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Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Happy and Jim Schneider are among the residents at Vintage Pointe Manor senior apartments who are facing a rate increase. In this Tuesday May 30, 2015 photo of the couple in their 826 square foot apartment - the two talked about potentially being priced out of their apartment and having to move elsewhere.

Rents rise at Vintage Pointe

When the residents of Kenai’s Vintage Pointe Manor senior housing pay their rents for the month of July, it will cost them up to $35… Continue reading

Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Happy and Jim Schneider are among the residents at Vintage Pointe Manor senior apartments who are facing a rate increase. In this Tuesday May 30, 2015 photo of the couple in their 826 square foot apartment - the two talked about potentially being priced out of their apartment and having to move elsewhere.
Clarion file photo The Kenai Peninsula Borough is appropriating $3.2 million to equip an 88,000 square-foot specialty clinics expansion at Central Peninsula Hospital. Equipment that was originally denied to the hospital by the state's Department of Health and Social Services, but has since been approved, is included in that funding request.

Borough set appropriate $3.2 million to outfit CPH clinics, state reverses course on equipment denial

A specialty clinic space at Central Peninsula Hospital will soon be outfitted with more than $3.2 million in equipment, including some that the state previously… Continue reading

  • Jun 4, 2015
  • By Rashah McChesney
Clarion file photo The Kenai Peninsula Borough is appropriating $3.2 million to equip an 88,000 square-foot specialty clinics expansion at Central Peninsula Hospital. Equipment that was originally denied to the hospital by the state's Department of Health and Social Services, but has since been approved, is included in that funding request.
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Dean Bartsch, of Nikiski, talks to a room full of people about a potential law enforcement area on Thursday June 4, 2015 at the Nikiski Community Center in Nikiski, Alaska.

Nikiski debates better police protection

It has been a decade since Nikiski voters rejected paying for a police service area. Now, after a rash of property thefts and what many… Continue reading

  • Jun 4, 2015
  • By Rashah McChesney
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Dean Bartsch, of Nikiski, talks to a room full of people about a potential law enforcement area on Thursday June 4, 2015 at the Nikiski Community Center in Nikiski, Alaska.

Judge: Parts of lawsuit vs. EPA over Pebble Mine can proceed

JUNEAU — A federal judge on Thursday decided to allow portions of a lawsuit brought against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by the group behind… Continue reading

  • Jun 4, 2015
  • By Becky Bohrer

Walker seeks input to balance budget

Pick your poison: State income tax? State sales tax? A “cap” on Permanent Fund dividends? Draconian cuts to public services? A hike in oil taxes?It’s… Continue reading

  • Jun 4, 2015
  • By Tim Bradner
Juneau Symphony conductor candidate Troy Quinn meets with locals during a meet-and-greet at the Baranof Hotel in November 2014.

Troy Quinn is ready to wow the Juneau audiences

Following an extensive nationwide search, the Juneau Symphony has selected a new music director and conductor to lead its orchestra: Troy Quinn of Los Angeles.… Continue reading

Juneau Symphony conductor candidate Troy Quinn meets with locals during a meet-and-greet at the Baranof Hotel in November 2014.

‘On-behalf’ payments swell school district budget numbers

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s budget for the 2015 fiscal year has nearly doubled, but residents aren’t footing the bill. The nearly $108 million… Continue reading

  • Jun 3, 2015
  • By Kelly Sullivan
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Mike Matheny, of Kasilof, reacts after a 20-pound king salmon surprised him by hooking itself on his line as he fished on the Kasilof River after catching it on Tuesday June 2, 2015 near Crooked Creek in Kasilof, Alaska.

Photo: Fish on?

… Continue reading

  • Jun 3, 2015
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Mike Matheny, of Kasilof, reacts after a 20-pound king salmon surprised him by hooking itself on his line as he fished on the Kasilof River after catching it on Tuesday June 2, 2015 near Crooked Creek in Kasilof, Alaska.
(AP Photo/Peninsula Clarion, Rashah McChesney) An investigator marks a stump within a parameter set up on Sunday March 22, 2015 between Borgen Avenue and Alpine Drive where Kenai Police have what they believe to be the remains of a family who have been missing from their Kenai, Alaska home for more than 10 months. The remains were found fewer than 2 miles from the family's home.

Police believe remains of four found in Kenai field to be a murder-suicide

Police believe a mother and her two children found dead in a field in Kenai were killed by a man whose body was found nearby.… Continue reading

  • Jun 3, 2015
  • By Rashah McChesney
(AP Photo/Peninsula Clarion, Rashah McChesney) An investigator marks a stump within a parameter set up on Sunday March 22, 2015 between Borgen Avenue and Alpine Drive where Kenai Police have what they believe to be the remains of a family who have been missing from their Kenai, Alaska home for more than 10 months. The remains were found fewer than 2 miles from the family's home.

Assembly supports schools, dings marketing and K-Beach flooded area

After months of planning and nearly two hours of last-minute wrangling, the Kenai Peninsula borough has a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Borough Assembly… Continue reading

  • Jun 3, 2015
  • By Rashah McChesney
Kim Haskell watches over Kenzie, a 2-year-old Newfoundland, that she hoped would make a good service dog for her.

