News

Soldotna Airport to get facelift

Aging asphalt covering the Soldotna Airport’s taxiways will get some much needed attention through an upcoming rehabilitation project.The Soldotna City Council passed an ordinance at… Continue reading

Assembly reduces Planning Commission membership

The number of Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission members will decrease to 11, but not until 2020.After initially voting it down, the Kenai Peninsula Borough… Continue reading

Agrium reconsiders Nikiski plant, but needs natural gas

JUNEAU (AP) — Owners of shuttered fertilizer plant in Nikiski have taken steps to reopen the facility but face the hurdle of obtaining a reliable… Continue reading

  • Oct 13, 2016
Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion Kenai Mayor Pat Porter, who is finishing her 12 years as mayor and flying to her new home in Texas Thursday morning, speaks to attendees at her farewell party Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016 in the Kenai City Council Chambers in Kenai, Alaska. Prior to her speech, council members Tim Navarre and Brian Gabriel presented Porter with an appreciation tropy, (pictured closest to Porter) created by Scott Hamman of Kenai's Metal Magic welding and blacksmith shop, and a blown-glass "Spirit of Industry" trophy awarded during Kenai's Industry Appreciation Days in August but given Wednesday. Porter told listeners she began public life in Kenai as a Girl Scout leader, later serving as Director of the Kenai Senior Center, a city council member, and mayor since 2004. She told the crowd politics had never been an ambition of hers - in high school, she wanted to be a flight attendent. Along with Kenai employees and members of the public, the party was attended by Kenai council member Henry Knackstedt and Alaska Governor Bill Walker, who was in town for a State Chamber of Commerce meeting on Wednesday.

Photo: Stepping down

… Continue reading

  • Oct 12, 2016
Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion Kenai Mayor Pat Porter, who is finishing her 12 years as mayor and flying to her new home in Texas Thursday morning, speaks to attendees at her farewell party Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016 in the Kenai City Council Chambers in Kenai, Alaska. Prior to her speech, council members Tim Navarre and Brian Gabriel presented Porter with an appreciation tropy, (pictured closest to Porter) created by Scott Hamman of Kenai's Metal Magic welding and blacksmith shop, and a blown-glass "Spirit of Industry" trophy awarded during Kenai's Industry Appreciation Days in August but given Wednesday. Porter told listeners she began public life in Kenai as a Girl Scout leader, later serving as Director of the Kenai Senior Center, a city council member, and mayor since 2004. She told the crowd politics had never been an ambition of hers - in high school, she wanted to be a flight attendent. Along with Kenai employees and members of the public, the party was attended by Kenai council member Henry Knackstedt and Alaska Governor Bill Walker, who was in town for a State Chamber of Commerce meeting on Wednesday.
Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion A flashing yellow arrow indicates that drivers can turn left at the intersection of Walker Lane/Airport Way and the Kenai Spur Highway on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016 in Kenai, Alaska. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities recently installed the new flashing yellow arrow signals, designed to help improve left-hand turn safety in intersections, in Kenai and Soldotna.

DOT installs new flashing yellow arrow traffic signals in Kenai, Soldotna

Drivers in Kenai and Soldotna have had to follow a new directive since the completion of construction earlier this fall — a flashing yellow arrow.… Continue reading

Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion A flashing yellow arrow indicates that drivers can turn left at the intersection of Walker Lane/Airport Way and the Kenai Spur Highway on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016 in Kenai, Alaska. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities recently installed the new flashing yellow arrow signals, designed to help improve left-hand turn safety in intersections, in Kenai and Soldotna.

Alaska Supreme Court rules for Westlake

Dean Westlake was ebullient and seemed a little stunned Wednesday, an hour after learning the Alaska Supreme Court had upheld his August primary-election victory over… Continue reading

Borough assembly passes invocation policy

Those wishing to give an invocation before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly now have to be either a chaplain or a member of a religious… Continue reading

State moves to sell pension bonds despite S&P warning

The State of Alaska is continuing the process to sell up to $3.3 billion in pension obligation bonds after receiving mixed reviews from the major… Continue reading

Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Evan Butcher, a member of the Kenai River Brown Bears hockey team, helps a Kenai firefighter carry a volunteer victim on a stretcher to safety during a mass casualty drill Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016 at the Kenai Municipal Airport in Kenai, Alaska. The airport is required by the Federal Aviation Administration to hold the drill every three years to test its emergency planning.

