News

New life for North Slope 100 million years in the making

All of a sudden, Alaska has more than 400,000 barrels per day of new oil potential. The North Slope, dismissed by many in recent years… Continue reading

  • May 14, 2017
  • By ELWOOD BREHMER
  • Energy
This graph, compiled by the Alaska Senate Majority, shows the state government’s spending by agency for fiscal year 2017. (Courtesy the Alaska Senate Majority) This graph, compiled by the Alaska Senate Majority, shows the state government’s spending by agency for fiscal year 2017. (Courtesy the Alaska Senate Majority)

How big can the Alaska health care bubble grow?

Alaska faces a paradox with its health care industry. In an economy sliding downhill, health care is the only sector still growing. With many jobs… Continue reading

This graph, compiled by the Alaska Senate Majority, shows the state government’s spending by agency for fiscal year 2017. (Courtesy the Alaska Senate Majority) This graph, compiled by the Alaska Senate Majority, shows the state government’s spending by agency for fiscal year 2017. (Courtesy the Alaska Senate Majority)

Kenai airport commission hears further details of PRL airship

With a first-generation hybrid airship planned to start work in 2019 for transportation and contracting company PRL Logistics, both the airship’s range of missions and… Continue reading

Nesting season on the Kenai A trumpeter swan sunbathes on an unnamed lake near Skilak Lake on Thursday on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Trumpeter swans, which mate for life, typically nest in marshes next to small lakes as early in the spring as thaw allows, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. They need between 140 and 54 ice-free days to complete a breeding cycle. The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge has a growing population of swans, with about 50 nesting pairs. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Photo: Nesting season

A trumpeter swan sunbathes on an unnamed lake near Skilak Lake on Thursday on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Trumpeter swans, which mate for life,… Continue reading

Nesting season on the Kenai A trumpeter swan sunbathes on an unnamed lake near Skilak Lake on Thursday on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Trumpeter swans, which mate for life, typically nest in marshes next to small lakes as early in the spring as thaw allows, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. They need between 140 and 54 ice-free days to complete a breeding cycle. The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge has a growing population of swans, with about 50 nesting pairs. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
A group of Soldotna Montessori sixth-graders presented the idea for the Food Pantry to Soldotna City Council in order to make their vision a reality. The food pantry officially opened on Friday, May 12, 2017 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)

Food for thought

On the corner of North Binkley Street and East Park Avenue, students at Soldotna Montessori Charter School are fighting hunger in the community with a… Continue reading

A group of Soldotna Montessori sixth-graders presented the idea for the Food Pantry to Soldotna City Council in order to make their vision a reality. The food pantry officially opened on Friday, May 12, 2017 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)
LeAnna Hobby, right, adjusts Allison Bushnell’s cap before taking photos following the Kenai Peninsula College graduation Thursday, May 11, 2017 at Ren&

KPC celebrates 47th commencement

From GED diplomas to master’s degrees, over 100 certificates and diplomas were conferred at Kenai Peninsula College’s 47th annual commencement Thursday in the Renée C.… Continue reading

LeAnna Hobby, right, adjusts Allison Bushnell’s cap before taking photos following the Kenai Peninsula College graduation Thursday, May 11, 2017 at Ren&
FILE - In this July 13, 2007 file photo, a worker with the Pebble Mine project digs in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska near the village of Iliamma, Alaska. The Trump administration settled a lawsuit Friday, May 12, 2017, over the proposed development of a massive copper and gold deposit near the headwaters of a world-premier salmon fishery in southwest Alaska. (AP Photo/Al Grillo,File)

EPA allows mine company to pursue permits near Alaska bay

JUNEAU — In a sharp reversal, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has cleared a way for the company seeking to develop a massive copper and… Continue reading

  • May 13, 2017
  • By Becky Bohrer
FILE - In this July 13, 2007 file photo, a worker with the Pebble Mine project digs in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska near the village of Iliamma, Alaska. The Trump administration settled a lawsuit Friday, May 12, 2017, over the proposed development of a massive copper and gold deposit near the headwaters of a world-premier salmon fishery in southwest Alaska. (AP Photo/Al Grillo,File)

Soldotna campgrounds to open, accept credit cards for first time

It’s time break out the tent poles and hot dog skewers — Soldotna’s campgrounds will open for business on Monday. City Manager Mark Dixson said… Continue reading

Kaden Bessette, a Soldotna Elementary school student, carefully carried his trout to Johnson Lake to be released during the Salmon Celebration on Thursday, May 11, 2017 in Kasilof, Alaska. (Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)

Students celebrate salmon after year of learning about them

Students lined up to carry a bucket with a flopping, splashing rainbow trout down to the bank of Johnson Lake before releasing the juveniles into… Continue reading

  • May 11, 2017
  • By KAT SORENSEN
  • salmon
Kaden Bessette, a Soldotna Elementary school student, carefully carried his trout to Johnson Lake to be released during the Salmon Celebration on Thursday, May 11, 2017 in Kasilof, Alaska. (Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)
A sockeye salmon makes its flight into the back of a truck on a set gillnet site on July 11, 2016 near Kenai, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

While other species increase, salmon, herring landing values drop

The total value of commercial fisheries landings in Alaska didn’t change much between 2014 and 2015, but by species, salmon have been the millstone around… Continue reading

A sockeye salmon makes its flight into the back of a truck on a set gillnet site on July 11, 2016 near Kenai, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
Mariano Gonzales discusses his show “Swimming Upstream” on May 4, 2017 at Kenai Fine Art Center in Kenai. The show will hang until May 27. (Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)

‘Swimming Upstream’ on display until May 27

Be careful with what you touch at the Kenai Fine Art Center this month— you may get shot by Mariano Gonzales’ piece “Don’t Touch My… Continue reading

Mariano Gonzales discusses his show “Swimming Upstream” on May 4, 2017 at Kenai Fine Art Center in Kenai. The show will hang until May 27. (Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)
Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion In this June 2016 photo, the clouds mass over the mountains around Lower Russian Lake near Cooper Landing, Alaska. The conservation nonprofit Cook Inletkeeper recently installed a temperature sensor on the Russian River below Lower Russian Lake to keep track of the river's temperatures on a real-time basis.

