Clyde Didrickson and his wife, Charlotte, smile and hug each other in their new home Friday morning. The couple were able to get their new home through a Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority grant funding program aimed to help veterans. (Gregory Philson | Juneau Empire)

‘It is a blessing’: Grant offering housing for Alaska Native veterans

Program has helped 19 individuals or familes in the last year.

Clyde Didrickson and his wife, Charlotte, smile and hug each other in their new home Friday morning. The couple were able to get their new home through a Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority grant funding program aimed to help veterans. (Gregory Philson | Juneau Empire)

More restrictions for Kenai, Kasilof king salmon

Anglers won’t be able to keep a king salmon on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers after Wednesday. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced… Continue reading

Kodiak hatchery experiments with salt water exposure to mark its pink salmon

Editor’s note: This is the third part of a three-story series about the operations of Alaska’s salmon hatcheries and their consideration in the North Pacific.… Continue reading

Sockeye salmon smolt being raised by Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association at the Trail Lakes Hatchery, ultimately destined for Shell Lake in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, swim in their tank on Friday, April 20, 2018, near Moose Pass. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Hatchery-marked salmon important for management, international relations

Editor’s note: This story is the second in a three-part series about the operations of Alaska’s salmon hatcheries and their impact on the North Pacific.… Continue reading

Sockeye salmon smolt being raised by Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association at the Trail Lakes Hatchery, ultimately destined for Shell Lake in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, swim in their tank on Friday, April 20, 2018, near Moose Pass. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
Sockeye salmon smolt being raised by Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association at the Trail Lakes Hatchery, ultimately destined for Shell Lake in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, swim in their tank on Friday, April 20, 2018 near Moose Pass, Alaska. Pacific salmon raised in hatcheries are usually exposed to predetermined sets of hot and cold water cycles before they hatch, leading to dark and light rings on their inner ear bone, called an otolith, that biologists can later read to track where the salmon came from when it returns as an adult. Staff at Trail Lakes Hatchery raise all the association’s sockeye salmon, which are hatched, imprinted and distributed to the organization’s various operations across Cook Inlet, from China Poot Lake in Lower Cook Inlet to Shell Lake. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

A look into how salmon hatcheries mark their fish

Editor’s note: This is the first part of a three-story series about the operations of Alaska’s salmon hatcheries and their impacts in the North Pacific.… Continue reading

Sockeye salmon smolt being raised by Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association at the Trail Lakes Hatchery, ultimately destined for Shell Lake in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, swim in their tank on Friday, April 20, 2018 near Moose Pass, Alaska. Pacific salmon raised in hatcheries are usually exposed to predetermined sets of hot and cold water cycles before they hatch, leading to dark and light rings on their inner ear bone, called an otolith, that biologists can later read to track where the salmon came from when it returns as an adult. Staff at Trail Lakes Hatchery raise all the association’s sockeye salmon, which are hatched, imprinted and distributed to the organization’s various operations across Cook Inlet, from China Poot Lake in Lower Cook Inlet to Shell Lake. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Alaska Department of Labor to use $1.2 million grant for opioid response

The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development plans to use $1.2 million from the federal government for its first programs specifically to help people… Continue reading

This photo shows an approximately 70-pound king caught on the Kenai River by Troy Grote of Aberdeen, South Dakota, on Saturday, July 14, 2018. The fish measured 51 1/2 inches in length and 31 1/2 inches in girth. (Photo coutesy Joe Johnson)

Angler lands 70-pound king on Kenai

A South Dakota angler hit the jackpot on the Kenai River on Saturday with a nearly 70-pound king salmon on the end of his line.… Continue reading

This photo shows an approximately 70-pound king caught on the Kenai River by Troy Grote of Aberdeen, South Dakota, on Saturday, July 14, 2018. The fish measured 51 1/2 inches in length and 31 1/2 inches in girth. (Photo coutesy Joe Johnson)
An Anchor River king salmon Saturday, May 19, 2018 in Anchor Point, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

King fishing to open in lower peninsula streams with gear restrictions

The Ninilchik and Deep Creek will finally be open to king salmon fishing, but with limited gear and no bait.

