News

Anglers reel in 400-pound, 200-pound halibut in Cook Inlet

Anglers reel in 400-pound, 200-pound halibut in Cook Inlet

Saltwater anglers fishing with the Deep Creek Fishing Club stumbled on a rarity in the Cook Inlet on Aug. 11; they brought up a 403-pound… Continue reading

Anglers reel in 400-pound, 200-pound halibut in Cook Inlet

Florida woman involved in fatal crash finds missing cat

Robin Wiesneth, 50, spent Tuesday arranging a flight back home to Florida and coming to terms with the fact that she hadn’t found her cat,… Continue reading

Jerry Bixby of Soldotna holds up a 16.19-pound silver salmon caught just before the close of the Seward Silver Salmon Derby Sunday. The fish was good for first place in the derby standings, making Bixby a two-time winner. (Photo courtesy Seward Chamber of Commerce)

Silver fishing picks up; Soldotna angler claims Seward derby title

A silver salmon season that started a little slow has picked up in recent days. Jason Pawluk, assistant area management biologist with the Alaska Department… Continue reading

Jerry Bixby of Soldotna holds up a 16.19-pound silver salmon caught just before the close of the Seward Silver Salmon Derby Sunday. The fish was good for first place in the derby standings, making Bixby a two-time winner. (Photo courtesy Seward Chamber of Commerce)

School district report tracks student obesity

One in every three students in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is either overweight or obese. This ratio has held steady for at least… Continue reading

  • Aug 19, 2015
  • By Kelly Sullivan

Van driver involved in wreck identified

The driver of a van involved in a single-vehicle accident near Clam Gulch on Monday has been identified and issued a citation for the wreck.Scott… Continue reading

4-H club members guide their pigs around the barnyard during hog confirmation judging at the Kenai Peninsula State Fair in Ninilchik, Alaska, Friday Aug. 16, 2013. Peninsula Clarion file photo

Kenai Peninsula fair promises down home fun

The 2015 Kenai Peninsula Fair is slated to be three days packed with an eclectic blend of entertainment, Aug. 21 through 23, at the Ninilchik… Continue reading

  • Aug 19, 2015
  • By Kelly Sullivan
4-H club members guide their pigs around the barnyard during hog confirmation judging at the Kenai Peninsula State Fair in Ninilchik, Alaska, Friday Aug. 16, 2013. Peninsula Clarion file photo
Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion Sitting on the lap of Megan Brown, a recently-vacinated Aushtin Orlob examines the band-aid on his thigh, where he recieved the shot, during the Kenai Health Center's Saturday Vacination Clinic on June 13.

Local experts address common vaccine concerns

This post has been updated to correct an error. The Kenai Public Health Center works off a sliding scale for services when it comes to… Continue reading

Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion Sitting on the lap of Megan Brown, a recently-vacinated Aushtin Orlob examines the band-aid on his thigh, where he recieved the shot, during the Kenai Health Center's Saturday Vacination Clinic on June 13.
Photo by Elwood Brehmer/Alaska Journal of Commerce Sens. John Coghill and Kevin Meyer, House Speaker Mike Chenault and Rep. Charisse Millett appear at a press conference in Anchorage Tuesday.

Lawmakers cite constitutional question in Medicare expansion suit

The fight over expanding Medicaid between Gov. Bill Walker and Republican legislators has gone from the Capitol to the Anchorage Legislative Information Office and is… Continue reading

  • Aug 18, 2015
  • By ELWOOD BREHMER
Photo by Elwood Brehmer/Alaska Journal of Commerce Sens. John Coghill and Kevin Meyer, House Speaker Mike Chenault and Rep. Charisse Millett appear at a press conference in Anchorage Tuesday.
From left, city engineer Dan Tadic, Fire Chief Dave Miller, Search and Rescue Capt. Lance Ewers, and firefighter Rob Janik look at the damage caused by a landslide on Kramer Drive Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015 in SItka, Alaska. Four residents of a neighborhood in Alaska were missing Tuesday after heavy rain caused several landslides, emergency responders said. (James Poulson/The Daily Sitka Sentinel via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

3 people missing after several landslides in Sitka

ANCHORAGE — A landslide described by one witness as a sea of logs, mud and debris is believed to have trapped three people who were… Continue reading

  • Aug 18, 2015
  • By Rachel D'oro
From left, city engineer Dan Tadic, Fire Chief Dave Miller, Search and Rescue Capt. Lance Ewers, and firefighter Rob Janik look at the damage caused by a landslide on Kramer Drive Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015 in SItka, Alaska. Four residents of a neighborhood in Alaska were missing Tuesday after heavy rain caused several landslides, emergency responders said. (James Poulson/The Daily Sitka Sentinel via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Health care task force to meet

A task force formed to consider health care costs in the Kenai Peninsula Borough will convene for its first meeting Wednesday. Its inaugural meeting will… Continue reading

  • Aug 18, 2015
  • By Rashah McChesney

Nanwalek school students get their iPads

Nanwalek School’s 80 students finally received their iPads on Tuesday. The long-awaited celebration was not a quiet one. Staff and students clustered into the village… Continue reading

