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An orange-crowned warbler is one of the bird species that likes to nest in slash and wood piles. (Photo by Colin Canterbury/FWS)

Refuge Notebook: Nesting birds can use your help

Editor’s note: This article has been slightly updated from the original version that ran on April 22, 2022. Yes, it’s that time of year again,… Continue reading

An orange-crowned warbler is one of the bird species that likes to nest in slash and wood piles. (Photo by Colin Canterbury/FWS)
Snow falls on tire tracks and puddles of water in the mud outside the home of Jake Dye in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, April 13, 2023. (Photo courtesy Sarah McMinn)

Out of the Office: Bring on summer

Though it may not look like it outside right now — snow is falling outside the window as I write this — spring is certainly… Continue reading

Snow falls on tire tracks and puddles of water in the mud outside the home of Jake Dye in Soldotna, Alaska, on Thursday, April 13, 2023. (Photo courtesy Sarah McMinn)
Jesse Bjorkman (Courtesy)

Opinion: Our next big fight — The erosion of Alaska’s wildlife management authority

The National Park Service is targeting Alaska’s wildlife management practices on preserves

  • Apr 13, 2023
  • By Jesse Bjorkman
Jesse Bjorkman (Courtesy)
Promotional image for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” shows Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and other major characters. (Photo courtesy Universal Studios)

On the Screen: ‘Super Mario’ is shallow, but so much fun

It lovingly realizes iconic characters and imbues them with more character than they’ve ever enjoyed in their video game appearances

Promotional image for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” shows Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and other major characters. (Photo courtesy Universal Studios)
Josiah Burton portrays Sherlock Holmes during a rehearsal of “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” at Soldotna High School in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

The play is afoot

SoHi puts new twists on iconic characters in a Sherlock Holmes adventure

Josiah Burton portrays Sherlock Holmes during a rehearsal of “Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure” at Soldotna High School in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Hollandaise sauce is served on poached eggs. (Tressa Dale / Peninsula Clarion)

Hollandaise, 2nd time makes perfect

Notoriously finicky sauce can stump even practiced cooks

Hollandaise sauce is served on poached eggs. (Tressa Dale / Peninsula Clarion)
Seward Police Chief Bill Bagron puts his feet up contentedly after the arrest of all three suspects in the robbery of a Seward bank in August 1971. (Original photo from the Seward Phoenix Log)

Unfortunate Choices: 3 lives and a robbery gone awry, Part 1

Perhaps for the first time they were realizing that they had made a series of questionable decisions

Seward Police Chief Bill Bagron puts his feet up contentedly after the arrest of all three suspects in the robbery of a Seward bank in August 1971. (Original photo from the Seward Phoenix Log)
tease

Brown Bears clinch spot in playoffs

The Kenai River Brown Bears clinched a spot in the North American Hockey League playoffs with a 3-1 victory over the Anchorage Wolverines on Friday… Continue reading

tease
A moose cow and calf walking toward a wildlife crossing structure. (Photo by C. Canterbury/USFWS)

Refuge Notebook: New technology increases efficiency of refuge cameras

When you first become interested in the world of biology, wildlife biology in particular, you never picture yourself sitting at the computer. But the reality… Continue reading

A moose cow and calf walking toward a wildlife crossing structure. (Photo by C. Canterbury/USFWS)
A copy of Samanta Schweblin’s “Fever Dream” sits on a desk in the Peninsula Clarion building on Thursday, March 30, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Off the Shelf: Horror novella rethinks presentation of environmental disasters

“Fever Dream” begs the question of what is the most effective way to communicate the implications of environmental harm

A copy of Samanta Schweblin’s “Fever Dream” sits on a desk in the Peninsula Clarion building on Thursday, March 30, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
State Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski, inquires about election legislation during a committee hearing Tuesday at the Alaska State Capitol. Carpenter, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, is sponsoring bills to decrease business taxes and implement a 2% statewide sales tax that were heard. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Opinion: Proposal is a fiscal plan, but not a good one

The numbers don’t add up.

  • Apr 5, 2023
  • By Larry Persily
State Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski, inquires about election legislation during a committee hearing Tuesday at the Alaska State Capitol. Carpenter, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, is sponsoring bills to decrease business taxes and implement a 2% statewide sales tax that were heard. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Thai coconut red curry soup can be made as spicy or mild as you choose. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)

A punch of color to brighten gray spring days

When the gray starts to seep into my soul, I try to burn it out with spice

Thai coconut red curry soup can be made as spicy or mild as you choose. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
Nick Varney

Unhinged Alaska: The passing of March

I don’t know why her latest weather hysterics maxed me out on the Grouch Scale but it did.

Nick Varney
After 18 years at Leavenworth prison in Kansas, William Dempsey was returned to McNeil Island federal penitentiary in Washington in April 1939. He would escape from McNeil nine months later. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)

A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 9

On Jan. 30, 1940, nearly eight months later, Dempsey, while on a road gang in a heavy fog, slipped away from the work detail.

After 18 years at Leavenworth prison in Kansas, William Dempsey was returned to McNeil Island federal penitentiary in Washington in April 1939. He would escape from McNeil nine months later. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)
Snow falls on a fog-covered Beluga Lake on Thursday<ins>, March 30, 2023 in Homer, Alaska</ins>. (Photo by Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)

Out of the Office: Sometimes snow is not so bad

It’s nearly April, and with every two-or-more-day stretch of clear weather, I begin to hope that we’re done with the snow, that we’re a little… Continue reading

Snow falls on a fog-covered Beluga Lake on Thursday<ins>, March 30, 2023 in Homer, Alaska</ins>. (Photo by Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
John Messick’s “Compass Lines” is displayed at the Kenai Peninsula College Bookstore in Soldotna, Alaska on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Messick reflects on path forward in ‘Compass Lines’

“Compass Lines,” a new book by John Messick, a local writer and Assistant Professor of Writing at Kenai Peninsula College, is something he describes as… Continue reading

John Messick’s “Compass Lines” is displayed at the Kenai Peninsula College Bookstore in Soldotna, Alaska on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Keanu Reeves portrays John Wick in "John Wick: Chapter 4." (Photo courtesy Lionsgate)

On the Screen: ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ goes out on top

In the showstopping, approximately 40-minute long, third-act action sequence of “John Wick: Chapter 4,” star Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski prove — for the… Continue reading

Keanu Reeves portrays John Wick in "John Wick: Chapter 4." (Photo courtesy Lionsgate)
Will Morrow (courtesy)

Springing ahead

I’m not ready to spring ahead

Will Morrow (courtesy)
Murder suspect William Dempsey is pictured shortly after he was captured on the outskirts of Seward in early September 1919. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)

A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 8

Dempsey spent more than a decade attempting to persuade a judge to recommend him for executive clemency

Murder suspect William Dempsey is pictured shortly after he was captured on the outskirts of Seward in early September 1919. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)
The sun shines over Kachemak Bay on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, in Homer, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Out of the Office: Homer holiday

On one of the first sunny days this month, I decided to drive to Homer. There’s something about putting on sunglasses for the first time… Continue reading

The sun shines over Kachemak Bay on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, in Homer, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)