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Republican Tara Sweeney, right, speaks Monday, May 16, 2022, at a forum in Juneau, Alaska, that was also attended by three other Republican candidates for Alaska’s U.S. House seat, including John Coghill, left. Sweeney and Coghill are among 48 candidates in a June 11 special primary for the House seat left vacant by the death earlier this year of Republican Rep. Don Young. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

Alaska’s unusual House primary draws Palin, Santa, 46 others

Many are relative unknowns or political novices

Republican Tara Sweeney, right, speaks Monday, May 16, 2022, at a forum in Juneau, Alaska, that was also attended by three other Republican candidates for Alaska’s U.S. House seat, including John Coghill, left. Sweeney and Coghill are among 48 candidates in a June 11 special primary for the House seat left vacant by the death earlier this year of Republican Rep. Don Young. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)
A woman visits a memorial honoring the victims killed in last week’s elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Friday, June 3, 2022. It’s hard to say exactly when some Texas educators began to feel like they were under siege, but the massacre of 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School is only the latest, horrific episode in a string of events dating back years. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Opinion: Gun violence and do-nothing Republicans

The crisis isn’t new.

A woman visits a memorial honoring the victims killed in last week’s elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Friday, June 3, 2022. It’s hard to say exactly when some Texas educators began to feel like they were under siege, but the massacre of 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School is only the latest, horrific episode in a string of events dating back years. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A classroom is seen at Kenai Middle School on Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Can public funds be used for private school classes? Education department isn’t sure

‘Any effort to divert public funds to private schools is a blatantly unconstitutional act’ says opponent to the practice

A classroom is seen at Kenai Middle School on Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
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Minister’s Message: Spring forth

The Bible talks about water springing forth

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Carl Marrs is CEO of Old Harbor Native Corp and the chairman for Alaskans for Common Sense. (Photo provided)

This year’s PFD is affordable, but it’s not sustainable

A good part of this year’s legislative session was spent deciding what to do with the surplus … spend it or save it?

Carl Marrs is CEO of Old Harbor Native Corp and the chairman for Alaskans for Common Sense. (Photo provided)
Residents line the Sterling Highway, in front of Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office to oppose the Pebble Mine on Wednesday, June 26, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

Activists: Pebble plan should be just a first step in protecting Bristol Bay

Additional protections could come through congressional action or conservation easements or similar land designations

Residents line the Sterling Highway, in front of Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office to oppose the Pebble Mine on Wednesday, June 26, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
Alaska Senate President Peter Micciche, left, and Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich, right, meet with reporters in Micciche’s office in the early morning hours of Thursday, May 19, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska, after the Legislature ended its regular session. Micciche, a Republican, said last month that he is not seeking reelection this year and Begich, a Democrat, announced Thursday, June, 2, 2022 that he is likely to withdraw his candidacy next week. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

Alaska Senate minority leader doesn’t plan to run this year

Ten Alaska state lawmakers do not plan to seek reelection this year

Alaska Senate President Peter Micciche, left, and Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich, right, meet with reporters in Micciche’s office in the early morning hours of Thursday, May 19, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska, after the Legislature ended its regular session. Micciche, a Republican, said last month that he is not seeking reelection this year and Begich, a Democrat, announced Thursday, June, 2, 2022 that he is likely to withdraw his candidacy next week. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)
A copy of the State of Alaska Official Ballot for the June 11, 2022, Special Primary Election is photographed on May 2, 2022. (Peninsula Clarion staff)

Voices of the Peninsula: In search of a witness

” … then I got to the part where it said I needed a witness to watch me sign my return envelope.”

A copy of the State of Alaska Official Ballot for the June 11, 2022, Special Primary Election is photographed on May 2, 2022. (Peninsula Clarion staff)
Red fox kits stand in the tall grass on St. Matthew Island in July of 2019. Alaska has recorded its first fox infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza, and the wildlife veterinarian with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says that young foxes and other young scavenging mammals are liley to be more susceptible to infections. (Photo by Rachel Richardson/USGS Alaska Science Center)

Red fox is 1st documented Alaska mammal infected with current strain of avian influenza

The infection was confirmed last week, according to state officials

Red fox kits stand in the tall grass on St. Matthew Island in July of 2019. Alaska has recorded its first fox infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza, and the wildlife veterinarian with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says that young foxes and other young scavenging mammals are liley to be more susceptible to infections. (Photo by Rachel Richardson/USGS Alaska Science Center)
Bill Ritter, former governor of Colorado and founder of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University, promotes bipartisanship in his opening address on May 24 at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Nonpartisan solutions promoted for energy and climate problems, but not everyone is on board

Splits along partisan lines and disagreements over natural gas emerge at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference

Bill Ritter, former governor of Colorado and founder of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University, promotes bipartisanship in his opening address on May 24 at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
This photo shows elections materials for Alaska’s 2022 special primary election. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

In-person voting begins for Alaska’s special primary election for US House

Forty-eight candidates are on the ballot for the special primary

This photo shows elections materials for Alaska’s 2022 special primary election. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
Homer Foundation

Point of View: Reflections on the Russia I know

My heart goes out to the people of both countries.