An Anchor River king salmon Saturday, May 19, 2018 in Anchor Point, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
A trainer runs her Bernese Mountain Dog in the Kenai Kennel Club’s annual dog show, obedience and agility trials on Saturday, July 14, 2018 in Soldotna, Alaska. Dog owners come from all over the state to take part in the events each year. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Dog show brings paws to Soldotna

The occasional bark split the air from the fields behind Skyview Middle School on Saturday, but for the most part, the crowds of dogs and… Continue reading

A trainer runs her Bernese Mountain Dog in the Kenai Kennel Club’s annual dog show, obedience and agility trials on Saturday, July 14, 2018 in Soldotna, Alaska. Dog owners come from all over the state to take part in the events each year. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
Alyse Galvin, left, and Dimitri Shein, right, listen to a question from moderator Kelly Cooper at the start of the debate among the candidates for the Democratic Party nomination for U.S. Congress on Tuesday, July 10, 2018 at Kachemak Bay Campus in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Democratic candidates spar in Homer debate

Homer has seen numerous campaign debates for city and state office, but Tuesday marked one of the first times candidates for federal office took the floor.

Alyse Galvin, left, and Dimitri Shein, right, listen to a question from moderator Kelly Cooper at the start of the debate among the candidates for the Democratic Party nomination for U.S. Congress on Tuesday, July 10, 2018 at Kachemak Bay Campus in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

School board discusses support for sales tax increase, no formal backing

At their Monday meeting, school board members expressed support for an initiative to bring a sales tax increase to the borough, but no formal backing… Continue reading

Texas dentist arrested for allegedly shipping drugs to Kenai hotel

Postal inspectors flagged the package at the Anchorage airport as suspicious

In this July 2016 photo, a drift gillnet fishing vessel floats in Cook Inlet just off the coast of the Kenai Peninsula near Kenai, Alaska. A thin season for sockeye and kings has led to restrictions in all fisheries, though drifters are seeing more chum salmon than usual in Upper Cook Inlet. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Commercial fishing slow for sockeye, good for chum

Commercial fishermen around the Gulf of Alaska are seeing weaker sockeye salmon runs, but Cook Inlet salmon fishermen at least are seeing more chum salmon… Continue reading

In this July 2016 photo, a drift gillnet fishing vessel floats in Cook Inlet just off the coast of the Kenai Peninsula near Kenai, Alaska. A thin season for sockeye and kings has led to restrictions in all fisheries, though drifters are seeing more chum salmon than usual in Upper Cook Inlet. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
This filim still released by Marvel Studios shows Evangeline Lilly and Paul Rudd in “Ant-Man and the Wasp.” (Photo courtesy Marvel Studios)

‘Ant-Man’ installment begins to overstretch Marvel universe

“Ant-Man & The Wasp” As the era of Marvel closes out its 10th year, I think film historians of the future will note this point… Continue reading

This filim still released by Marvel Studios shows Evangeline Lilly and Paul Rudd in “Ant-Man and the Wasp.” (Photo courtesy Marvel Studios)
This is an aerial view at the intersection of Front Street and Seward Street downtown. (Courtesy Photo | Josh McGraw)

Local artists showcase talent as part of downtown revitalization

Sitting at the intersection of Seward Street and Fronts Street, Rico Worl’s mind began spinning about a new design concept. Worl, a local artist who… Continue reading

This is an aerial view at the intersection of Front Street and Seward Street downtown. (Courtesy Photo | Josh McGraw)

Poet’s corner: 186,000 miles per second: An ode to light

186,000 miles per second: An ode to light By Rosalind Foster, Kenai Light— Slow down! Why rush along so fast? Flutter, settle, pause, delight —… Continue reading

Rock’N the Ranch music festival is back for second year

This Friday and Saturday, the RustyRavin Plant Ranch, a commercial greenhouse near Kenai, will be hosting the Rock’N the Ranch music festival for the second… Continue reading

Spur Highway widening underway

A four-year Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities project to widen the Kenai Spur Highway between Kenai and Soldotna is underway now with clearing… Continue reading

Pink salmon mill in the shallows of Resurrection Creek near its confluence with Cook Inlet on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017 in Hope, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Groups war for voters on salmon initiative

As voters try to decide whether to support or go against a ballot measure related to salmon streams protections, the groups on both sides are… Continue reading

Pink salmon mill in the shallows of Resurrection Creek near its confluence with Cook Inlet on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017 in Hope, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Spur Highway widening underway

A four-year Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities project to widen the Kenai Spur Highway between Kenai and Soldotna is underway now with clearing… Continue reading