Ashlyn O'Hara

Voters fill out their ballots at the Challenger Learning Center in Kenai, Alaska on Election Day, Nov. 8, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Bjorkman leads local campaign finance pack, reports show

The reports, due Feb. 15 for candidates running for state office in 2024, offer a glimpse at the position from which candidates will start this election year

Voters fill out their ballots at the Challenger Learning Center in Kenai, Alaska on Election Day, Nov. 8, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion
Caitlin Babcock addresses students during Luke Herman’s government class at Soldotna High School on Feb. 8 in Soldotna.
Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion
Caitlin Babcock addresses students during Luke Herman’s government class at Soldotna High School on Feb. 8 in Soldotna.
Potholes are seen on Wildwood Drive on Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai plan maps out future city capital projects

The plan approved last week covers fiscal years 2025-2029

Potholes are seen on Wildwood Drive on Thursday, April 22, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Project designs show the location of the Soldotna Field House relative to the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. (Image via City of Soldotna)
Project designs show the location of the Soldotna Field House relative to the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. (Image via City of Soldotna)
A new sign welcoming people to the City of Soldotna stands near the intersection of the Sterling Highway and Kenai River on May 1, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna RV park residents, landlords reach confidential, out-of-court settlement

The settlement agreement is confidential, meaning neither the attorneys nor the parties can discuss the agreement or its terms

A new sign welcoming people to the City of Soldotna stands near the intersection of the Sterling Highway and Kenai River on May 1, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Signage marks a trailhead in Kachemak Bay State Park on Saturday, May 6, 2023, near Homer, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Halibut Cove lodge facing misdemeanor charge for illicit trail

The trail extends 785 feet south from the commercial property into the state park

Signage marks a trailhead in Kachemak Bay State Park on Saturday, May 6, 2023, near Homer, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kachemak Emergency Services logo.
Kachemak Emergency Services logo.
K-Beach Elementary can be seen on March 26, 2020, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna man arrested after alleged indecent exposure at K-Beach Elementary

The man was relieved of his duties, banned from all campuses and removed from the premises, police say

K-Beach Elementary can be seen on March 26, 2020, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
A copy of Jennifer Brice’s “Another North: Essays” rests on a desk inside the Peninsula Clarion offices on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024 in Kenai, AK. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Off the Shelf: Meditations on middle age

“Another North” shares lifetime of experiences through personal narratives

A copy of Jennifer Brice’s “Another North: Essays” rests on a desk inside the Peninsula Clarion offices on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024 in Kenai, AK. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Graduates wear decorated caps during Soldotna High School’s commencement ceremony on Monday, May 15, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Proposed KPBSD policy would limit adornment of student graduation regalia

With some exceptions, students would be expected to wear the attire customarily worn for the graduation ceremony at their school

Graduates wear decorated caps during Soldotna High School’s commencement ceremony on Monday, May 15, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Erosion of the Kenai bluff near the Kenai Senior Center. (Photo by Aidan Curtin courtesy Scott Curtin)

Kenai bluff project contract awarded

The project aims to stabilize roughly 5,000 feet of bluff on the north shore of the Kenai River

Erosion of the Kenai bluff near the Kenai Senior Center. (Photo by Aidan Curtin courtesy Scott Curtin)
KPBSD’s Balancing Act budget simulator homepage. (Screenshot)

‘You are in deficit’: New school district software lets users fill budget gaps

The software allows users to toggle between eliminating or preserving various items in the budget

KPBSD’s Balancing Act budget simulator homepage. (Screenshot)
Signs hang on the entryway wall at the Kenai Peninsula Education Association office in Soldotna, Alaska, in this Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, file photo. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Signs hang on the entryway wall at the Kenai Peninsula Education Association office in Soldotna, Alaska, in this Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, file photo. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Protest signs hang on the entryway wall at the Kenai Peninsula Education Association office on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Protest signs hang on the entryway wall at the Kenai Peninsula Education Association office on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
"The Boys" by Katie Hafner. (Photo via Amazon)

Off the Shelf: A quirky pandemic love story that hits close to home

Hafner portrays the toll forced isolation can take on the human psyche within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

"The Boys" by Katie Hafner. (Photo via Amazon)
Dawson Slaughter

Daniel withdraws, Slaughter’s in for House District 6 race

A torch is being passed in the race to represent the southern Kenai Peninsula in the Alaska House of Representatives. Michael Daniel, who last month… Continue reading

Dawson Slaughter
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)

Borough plans for 1,000-acre Cooper Landing property take shape

The borough-owned parcel will be bisected by the Cooper Landing Bypass Project

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)
Deena Bishop, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, testifies Saturday during a House Rules Committee meeting. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Peninsula residents weigh in on school funding debate

More than a dozen comments were made by residents of the Kenai Peninsula on S.B. 140

Deena Bishop, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, testifies Saturday during a House Rules Committee meeting. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Kenai Vice Mayor James Baisden, right, speaks in opposition to a resolution that would have voiced the City of Kenai’s support for a legislative increase in school district funding during a city council meeting on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai council OKs resolution backing assembly’s request for a bump to state funding for schools

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is facing a $13 million deficit for the upcoming fiscal year

Kenai Vice Mayor James Baisden, right, speaks in opposition to a resolution that would have voiced the City of Kenai’s support for a legislative increase in school district funding during a city council meeting on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A design of the proposed new Kenai Peninsula Borough logo (left) and the current borough logo (right). (Logos via Kenai Peninsula Borough)

Assembly OKs new borough logo

The new logo depicts trees silhouetted against mountains under the Big Dipper and North Star

A design of the proposed new Kenai Peninsula Borough logo (left) and the current borough logo (right). (Logos via Kenai Peninsula Borough)