News

A child waves from the back of a truck as the 32nd annual Sweeney’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade proceeds down Fireweed Street in Soldotna, Alaska on Friday, March 17, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

St. Patrick’s Day parade set for Sunday

The annual Sweeney’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, hosted by the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce, kicks off at 2 p.m.

A child waves from the back of a truck as the 32nd annual Sweeney’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade proceeds down Fireweed Street in Soldotna, Alaska on Friday, March 17, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski Middle/High School student Maggie Grenier testifies in favor of a base student allocation increase before the Alaska Senate Education Committee on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Screenshot)

Students report mixed responses from lawmakers in education discussions

Delegates from the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District lobbied the Alaska Legislature for more state funding and other education priorities

Nikiski Middle/High School student Maggie Grenier testifies in favor of a base student allocation increase before the Alaska Senate Education Committee on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Screenshot)
Engineer Lake Cabin can be seen in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Nov. 21, 2021. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Refuge campsite and cabin rental fees to increase this summer

Certain fees for campground sites and public use cabins in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge will increase this summer, the refuge announced Thursday. A news… Continue reading

Engineer Lake Cabin can be seen in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Nov. 21, 2021. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
A Bureau of Ocean Energy Management pamphlet rests on a desk in the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, March 11, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

BOEM Alaska office probes renewables development in Cook Inlet

National Renewable Energy Lab estimates that there are 18 gigawatts of tidal power in Cook Inlet

A Bureau of Ocean Energy Management pamphlet rests on a desk in the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, March 11, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Snow is piled along the Seward Highway near the Hope Highway cutoff in Alaska on Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Heavy snow, whiteout conditions forecast Tuesday for Turnagain Pass

“Several rounds” of heavy snowfall are expected, beginning as soon as Monday evening

Snow is piled along the Seward Highway near the Hope Highway cutoff in Alaska on Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
A sockeye salmon rests atop a cooler at the mouth of the Kasilof River on Monday, June 26, 2023, in Kasilof, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Board of fisheries OKs dipnets for Cook Inlet commercial fisheries

Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission also has to approve before dipnets are used

A sockeye salmon rests atop a cooler at the mouth of the Kasilof River on Monday, June 26, 2023, in Kasilof, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion Bud Sexton, chief of staff for Alaska House Rep. Justin Ruffridge, and aide Sabina Braun, left, review amendment language in their office at the Alaska State Capitol building on Wednesday in Juneau.

In Juneau, making laws is a group effort

Ruffridge chief of staff says team shares commitment to hard work

Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion Bud Sexton, chief of staff for Alaska House Rep. Justin Ruffridge, and aide Sabina Braun, left, review amendment language in their office at the Alaska State Capitol building on Wednesday in Juneau.
Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Finance Director Liz Hayes, left, presents preliminary fiscal year 2025 budge information during a school board committee meeting on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

School board bets on state funding increase, issues teacher contracts

Thursday’s meeting came two days after board members convened to plan out the district’s immediate financial future

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Finance Director Liz Hayes, left, presents preliminary fiscal year 2025 budge information during a school board committee meeting on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kachemak Selo Middle-High School building sits against a backdrop of the ridge separating the village from the Kenai Peninsula Borough road system Thursday, Aug. 30 in Kachemak-Selo. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

Borough, state at odds over best path forward for Kachemak Selo school

Micciche said Wednesday that he and the Senate president are working together to determine a viable path forward

The Kachemak Selo Middle-High School building sits against a backdrop of the ridge separating the village from the Kenai Peninsula Borough road system Thursday, Aug. 30 in Kachemak-Selo. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)
Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche delivers a borough update during a joint luncheon of the Kenai and Soldotna Chambers of Commerce at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Micciche lays out vision for borough’s future

In an update on Wednesday, the mayor described borough accomplishments, priorities and the need for “a disciplined focus on efficiency and cost control”

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche delivers a borough update during a joint luncheon of the Kenai and Soldotna Chambers of Commerce at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Grant Aviation’s new Cessna 208B EX Grand Caravan idles on the runway moments after arriving at the Kenai Municipal Airport in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, March 4, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

New Grant Aviation planes to double service’s flight capacity

The first of two Cessna 208B EX Grand Caravans will start transporting passengers on Monday

Grant Aviation’s new Cessna 208B EX Grand Caravan idles on the runway moments after arriving at the Kenai Municipal Airport in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, March 4, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
(Foreground) Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Clayton Holland, left, and KPBSD Finance Director Liz Hayes, right, speak about the district’s fiscal year 2024 budget during a work session with the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Amid uncertain state school funding, KPBSD labors to assemble a budget plan

March 14 is the deadline by which Gov. Mike Dunleavy must either sign, veto or not sign a comprehensive education package

(Foreground) Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Superintendent Clayton Holland, left, and KPBSD Finance Director Liz Hayes, right, speak about the district’s fiscal year 2024 budget during a work session with the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Graduates wear decorated caps during Soldotna High School’s commencement ceremony on Wednesday, May 18, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

KPBSD revises proposed graduation adornment policy

The original version of the policy limited how students may decorate their caps, gowns and stoles

Graduates wear decorated caps during Soldotna High School’s commencement ceremony on Wednesday, May 18, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Diamond bleats at the Kenai Peninsula District 4-H Agriculture Expo on Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Bjorkman bill would authorize tax relief for farmers

The exemption would newly only apply to farm operations that produce food for human and animal consumption

Diamond bleats at the Kenai Peninsula District 4-H Agriculture Expo on Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

Peninsula COVID rate sharply drops

The snapshot was updated Thursday, Feb. 29, to include data through Feb. 24

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Alaska Department of Fish and Game logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Board of Fisheries approves Kenai River king salmon action plan

The plan adds bait restrictions for in-river fisheries, doubles the sport bag limit for sockeye salmon, and adds a swath of restrictions to the commercial setnet fishery

Alaska Department of Fish and Game logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, speaks in support of a bill increasing state funds for public education in the Alaska House of Representatives on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Bill seeking to bump use of Alaska Performance Scholarship clears the House with unanimous support

The money is awarded to high-performing high school graduates to help pay for postsecondary education at participating institutions in Alaska

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, speaks in support of a bill increasing state funds for public education in the Alaska House of Representatives on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Stickers are available for voters at the Kenai No. 1 precinct for Election Day on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna to hold ‘I Voted’ sticker design contest

City council members approved the program during their Wednesday night meeting

Stickers are available for voters at the Kenai No. 1 precinct for Election Day on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Commissioner Ryan Anderson answers questions from state senators during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)

State officials working to meet Friday deadline for revised transportation plan

The federal government rejected the plan on Feb. 9, citing numerous deficiencies

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Commissioner Ryan Anderson answers questions from state senators during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
Travis Every, top left, speaks in support of fishing opportunity for the east side setnet fishery before the State Board of Fisheries at the Egan Convention Center in Anchorage, Alaska, on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Local fishers talk conservation, opportunity before Board of Fisheries in Anchorage

Local fishers from the Kenai Peninsula traveled to Anchorage this weekend to offer public comment and testimony to the State Board of Fisheries as they… Continue reading

Travis Every, top left, speaks in support of fishing opportunity for the east side setnet fishery before the State Board of Fisheries at the Egan Convention Center in Anchorage, Alaska, on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)