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Trees with fall colors populate the Shqui Tsatnu Creek gully as seen from Fourth Avenue on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Kenai to use $770k in grants to remove hazard trees along Shqui Tsatnu Creek

The money will be used to mitigate hazards caused by dead and dying spruce trees over more than…

Damage from the remnants of typhoon Merbok can be seen in Golovin, Alaska, on Sept. 20, 2022. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has requested a federal disaster declaration for areas in western Alaska affected by the storm. (Photo by Jeremy Cubas/Office of the Governor) Damage from the remnants of typhoon Merbok can be seen in Golovin, Alaska, on Sept. 20, 2022. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has requested a federal disaster declaration for areas in western Alaska affected by the storm. (Photo by Jeremy Cubas/Office of the Governor)

News

Repair work begins in some Alaska towns slammed by storm

About 21,000 people living along a 1,000-mile stretch of Alaska’s western coast were affected by the storm

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire On Thursday morning at what police described as an active crime scene, JPD Officer Austin Thomas and Officer Taylor Davis walk the fielded area which was blocked off by crime scene tape. Multiple tents and a police vehicle sat in the field where the tape surrounded, another police vehicle sat in a dirt parking area.

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No arrests made as Juneau death investigation continues

Shortly before 4 p.m. Wednesday that a woman’s body was found

Leaves fall at the Kenai Senior Center on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Kenai Senior Center makes plans for $715,000 endowment

The money comes from the Tamara Diane Cone Testamentary Trust

Triumvirate Theatre is seen on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021, in Nikiski, Alaska. The building burned in a fire on Feb. 20 of that year. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Kenai council gives Triumvirate more time to build theater

The Kenai City Council voted last summer to conditionally donate a 2-acre parcel of city land near Daubenspeck…

A “Vote Here” sign is seen outside of the City of Kenai Building on Monday, Sept. 21, 2020, in Kenai, Alaska.

News

Assembly considers dates for special mayoral election

Outgoing Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce announced last month that he would be stepping down effective Sept. 30

Camille Broussard testifies in support of an advisory planning commission in Nikiski during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Assembly approves advisory planning commission for Nikiski

The commission area as petitioned and approved covers just over 3.5 million acres

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

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Hospitalizations down; state to discontinue weekly COVID summaries

COVID-19 summary information will continue to be included in the Alaska COVID-19 and Influenza Weekly Case Update

AP Photo / Evan Vucci President Joe Biden speaks about student loan debt forgiveness in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022, in Washington. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona listens at right.

News

White House estimates over 60K Alaskans to benefit from student loan forgiveness plan

The state adds a small portion to the estimated 40M borrowers eligible for relief across the country

(From left) Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education candidates Patti Truesdell, Virgil Gattenby, Virginia Morgan, Ryan Culbertson and Zen Kelly participate in a candidate forum at the Soldotna Public Library on Monday, Sept. 20, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

School board hopefuls talk education at forum

Among topics discussed include bond proposition, teacher retention and federal funding

Landslide debris surrounds part of Lowell Point Road on Friday, June 3, 2022, in Seward, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Feds, state to reimburse borough for Lowell Point landslide response

The borough assembly voted Tuesday to accept the funds

Former Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho displays a slide showing some of the arguments being made for voting in favor of a state constitutional convention in the November general election while explaining the reasons he opposes such a convention during a lecture Tuesday at the Walter Soboleff Building. He said voters have rejected a convention by large margins almost every time it has come up every ten years since statehood, but a current mood of higher political distrust in government nationwide means there appears to be a higher likelihood of passage this year. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Presentation details cons of constitutional convention

Yes-vote rallies seek end to PFD “political football” as Southeast leaders warn of regional harm

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire Kelsey Martin asks about the status of her son’s Permanent Fund Dividend check after arriving first at Juneau’s PFD office in the State Office Building on Tuesday, the first day direct deposit payments of the $3,284 dividends are being credited. Eligible residents who did not receive direct deposits will be paid by checks that will be mailed starting Oct. 6.

News

$3,284 payments make their way to many residents

Others arrive at PFD office bright and early with questions.

Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel prepares to spin one of the wheels that determine the magic weight at the closing ceremony of the Kenai Silver Salmon Derby on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Silver Salmon Derby winners announced

5-year-old hits magic weight

In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, an aerial view taken during a search and rescue and damage assessment in Deering, Alaska, shows the damage caused by Typhoon Merbok, on Sept. 18, 2022. Authorities are making contact with some of the most remote villages in the United States to determine the need for food and water and assess damage from a massive weekend storm that flooded communities dotting Alaska’s vast western coast. (Petty Officer 3rd Class Ian Gray/U.S. Coast Guard via AP)

News

Damage assessments begin in flooded remote Alaska villages

No one has been reported injured or killed during the massive storm

Soldotna Director of Economic Development John Czarnezki, right, presents proposed changes to city code relating to accessory dwelling units during a work session on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Council to consider accessory dwellings in Soldotna

The subordinate, detached units would have to provide “basic requirements” for living, sleeping, cooking and sanitation

Registered pharmacist Sapana Patel holds a bottle of Monkeypox vaccine at a Pop-Up Monkeypox vaccination site on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022, in West Hollywood, Calif. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

News

State expands monkeypox vaccine eligibility

More than 450 first doses of the vaccine have been administered in Alaska as of Monday

Nicole Schmitt (in yellow), director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, points out belugas for attendees of Belugas Count! on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Belugas make a splash at annual count

The belugas were close enough that they could be spotted even without using cameras or binoculars

Seadrone photo showing stone fish trap found in Shakan Bay on the west side of Prince of Wales could potentially be oldest ever found in the world. The structure was first discovered in 2010 and officially confirmed as a stone weir earlier this year. (Courtesy Photo / Sealaska Heritage)

News

Ancient weir sheds new light on Alaska Native history

Stone fish trap dates to at least 11,100 years ago, according to scientists.

Rep. Mary Peltola is followed by her staff and members of the media at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Monday, a day before she was sworn in after winning Alaska’s special election in August. As as result of her win she has since far outraised the two Republican challengers she will again face in the November general election. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)

News

Peltola nets huge financial catch

Filings show $1.5M raised for most recent period , Palin $250K, Begich $118K