News

Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Several busses head to Kenai Peninsula School District schools which were put in a modified lockdown mode Wednesday May 13, 2015 when the district received a computerized threatening telphone call.

Central peninsula schools respond to phone threat

Several central Kenai Peninsula schools implemented “stay put mode” measures Wednesday after Kalifornsky Beach Elementary and Skyview Middle School received threatening automated voice messages. Law… Continue reading

  • May 13, 2015
  • By KELLY SULLIVAN and BEN BOETTGER
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Several busses head to Kenai Peninsula School District schools which were put in a modified lockdown mode Wednesday May 13, 2015 when the district received a computerized threatening telphone call.
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Johnathan Rine, dungeon master for a group who plays the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, explains the subtleties of character building as Soldotna Public Library Youth Service Director KJ Hillgren laughs in the background on April 22, 2015 at the library. Rine and several others in his group will host a D&D marathon day, open to the public, on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Photo: Getting into character

… Continue reading

  • May 13, 2015
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Johnathan Rine, dungeon master for a group who plays the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, explains the subtleties of character building as Soldotna Public Library Youth Service Director KJ Hillgren laughs in the background on April 22, 2015 at the library. Rine and several others in his group will host a D&D marathon day, open to the public, on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Sea stars with ‘wasting disease’ found in Kachemak Bay

ANCHORAGE (AP) — Researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks made a disappointing discovery while surveying long-term monitoring sites: a half-dozen diseased sea stars in… Continue reading

  • May 13, 2015

Shell: Drill rigs coming to Seattle despite pleas for delay

SEATTLE — Royal Dutch Shell is forging ahead with plans to park two Arctic oil drilling rigs in Seattle, despite the city saying it could… Continue reading

  • May 13, 2015
  • By GENE JOHNSON and PHUONG LE

Wood bison healthy in wild after March reintroduction

FAIRBANKS (AP) — When you bring an animal back into the Alaska wild for the first time in a century, you have to be prepared… Continue reading

  • May 13, 2015
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Shannon Bradford laughs during a break in a Dungeons & Dragons game on April 22, 2015 in the community room at the Soldotna Library. Bradford and a handful of others play the fantasy role playing game regularly at the library and will be hosting a marathon D&D day at the library for community members interested in learning more about gameplay.

Group hosts Dungeons & Dragons marathon

On a recent Wednesday, a group of five high school students gathered in the community room of the Soldotna Public Library to continue a fantasy… Continue reading

  • May 13, 2015
  • By Rashah McChesney
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Shannon Bradford laughs during a break in a Dungeons & Dragons game on April 22, 2015 in the community room at the Soldotna Library. Bradford and a handful of others play the fantasy role playing game regularly at the library and will be hosting a marathon D&D day at the library for community members interested in learning more about gameplay.

Central Kenai schools on “stay put mode” this afternoon

Several Central Peninsula schools implemented “stay put mode” this afternoon after Kalifornsky Beach Elementary and Skyview Middle School received threatening automated voice messages. The calls… Continue reading

  • May 13, 2015
  • By Staff Report

Kenai draft budget increases $48,386

Editor's note: This story has been changed to clarify the increase in Kenai's health care costs and to correct the day of the budget work… Continue reading

Clarion file photo In this April 2011 file photo, Herb Stetler teaches a Soldotna Elementary School class how to properly fold an American flags. Stetler conceived of a project to bring an "Iron Mike" statue to Soldotna to memorialize military servicemen.

Iron Mike statue to be seated in Soldotna

A five-foot, one-ton monument is headed to Soldotna Creek Park. The Central Kenai Peninsula community and the City of Soldotna, led by the Soldotna Veterans… Continue reading

  • May 12, 2015
  • By Kelly Sullivan
Clarion file photo In this April 2011 file photo, Herb Stetler teaches a Soldotna Elementary School class how to properly fold an American flags. Stetler conceived of a project to bring an "Iron Mike" statue to Soldotna to memorialize military servicemen.

