Oxygen therapy being used to treat a variety of medical issues

Dr. Patrick Huffman and his staff joke that they may nickname the latest tool in their disease-fighting arsenal R2-O2.The resemblance of the low-pressure hyperbaric oxygen… Continue reading

  • Dec 17, 2016
  • By LORI EVANS

Walker renews push for Fund earnings to fill deficit

Gov. Bill Walker called for continued budget cuts, more state wage freezes, fuel tax increases and again proposed using Permanent Fund income to shrink Alaska’s… Continue reading

  • Dec 17, 2016
  • By ELWOOD BREHMER

Community News and Notes

Soldotna Robotics Club is officially competing at the state tournament this year in January. Frost Tech and Frost Bots both competed for 1 of 11… Continue reading

  • Dec 17, 2016
Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Soldotna City Manager Mark Dixson explains the city's process and purpose for exploring possible annexation of areas surrounding the city during a Soldotna City Council meeting Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016 at Soldotna City Hall in Soldotna, Alaska. The council voted to appropriate $50,000 to fund a public engagement process with a consultant to find out what area residents think about the potential annexation of nine identified outlying areas.

Soldotna approves funds to gather input on annexation

Soldotna now has $50,000 to spend on gathering public input on the potential annexation of some land directly surrounding the city. The Soldotna City Council… Continue reading

Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Soldotna City Manager Mark Dixson explains the city's process and purpose for exploring possible annexation of areas surrounding the city during a Soldotna City Council meeting Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016 at Soldotna City Hall in Soldotna, Alaska. The council voted to appropriate $50,000 to fund a public engagement process with a consultant to find out what area residents think about the potential annexation of nine identified outlying areas.
Courtesy the Alaska Department of Natural Resources This illustration from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation shows Concept C for a boat ramp facility on the banks of the Kasilof River.

State issues plans for Kasilof boat retrieval

The public got a first look at plans for a long-anticipated park facility on the banks of the Kasilof River at an open house Wednesday… Continue reading

Courtesy the Alaska Department of Natural Resources This illustration from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation shows Concept C for a boat ramp facility on the banks of the Kasilof River.

GOP sanctions Seaton

The Alaska Republican Party Central Committee last Saturday sanctioned three Republican Party representatives — including District 31 Rep. Paul Seaton — for their role in… Continue reading

81-year-old Italy native first to buy legal pot in Anchorage

ANCHORAGE — Possibly the unlikeliest customer of all became the first person to legally buy marijuana in Alaska’s largest city.Anna Ercoli, 81, pulled into Arctic… Continue reading

  • Dec 15, 2016
  • By Mark Thiessen

Regents move to base all UA education colleges in Juneau

JUNEAU (AP) — The University of Alaska’s board of regents has decided to consolidate the university system’s three schools of education into one that will… Continue reading

  • Dec 15, 2016

Walker budget plan pitches job cuts, using nest-egg earnings

JUNEAU — Gov. Bill Walker is proposing to cut 795 state positions as part of a budget plan that includes use of earnings from Alaska’s… Continue reading

  • Dec 15, 2016
Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion  A marijuana grow belonging to Kenai's Red Run Cannabis Company, a combined marijuana cultivator and retailer, sits in a growing room on Monday, Nov. 21. Red Run opened Monday, selling marijuana grown by the Kasilof-based Greatland Ganja, but hopes to have their own  product on the market in January 2017.

