Ashlyn O'Hara

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Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion Attendees share their thoughts about a Dena’ina-focused charter school at a meeting hosted by the Kenaitze Indian Tribe on Thursday in Kenai.

Kenaitze Indian Tribe hosts meeting to gauge interest in a Dena’ina charter school

The initiative comes amid heightened legislative interest in Alaska’s charter school system

 

Alaska Department of Education and Early Development Commissioner Deena Bishop and Gov. Mike Dunleavy discuss his veto of an education bill during a press conference Friday, March 15, 2024, at the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

State owes KPBSD $9.7 million, federal government says

DEED on Thursday pushed back on the federal government’s statement that it has not complied with requirements

 

Anti-abortion demonstrators protest outside Walgreens in Soldotna on Tuesday, March 27, 2024, in Soldotna, Alaska. The protesters say the company is distributing mifepristone, which is one half of a medicine series used to end a pregnancy through 10 weeks of gestation. The company denies distributing the drug at Alaska locations. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Anti-abortion activists protest outside Soldotna Walgreens

The actions come as the Supreme Court weighs restrictions to mifepristone distribution

 

A copy of Slim Randles’ “The Long Dark: An Alaska Winter’s Tale” is held on Wednesday, April 27, 2024, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Off the Shelf: Turning new pages

Refined approach to book buying brings out unique Alaska stories

A copy of Slim Randles’ “The Long Dark: An Alaska Winter’s Tale” is held on Wednesday, April 27, 2024, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Zack Scribner on Red Mountain in September 2021. (Photo courtesy Zack Scribner)

Seldovia singer channels local history, personal meditation on new record

Zack Scribner is a graduate of Susan B. English School in Seldovia

Zack Scribner on Red Mountain in September 2021. (Photo courtesy Zack Scribner)
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Finance Director Liz Hayes, left, presents preliminary fiscal year 2025 budge information during a school board committee meeting on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

School district committee builds multiple budget scenarios amid uncertain state funding

‘We don’t get to play around on this one’

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Finance Director Liz Hayes, left, presents preliminary fiscal year 2025 budge information during a school board committee meeting on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A slash pile containing non-organic construction debris is seen at the Snug Harbor Slash Disposal site on Sept. 22, 2020, in Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Kenai Peninsula Borough Land Management)

Assembly OKs concrete lease in Cooper Landing

The vote came amid widespread community opposition to the agreement

A slash pile containing non-organic construction debris is seen at the Snug Harbor Slash Disposal site on Sept. 22, 2020, in Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Kenai Peninsula Borough Land Management)
Me working in the Alaska House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)

Out of the Office: Juneau

It was kind of happenstance that I spent the last month living and working in Juneau. I’d heard of the Alaska Center for Excellence in… Continue reading

Me working in the Alaska House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
A person walks up the steps of the Alaska Capitol, Jan. 16, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

Some KPBSD schools could benefit from internet bill passed by House

If House Bill 193 becomes law, an additional six KPBSD schools would be eligible for the state’s grant program

A person walks up the steps of the Alaska Capitol, Jan. 16, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)
Signage marks the entrance to Nikiski Middle/High School on Monday, May 16, 2022, in Nikiski, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Nikiski student arrested after school shooting threats

The juvenile student faces charges of terroristic threatening

Signage marks the entrance to Nikiski Middle/High School on Monday, May 16, 2022, in Nikiski, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Armageddon waits to be shown at the Kenai Peninsula District 4-H Agriculture Expo on Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Bjorkman farm tax relief bill clears Senate

The bill is now up for consideration in the House

Armageddon waits to be shown at the Kenai Peninsula District 4-H Agriculture Expo on Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Michael Jones, Louie Flora and Crystal Schwartz participate in a candidate forum for the Homer Electric Association Board of Directors hosted by KDLL 91.9 FM, KBBI AM 890 and the Peninsula Clarion at the Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, March 18, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

HEA board candidates talk renewables, gas shortage at Monday forum

Candidates running for seats on the Homer Electric Association Board of Directors gathered in the Soldotna Public Library on Monday for a forum during which… Continue reading

Michael Jones, Louie Flora and Crystal Schwartz participate in a candidate forum for the Homer Electric Association Board of Directors hosted by KDLL 91.9 FM, KBBI AM 890 and the Peninsula Clarion at the Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, March 18, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski Republican Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, right, speaks against the Alaska Legislature’s Monday failure to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a comprehensive education bill during a press conference on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)

‘The ball is now very clearly in their court’

Senate looks to House on next steps for education funding

Nikiski Republican Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, right, speaks against the Alaska Legislature’s Monday failure to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a comprehensive education bill during a press conference on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
Rep. Justin Ruffridge, a Soldotna Republican who co-chairs the House Education Committee, speaks in favor overriding a veto of Senate Bill 140 during floor debate of a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature on Monday. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)

By 1 vote, lawmakers sustain Dunleavy veto of education bill

The bipartisan bill included $680 increase to per-student funding

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, a Soldotna Republican who co-chairs the House Education Committee, speaks in favor overriding a veto of Senate Bill 140 during floor debate of a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature on Monday. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
Montessori materials sit on shelves in a classroom at Soldotna Montessori Charter School on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Education debate draws state attention to peninsula charter schools

Dunleavy would like to see a shift of authority over charter school approvals from local school districts to the state

Montessori materials sit on shelves in a classroom at Soldotna Montessori Charter School on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Flags flank the entrance to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office on Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Dunleavy vetoes bipartisan education bill

Senate Bill 140 passed the House by a vote of 38-2 and the Senate by a vote of 18-1 last month

Flags flank the entrance to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office on Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The Alaska State Capitol on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

House passes bill altering wording of sex crimes against children

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer

The Alaska State Capitol on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks in opposition to an executive order that would abolish the Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives during a joint legislative session on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Legislature kills most of Dunleavy’s executive orders in rare joint session

All the proposed orders would have shuffled or eliminated the responsibilities of various state boards

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks in opposition to an executive order that would abolish the Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives during a joint legislative session on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski Middle/High School student Maggie Grenier testifies in favor of a base student allocation increase before the Alaska Senate Education Committee on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Screenshot)

Students report mixed responses from lawmakers in education discussions

Delegates from the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District lobbied the Alaska Legislature for more state funding and other education priorities

Nikiski Middle/High School student Maggie Grenier testifies in favor of a base student allocation increase before the Alaska Senate Education Committee on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Screenshot)
A Bureau of Ocean Energy Management pamphlet rests on a desk in the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, March 11, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

BOEM Alaska office probes renewables development in Cook Inlet

National Renewable Energy Lab estimates that there are 18 gigawatts of tidal power in Cook Inlet

A Bureau of Ocean Energy Management pamphlet rests on a desk in the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, March 11, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)