News

Finding freedom: Local group works to open home for women in recovery

During Jennifer Waller’s third stint in rehab for drug addiction, she didn’t have any indications that it would stick. Seven years later, she is working… Continue reading

Arbitrator urges school district, associations to reach agreement

In his released report, a collective bargaining Advisory Arbitrator urges the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District and Kenai Education and Kenai Peninsula Education Support associations… Continue reading

  • Aug 25, 2016
  • By Kelly Sullivan
A sockeye salmon makes its flight into the back of a truck on a set gillnet site on July 11, 2016 near Kenai, Alaska. Commercial fishermen in Upper Cook Inlet are winding down a season that did not live up to the preseason forecast of a large sockeye salmon run.

Upper Cook Inlet commercial fishing winds down

The boom of fish the commercial operations in Upper Cook Inlet expected never arrived this year.High preseason expectations made the 2016 season a disappointment for… 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. Commercial fishermen in Upper Cook Inlet are winding down a season that did not live up to the preseason forecast of a large sockeye salmon run.

Walker delays action on CFEC administrative changes

The Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission won’t transfer some of its administrative functions into the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, for now.Gov. Bill Walker set… Continue reading

Claims for expanded Medicaid group $30 million over estimates in first year

Alaska has trouble affording the Affordable Care Act.Alaska’s new Medicaid enrollees are already costing more than what economists predicted they would in 2021. This matches… Continue reading

  • Aug 25, 2016
Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion Kenai mayoral candidates Brian Gabriel (left) and Hal Smalley take turns answering questions during a debate at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016 in Kenai, Alaska.

Kenai mayoral candidates talk business

Present Kenai Mayor Pat Porter is moving to Texas after her present three-year term ends in October, creating a rare Kenai mayoral race with no… Continue reading

Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion Kenai mayoral candidates Brian Gabriel (left) and Hal Smalley take turns answering questions during a debate at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016 in Kenai, Alaska.

7 vie for judge seat in Kenai Superior Court

The Alaska Judicial Council has its work cut out in narrowing down the applicants for a judgeship in Kenai’s Superior Court.Kenai Superior Court Judge Carl… Continue reading

Assembly takes no action on invocation

Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meetings will still open with a prayer for the foreseeable future.The assembly invites local religious groups to come and offer an… Continue reading

Permanent Fund grows by 1.35 pecent in FY16

The Permanent Fund unofficially grew a modest 1.35 percent on a $52.8 billion portfolio in fiscal year 2016, the result of a volatile 12 months… Continue reading

  • Aug 24, 2016
  • By ELWOOD BREHMER
Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion An angler untangles a pink salmon from a net and fishing line on a fishing boardwalk on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016 in Soldotna, Alaska.

For Kenai anglers, everything’s coming up pink

Most of the catch to be found in the Kenai River at present is pink instead of silver.Anglers on the fishing dock near the Soldotna… Continue reading

Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion An angler untangles a pink salmon from a net and fishing line on a fishing boardwalk on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016 in Soldotna, Alaska.
Photo courtsey Adrenaline PR Drowning Pool.

Buckcherry, Drowning Pool head to Kenai

This weekend, West Coast Rock will meet Heavy Metal for unprecedented, inaugural performances on the Kenai Peninsula.Contemporary musical titans, Buckcherry and Drowning Pool, will take… Continue reading

  • Aug 24, 2016
  • By Kelly Sullivan
Photo courtsey Adrenaline PR Drowning Pool.

Fees to change for big game guides

Hunting seasons for moose, caribou, bear and sheep are open or will open soon, and Alaska’s 1,570 licensed big game hunting guides and transporters will… Continue reading

Grass and bushes grow up around the burnt trees left in the wake of the 2014 Funny River Fire, pictured Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016 at the trailhead of the Funny River Horse Trail at Mile 7 of Funny River Road in Alaska. The lack of a large fire this season allowed area agencies to focus on preventative work, such as improving a fuel break in the Funny River area.

Cooling off period: Calm fire season lets agencies focus on prevention

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that the Division of Forestry, not including the Office of Emergency Management, sent personnel around the… Continue reading

Grass and bushes grow up around the burnt trees left in the wake of the 2014 Funny River Fire, pictured Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016 at the trailhead of the Funny River Horse Trail at Mile 7 of Funny River Road in Alaska. The lack of a large fire this season allowed area agencies to focus on preventative work, such as improving a fuel break in the Funny River area.
Photo by DJ Summers/Alaska Journal of Commerce Cannabis clones sit on a rack in Greatland Ganja's Kasilof farm. After growing to the required size, the plants will be moved from the indoor grow room to an outdoor greenhouse. Each carries a tag that registers the plant's type and the overall quantity of plants in the facility.