Good dog, bad dog: What happens when a service dog doesn’t work out?

Kim Haskell, a 55-year-old Juneau woman whose medical issues require her to use a wheelchair to get around, was excited to pick up her new… Continue reading

Kim Haskell watches over Kenzie, a 2-year-old Newfoundland, that she hoped would make a good service dog for her.
Annual Spill Drill tests response for virtual Cook Inlet scenario

Annual Spill Drill tests response for virtual Cook Inlet scenario

While folks were preparing their barbeque grill for Memorial Day celebrations, Tesoro and CISPRI (Cook Inlet Spill Response Inc.) were preparing and testing equipment and… Continue reading

Annual Spill Drill tests response for virtual Cook Inlet scenario
Twin City Raceway "Test and Tunes" for summer oval racing season

Twin City Raceway “Test and Tunes” for summer oval racing season

The summer racing season at Twin Cities Raceway oval dirt track got off to a smokin’ start last week as racers from around Alaska turned… Continue reading

Twin City Raceway "Test and Tunes" for summer oval racing season
Midnight Sun Big Sit turns in big specie count

Midnight Sun Big Sit turns in big specie count

The third annual 24 consecutive hour “Midnight Sun Big Sit” took place again this year during the Kenai Bird Festival. The 2015 Kenai Birding Festival’s… Continue reading

Midnight Sun Big Sit turns in big specie count
Remembering the fallen while living free: Memorial Day 2015

Remembering the fallen while living free: Memorial Day 2015

Memorial Day services in Kenai and Soldotna offered local families the opportunity to gather in remembrance of those who stood up to defend our liberties… Continue reading

Remembering the fallen while living free: Memorial Day 2015
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Workers took a core sample of the earth near Autumn Road, Thursday October 9, 2014 in Nikiski where the Alaska LNG project has been buying land and planning to build an LNG facility at the terminus of a pipeline in a project that, if built, would be the largest of its kind in the world.

Alaska LNG exports to non-free-trade countries authorized

Editor's note: The estimated cost of the Alaska LNG project was originally misstated in this article. It is $45-65 billion.  The pipeline proposed by the… Continue reading

Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Workers took a core sample of the earth near Autumn Road, Thursday October 9, 2014 in Nikiski where the Alaska LNG project has been buying land and planning to build an LNG facility at the terminus of a pipeline in a project that, if built, would be the largest of its kind in the world.
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Cliff Heus, of Kenai, prepares to leave written feedback for Alaska Department of Transportation project organizers on May 28, 2015 during a public meeting on the Kenai Spur Highway Rehabilitation Project in Soldotna, Alaska. Heus said he was primarily concerned with the highway's intersection with Strawberry Road - which he said was confusing and needed to be better aligned.

Kenai Spur rehab project searches for focus

A project designed to improve a heavily-used highway corridor between Kenai and Soldotna is moving forward, despite missing more than half of the estimated $40… Continue reading

  • Jun 2, 2015
  • By Rashah McChesney
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Cliff Heus, of Kenai, prepares to leave written feedback for Alaska Department of Transportation project organizers on May 28, 2015 during a public meeting on the Kenai Spur Highway Rehabilitation Project in Soldotna, Alaska. Heus said he was primarily concerned with the highway's intersection with Strawberry Road - which he said was confusing and needed to be better aligned.
Photo courtesy Malia Acovak Malia Acovak stands with her mentor Jennifer Swander, English teacher at Seward High School. Swander suggested Acovak apply for the scholarship and helped her throughout the one-year-long process.

Two KPBSD students earn Gates scholarships

When Malia Acovak learned she would have her entire college education paid for, she started screaming in the middle of the Seward post office. Acovak,… Continue reading

  • Jun 2, 2015
  • By Kelly Sullivan
Photo courtesy Malia Acovak Malia Acovak stands with her mentor Jennifer Swander, English teacher at Seward High School. Swander suggested Acovak apply for the scholarship and helped her throughout the one-year-long process.

Where things stand in the Alaska Legislature

JUNEAU — If you have a sense of deja vu, you’re not alone. The Alaska Legislature is seemingly right back to where it was more… Continue reading

  • Jun 2, 2015
  • By Becky Bohrer
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Anglers try in vain to catch a king salmon near the mouth of the Ninilchik River on May 23, 2015 in Ninilchik, Alaska. Many reported the area to be slow that day, the open weekend on the river for the 2015 king salmon season. Fish and Game biologists have seen a strong early return of king salmon stocks on southern and central Kenai Peninsula streams, but area not yet certain of the size or timing of the run.

Despite promising numbers, king salmon managers still uncertain about run strength

Editor's note: this story has been corrected as it contained an inaccurate geographical description for the Deshka river. It runs into the Susitna River. A… Continue reading

  • May 31, 2015
  • By Rashah McChesney
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Anglers try in vain to catch a king salmon near the mouth of the Ninilchik River on May 23, 2015 in Ninilchik, Alaska. Many reported the area to be slow that day, the open weekend on the river for the 2015 king salmon season. Fish and Game biologists have seen a strong early return of king salmon stocks on southern and central Kenai Peninsula streams, but area not yet certain of the size or timing of the run.