Ashlyn O'Hara

  • 1737 Stories
  • Page 1 of 87
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Finance Director Elizabeth Hayes, left, gives a presentation on the school district’s FY23 budget at Soldotna High School on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. Hayes during the KPBSD Board of Education’s Sept. 11, 2023, meetings, debuted first of an informational “Budget 101 Series.” (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

School district warns of looming $13 million deficit in first ‘Budget 101’ presentation

The first installment explored Alaska’s foundation formula

 

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

 

Lyndsey Bertoldo, Penny Vadla and Jason Tauriainen participate in a Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education candidate forum at the Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

School board candidates tackle budget deficits, home-schooling, school maintenance

The discussion was the first of two forums featuring KPBSD school board candidates

 

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion Brad Snowden and Julie Crites participate in a Seward City Council candidate forum at the Seward Community Library in Seward on Thursday.

Seward council candidates discuss issues at election forum

Participating in Thursday’s forum were Julie Crites and Brad Snowden

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion Brad Snowden and Julie Crites participate in a Seward City Council candidate forum at the Seward Community Library in Seward on Thursday.
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. (Peninsula Clarion file)

Soldotna adopts arts and culture master plan

The plan outlines how the city plans to support arts and culture over the next 10 years

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. (Peninsula Clarion file)
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)
Soldotna Public Works Director Kyle Kornelis talks about the Soldotna field house project during a Soldotna City Council meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna awards field house contract

Anchorage-based Criterion General, Inc. will construct the facility

Soldotna Public Works Director Kyle Kornelis talks about the Soldotna field house project during a Soldotna City Council meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly members Lane Chesley, left, and Richard Derkevorkian participate in a borough assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Haara/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly asks state to allow term limits for school board members

Alaska Statute does not allow term limits to be imposed on school board members

Assembly members Lane Chesley, left, and Richard Derkevorkian participate in a borough assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Haara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly to let borough mayors speak sooner during meetings

The mayor’s report will now be given after the first round of public comments and before public hearings and new assembly business

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Water pools near at the intersection of Patrick Drive and Bjerke Street, where contractors for the Kenai Peninsula Borough install a culvert to mitigate flooding off of Kalifornsky Beach Road on Friday, July 21, 2023, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly extends borough flood disaster declaration

The declaration was issued by Micciche last week

Water pools near at the intersection of Patrick Drive and Bjerke Street, where contractors for the Kenai Peninsula Borough install a culvert to mitigate flooding off of Kalifornsky Beach Road on Friday, July 21, 2023, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
NOAA’s Sam Candio talks about research conducted aboard the Okeanos Explorer in Alaska this year during the inaugural Seward Marine Science Symposium on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, in Seward, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Seward hosts debut marine science symposium

The symposium kicked off Sunday with a series of panels highlighting the marine science work different state groups are doing in Southcentral Alaska

NOAA’s Sam Candio talks about research conducted aboard the Okeanos Explorer in Alaska this year during the inaugural Seward Marine Science Symposium on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, in Seward, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Daniel Hasche, Rachel Lord, Caroline Venuti and Joni Wise participate in a Homer City Council Candidate Forum at Homer Public Library in Homer, Alaska, on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Homer City Council hopefuls tackle housing, transportation, harbor

The forum was the fifth of eight being held throughout September heading into the Oct. 3 municipal election

Daniel Hasche, Rachel Lord, Caroline Venuti and Joni Wise participate in a Homer City Council Candidate Forum at Homer Public Library in Homer, Alaska, on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche and Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly candidates Heath Smith and Kelly Cooper participate in a Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Forum at Homer Public Library in Homer, Alaska, on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Mayor, assembly candidates field questions in Homer

Participating in Thursday’s forum were incumbent Mayor Peter Micciche and assembly candidates Kelly Cooper and Heath Smith

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche and Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly candidates Heath Smith and Kelly Cooper participate in a Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Forum at Homer Public Library in Homer, Alaska, on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Christy Phillips reads to preschoolers at Seward Sprouts Preschool in Seward, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Seward Sprouts Preschool)

Seward seeks solutions to child care challenges

Nearly 80% of people surveyed reported that they were not satisfied with their access to quality, affordable child care

Christy Phillips reads to preschoolers at Seward Sprouts Preschool in Seward, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Seward Sprouts Preschool)
Signs along K-Beach Road, an area slated for annexation by the City of Soldotna, show opposition of the city’s efforts to expand its boundaries, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

State Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Soldotna annexation case

The case has been working through the Alaska Court System since 2020

Signs along K-Beach Road, an area slated for annexation by the City of Soldotna, show opposition of the city’s efforts to expand its boundaries, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
Ryan Tunseth, Adam Bertoldo, Bill Elam and Nissa Savage participate in a Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly candidate forum at Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Election 2023: 1st round of assembly candidates tackle issues

Participating in Monday’s forum were Adam Bertoldo, Bill Elam, Peter Ribbens, Nissa Savage and Ryan Tunseth

Ryan Tunseth, Adam Bertoldo, Bill Elam and Nissa Savage participate in a Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly candidate forum at Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
(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)
Superintendent Clayton Holland speaks about the National Blue Ribbon award during an assembly at Soldotna Montessori Charter School on Friday, Jan 14, 2022. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)

KPBSD seeks new contract with superintendent

School board members on Monday unanimously voted in support of Clayton Holland

Superintendent Clayton Holland speaks about the National Blue Ribbon award during an assembly at Soldotna Montessori Charter School on Friday, Jan 14, 2022. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
Sidewalk chalk drawings cover the outside of corroding insulation at Soldotna Elementary School on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna elementary reconstruction cost grows to $35 million

The project initially carried a $21.5 million price tag

Sidewalk chalk drawings cover the outside of corroding insulation at Soldotna Elementary School on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
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)