Homer Foundation
Anette Coggins poses for a photo in the Kigluaik Mountains north of Nome, Alaska. (Photo provided)

Point of View: The boldness of honesty

The phrase: “Family and friends smell like fish after three days” is not far from true

Anette Coggins poses for a photo in the Kigluaik Mountains north of Nome, Alaska. (Photo provided)
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks during an interview at the Juneau Empire on Monday, Feb. 18, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)

Honoring the fallen — and caring for veterans

Alaska has lost servicemembers in conflicts ranging from the Battle of Attu to the Global War on Terror

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks during an interview at the Juneau Empire on Monday, Feb. 18, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire File)
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Opinion: The dangerous combination of guns and conspiracies

The hatred that’s crept its way into American politics is new. The violence it’s spawned is newer yet.

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Mount Redoubt volcano can be seen across Cook Inlet from the shores of South Kenai Beach, in Kenai, Alaska, on April 10, 2022. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Cook Inlet basin energy future lies beyond fossil fuels, conference speakers say

The region that was once famous for oil is teeming with renewables like wind, solar, geothermal and tidal energy

Mount Redoubt volcano can be seen across Cook Inlet from the shores of South Kenai Beach, in Kenai, Alaska, on April 10, 2022. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Tony Izzo, CEO of Matansuka Electric Association, stands with other utility executives on May 25 to describe a $200 million project to upgrade transmission lines along Alaska’s Railbelt. The announcement was made at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference in Anchorage. Curtis Thayer, executive director of the Alaska Energy Authority, is at the far left; Gov. Mike Dunleavy is at the far right. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Utilities in Alaska’s Railbelt announce $200M transmission upgrade project

The upgrade will move more energy from the Bradley Lake Hydroelectric Plant on the Kenai Peninsula

Tony Izzo, CEO of Matansuka Electric Association, stands with other utility executives on May 25 to describe a $200 million project to upgrade transmission lines along Alaska’s Railbelt. The announcement was made at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference in Anchorage. Curtis Thayer, executive director of the Alaska Energy Authority, is at the far left; Gov. Mike Dunleavy is at the far right. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
This May 4, 2022, photo shows oceanographers Andrew McDonnell, left, and Claudine Hauri, middle, along with engineer Joran Kemme after an underwater glider was pulled aboard the University of Alaska Fairbanks research vessel Nanuq from the Gulf of Alaska. The glider was fitted with special sensors to study ocean acidification. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

An ocean first: Underwater drone tracks CO2 in Alaska gulf

The autonomous vehicle was deployed in the Gulf of Alaska

This May 4, 2022, photo shows oceanographers Andrew McDonnell, left, and Claudine Hauri, middle, along with engineer Joran Kemme after an underwater glider was pulled aboard the University of Alaska Fairbanks research vessel Nanuq from the Gulf of Alaska. The glider was fitted with special sensors to study ocean acidification. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
In this July 13, 2007, photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing restrictions that would hinder plans for a copper and gold mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. It is the latest in a long-running dispute over efforts by developers to advance a mine in a region known for its salmon runs. (AP Photo/Al Grillo, File)

Restrictions proposed in Pebble Mine fight

Critics of the project called the move an important step in a yearslong fight to stop the mine

In this July 13, 2007, photo, workers with the Pebble Mine project test drill in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, near the village of Iliamma. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing restrictions that would hinder plans for a copper and gold mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. It is the latest in a long-running dispute over efforts by developers to advance a mine in a region known for its salmon runs. (AP Photo/Al Grillo, File)
The Boney Courthouse in downtown Anchorage, across the street from the larger Nesbett Courthouse, holds the Alaska Supreme Court chambers. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska redistricting board picks new Senate map after Supreme Court finds a gerrymander

The board could continue work and possibly write a different map for the elections from 2024 onward

The Boney Courthouse in downtown Anchorage, across the street from the larger Nesbett Courthouse, holds the Alaska Supreme Court chambers. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)