Ben Boettger

School board to examine health care costs

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education will take a look at the district’s rising spending on employee health care through an advisory… Continue reading

Vendors, swamped boats, drop-off fee discussed at Kenai dipnet meeting

Editor's note: This story has been changed to show that Glenn Arundell did not himself propose a 50 horsepower motor limit on dipnetting boats to… Continue reading

Kenai students preparing spaghetti feed

Those hungry for spaghetti this weekend will be able to satisfy themselves in the name of charity at the Kenai Central High School leadership class’s… Continue reading

Seward Elementary teacher Jason Leslie counts students before crossing a creek to Manitoba cabin during a field trip on Tuesday, Nov. 11 near the Seward Highway.

Seward class tries gold panning

Manitoba cabin sits on a wooded hill overlooking a creek about three quarters of a mile from the Seward Highway. For much of the winter… Continue reading

Seward Elementary teacher Jason Leslie counts students before crossing a creek to Manitoba cabin during a field trip on Tuesday, Nov. 11 near the Seward Highway.

Study aims to help small farmers sell bigger

How does food grown by farmers on the Kenai Peninsula find its way into residents’ mouths — and how much, in what varieties, and for… Continue reading

Cellist and pianist to play concert

Like chocolate and peanut butter, cello and piano are two great tastes that perfectly complement together. Composers have thought so for centuries, and this Saturday… Continue reading

Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion Local U.S Army veterans stand during a recitation of the Army's Soldier's Creed during a Veteran's Day Ceremony at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Friday, Nov. 11 2016 in Soldotna, Alaska.

Veterans’ actions, stories celebrated

Speaking at Friday’s Veterans Day ceremony, Colonel James “Doc” Halliday asked his audience to recognize veterans not only with words of thanks, but by listening.… Continue reading

Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion Local U.S Army veterans stand during a recitation of the Army's Soldier's Creed during a Veteran's Day Ceremony at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Friday, Nov. 11 2016 in Soldotna, Alaska.

District begins school budgeting with Oct. count

The Kenai Peninsula School District starts calculating its future budget by calculating its future students. At a work session prior to Monday’s Board of Education… Continue reading

Kenai Peninsula Board of Education approves employee contracts

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Board of Education approved agreements with its employee associations at its Monday meeting, finishing the approximately 18-month long negotiation between the… Continue reading

Kenai Peninsula Board of Education approves employee agreements

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Board of Education approved agreements with its employee associations at its meeting Monday, finishing the approximately 18-month long negotiation between the… Continue reading

Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion A new drainage outlet holds the Kenai Municipal Airport floatplane pond to its winter level of about 4 feet on Thursday, Nov. 3 in Kenai, Alaska. When filled to its summer level, the upper grate, surrounded by a ring-shaped barrier, will prevent it from overflowing.

Kenai airport finishes 2016 work with floatplane pond drainage, sinkhole filling

After a summer spent holding visiting floatplanes from around the state, the Kenai Municipal Airport’s floatplane pond is now a landing site for small groups… Continue reading

Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion A new drainage outlet holds the Kenai Municipal Airport floatplane pond to its winter level of about 4 feet on Thursday, Nov. 3 in Kenai, Alaska. When filled to its summer level, the upper grate, surrounded by a ring-shaped barrier, will prevent it from overflowing.

J.R. Myers runs State House race as conservative

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct a spelling error. J.R. Myers, a behavioral health consultant for the Kenaitze Indian Tribe, is running… Continue reading

Chenault runs against write-in candidate Pedro Fernandez

Republican Mike Chenault is running for his eighth term as the Alaska State House Representative for the northern Kenai Peninsula, opposed by a write-in campaign… Continue reading

Mountain goat hunting season extended on parts of Kenai Peninsula

On Tuesday the Alaska Department of Fish and Game opened the south side of Kachemak Bay to a late season mountain goat hunt until Nov.… Continue reading

Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion A dancer from Peninsula Artists in Motion, a central Kenai Peninsula dance group, rehearses Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016 at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. The group will perform Friday, Nov. 4, 2016 at the high school at 7 p.m. to mark its 15th anniversary.

Peninsula Artists in Motion return to stage

This weekend’s performance by the dance troupe Peninsula Artists in Motion mark both the group’s 15th year of existence and a return to the large… Continue reading

Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion A dancer from Peninsula Artists in Motion, a central Kenai Peninsula dance group, rehearses Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016 at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. The group will perform Friday, Nov. 4, 2016 at the high school at 7 p.m. to mark its 15th anniversary.
Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion An F-22 Raptor fighter jet takes off from the Kenai airport on Friday, Oct. 28, 2016.

Fighter planes land at Kenai Airport

A pair of F-22 “Raptor” fighter jets — from the U.S. Air Force’s 525 squadron and the Air Force Reserve’s 302nd squadron, both based at… Continue reading

Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion An F-22 Raptor fighter jet takes off from the Kenai airport on Friday, Oct. 28, 2016.
Kenai to negiotiate city manager contract with Paul Ostrander

Kenai to negiotiate city manager contract with Paul Ostrander

Kenai city council members decided Tuesday to negotiate an employment contract with Paul Ostrander, presently chief of staff to Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre,… Continue reading

Kenai to negiotiate city manager contract with Paul Ostrander
Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion January's Iniskin earthquake, a 7.1-magnitude quake, damaged the Kenai City Dock, pictured Monday, Oct. 24, 2016 in Kenai, Alaska. The Kenai City Council passed an ordinance in September authorizing the city administration to spend $35,000 to study the engineering required to repair it.

Kenai dock to have minor repairs

In addition to a gasline rupture and subsequent explosions on Kenai’s Lilac Lane, the 7.1-magnitude Iniskin earthquake that hit the Cook Inlet region on Jan.… Continue reading

Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion January's Iniskin earthquake, a 7.1-magnitude quake, damaged the Kenai City Dock, pictured Monday, Oct. 24, 2016 in Kenai, Alaska. The Kenai City Council passed an ordinance in September authorizing the city administration to spend $35,000 to study the engineering required to repair it.

Kenai could consider legislative funding priorities

Kenai City Council members discussed Wednesday what projects they will request state money for in the coming year, or if they will make formal requests… Continue reading

Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion Two of the five large-format books in the Soldotna's Joyce K. Caver Memorial Library's new collection of photo-books by local artists are shown on Wednesday, Oct. 19 in the Soldotna library. The five books presently in the collection - two featuring lithographs by Jim Evenson and three of photography by Joe Kashi - haven't yet been cataloged and shelved. Kashi, director of arts nonprofit ARTSpace, hopes local artists will contribute books to expand the collection by attending an art reproduction training session he's hosting at the Soldotna Library on Saturday.

ARTSpace project at Soldotna library aims to preserve local art

When a Kenai Peninsula artist finishes a piece, the work may hang for a few months on the walls of a local shop or gallery.… Continue reading

Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion Two of the five large-format books in the Soldotna's Joyce K. Caver Memorial Library's new collection of photo-books by local artists are shown on Wednesday, Oct. 19 in the Soldotna library. The five books presently in the collection - two featuring lithographs by Jim Evenson and three of photography by Joe Kashi - haven't yet been cataloged and shelved. Kashi, director of arts nonprofit ARTSpace, hopes local artists will contribute books to expand the collection by attending an art reproduction training session he's hosting at the Soldotna Library on Saturday.