Megan Pacer

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

New record set for largest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases

141 new cases driven in part by seafood industry outbreaks

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Out of the Office: There and back again

Out of the Office: There and back again

In a recent display of tenacity, mediocre coordination skills and a deep love for the outdoors, some friends and I strapped on our packs for… Continue reading

Out of the Office: There and back again
The entrance to the Kenai Peninsula Borough building in Soldotna is seen here on June 1. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)

Borough assembly passes 2nd Amendment ‘sanctuary” ordinance

The measure affirms the assembly’s commitment to supporting citizen rights to keep and bear arms.

The entrance to the Kenai Peninsula Borough building in Soldotna is seen here on June 1. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Ninilchik Fire Chief David Bear moves the fire truck out of the new Ninilchik Emergency Services building on Aug. 9, 2014, to make room for visitors to the open house of the new NES building. (Homer News file photo)

Combined fire, EMS service area will go to the voters

The new entity would be called the Western Emergency Service Area.

Ninilchik Fire Chief David Bear moves the fire truck out of the new Ninilchik Emergency Services building on Aug. 9, 2014, to make room for visitors to the open house of the new NES building. (Homer News file photo)
COVID-19. (CDC)

57 new COVID-19 cases in Alaska, none on Kenai Peninsula

The state of Alaska reported 57 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday — 53 resident cases and four nonresident cases. The Kenai Peninsula, with 209… Continue reading

COVID-19. (CDC)
A sign announcing the closure of Kenai Peninsula Borough School District schools at K-Beach Elementary can be seen on March 26, 2020, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

School board to vote on 1st day for students

Smart Start plan for KPBSD will be sent to Department of Education by the end of this month

A sign announcing the closure of Kenai Peninsula Borough School District schools at K-Beach Elementary can be seen on March 26, 2020, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
The entrance to the Kenai Peninsula Borough building in Soldotna is seen here on June 1. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly overrides veto of hybrid election system

Members of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly voted to override a mayoral veto at their Tuesday meeting. The veto would have negated an ordinance the… Continue reading

The entrance to the Kenai Peninsula Borough building in Soldotna is seen here on June 1. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
COVID-19. (Image CDC)

10 new COVID-19 cases on the Kenai Peninsula

Statewide, 49 new cases in total were identified: 40 resident cases and nine nonresident cases.

COVID-19. (Image CDC)
photos by Megan Pacer / Homer News                                 A youth rider takes a turn riding a bull calf during the 60th annual Ninilchik Rodeo on Saturday, July 4 at the Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds in Ninilchik. The rodeo lasted throughout the July Fourth holiday and celebrated a return to the event’s roots.

Riding high in Ninilchik

Ninilchik Rodeo celebrates 60 years with events new and old.

photos by Megan Pacer / Homer News                                 A youth rider takes a turn riding a bull calf during the 60th annual Ninilchik Rodeo on Saturday, July 4 at the Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds in Ninilchik. The rodeo lasted throughout the July Fourth holiday and celebrated a return to the event’s roots.
A young volunteer chases three piglets named Mary Hamkins, Petunia and Sir Oinks-a-lot through a race during the pig races at the Kenai Peninsula Fair on Friday, Aug. 16, 2019 at the Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds in Ninilchik, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

Kenai Peninsula Fair canceled this year

Cotton candy, carnival rides and racing pigs will have to wait for another summer, according to the board of directors for the Kenai Peninsula Fair.… Continue reading

A young volunteer chases three piglets named Mary Hamkins, Petunia and Sir Oinks-a-lot through a race during the pig races at the Kenai Peninsula Fair on Friday, Aug. 16, 2019 at the Kenai Peninsula Fairgrounds in Ninilchik, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)
COVID-19. (Image CDC)

38 new resident COVID-19 cases seen

It was the largest single-day increase in new cases of COVID-19 among Alaska residents.

COVID-19. (Image CDC)
Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s chief medical officer, addresses reporters during a Wendesday, March 25, 2020 press conference in the Atwood Building in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Office of the Governor)

Dr. Anne Zink talks testing, travel screening with Homer council

Council members asked what more can be done to ensure communities are protected from the virus.

Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s chief medical officer, addresses reporters during a Wendesday, March 25, 2020 press conference in the Atwood Building in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Office of the Governor)
This 2020 electron microscope made available by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention image shows the spherical coronavirus particles from the first U.S. case of COVID-19. (C.S. Goldsmith, A. Tamin/CDC via AP)

COVID-19 cases rise on peninsula, elsewhere

The 20 new cases bring Alaska’s total number of COVID-19 cases among residents to 696

This 2020 electron microscope made available by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention image shows the spherical coronavirus particles from the first U.S. case of COVID-19. (C.S. Goldsmith, A. Tamin/CDC via AP)
COVID-19. (CDC)

Kenai Peninsula passes Fairbanks North Star Borough in COVID-19 case count

The state announced cases in Homer, Nikiski, Seward, Soldotna and an unidentified peninsula community.

COVID-19. (CDC)
A group of supporters, volunteers, and Alaska Department of Natural Resources staff celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kachemak Bay State Park during a small gathering Saturday, June 6, 2020 at the Homer Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

Kachemak Bay State Park gets belated 50th birthday party

Volunteers, supporters celebrate anniversary of Alaska’s first state park

A group of supporters, volunteers, and Alaska Department of Natural Resources staff celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kachemak Bay State Park during a small gathering Saturday, June 6, 2020 at the Homer Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)
Megan Pacer / Homer News                                 Staff from South Peninsula Hospital and Homer Public Health prepare to board the M/V Tustumena to test 35 crew and six passengers after it docked at the Homer Ferry Terminal on Monday, in Homer.

6 more Tustumena crew test positive for COVID-19

The 7 total employees will quarantine on the ship; all 6 passengers tested negative

Megan Pacer / Homer News                                 Staff from South Peninsula Hospital and Homer Public Health prepare to board the M/V Tustumena to test 35 crew and six passengers after it docked at the Homer Ferry Terminal on Monday, in Homer.
This undated file photo provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows CDC’s laboratory test kit for the new coronavirus. (CDC via AP, File)

State announces 11th death associated with COVID-19

DHSS updates the way cases are recorded for the Kenai Peninsula

This undated file photo provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows CDC’s laboratory test kit for the new coronavirus. (CDC via AP, File)
Staff from South Peninsula Hospital and Homer Public Health board the M/V Tustumena to test 35 crew members and six passengers Monday, at the Homer Ferry Terminal. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

Tustumena returns to Homer carrying COVID-19 positive crew member

6 passengers, remaining crew will all be tested and asked to quarantine

Staff from South Peninsula Hospital and Homer Public Health board the M/V Tustumena to test 35 crew members and six passengers Monday, at the Homer Ferry Terminal. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)
A wheelchair accessible path leads to the Russian River Falls on Sunday, May 24, 2020 in Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

Out of the Office: Trails that wind, hearts that find

As with a lot of things, Alaska has been lucky to be far removed and largely untouched by the disastrous health effects of the novel… Continue reading

A wheelchair accessible path leads to the Russian River Falls on Sunday, May 24, 2020 in Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)
In front and from left to right, Aaron Ford, Karianna Ford and Jenni Stowe hold signs at a protest on Sunday, May 30, 2020, at WKFL Park in Homer, Alaska, in support of people of color who have been the subject of police violence, including George Floyd, a man who died May 25, 2020, in a police encounter in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In addition to the “We (heart) our po po” sign — “po po” is slang for “police” — there also was a sign that read “Thank you HPD.” (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Homer residents organize multiple demonstrations on racial injustice

Gatherings, protests and demonstrations have been held in Alaska from Anchorage to Haines to Bethel.

In front and from left to right, Aaron Ford, Karianna Ford and Jenni Stowe hold signs at a protest on Sunday, May 30, 2020, at WKFL Park in Homer, Alaska, in support of people of color who have been the subject of police violence, including George Floyd, a man who died May 25, 2020, in a police encounter in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In addition to the “We (heart) our po po” sign — “po po” is slang for “police” — there also was a sign that read “Thank you HPD.” (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)