  • Aug 18, 2015
  • By Kelly Sullivan

Standard and Poor’s downgrades Alaska rating outlook

Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services lowered the outlook on the State of Alaska’s credit rating from “stable” to “negative” on Aug. 18, and gave politicians… Continue reading

  • Aug 18, 2015
  • By Andrew Jensen

Approval of Arctic drilling comes just before Obama’s visit

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s approval of drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean clashes with the message President Barack Obama will deliver when he… Continue reading

  • Aug 18, 2015
  • By KEVIN FREKING
FILE - This Aug. 30, 2011, file photo provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shows Big Diomede Island in Russia, right background, as seen from Little Diomede Island in the U.S. state of Alaska, left foreground. Residents from the tiny Alaska Native village on Little Diomede are trying to reconnect with their long-lost relatives from Big Diomede, who were moved to Russia's Chukotka Peninsula after the island became a Russian military base during World War II. Three miles separates the islands, but it might as well be thousands of miles because Big Diomede is strictly off-limits. (George A. Kalli/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers via AP, File)

Village seeks to reunite with Russian relatives

ANCHORAGE — Across the Bering Strait, Robert Soolook can easily see the looming hulk of the neighboring Russian island where some of his relatives used… Continue reading

  • Aug 18, 2015
  • By Rachel D'oro
FILE - This Aug. 30, 2011, file photo provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shows Big Diomede Island in Russia, right background, as seen from Little Diomede Island in the U.S. state of Alaska, left foreground. Residents from the tiny Alaska Native village on Little Diomede are trying to reconnect with their long-lost relatives from Big Diomede, who were moved to Russia's Chukotka Peninsula after the island became a Russian military base during World War II. Three miles separates the islands, but it might as well be thousands of miles because Big Diomede is strictly off-limits. (George A. Kalli/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers via AP, File)

6 injured in van rollover

Six people were injured in a single-vehicle accident Monday morning near Clam Gulch.The driver of a van carrying eight people attempted to pass another vehicle… Continue reading

FILE - In this April 17, 2015 file photo, with the Olympic Mountains in the background, a small boat crosses in front of the Transocean Polar Pioneer, a semi-submersible drilling unit that Royal Dutch Shell leases from Transocean Ltd., as it arrives in Port Angeles, Wash., aboard a transport ship after traveling across the Pacific before its eventual Arctic destination. The U.S. government on Monday gave Shell the final permit it needs to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska's northwest coast for the first time in more than two decades. (Daniella Beccaria/seattlepi.com via AP, File) MAGS OUT; NO SALES; SEATTLE TIMES OUT; TV OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Feds allow Shell to drill for oil in Arctic Ocean

ANCHORAGE — The federal government on Monday gave Royal Dutch Shell the final permit it needs to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean off… Continue reading

  • Aug 17, 2015
  • By Dan Joling
FILE - In this April 17, 2015 file photo, with the Olympic Mountains in the background, a small boat crosses in front of the Transocean Polar Pioneer, a semi-submersible drilling unit that Royal Dutch Shell leases from Transocean Ltd., as it arrives in Port Angeles, Wash., aboard a transport ship after traveling across the Pacific before its eventual Arctic destination. The U.S. government on Monday gave Shell the final permit it needs to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska's northwest coast for the first time in more than two decades. (Daniella Beccaria/seattlepi.com via AP, File) MAGS OUT; NO SALES; SEATTLE TIMES OUT; TV OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Lawmakers to discuss legal questions surrounding Medicaid

JUNEAU (AP) — A legislative committee plans to meet Tuesday to discuss whether to challenge Gov. Bill Walker’s plan to expand Medicaid in Alaska.A point… Continue reading

  • Aug 17, 2015
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks during a news conference, Monday, Aug. 17, 2015, in Anchorage, Alaska. Sullivan discussed a range of topics, including the importance of an Arctic policy for the United States. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

Sullivan: Russian moves highlight Arctic concerns

JUNEAU — U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan said the Russians are looking to militarize the Arctic, making it all the more important for the U.S. to… Continue reading

  • Aug 17, 2015
  • By Becky Bohrer
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks during a news conference, Monday, Aug. 17, 2015, in Anchorage, Alaska. Sullivan discussed a range of topics, including the importance of an Arctic policy for the United States. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Aubrey Austin curls up with a book in an armchair at the LeeShore Center where she has been staying for two months on August 13, 2015 in Kenai, Alaska. The center is in its 30th year of operating. At present, all 32 of its beds are filled.

LeeShore celebrates 30 years of service

Since opening its doors in 1985, Kenai’s LeeShore Center has served as a sanctuary for the community’s women and children in need. This year, its… Continue reading

Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Aubrey Austin curls up with a book in an armchair at the LeeShore Center where she has been staying for two months on August 13, 2015 in Kenai, Alaska. The center is in its 30th year of operating. At present, all 32 of its beds are filled.

Walker wants 51 percent stake in AKLNG

ANCHORAGE — Gov. Bill Walker is still pushing North Slope producers for a larger share of the Alaska LNG Project, and may promote a state… Continue reading

  • Aug 17, 2015
  • By Tim Bradner