Ashlyn O'Hara

Hoses pump water along Patrick Dr. to help mitigate flooding near Kalifornsky Beach Road on Friday, July 21, 2023, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly to consider expedited request for K-Beach water study funding

The legislation would pay for a professional engineering or hydrology service for the study of a long-term solution

Hoses pump water along Patrick Dr. to help mitigate flooding near Kalifornsky Beach Road on Friday, July 21, 2023, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Sample ballots are displayed ahead of the Oct. 4 municipal election at an absentee in-person polling place in Kenai City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Sample ballots are displayed ahead of the Oct. 4 municipal election at an absentee in-person polling place in Kenai City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The Soldotna Landfill is seen on June 27, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion file)
The Soldotna Landfill is seen on June 27, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion file)
A map shows the Seward Highway MP 17-22.5 Rehabilitation Project area.(Screenshot)

Seward Highway blasting closures to start earlier in day

The blasting work being done is part of the Seward Milepost 17-22.5 Rehabilitation Project

A map shows the Seward Highway MP 17-22.5 Rehabilitation Project area.(Screenshot)
Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank, right, and Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, left, present the annual “State of the City” address at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank, right, and Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, left, present the annual “State of the City” address at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A spruce bark beetle is seen on the underside of a piece of bark taken from logs stacked near Central Peninsula Landfill on Thursday, July 1, 2021, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Borough gets $1.5 million to fell beetle-killed trees along roads

The assembly will decide next Tuesday whether or not to accept that money

A spruce bark beetle is seen on the underside of a piece of bark taken from logs stacked near Central Peninsula Landfill on Thursday, July 1, 2021, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
From left: Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education members Jason Tauriainen, Matt Morse, Virginia Morgan and Beverley Romanin participate in a board meeting on Monday, July 10, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

School board revises policy for challenging instructional materials

The revisions newly limit the number of instructional items that a person can challenge at any given time to one

From left: Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education members Jason Tauriainen, Matt Morse, Virginia Morgan and Beverley Romanin participate in a board meeting on Monday, July 10, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai City Hall on Feb. 20, 2020, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai to replace culvert obstructing baby salmon

The ordinance designates $30,000 for the project

Kenai City Hall on Feb. 20, 2020, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
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)
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)
Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion
A copy of “Swallowed by the Great Land” sits on a desk in the Peninsula Clarion offices on Thursday in Kenai.

Off the Shelf: Kantner offers a slice of the Arctic way of life

Seth Kantner’s “Swallowed by the Great Land” shows a reverence for his community

Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion
A copy of “Swallowed by the Great Land” sits on a desk in the Peninsula Clarion offices on Thursday in Kenai.
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)
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski attends a joint Soldotna and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Luncheon on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Murkowski talks LNG, local projects in Soldotna

Murkowski caught up the Clarion on oil and gas resources and what it looks like to collaborate with local government to get things done

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski attends a joint Soldotna and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Luncheon on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Contractors for the Kenai Peninsula Borough install a culvert at the intersection of Patrick Dr. and Bjerke St. to mitigate flooding off of Kalifornsky Beach Rd. on Friday, July 21, 2023 near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

‘This is our home’

K-Beach residents battle floodwaters 10 years after last flood disaster

Contractors for the Kenai Peninsula Borough install a culvert at the intersection of Patrick Dr. and Bjerke St. to mitigate flooding off of Kalifornsky Beach Rd. on Friday, July 21, 2023 near Kenai, 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)
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)
Hikers walk around the base of Byron Glacier on Sunday, June 18, 2023 near Girdwood, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Out of the Office: Surveying the Chugach

The longer I live in Alaska, the more I worry that I’m taking it for granted. Like a lot of transplants, I spent the first… Continue reading

Hikers walk around the base of Byron Glacier on Sunday, June 18, 2023 near Girdwood, 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)