Commercial marijuana ban voter initiative validated

A citizen petition to ask voters whether commercial marijuana operations should be banned in the Kenai Peninsula Borough outside the cities has received sufficient signatures… Continue reading

Photo by DJ Summers/Alaska Journal of Commerce Cannabis clones sit on a rack in Greatland Ganja's Kasilof farm. After growing to the required size, the plants will be moved from the indoor grow room to an outdoor greenhouse. Each carries a tag that registers the plant's type and the overall quantity of plants in the facility.

UnCruise owner tells story behind bear mauling

The brown bear mauling near Sitka last week that left two UnCruise Adventures guides injured took place in a matter of seconds, according to the… Continue reading

  • Aug 23, 2016
  • By LISA PHU
Thomas Salas holds the pink salmon he caught Monday, Aug. 22, 2016 in the Kenai River. The fish weighed in at 12 pounds, 13 ounces, beating the previous state record of 12 pounds, 9 ounces. Salas held the record for a few hours before Robert Dubar brought in his 13 pound, 10.6 ounce fish.

State pink salmon record broken twice in one day

After 42 years, the Alaska state record for a sport-caught pink salmon was broken — twice. Thomas Salas hauled a monster pink salmon out of… Continue reading

Thomas Salas holds the pink salmon he caught Monday, Aug. 22, 2016 in the Kenai River. The fish weighed in at 12 pounds, 13 ounces, beating the previous state record of 12 pounds, 9 ounces. Salas held the record for a few hours before Robert Dubar brought in his 13 pound, 10.6 ounce fish.
Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion David Schmitt, the COO of Industrial Hemp Manufacturing in Spring Hope, North Carolina, demonstrates how kenaf fiber can absorb spilled oil at the Kenai Peninsula Borough Economic Development District on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016. Schmitt said the kenaf fiber, a wood-like plant, can absorb 30 times as much as clay composite, which is regularly used to help clean up land-based oil spills.

Hemp proposed as construction, oil spill material

When an oil spill occurs, one of the first reactions is to use something to mop it up. Respondents will use clay-based absorbents on land-based… Continue reading

Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion David Schmitt, the COO of Industrial Hemp Manufacturing in Spring Hope, North Carolina, demonstrates how kenaf fiber can absorb spilled oil at the Kenai Peninsula Borough Economic Development District on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016. Schmitt said the kenaf fiber, a wood-like plant, can absorb 30 times as much as clay composite, which is regularly used to help clean up land-based oil spills.
(Left to right) Kalista, Shaunzi and Kimbra Clements crouch in a patch of low bush cranberries Monday, Aug. 15, 2016 on Tsalteshi Trails' Wolverine Trail in Soldotna, Alaska. The trio attended the walk led by Janice Chumley, Integrated Pest Management Technician for the Kenai branch of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service, for the Harvest Moon Festival. Kimbra said they wanted to learn about picking berries, and being a single mother, it helps to have extra resources.

Harvest Moon Festival focuses on local foods

This year’s Harvest Moon Festival was all about local foods — as local as they get. From bright, bulging berries to papery, soaking wet seaweed,… Continue reading

  • Aug 22, 2016
  • By Kelly Sullivan
(Left to right) Kalista, Shaunzi and Kimbra Clements crouch in a patch of low bush cranberries Monday, Aug. 15, 2016 on Tsalteshi Trails' Wolverine Trail in Soldotna, Alaska. The trio attended the walk led by Janice Chumley, Integrated Pest Management Technician for the Kenai branch of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service, for the Harvest Moon Festival. Kimbra said they wanted to learn about picking berries, and being a single mother, it helps to have extra resources.
This undated photo provided by the National Park Service on Aug. 19, 2016 shows the Huna Tribal House that will be dedicated on the shores of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska, during ceremonies beginning on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. According to the National Park Service, four Huna Tlingit clans traditionally occupied land in and around the present-day park. The building will serve as also an acknowledgment of that heritage. (Steve Schaller/National Park Service via AP)

Tribal house to mark Huna Tlingit connection to Glacier Bay

ANCHORAGE — A tribal house years in the making will be dedicated on the shores of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve on Thursday, a… Continue reading

  • Aug 22, 2016
  • By Becky Bohrer
This undated photo provided by the National Park Service on Aug. 19, 2016 shows the Huna Tribal House that will be dedicated on the shores of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska, during ceremonies beginning on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. According to the National Park Service, four Huna Tlingit clans traditionally occupied land in and around the present-day park. The building will serve as also an acknowledgment of that heritage. (Steve Schaller/National Park Service via AP)

Fairbanks to take stance on wolf hunting near Denali park

FAIRBANKS (AP) — Fairbanks officials plan to weigh in on a statewide dispute about wolf hunting rules near Denali National Park.A resolution from Fairbanks North… Continue reading

  • Aug 22, 2016