News

Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion A cormorant takes flight over the Kenai River on Thursday May 14, 2015 near Sterling, Alaska. The bird was one of more than 60 seen by birders during a float trip that kicked off a weekend of events for the Kenai Birding Festival.

Photo: Liftoff

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  • May 17, 2015
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion A cormorant takes flight over the Kenai River on Thursday May 14, 2015 near Sterling, Alaska. The bird was one of more than 60 seen by birders during a float trip that kicked off a weekend of events for the Kenai Birding Festival.
A crane moves into position to life up an Alaska Air Transit plane that landed with wheels up at the Homer Airport on Saturday afternoon.

Flight lands with wheels up at Homer airport

An Alaska Air Transit charter flight with one pilot and seven passengers landed with wheels up late Saturday afternoon. No one was injured in the… Continue reading

A crane moves into position to life up an Alaska Air Transit plane that landed with wheels up at the Homer Airport on Saturday afternoon.

Phone scams reported in Southcentral Alaska

Utilities, including Homer Electric Association, are getting reports from businesses regarding suspicious phone calls, according to a press release from HEA.The phone scam is targeting… Continue reading

  • May 17, 2015
In this May 11, 2015 photo, Henry, a male cat cares for some kittens at a home in Ketchikan, Alsaka. Six abandoned kittens named after the kids in "The Brady Bunch" TV series are getting a nurturing boost from an unlikely source - the male cat with a slight neurological disorder. (Heather Muench/Ketchikan Humane Society via AP)

Male cat nurtures kittens abandoned in southeast Alaska

ANCHORAGE — Six abandoned kittens named after the kids in “The Brady Bunch” TV series are getting a nurturing boost from an unlikely source —… Continue reading

  • May 17, 2015
  • By Mark Thiessen
In this May 11, 2015 photo, Henry, a male cat cares for some kittens at a home in Ketchikan, Alsaka. Six abandoned kittens named after the kids in "The Brady Bunch" TV series are getting a nurturing boost from an unlikely source - the male cat with a slight neurological disorder. (Heather Muench/Ketchikan Humane Society via AP)

Funding reallocation spares summer ferry service

The state ferries will run mostly as scheduled this summer despite significant budget cuts looming, the Alaska Marine Highway System announced May 12.The announcement is… Continue reading

  • May 17, 2015
  • By ELWOOD BREHMER

Verbatim: Parting is such sweet sorrow

As the school year is ending, yearbooks start getting signed. Some have long, meaningful paragraphs. Others simply say, “Have a great summer!” which quickly gets… Continue reading

  • May 17, 2015
  • By Chloe Kincaid
  • Schools
Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion Organizer Scott Hamann (left) looks on while champion racer Wyatt Wasczak is placed on the starting ramp during the Kenai Rotary Soapbox Derby in the parking lot of Kenai's Challenger Learning Center.

New hill, same thrill: Soap box derby held in Kenai

“Do you know why it’s called a soapbox race?” asked soapbox derby racer Navy Poage. “Because soap used to come in big boxes, and kids… Continue reading

Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion Organizer Scott Hamann (left) looks on while champion racer Wyatt Wasczak is placed on the starting ramp during the Kenai Rotary Soapbox Derby in the parking lot of Kenai's Challenger Learning Center.

Administrators say Soldotna school reconfiguration boosts academic progress

Soldotna schools administrators are crediting the academic improvements to the recent school reconfiguration. With the first school year of the reconfiguration coming to a close… Continue reading

  • May 16, 2015
  • By Kelly Sullivan

WWII, Korean War vets feted in honor flight

HOMER (AP) — Sixteen million men and women served in World War II. Of those, 2 million remain alive. As that generation ages, organizations around… Continue reading

Seward develops marine infrastructure

The City of Seward hopes to break ground on its new harbor and breakwater in October, provided it can get a contractor in time.The in-water… Continue reading

  • May 16, 2015
  • By ELWOOD BREHMER
In this 2007 file photo Roberta “Bobbi” Quintavell, former president of Arctic Slope Regional Corp., addresses the Resource Development Council at its annual luncheon in 2007. Commercial fishing groups are rallying opposition against the possible nomination of Quintavell to the Alaska Board of Fisheries.

