Image via Kenai Peninsula School District

Eastern peninsula students to return full time on Monday

Includes Seward Elementary, Seward Middle, Seward High and Moose Pass schools,

Image via Kenai Peninsula School District
Protesters march for women’s rights in Juneau in 2020. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, announced a bipartisan bill Friday, Jan. 22, 2021 to move forward the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, granting equal legal protection to the sexes, stalled in its ratification stage since 1972. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Murkowski co-sponsors bipartisan bill to affirm ratification of Equal Rights Amendment

Stalled since 1972, the ERA would guarantee equal legal protection to all sexes.

Protesters march for women’s rights in Juneau in 2020. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, announced a bipartisan bill Friday, Jan. 22, 2021 to move forward the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, granting equal legal protection to the sexes, stalled in its ratification stage since 1972. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Volunteers Bill Kelley and Frank Alioto prepare bags of food to be distributed during the upcoming Project Homeless Connect even at the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank in Soldotna, Alaska on Jan. 23, 2021. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)

A community effort

Volunteers prepare for Project Homeless Connect

Volunteers Bill Kelley and Frank Alioto prepare bags of food to be distributed during the upcoming Project Homeless Connect even at the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank in Soldotna, Alaska on Jan. 23, 2021. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
COVID-19. (Image via CDC)

CPH treating no COVID patients; more than 70,000 vaccinated

Central Peninsula Hospital was treating no patients who were COVID-positive for the first time in months

COVID-19. (Image via CDC)
Alaska State Troopers logo.

Man arrested after allegedly shooting at parked cars

Two people reported being shot at by a man while they were parked outside his home.

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Soldotna Prep School is pictured on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019 in Soldotna, Alaska. The school was recently shuttered and classes combined with Soldotna High School. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna Prep lease authorized for Boys and Girls Clubs

The short-term lease will last for the rest of the school year and continue on a month-to-month basis

Soldotna Prep School is pictured on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019 in Soldotna, Alaska. The school was recently shuttered and classes combined with Soldotna High School. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
RN Rachel Verba (right) administers a dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to Dr. Chris Michelson (left) on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Bruce Richards/CPH)

Kenai will help pay for rides to vaccine clinics

The Kenai City Council approved $5,000 for the program on Wednesday

RN Rachel Verba (right) administers a dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to Dr. Chris Michelson (left) on Friday, Dec. 18, 2020 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Bruce Richards/CPH)
The Endeavour-Spirit of Independence jack up rig is seen here in early April 2013, at the Cosmopolitan site in lower Cook Inlet near Anchor Point, Alaska. (Photo by Brian Smith/Peninsula Clarion)

Feds release draft Environmental Impact Statement for Cook Inlet oil and gas leases

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management moved forward a proposed oil and gas lease sale in lower Cook Inlet last Friday when it announced the… Continue reading

The Endeavour-Spirit of Independence jack up rig is seen here in early April 2013, at the Cosmopolitan site in lower Cook Inlet near Anchor Point, Alaska. (Photo by Brian Smith/Peninsula Clarion)
Todd Duwe hands a food box to Brad Nyquist as Mark Larson looks on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020, at Christ Lutheran Church in Soldotna, Alaska. The church volunteers were distributing food from the United States’ Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program, delivered by the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai extends funding for food boxes

The city council approved another $50,000 to cover the cost of the food boxes from a portion of the city’s unused CARES Act funds.

Todd Duwe hands a food box to Brad Nyquist as Mark Larson looks on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020, at Christ Lutheran Church in Soldotna, Alaska. The church volunteers were distributing food from the United States’ Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program, delivered by the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Gov. Mike Dunleavy addresses the public during a virtual town hall on Sept. 15, 2020 in Alaska. ( Courtesy Photo / Austin McDaniel, Office of the Governor)

Dunleavy pitches dividend change amid legislative splits

No clear direction has emerged from lawmakers.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy addresses the public during a virtual town hall on Sept. 15, 2020 in Alaska. ( Courtesy Photo / Austin McDaniel, Office of the Governor)
Kenai Peninsula students participate in a simulated space mission at the Challenger Learning Center in Kenai, Alaska, in this undated photo. (Courtesy Colette Gilmour/Challenger Learning Center)

Donation helps students take flight

A $25,000 donation will be used to fund several STEM programs offered by the Challenger Learning Center

Kenai Peninsula students participate in a simulated space mission at the Challenger Learning Center in Kenai, Alaska, in this undated photo. (Courtesy Colette Gilmour/Challenger Learning Center)
Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer, left, leaves the Alaska House of Representatives chamber Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, with George Rauscher, R-Sutton, after a brief floor session where lawmakers failed to nominate a temporary speaker. Meyer will preside over the body until a leadership is elected. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

House members optimistic, but still deadlocked

‘Not everyone stand at once here.’

Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer, left, leaves the Alaska House of Representatives chamber Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, with George Rauscher, R-Sutton, after a brief floor session where lawmakers failed to nominate a temporary speaker. Meyer will preside over the body until a leadership is elected. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
Kenai Vice Mayor Bob Molloy is seen in the Kenai City Council chambers on Wednesday, Jan. 20 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai extends disaster declaration

The declaration is now set to expire on Feb. 28

Kenai Vice Mayor Bob Molloy is seen in the Kenai City Council chambers on Wednesday, Jan. 20 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
COVID-19. (Image via CDC)

Borough positivity rate dips below 2%

203 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Alaska on Thursday

COVID-19. (Image via CDC)
Kenai City Mayor Brian Gabriel speaks to members of the Kenai Chamber of Commerce during a luncheon at the Kenai Visitor and Cultural Center on Jan. 20, 2021. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)

Chamber, elected officials gather for meet and greet

About 30 people attended the luncheon, which still had certain COVID-19 mitigation measures in place.

Kenai City Mayor Brian Gabriel speaks to members of the Kenai Chamber of Commerce during a luncheon at the Kenai Visitor and Cultural Center on Jan. 20, 2021. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Commercial fishing vessels are seen on the Kenai River on July 10, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)

Borough to ask feds for fishery disaster declaration

The year saw fewer and smaller fish, as well as lower-priced fish

Commercial fishing vessels are seen on the Kenai River on July 10, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
This undated aerial file photo provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a herd of caribou on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. President Joe Biden on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, signaled plans to place a temporary moratorium on oil and gas lease activities in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge after the Trump administration issued leases in a remote, rugged area considered sacred by the Indigenous Gwich’in. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP, File)

Biden plans temporary halt of oil activity in Arctic refuge

Issuing leases had been a priority of the Trump administration following a 2017 law calling for lease sales

  • Jan 20, 2021
  • By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
This undated aerial file photo provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a herd of caribou on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. President Joe Biden on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, signaled plans to place a temporary moratorium on oil and gas lease activities in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge after the Trump administration issued leases in a remote, rugged area considered sacred by the Indigenous Gwich’in. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP, File)
COVID-19. (Image via CDC)

State adds 24 resident deaths to COVID count, with 1 recent

23 deaths were from death certificate reviews over the past several months

COVID-19. (Image via CDC)
Graphic by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion

Eastern peninsula schools drop to medium risk

When a school or region shifts to medium risk, all students will be allowed to return to on-site learning every day with enhanced COVID-19 mitigation protocols in place

Graphic by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion
An entrance to the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex as seen in November 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna moves forward with sports complex renovations

The city council last year approved $1.5 million for maintenance and renovations at the sports complex.

An entrance to the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex as seen in November 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)