska, at the store on the Sterling Highway in which an Alaska State Trooper was shot.(Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Discarded items await new homes at the “Sterling Mall,” located inside the Sterling Transfer Facility on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in Sterling, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

‘Sterling Mall’ up and running

At the site, residents can drop off items for reuse that may otherwise end up in a borough landfill

Discarded items await new homes at the “Sterling Mall,” located inside the Sterling Transfer Facility on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in Sterling, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Exit Glacier, as seen in August 2015 from the Harding Icefield Trail in Kenai Fjords National Park just outside of Seward, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Boy, 15, dies after going into cardiac arrest while hiking Harding Icefield Trail

A 15-year-old boy died Monday after going into cardiac arrest while hiking the Harding Icefield Trail in Seward, the Alaska Department of Public Safety reported… Continue reading

Exit Glacier, as seen in August 2015 from the Harding Icefield Trail in Kenai Fjords National Park just outside of Seward, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
A Mackey Lake voter fills out a special mayoral ballot at Soldotna Prep School on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Resources for those seeking local office available this week

Seats on city councils, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly and the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education will be up for grabs

A Mackey Lake voter fills out a special mayoral ballot at Soldotna Prep School on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A mock up of the Soldotna Field House. (Photo via City of Soldotna)

Soldotna council OKs updated field house funding plan

City administration in June told council members that an updated project cost estimate had put the field house’s total price tag at $28 million

A mock up of the Soldotna Field House. (Photo via City of Soldotna)
People vote in polling booths at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly bumps vote on resolution that would ask voters whether to align state, local election days

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday voted to postpone until August a vote on legislation that would ask peninsula voters whether to align local… Continue reading

People vote in polling booths at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Cam Choy, associate professor of art at Kenai Peninsula College, works on a salmon sculpture in collaboration with the Kenai Watershed Forum during the Kenai River Festival at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 8, 2019. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)

Draft Soldotna plan brainstorms best way to bring more art to the city

Creation of a regional arts council, the incorporation of art projects into existing city grant programs and development of a way for the city to… Continue reading

Cam Choy, associate professor of art at Kenai Peninsula College, works on a salmon sculpture in collaboration with the Kenai Watershed Forum during the Kenai River Festival at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 8, 2019. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)