Pot initiative backer cites concern with Alaska smoking bill

JUNEAU — Public smoking restrictions that recently passed the Alaska Senate could hurt proposed cannabis cafes in the state, a sponsor of the initiative that… Continue reading

  • Apr 2, 2016
  • By Becky Bohrer

Fishing officials work to get young people fishing permits

KODIAK (AP) — People in the fishing industry are looking for ways to help young fishermen join the workforce.During the ComFish conference in Kodiak this… Continue reading

  • Apr 2, 2016

In West, region of guns and suicide, outreach to curb deaths

MONTROSE, Colorado — Keith Carey is a gunsmith in Montrose, a town with a frontier flavor set amid the mesas of western Colorado. He’s a… Continue reading

  • Apr 2, 2016
  • By DAVID CRARY

Legislative Information Office schedule for April 4

Monday 1:00 p.m.The House Resources Committee will sponsor a public hearing to discuss SB 32 Timber Sales and HB 112 Repeal CFEC; Transfer Functions to… Continue reading

Travis Burnett of the Magnum Motors dodgeball team flings a ball at an opponent, with teammate James Dye in the background, during the Young Professionals Dodgeball tournament on Saturday, March 26 at the Kenai Central High School gymnasium.

Kenai residents team up for dodgeball tournaments

Kenai residents played dodgeball in two separate fundraising dodgeball tournaments last Saturday: the Young Life Christian youth group in the gymnasium of the Kenai Middle… Continue reading

Travis Burnett of the Magnum Motors dodgeball team flings a ball at an opponent, with teammate James Dye in the background, during the Young Professionals Dodgeball tournament on Saturday, March 26 at the Kenai Central High School gymnasium.
Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Koebryn Mlynarik enters the Kenai Peninsula Borough building during an active shooter simulation as part of this year's Alaska Shield exercise on Thursday, March 31, 2016 in Soldotna, Alaska.

Public employees test out Alaska Shield training

Moments after the go-ahead came across a hand-held radio, a young man in black crept up the stairs to the Kenai Peninsula Borough building with… Continue reading

Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion Koebryn Mlynarik enters the Kenai Peninsula Borough building during an active shooter simulation as part of this year's Alaska Shield exercise on Thursday, March 31, 2016 in Soldotna, Alaska.

AMP delayed again, technical troubles persist

The Alaska Measures of Progress and Alaska Alternate assessments have been suspended indefinitely.The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development will wait for word from… Continue reading

  • Mar 31, 2016
  • By Kelly Sullivan

Healthcare Task Force moves toward alignment model

The Kenai Peninsula Borough’s Healthcare Task Force is asking the boards of the peninsula’s three hospitals to look at ways they can share services to… Continue reading

Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion A commercial drift gillnetting boat leaves the mouth of the Kasilof River at about 1 a.m. Thursday morning July 17, 2014 during an overnight fishing period in Kasilof, Alaska.

Larger expected king run loosens restrictions on setnets, drifters

Editor's note: This article has been edited to clarify that the 36-hour mandatory window for the 2016 Upper Subdistrict set gillnet commercial fishing season will… Continue reading

Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion A commercial drift gillnetting boat leaves the mouth of the Kasilof River at about 1 a.m. Thursday morning July 17, 2014 during an overnight fishing period in Kasilof, Alaska.
U.S Senator Lisa Murkowski speaks to an audience at the Kenai and Soldotna Joint Chamber of Commerce Luncheon on Wednesday, March 30 at the Kenai Visitors Center.

Murkowski: Progress being made in D.C.

Alaska’s Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said that although the nation’s capital has earned a reputation for dysfunction, congress has recently managed to consider and occasionally… Continue reading

U.S Senator Lisa Murkowski speaks to an audience at the Kenai and Soldotna Joint Chamber of Commerce Luncheon on Wednesday, March 30 at the Kenai Visitors Center.

