Ben Boettger

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A bear skull cast in copper sits on a display shelf in the Kenai City Council meeting chambers on Wednesday, June 15. It was cast by welder and blacksmith Scott Hamann of Kenai's Metal Magic Foundry, who said "there's something about playing with molten metal that really gets me going." "The end product is interesting, and I like the end product, but to me it's more about the process. I like the melting of the metal, I love the actual doing of it just as much as the object I make. Hamann estimated it wieghs about 45 pounds.

Photo: Heavy Metal

Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion Correction: A photo captioned “Heavy Metal” in the Sunday, June 26 edition of the Clarion misidentified a metal-cast animal skull.… Continue reading

A bear skull cast in copper sits on a display shelf in the Kenai City Council meeting chambers on Wednesday, June 15. It was cast by welder and blacksmith Scott Hamann of Kenai's Metal Magic Foundry, who said "there's something about playing with molten metal that really gets me going." "The end product is interesting, and I like the end product, but to me it's more about the process. I like the melting of the metal, I love the actual doing of it just as much as the object I make. Hamann estimated it wieghs about 45 pounds.
Members of the Moose Horn Amateur Radio club raise a portable antennae tower during ham Radio Feild Day on Saturday, June 25, 2016 at Skyview Middle School in Soldotna, Alaska. Members of the club spent 24 hours working two transmitters from their trailer in the Skyview parking lot in a nation-wide competition to make the greatest number of contacts with other amateur radio operators.

The spirit of radio

About a dozen people spent the better part of their weekend in the parking lot of Skyview Middle School in one of two trailers belonging… Continue reading

Members of the Moose Horn Amateur Radio club raise a portable antennae tower during ham Radio Feild Day on Saturday, June 25, 2016 at Skyview Middle School in Soldotna, Alaska. Members of the club spent 24 hours working two transmitters from their trailer in the Skyview parking lot in a nation-wide competition to make the greatest number of contacts with other amateur radio operators.

Approved by borough, peninsula marijuana growers now in final permitting stretch

After the state issued its first marijuana growing permits on June 9 and 10, nine local cultivators were approved by the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly… Continue reading

Kenai donates land for senior and low-income housing

The Kenai City Council donated land at its Wednesday meeting for the housing group Kenai Housing Initiative to build two housing complexes — one for… Continue reading

Photo by Ben Boetgger/Peninsula Clarion Kenai Mayor Pat Porter listens as Kenai City Manager Rick Koch reads a letter of resignation at a Kenai City Council meeting Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at City Hall Council Chambers in Kenai, Alaska.

Kenai manager Rick Koch resigns

Kenai City Manager Rick Koch, who has overseen the city’s administration since 2006, plans to resign effective the end of this year. He read a… Continue reading

Photo by Ben Boetgger/Peninsula Clarion Kenai Mayor Pat Porter listens as Kenai City Manager Rick Koch reads a letter of resignation at a Kenai City Council meeting Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at City Hall Council Chambers in Kenai, Alaska.
Michael Dominic pours two glasses of pink lemonade for a customer at his stand outside Charlotte's Cafe on Saturday, June 11 in Kenai.

Area kids thirsty for profit on Lemonade Day

Several local kids and teens went into business on Saturday, taking their seats behind a venerable symbol of young capitalistic gumption, the lemonade stand. Lemonade… Continue reading

Michael Dominic pours two glasses of pink lemonade for a customer at his stand outside Charlotte's Cafe on Saturday, June 11 in Kenai.
Kenai resident Bob Macintosh looks into the cockpit of an autogyro, an experimental aircraft owned by Ian Reid of Homer during the Kenai Air Fair on Saturday, June 11 at the Kenai Airport.

Kenai Peninsula Air Fair flies through town

The Kenai and Soldotna airports partnered to host the 16th annual Kenai Peninsula Air Fair on Saturday. Following a breakfast and poker run at the… Continue reading

Kenai resident Bob Macintosh looks into the cockpit of an autogyro, an experimental aircraft owned by Ian Reid of Homer during the Kenai Air Fair on Saturday, June 11 at the Kenai Airport.
Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion A stream of water from a Nikiski fire engine dowses the remains of a burnt cabin in the McGahan Ridge neighborhood on Wednesday, June 8 in Nikiski.. The cabin was unoccupied at the time of the fire and there were no injuries.

