A sign instructing patients and visitors on COVID-19 screening process is seen in the River Tower of Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, Alaska, on April 7, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)

‘Controlled chaos’

Health workers approach 18 months caring for COVID patients — and they’re tired.

A sign instructing patients and visitors on COVID-19 screening process is seen in the River Tower of Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, Alaska, on April 7, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion file)
Alaska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink answers questions from members of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

State, hospital officials brief assembly on COVID

“The hospital has been over capacity for basically the month of August,” an official said.

Alaska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink answers questions from members of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Carmen's Gelato is full of customers before their closing on Labor Day. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)

Successful tourist season leaves businesses in need of rest

Homer Spit businesses close down after the Labor Day weekend.

Carmen's Gelato is full of customers before their closing on Labor Day. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)
This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus. (CDC)

6 new deaths, 841 cases reported statewide

The peninsula continues to lag behind most other regions in percentage of fully vaccinated.

This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus. (CDC)
An Alaska State Trooper reaches for a grenade on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021 near Soldotna, Alaska. The grenade was found by 13-year-old Edith Watts on the family property in Ridgeway. Troopers and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company responded to the scene. (Photo by Edith Watts)

13-year-old finds grenade on Ridgeway property

Alaskas State Troopers and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company responded to the scene.

An Alaska State Trooper reaches for a grenade on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021 near Soldotna, Alaska. The grenade was found by 13-year-old Edith Watts on the family property in Ridgeway. Troopers and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company responded to the scene. (Photo by Edith Watts)
Ray Southwell testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in support of legislation opposing government-mandated vaccines on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021 at the George A. Navarre Admin Building in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

COVID divisions shape heated testimony

After raucous meeting, assembly tables resolution on ‘vaccine segregation’.

Ray Southwell testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in support of legislation opposing government-mandated vaccines on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021 at the George A. Navarre Admin Building in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Members of the cast of Kenai Perfomers’ “The Beverly Hillbillies, the Musical” pose in September 2021. (Photo courtesy Terri Burdick)

Performers bring Clampetts to Kenai

“Beveral Hillbillies, the Musical” will premiere this weekend.

Members of the cast of Kenai Perfomers’ “The Beverly Hillbillies, the Musical” pose in September 2021. (Photo courtesy Terri Burdick)
(File)

3-car accident backs up traffic for hours

Officials had to reroute highway traffic around the accident Tuesday morning.

(File)
Alaska State Troopers logo.

Pilot crashes outside Tyonek

No injuries have been reported.

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Council Member Dave Carey attends a meeting of the Soldotna City Council on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

City council to consider 9/11 memorial resolution

The resolution would indicate the council’s “support for remembrance” of the terror attacks.

Council Member Dave Carey attends a meeting of the Soldotna City Council on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Lawmakers at the Alaska State Capitol, seen here in this Jun. 7, file photo, heard a bill that would make it easier for hospitals to hire workers from other states on Tuesday, with only a week left in the Legislature's third special session of the year. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)
Lawmakers at the Alaska State Capitol, seen here in this Jun. 7, file photo, heard a bill that would make it easier for hospitals to hire workers from other states on Tuesday, with only a week left in the Legislature's third special session of the year. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file)
A sign in front of Kenai Middle School is seen on Sept. 2, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. The school was one of more than a dozen Kenai Peninsula Borough School District schools operating with universal indoor masking due to rising COVID-19 cases. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

More schools go to universal indoor masking

More than 200 students have tested positive for COVID-19 since Aug. 23.

A sign in front of Kenai Middle School is seen on Sept. 2, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. The school was one of more than a dozen Kenai Peninsula Borough School District schools operating with universal indoor masking due to rising COVID-19 cases. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Cars line up outside of Capstone Clinic’s COVID-19 testing site in Kenai, Alaska on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. The line extended through the Three Bears Grocery parking lot, and past the entrances to O’Reilly Auto Parts and Aspen Extended Stay Suites. Some said they waited for three and a half hours to get tested, and others said the line stretched down and around Walker Lane Tuesday morning. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Cars line up outside of Capstone Clinic’s COVID-19 testing site in Kenai, Alaska on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. The line extended through the Three Bears Grocery parking lot, and past the entrances to O’Reilly Auto Parts and Aspen Extended Stay Suites. Some said they waited for three and a half hours to get tested, and others said the line stretched down and around Walker Lane Tuesday morning. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
A registered nurse prepares a COVID-19 vaccine at the pop-up clinic on the Spit on May 27, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)

Borough resolution opposes ‘COVID-19 vaccine segregation’

The legislation does not nullify COVID mandates instituted by the borough’s incorporated communities.

A registered nurse prepares a COVID-19 vaccine at the pop-up clinic on the Spit on May 27, 2021. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)
A worker paints a steeple white at the Kenai United Methodist Church on Monday, Sept. 6, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

‘Coming into the light of God’

Kenai church debuts blue facade

A worker paints a steeple white at the Kenai United Methodist Church on Monday, Sept. 6, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Courtesy photo / MyKenzie Robertson 
Army Pfc. Luke McCarty jumps in the water during training for the engineer divers Monday with a Coast Guard dive team.

Army and Coast Guard divers team up in Juneau

Getting work done in an ocean far from home.

Courtesy photo / MyKenzie Robertson 
Army Pfc. Luke McCarty jumps in the water during training for the engineer divers Monday with a Coast Guard dive team.
Kenai Courthouse is photographed on February 26, 2019 in Kenai, Alaska. (Clarion file)
Kenai Courthouse is photographed on February 26, 2019 in Kenai, Alaska. (Clarion file)
Alaska State Troopers logo.
Alaska State Troopers logo.
In this Sept. 1, 2021 file photo, women protest against the six-week abortion ban at the Capitol in Austin, Texas. Even before a strict abortion ban took effect in Texas this week, clinics in neighboring states were fielding more and more calls from women desperate for options. The Texas law, allowed to stand in a decision Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021 by the U.S. Supreme Court, bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, typically around six weeks. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP File)

Voices of the Peninsula: I believe in the right to choose

We all deserve the right to choose for ourselves, and our body, what is right for us.

In this Sept. 1, 2021 file photo, women protest against the six-week abortion ban at the Capitol in Austin, Texas. Even before a strict abortion ban took effect in Texas this week, clinics in neighboring states were fielding more and more calls from women desperate for options. The Texas law, allowed to stand in a decision Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021 by the U.S. Supreme Court, bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, typically around six weeks. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP File)
Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire
Charlie Smith, a National Guard first lieutenant at the time of the 1971 airline crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 1866, talks about the recovery efforts on Aug. 9 — 50 years later.
Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire
Charlie Smith, a National Guard first lieutenant at the time of the 1971 airline crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 1866, talks about the recovery efforts on Aug. 9 — 50 years later.