Cooper Landing murder trial begins Monday

An Anchorage man accused of murder in the 2013 death of Genghis Muskox will go to trial starting Monday at the Kenai Courthouse.District Attorney Scot… Continue reading

Air traffic resumes as volcano eruptions wane

ANCHORAGE — A remote Alaska volcano rumbled and sputtered Wednesday but was no longer spewing the massive ash clouds that disrupted airline traffic earlier in… Continue reading

  • Mar 30, 2016
  • By Dan Joling

Bill seeks to address rising health insurance rates

JUNEAU — State officials in Alaska are proposing a program to address high-cost health insurance claims in hopes of stabilizing rising rates on the individual… Continue reading

System down, school testing delayed

Students statewide were unable to start the Alaska Measures of Progress and Alaska Alternate assessments Tuesday, the first day scheduled for this year’s round of… Continue reading

  • Mar 29, 2016
  • By Kelly Sullivan
Photo contributed by J&J Smart Charters  Clammers work the Polly Creek beach on the west side of the Cook Inlet during a June 26, 2013 trip with J&J Smart Charters operating out of Ninilchik. Biologists from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game are planning to survey the razor clam population near Polly Creek as concerns about additional harvest arise.

Fish & Game to survey west side razor clams

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game plans to study the razor clams on the west side of Cook Inlet this summer. Razor clams are… Continue reading

Photo contributed by J&J Smart Charters  Clammers work the Polly Creek beach on the west side of the Cook Inlet during a June 26, 2013 trip with J&J Smart Charters operating out of Ninilchik. Biologists from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game are planning to survey the razor clam population near Polly Creek as concerns about additional harvest arise.
Photo courtesy Gabe Fletcher This photo from Alaska Brewing Company owner Gabe Fletcher shows a King Fisher boat named "Celestial Dawn" that was taken from outside the brewing company in Anchorage and found in Soldotna on Monday, March 28, 2016.

Stolen boat leads police to group storing drugs, firearms

Residents from Alaska and California have been arrested in Soldotna on drug and firearm charges after being connected to a stolen boat from Anchorage. Gabe… Continue reading

Photo courtesy Gabe Fletcher This photo from Alaska Brewing Company owner Gabe Fletcher shows a King Fisher boat named "Celestial Dawn" that was taken from outside the brewing company in Anchorage and found in Soldotna on Monday, March 28, 2016.
This Monday, March 28, 2016, photo provided by LJ Taylor shows volcanic ash on a vehicle at Nelson Lagoon, Alaska. The Alaska Volcano Observatory says minor amounts of volcanic ash from Pavlof Volcano are being reported on the ground by several Alaska communities. Geologist Kristi Wallace of the U.S. Geological Survey says the most significant fallout was in Nelson Lagoon. (LJ Taylor via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Pavlof spews smaller amounts of ash at lower levels

ANCHORAGE — An Alaska volcano kept pumping out new ash Tuesday that could threaten aircraft, but it came in smaller amounts at lower heights, according… Continue reading

  • Mar 29, 2016
  • By Dan Joling
This Monday, March 28, 2016, photo provided by LJ Taylor shows volcanic ash on a vehicle at Nelson Lagoon, Alaska. The Alaska Volcano Observatory says minor amounts of volcanic ash from Pavlof Volcano are being reported on the ground by several Alaska communities. Geologist Kristi Wallace of the U.S. Geological Survey says the most significant fallout was in Nelson Lagoon. (LJ Taylor via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Associations, school district to meet again

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District will respond to the Kenai Peninsula Education and Kenai Peninsula Education Support associations’ most recent health care proposal Wednesday.… Continue reading

  • Mar 29, 2016
  • By Kelly Sullivan

Bill aims to keep criminals from returning to jail

JUNEAU — Alaska lawmakers are considering a bill aimed at preventing criminals from repeatedly returning to jail.The measure is part of a sweeping criminal justice… Continue reading

AMP is out

The State of Alaska is throwing out the Alaska Measures of Progress and Alaska Alternate assessments, its method for gauging student performance in the third… Continue reading

  • Jan 27, 2016
  • By Kelly Sullivan