Gillis resigns days before Board of Fisheries nominee due

Editor's note: This is a breaking news story that will be updated periodically. A previous version of this story listed Marcia Davis as the Chief… Continue reading

  • May 15, 2015
  • By By Rashah McChesney and DJ Summers
In this 2007 file photo Roberta “Bobbi” Quintavell, former president of Arctic Slope Regional Corp., addresses the Resource Development Council at its annual luncheon in 2007. Commercial fishing groups are rallying opposition against the possible nomination of Quintavell to the Alaska Board of Fisheries.

Boston Marathon bomber sentenced to death

BOSTON — A jury sentenced Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death Friday for the Boston Marathon bombing, sweeping aside pleas that he was just a "kid" who… Continue reading

  • May 15, 2015
  • By DENISE LAVOIE
Photo courtesy Christy Weber Kenai local, Christy Weber is a finalist in the thirty-ninth Mrs. Alaska-America Pageant.

Kenai local heads to Mrs. Alaska-America Pageant

This weekend Christy Weber will be representing the central Kenai Peninsula in the Mrs. Alaska-America Pageant. The mother of five boys- ages 18 through 23-… Continue reading

  • May 14, 2015
  • By Kelly Sullivan
Photo courtesy Christy Weber Kenai local, Christy Weber is a finalist in the thirty-ninth Mrs. Alaska-America Pageant.
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion A bufflehead duck flies between three drift boats of birders on Thursday, May 14, 2015 as the group tours the Kenai River during a long weekend of Kenai Birding Festival activities. Birder Ken Marlow said the bufflehead was an uncommon sight for the area, though there are usually a few around in the spring.

Photo: Watch the birdie

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  • May 14, 2015
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion A bufflehead duck flies between three drift boats of birders on Thursday, May 14, 2015 as the group tours the Kenai River during a long weekend of Kenai Birding Festival activities. Birder Ken Marlow said the bufflehead was an uncommon sight for the area, though there are usually a few around in the spring.
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Brian Olson, a borough resident and president of Borough Residents Against Annexation, was the first to testify before the Soldotna City Council on Wednesday May 13, 2015 during the public comment portion of an ordinance to appropriate $150,000 to study annexation in Soldotna, Alaska.

Soldotna votes to study annexation

Despite the on-record protestations of nearly 30 people, cheered on by an audience of more than 70, the Soldotna City Council voted to move forward… Continue reading

  • May 14, 2015
  • By Rashah McChesney
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Brian Olson, a borough resident and president of Borough Residents Against Annexation, was the first to testify before the Soldotna City Council on Wednesday May 13, 2015 during the public comment portion of an ordinance to appropriate $150,000 to study annexation in Soldotna, Alaska.

House Finance stalls Walker’s Medicaid expansion proposal

JUNEAU — House Finance Committee co-chair Steve Thompson said Thursday that the panel is not comfortable moving ahead with plans to expand Medicaid coverage in… Continue reading

  • May 14, 2015
  • By Becky Bohrer

Construction season approaches

This week’s Skilak Lake Road closure was the first ripple of a wave of road maintenance set to sweep the Peninsula in summer 2015. The… Continue reading

Seward leading maritime workforce efforts

SEWARD — AVTEC, that little school at the end of the road in Seward, happens to be at the international forefront of maritime training.Right now,… Continue reading

  • May 14, 2015
  • By ELWOOD BREHMER
The oil drilling rig Polar Pioneer is towed toward a dock and in view of the Space Needle Thursday, May 14, 2015, in Elliott Bay in Seattle. The rig is the first of two drilling rigs Royal Dutch Shell is outfitting for oil exploration and was towed to the Port of Seattle site despite the city's warning that it lacks permits and threats by kayaking environmentalists to paddle out in protest. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

What’s at stake: The debate over Arctic drilling

ANCHORAGE — Royal Dutch Shell is parking two massive Arctic oil drilling rigs in Seattle’s waterfront before they head north. The first drill rig, the… Continue reading

  • May 14, 2015
  • By DAN JOLING and MARK THIESSEN
The oil drilling rig Polar Pioneer is towed toward a dock and in view of the Space Needle Thursday, May 14, 2015, in Elliott Bay in Seattle. The rig is the first of two drilling rigs Royal Dutch Shell is outfitting for oil exploration and was towed to the Port of Seattle site despite the city's warning that it lacks permits and threats by kayaking environmentalists to paddle out in protest. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Fight over Kenai River gillnet ramps up after regulation published

The Federal Subsistence Board has nearly 100 public comments and requests for reconsideration of subsistence gillnetting on the Kenai River. The previous record for a… Continue reading

  • May 13, 2015
  • By DJ SUMMERS