Keep calm and triage on

Bailey Seagraves reclined as comfortably as he could into the moss and brambles in a marshy field at the Kenai Municipal Airport, his sweatpants, crew… Continue reading

Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Evan Butcher, a member of the Kenai River Brown Bears hockey team, helps a Kenai firefighter carry a volunteer victim on a stretcher to safety during a mass casualty drill Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016 at the Kenai Municipal Airport in Kenai, Alaska. The airport is required by the Federal Aviation Administration to hold the drill every three years to test its emergency planning.

Flu season kicks off

The flu season is officially under way in Alaska, and while it’s impossible to say what exactly the season will look like, local health agencies… Continue reading

Murkowski, Sullivan resign GOP posts after denouncing Trump

JUNEAU — Alaska’s two U.S. senators resigned leadership posts in the state Republican party after denouncing GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and saying he should… Continue reading

  • Oct 11, 2016
  • By Becky Bohrer

Report: Alaska’s Permanent Fund a model for other states

JUNEAU (AP) — Researchers are recommending other states look to Alaska’s Permanent Fund to learn how to grow funds supported by natural resource extraction.The Pew… Continue reading

  • Oct 11, 2016

Kenai Totem Tracers get crash course in DNA testing

Several community genealogy enthusiasts learned about another tool they can use to dig deeper into their pasts during a presentation from one of their own… Continue reading

Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion Sunrise peeks over the top of the mountains to light up Bridge Access Road on Monday, Oct. 10, 2016 in Kenai, Alaska. Sunrise is migrating later in the morning as the winter approaches. The sun rose at 7:35 a.m. in Kenai on Monday and will rise two to three minutes later every morning until the winter solstice on Dec. 22, when the days will get longer again, according to the U.S. Navy's sunrise and sunset tables.

Photo: Earlier to bed, later to rise

… Continue reading

Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion Sunrise peeks over the top of the mountains to light up Bridge Access Road on Monday, Oct. 10, 2016 in Kenai, Alaska. Sunrise is migrating later in the morning as the winter approaches. The sun rose at 7:35 a.m. in Kenai on Monday and will rise two to three minutes later every morning until the winter solstice on Dec. 22, when the days will get longer again, according to the U.S. Navy's sunrise and sunset tables.

Indian Education Advisory Committee sets goals

Editor's note: This article has been updated to clarify that ANSEP offers high school academies, but that middle school students from the Kenai Peninsula Borough… Continue reading

District 30 candidates gear up for last month of campaigning

With less than a month to go until the general election, the four candidates for the Alaska House of Representatives seat for District 30 are… Continue reading

Commissioner turns down challenge of predator control rules

FAIRBANKS (AP) — Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game commissioner has rejected calls from petitioners critical of the state’s predator control rules to change the… Continue reading

S&P puts Alaska back on CreditWatch negative

The State of Alaska is continuing the process to sell up to $3.3 billion in pension obligation bonds after receiving mixed reviews from the major… Continue reading

School district to hold budget meetings

At a series of public meetings on Oct. 13, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District will begin confronting a budget for next year that may… Continue reading

Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion Kathryn Dunagan (right) embraces longtime Amundsen Educational Center instructor Judi Walgenbach (left) at a retirement party for Walgenbach on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016 in Soldotna, Alaska. Walgenbach, who founded the New Frontiers vocational learning center before it merged with the Amundson Educational Center, is retiring after 30 years of teaching. Former students, board members and friends swirled around her at the retirement party Thursday with gifts, handshakes and hugs.

Photo: Old friends, new adventures

Judi Walgenbach (left) receives an embrace from former student Kathryn Dunagan at a retirement party for Walgenbach on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016 in Soldotna, Alaska.… Continue reading

Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion Kathryn Dunagan (right) embraces longtime Amundsen Educational Center instructor Judi Walgenbach (left) at a retirement party for Walgenbach on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016 in Soldotna, Alaska. Walgenbach, who founded the New Frontiers vocational learning center before it merged with the Amundson Educational Center, is retiring after 30 years of teaching. Former students, board members and friends swirled around her at the retirement party Thursday with gifts, handshakes and hugs.