Fire destroys Nikiski cabin

Editor's note: this story has been changed to remove a contested statement about the time of the cabin's construction. A cabin in Nikiski was destroyed… Continue reading

Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion A stream of water from a Nikiski fire engine dowses the remains of a burnt cabin in the McGahan Ridge neighborhood on Wednesday, June 8 in Nikiski.. The cabin was unoccupied at the time of the fire and there were no injuries.
Louise Nutter works on an octopus-ink painting on Wednesday, June 1 at her home in Nikiski. The tentacles are printed from those of an octopus Nutter captured in a shrimp trap in Prince William Sound.

Oil paintings in acrylic, octopi in ink

On a clear day, Louise Nutter can see 10 of Cook Inlet’s oil and gas platforms from the deck of her house in Nikiski. Hilcorp’s… Continue reading

Louise Nutter works on an octopus-ink painting on Wednesday, June 1 at her home in Nikiski. The tentacles are printed from those of an octopus Nutter captured in a shrimp trap in Prince William Sound.

Kenai passes budget

Kenai will enter fiscal year 2017 — starting July 1, 2016 — with a $15,419,980 budget. The Kenai city council unanimously passed the budget at… Continue reading

Kenai Peninsula Borough to consider tax revisions

This summer, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly will consider a trio of tax changes introduced by Borough Mayor Mike Navarre — one that would double… Continue reading

Kenai P&Z pushes comprehensive plan forward

After the City of Kenai hosted a series of town hall-style meetings on its comprehensive plan update, Kenai’s Planning and Zoning Commission discussed a partial… Continue reading

State request seeks study on youth detention privatization

Alaska’s Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) is seeking contractors to study the feasibility of privatizing four of the department’s juvenile detention facilities, including… Continue reading

Kenai airport rezoned

Kenai’s airport land belongs to a new zone — the airport light industrial zone, designated for airport-related uses such as hangars, aircraft sales and repair… Continue reading

Kenai to decide housing disagreement

Members of the Kenai City Council will decide a dispute over a proposed housing development in Kenai’s Thompson Park subdivision. A March 23 meeting of… Continue reading

Medicaid claim payments delayed

Editor's note: This story has been changed to correct the title of Central Peninsula Hospital Director of External Affairs and Marketing Bruce Richards. The Alaska… Continue reading

Shane Hawkins tricycles toward the turn-around point of the Special Olympics Torch run on Saturday, May 21 near the intersection of North Willow Street and Marathon Road in Kenai. Participants in the annual fundraising event ran, walked, rollerbladed, or rode to the turn-around and back from Kenai's park strip at First Street and Main Street Loop.

Riders in the storm

… Continue reading

Shane Hawkins tricycles toward the turn-around point of the Special Olympics Torch run on Saturday, May 21 near the intersection of North Willow Street and Marathon Road in Kenai. Participants in the annual fundraising event ran, walked, rollerbladed, or rode to the turn-around and back from Kenai's park strip at First Street and Main Street Loop.

Kenai to consider land donation for low-income, senior housing

The Kenai city council took a step toward donating two parcels of city-owned land to not-for-profit housing developer Kenai Peninsula Housing Initiative (KPHI), which seeks… Continue reading

Two travelers follow birds to Kenai Peninsula

This time of year, migratory birds are following the Pacific Flyway up to breeding grounds in Alaska — some, such as Arctic Terns, from beyond… Continue reading

Jars of pickled fiddlehead fern (left) and fireweed are displayed at a Kenaitze Tribe edible plant workshop on Wed. May 18 at the Dena'ina Wellness Center in Kenai. In traditional Dena'ina culture, fiddleheads were eaten raw, boiled, or roasted as a source of vitamin C. Fireweed sprouts were eaten in the spring.

Local native plants have vitamins, nutrients to make a body healthy

Spring is a good time to start eating plants, according to Dena’ina Wellness Center traditional healer Estelle Thomson. “All the things that are in those… Continue reading

Jars of pickled fiddlehead fern (left) and fireweed are displayed at a Kenaitze Tribe edible plant workshop on Wed. May 18 at the Dena'ina Wellness Center in Kenai. In traditional Dena'ina culture, fiddleheads were eaten raw, boiled, or roasted as a source of vitamin C. Fireweed sprouts were eaten in the spring.