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Graduates laugh during teacher Jesse Bjorkman’s 2022 commencement address at Nikiski Middle/High School on Monday, May 16, 2022 in Nikiski, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Nikiski Middle/High School graduates 31 students

The commencement ceremony was held Monday in the school gym

Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, chair of the bicameral conference committee tasked with hammering out differences in the state’s budget bill, signs the committee report as members finished their work on Tuesday, May 17, 2022. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire

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Committee compromises on PFD in budget plan

Members of the conference committee agreed Tuesday to a payment of about $3,800

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Senate effectively kills restrictive transgender sports bill

Bipartisan group of senators votes to table controversial bill

Kenai Finance Director Terry Eubank, left, and Kenai City Manager Paul Ostrander present during a budget work session on Saturday, May 14, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Flat mill rate, sales tax included in Kenai budget proposal

The budget proposal is subject to final approval by the Kenai City Council

This screenshot shows a map of new Anchorage state senate districts ordered to be put in place by a state Superior Court Judge on Monday, May 16, 2022. (Alaska Redistricting Board screenshot/via Alaska Beacon)

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Alaska’s redistricting board again gerrymandered map to benefit Republicans, judge rules

The decision will be appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court

Former Alaska governor and current congressional hopeful Sarah Palin speaks with attendees at a meet-and-greet event outside of Ginger’s Restaurant on Saturday, May 14, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Palin brings congressional bid to Soldotna

The former governor took time Saturday to sign autographs and take pictures with attendees

One tree stands in front of the Kenai Post Office on Thursday, May 12, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Kenai taking down hazard beetle trees

The city hopes to leverage grant funds for most of the work

Peter Segall / Juneau Empire Candidate for Alaska’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives Tara Sweeney, a Republican, was in Juneau on Monday and sat down with the Empire for an interview. Sweeney said the three main pillars of her campaign are the economy, jobs and healthy communities.

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Sweeney cites experience in run for Congress

GOP candidate touts her history of government-related work

In this October 2019 photo, Zac Watt, beertender for Forbidden Peak Brewery, pours a beer during the grand opening for the Auke Bay business in October 2019. On Sunday, the Alaska House of Representatives OK’d a major update to the state’s alcohol laws. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

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House approves major update to state alcohol laws, including changes for breweries

“A lot of the controversy … has been resolved.”

Peter Segall / Juneau Empire Members of the Alaska House of Representatives on Saturday rejected the budget bill passed by the Senate earlier in the week. The bill will now go to a bicameral committee for negotiations, but the end of the legislative session is Wednesday.

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House votes down Senate’s budget as end of session nears

State budget now goes to negotiating committee

Capt. Corey Wheeler, front, commander of B Company, 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, walks away from a Chinook helicopter that landed on the glacier near Denali, April 24, 2016, on the Kahiltna Glacier in Alaska. The U.S. Army helped set up base camp on North America’s tallest mountain. The U.S. Army is poised to revamp its forces in Alaska to better prepare for future cold-weather conflicts, and it is expected to replace the larger, heavily equipped Stryker Brigade there with a more mobile, infantry unit better suited for the frigid fight, according to Army leaders. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

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Army poised to revamp Alaska forces to prep for Arctic fight

The U.S. has long viewed the Arctic as a growing area of competition with Russia and China

Peter Segall / Juneau Empire Alaskans for Better Government members La quen náay Liz Medicine Crow, Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson and ‘Wáahlaal Gidáak Barbara Blake embrace on the floor of the Alaska State Senate following the passage of House Bill 123, a bill to formally recognize the state’s 229 federally recognized tribes.

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Tribal recognition bill clears Senate, nears finish line

Senators say recognition of tribes was overdue

Peter Segall / Juneau Empire Members of the House Majority Coalition spent most of Friday, May 13, 2022, in caucus meetings at the Alaska State Capitol, discussing how to proceed with a large budget bill some have called irresponsible. With a thin majority in the House of Representatives, there’s a possibility the budget could pass.

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State budget work stretches into weekend

Sessions have been delayed and canceled since Wednesday

Graphic by Ashlyn O'Hara

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Borough, school district finalizing $65M bond package

Efforts to fund maintenance and repairs at school district facilities have been years in the making

A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)

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Emergency orders, fishing conditions updated

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Sport Fish released a Northern Kenai fishing report Friday

In this September 2017 file photo from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, beluga whales arch their backs through the surface of the water. Of Alaska’s five distinct beluga whale populations, only Cook Inlet’s is listed as endangered. (Courtesy the Alaska Department of Fish and Game)

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Celebrate belugas with virtual programming next week

The three-day event will include conferences and activities

The Alaska Division of Forestry’s White Mountain crew responds to a fire burning near Milepost 46.5 of the Sterling Highway on Tuesday, May 10, 2022, near Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Cooper Landing Emergency Services)

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Officials encourage residents to firewise homes

The central peninsula has already had its first reported fires of the season

Water and debris cover the Sterling Highway near Cooper Landing on Thursday, May 12, 2022 near Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)

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One lane of traffic open near Cooper Landing after Sterling Highway landslide

The landslide is the fourth environmental incident to strike the Kenai Peninsula this week

A floor session of the Alaska House of Representatives was delayed Thursday, May 12, 2022, as lawmakers discussed in private how to move forward with a packed budget bill passed by the Alaska Senate. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

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With thin margins in the House, floor debate is delayed

Delayed to the call.

Informatin about Cook Inletkeeper is displayed next to artwork for sale as part of the "ART Sale 258" at the Cook Inletkeeper Community Action Studio on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Biden admin cancels Cook Inlet lease sale

The lease sale would have opened more than 1 million acres of Cook Inlet to oil and gas…