Kenai marijuana store opens

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Greatland Ganja co-owner and cofounder Leif Abel's name. When Roger Boyd was getting… Continue reading

Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion  A marijuana grow belonging to Kenai's Red Run Cannabis Company, a combined marijuana cultivator and retailer, sits in a growing room on Monday, Nov. 21. Red Run opened Monday, selling marijuana grown by the Kasilof-based Greatland Ganja, but hopes to have their own  product on the market in January 2017.
Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion Ice clogs the Kenai River near Soldotna Creek Park on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016 in Soldotna, Alaska. A thin rivulet of river wound its way down the center of the ice, occasionally shifting the ice enough to make an audible grinding noise. Though temperatures on the western Kenai Peninsula hung around and below zero degrees for more than a week, the National Weather Service predicts the temperature to rise into the teens and 20s with snow over the next week.
Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion Ice clogs the Kenai River near Soldotna Creek Park on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016 in Soldotna, Alaska. A thin rivulet of river wound its way down the center of the ice, occasionally shifting the ice enough to make an audible grinding noise. Though temperatures on the western Kenai Peninsula hung around and below zero degrees for more than a week, the National Weather Service predicts the temperature to rise into the teens and 20s with snow over the next week.

Sterling home lost in fire

No people were hurt when a cabin was burned to the ground by a fire Wednesday afternoon in Sterling.Central Emergency Services firefighters responded to the… Continue reading

2 nominated for Kenai judge seat

The Alaska Judicial Council has nominated a local magistrate judge and a former Kenai District Attorney for a soon-to-be-empty Kenai Superior Court Judge seat.Judge Carl… Continue reading

Soldotna approved $50,000 for public engagement

Soldotna will move forward in its exploration of annexation for areas around the city with the help of $50,000 to get a better sense of… Continue reading

  • Dec 14, 2016

UA college of education to be headquartered at Alaska Southeast

University of Alaska Southeast will keep its School of Education and become the administrative headquarters for teacher education within the University of Alaska system.This was… Continue reading

  • Dec 14, 2016
  • By LISA PHU

ACLU sues borough over invocation policy

The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska is suing the Kenai Peninsula Borough over the borough assembly’s invocation policy, which it claims is discriminatory.The lawsuit,… Continue reading

In this Dec. 9, 2016  photo, courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, PNNL microbiologist Robert Jeters sprinkles PNNL's chemically modified sawdust onto a small oil spill inside the Arctic simulation lab, where researchers mimic extreme freezing conditions and make icy slush that is similar to what is found on the surface of the Arctic Sea during a demonstration of sawdust oil recovery material research at the PNNL in Richland, Wash. (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory via AP)

Treated sawdust may help sop up, burn off Arctic oil spills

ANCHORAGE — Federal researchers looking for ways to contain petroleum spills in frigid Arctic waters are investigating whether a powder form of humble sawdust can… Continue reading

  • Dec 14, 2016
  • By Dan Joling
In this Dec. 9, 2016  photo, courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, PNNL microbiologist Robert Jeters sprinkles PNNL's chemically modified sawdust onto a small oil spill inside the Arctic simulation lab, where researchers mimic extreme freezing conditions and make icy slush that is similar to what is found on the surface of the Arctic Sea during a demonstration of sawdust oil recovery material research at the PNNL in Richland, Wash. (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory via AP)

Conservatives seek ally in Trump in Western land disputes

SALT LAKE CITY — Conservatives who have long complained about the government’s control of vast Western lands hope they will have a new ally in… Continue reading

  • Dec 14, 2016
  • By JOHN FLESHER and BRADY McCOMBS
Marines take Friendly Fluffy Fury Fire as Toys for Tots campaign takes off

Marines take Friendly Fluffy Fury Fire as Toys for Tots campaign takes off

While the Kenai River Brown Bears were starting their longest winning streak of the season by sweeping their arch rivals the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, the… Continue reading

Marines take Friendly Fluffy Fury Fire as Toys for Tots campaign takes off
Craft fairs appeal to early Holiday shoppers with Alaskan handmade gifts

Craft fairs appeal to early Holiday shoppers with Alaskan handmade gifts

For nearly four decades, before it became known as “Black Friday” the weekend following Thanksgiving has been an opportunity for local artists and craftsmen to… Continue reading

Craft fairs appeal to early Holiday shoppers with Alaskan handmade gifts