Photo: Puddle Jumpers

… Continue reading

  • May 12, 2015

Nikiski woman accused of firing at a car for “driving recklessly”

Alaska State Troopers arrested a Nikiski woman on Monday after getting a report that she had shot at a moving car near Island Lake Road.… Continue reading

  • May 12, 2015

Report: Alaska population down after 26 years of growth

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An aging baby boomer population and a stagnate birthrate have caused Alaska’s population to fall for the first time since the… Continue reading

  • May 12, 2015
  • By Associated Press

Part of Skilak Lake Road Open

A portion of the closed Skilak Lake Road, the gravel road connecting the Sterling Highway to recreation areas on five lakes near Sterling, was reopened… Continue reading

School district replacing potentially biased textbook

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is replacing an eighth-grade history textbook called into question for containing potentially biased information. The publisher, Prentice Hall, is… Continue reading

  • May 11, 2015
  • By Kelly Sullivan
Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion Dancers pose for photographs Monday at the Encore Dance Academy in Kenai in preparation for their spring recital. The recital is May 29 at 6 p.m. at Kenai Central High School, said academy owner Tara Slaughter.

Photo: Plié for the camera

… Continue reading

  • May 11, 2015
Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion Dancers pose for photographs Monday at the Encore Dance Academy in Kenai in preparation for their spring recital. The recital is May 29 at 6 p.m. at Kenai Central High School, said academy owner Tara Slaughter.

Kenai man accused of sexual abuse of a 15-year-old girl

A Kenai man has been arrested after police accused him of sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl. Joshua Brown, 20, was found by police in a… Continue reading

  • May 11, 2015
  • By Rashah McChesney
FILE - In this April 17, 2015 file photo, an oil drilling rig arrives aboard a transport ship at sunrise, following a journey across the Pacific in Port Angeles, Wash. Royal Dutch Shell hopes to use the rig for exploratory drilling during the summer open-water season in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast, if it can get the permits. Royal Dutch Shell cleared a major hurdle Monday, May 11, 2015, when The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved Shell's exploration plan. However, this isn't the final step that Shell needs for Arctic drilling. (Daniella Beccaria/seattlepi.com via AP) MAGS OUT; NO SALES; SEATTLE TIMES OUT; TV OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Shell clears major US government hurdle for Arctic drilling

ANCHORAGE — Royal Dutch Shell’s Arctic drilling program has cleared a major bureaucratic hurdle to begin drilling for oil and gas off Alaska’s northwestern coast… Continue reading

  • May 11, 2015
  • By Mark Thiessen
FILE - In this April 17, 2015 file photo, an oil drilling rig arrives aboard a transport ship at sunrise, following a journey across the Pacific in Port Angeles, Wash. Royal Dutch Shell hopes to use the rig for exploratory drilling during the summer open-water season in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast, if it can get the permits. Royal Dutch Shell cleared a major hurdle Monday, May 11, 2015, when The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved Shell's exploration plan. However, this isn't the final step that Shell needs for Arctic drilling. (Daniella Beccaria/seattlepi.com via AP) MAGS OUT; NO SALES; SEATTLE TIMES OUT; TV OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Lt. Governor outlines state stake in British Columbia issues

JUNEAU — Alaska has clear interests in protecting with extreme vigilance the water quality in rivers that flow into the state that could be affected… Continue reading

  • May 11, 2015
  • By Becky Bohrer

Business news

■ The Soldotna Chamber of Commerce next meets May 19 at noon at Frosos Restaurant in Soldotna. Presentations will include of Soldotna Chamber Scholarship Awards… Continue reading

  • May 11, 2015

Judge won’t block plan to kill cormorants to save salmon

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A judge has refused to block a plan to shoot more than 10,000 double-crested cormorants in the Columbia River estuary. The… Continue reading

  • May 11, 2015