Cook Inletkeeper adds Russian River temperature sensor

Editor's note: This article has been corrected to show that Trout Unlimited is represented on the Kenai Peninsula Fish Habitat Partnership steering committee but the… Continue reading

Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion In this June 2016 photo, the clouds mass over the mountains around Lower Russian Lake near Cooper Landing, Alaska. The conservation nonprofit Cook Inletkeeper recently installed a temperature sensor on the Russian River below Lower Russian Lake to keep track of the river's temperatures on a real-time basis.
Participants in a streambank rehabilitation workshop at the Donald E. Giman River Center unwrap bundles of felt willow to install as reinforcement along a damaged section of the Kenai River’s bank Wednesday, May 10, 2017 in Soldotna, Alaska. The free two-day annual workshop, hosted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, teaches people how to properly repair damaged fish habitat along streams in Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion) Participants in a streambank rehabilitation workshop at the Donald E. Giman River Center unwrap bundles of felt willow to install as reinforcement along a damaged section of the Kenai River’s bank Wednesday in Soldotna. The free two-day annual workshop, hosted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, teaches people how to properly repair damaged fish habitat along streams in Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Peninsula residents get hands-on with streambank restoration

A sunny, warm Wednesday in Soldotna found about 40 people busily digging trenches and mounting willow boughs into the banks of the Kenai River, all… Continue reading

Participants in a streambank rehabilitation workshop at the Donald E. Giman River Center unwrap bundles of felt willow to install as reinforcement along a damaged section of the Kenai River’s bank Wednesday, May 10, 2017 in Soldotna, Alaska. The free two-day annual workshop, hosted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, teaches people how to properly repair damaged fish habitat along streams in Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion) Participants in a streambank rehabilitation workshop at the Donald E. Giman River Center unwrap bundles of felt willow to install as reinforcement along a damaged section of the Kenai River’s bank Wednesday in Soldotna. The free two-day annual workshop, hosted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, teaches people how to properly repair damaged fish habitat along streams in Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Alaska may see ID choice

The daily impact to Kenai Peninsula Borough residents of Alaska’s non-compliance to the federal Real ID law may be small, but a bill that advanced… Continue reading

  • May 10, 2017
  • By KAT SORENSEN
This image released by Disney-Marvel shows Zoe Saldana, from left, Karen Gillan, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista and Rocket, voiced by Bradley Cooper, in a scene from, “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2.” (Disney-Marvel via AP)

Reeling It In: ‘Guardians’ are back and even better

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 2 hours, 16 minutes I read a lot of movie news, most of it… Continue reading

  • May 10, 2017
  • By Chris Jenness
This image released by Disney-Marvel shows Zoe Saldana, from left, Karen Gillan, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista and Rocket, voiced by Bradley Cooper, in a scene from, “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2.” (Disney-Marvel via AP)

What’s Happening

Best Bets n The Triumvirate Theatre, just north of Kenai on the Kenai Spur Highway, presents “Steel Magnolias” May 12-13 and May 19-20. Admission is… Continue reading

  • May 10, 2017
This map of the city-owned wooded strip between the Kenai Spur Highway and Lawton Drive shows Kenai city manager Paul Ostrander's compromise in a land use debate between residents to the south seeking to preserve the strip as a buffer from the highway and business owners who've sought to develop it. Under Ostrander's plan, which the Kenai city council will discuss in a May 15 worksession, the blue areas would remain in city ownership while the yellow areas would be put out to bid for private acquisition. This map was taken from the Kenai Peninsula Borough's parcel viewer and modified by the Peninsula Clarion with information from the Kenai City Council.

Lawton Acres plan to be discussed

The 30-year debate over Kenai’s Lawton Acres — a wooded city-owned strip by the Kenai Spur Highway that business owners have sought to develop and… Continue reading

This map of the city-owned wooded strip between the Kenai Spur Highway and Lawton Drive shows Kenai city manager Paul Ostrander's compromise in a land use debate between residents to the south seeking to preserve the strip as a buffer from the highway and business owners who've sought to develop it. Under Ostrander's plan, which the Kenai city council will discuss in a May 15 worksession, the blue areas would remain in city ownership while the yellow areas would be put out to bid for private acquisition. This map was taken from the Kenai Peninsula Borough's parcel viewer and modified by the Peninsula Clarion with information from the Kenai City Council.

Anchor Point, Kasilof to have field assessments this year

Borough assessors will be scoping out properties in the Anchor Point, Deep Creek, Ninilchik, Clam Gulch and Kasilof areas this year. The Kenai Peninsula Borough… Continue reading

Governor Bill Walker spoke to Kenai Central High School seniors on Tuesday, May 9. (Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)

Gov. Walker visits KCHS seniors

With their school days coming to a close, Kenai Central High School seniors are thinking about their futures in Alaska and let Gov. Bill Walker… Continue reading

Governor Bill Walker spoke to Kenai Central High School seniors on Tuesday, May 9. (Kat Sorensen/Peninsula Clarion)

Hilcorp’s Anna Platform restarted

Hilcorp’s Anna Platform has resumed work after having been shut down since a suspected oil release April 1. An Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)… Continue reading