News

2014 dividend doubled last year’s amount

Governor Sean Parnell announced today the 2014 Permanent Fund Dividend would be $1,884 ­– more than double last year’s amount. The first dividends will be… Continue reading

  • Sep 17, 2014
  • By DAN BALMER
Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion Cana Howard, Ibri Howard and Vellena Howard blind taste tested and rated 15 apples, Sunday, September 14, 2014 in at O'Brien Garden and Trees in Nikiski, Alaska.

Nikiski orchard hosts rare taste testing

Beside the high tunnels at O’Brien Garden and Trees, a line of locals wound around the corner of the southern-most structure, patiently waiting to purchase… Continue reading

  • Sep 17, 2014
  • By Kelly Sullivan
Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion Cana Howard, Ibri Howard and Vellena Howard blind taste tested and rated 15 apples, Sunday, September 14, 2014 in at O'Brien Garden and Trees in Nikiski, Alaska.
Photo by Kaylee Osowski/Peninsula Clarion Kenai Peninsula Borough assembly member Bill Smith (left) discusses the borough ballot proposition, which asks voters if the borough should hold elections by mail on Tuesday at the Kenai and Soldotna Chambers joint luncheon at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. Assembly member Brent Johnson (right) spoke to luncheon attendees about a proposition asking voters if the borough should exercise and fund limited animal control powers. The propositions will be on the Oct. 7 ballot.

Assembly members address the dollars and sense of ballot props

Local elected officials offered clarity on some of the community questions on ballot propositions Tuesday at the Kenai and Soldotna Chamber’s joint luncheon.Kenai Peninsula Borough… Continue reading

  • Sep 17, 2014
  • By KAYLEE OSOWSKI
Photo by Kaylee Osowski/Peninsula Clarion Kenai Peninsula Borough assembly member Bill Smith (left) discusses the borough ballot proposition, which asks voters if the borough should hold elections by mail on Tuesday at the Kenai and Soldotna Chambers joint luncheon at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. Assembly member Brent Johnson (right) spoke to luncheon attendees about a proposition asking voters if the borough should exercise and fund limited animal control powers. The propositions will be on the Oct. 7 ballot.

Man crashes motorcycle, arrested by troopers

A Soldotna man is facing six misdemeanor charges after Alaska State Troopers allege he fled from a disturbance on a motorcycle and crashed down the… Continue reading

  • Sep 17, 2014
  • By DAN BALMER

Soldotna man dies in ATV accident

A Soldotna man died in an all-terrain vehicle accident near Ninilchik Monday night.Donald Burns Jr., 63, was found dead pinned underneath a Yamaha ATV around… Continue reading

  • Sep 17, 2014
  • By DAN BALMER

Soldotna man dies in ATV accident

A Soldotna man died in an all-terrain vehicle accident near Ninilchik Monday night. Donald Burns Jr., 63, was found dead pinned underneath a Yamaha ATV… Continue reading

  • Sep 16, 2014
  • By DAN BALMER
The Binkley Street improvement project work continues between Park Avenue and Corral Street on Monday in Soldotna.

Work along Binkley Street continues

The City of Soldotna and the Kenai Peninsula Borough will be split the cost of the final stage of Binkley Street improvements. The sewer collection… Continue reading

  • Sep 15, 2014
  • By Kelly Sullivan
The Binkley Street improvement project work continues between Park Avenue and Corral Street on Monday in Soldotna.

Furie’s monopod platform arrives in Cook Inlet

Furie Operating Alaska’s platform has arrived in Alaska from Texas. The platform was built in Ingleside, Texas, this summer. On June 4 it left Corpus… Continue reading

  • Sep 15, 2014
  • By KAYLEE OSOWSKI

Son’s death weighing on family

After moving back to Soldotna at the end of August to begin a new job, the future looked bright for Connor Jezorski until tragedy struck.On… Continue reading

  • Sep 15, 2014
  • By DAN BALMER

BP Alaska plans layoffs following Hilcorp sale

JUNEAU — BP Alaska, a major player in the state’s oil industry, on Monday announced plans to lay off 275 employees and direct contractors early… Continue reading

  • Sep 15, 2014
  • By Becky Bohrer

Sullivan says he backs state minimum wage measure

JUNEAU (AP) — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan said he doesn’t support raising the federal minimum wage but backs a state initiative to raise… Continue reading

  • Sep 15, 2014
Soldotna Prep students listen to their guide as they tour the Career and Technical Education Center on Kenai Peninsula College's Kenai River Campus on Sept. 9. The freshmen visited KPC to kick off the Career Pathways Program for the year. Photo by Kaylee Osowski/Peninsula Clarion

Planning for the future

A quick field trip to the nearby college for Soldotna Prep students proved to be an eye-opening experience for some ninth graders. Monday and Tuesday… Continue reading

  • Sep 14, 2014
  • By KAYLEE OSOWSKI
  • Schools
Soldotna Prep students listen to their guide as they tour the Career and Technical Education Center on Kenai Peninsula College's Kenai River Campus on Sept. 9. The freshmen visited KPC to kick off the Career Pathways Program for the year. Photo by Kaylee Osowski/Peninsula Clarion
Jerry Terp, 59, of Kenai, won the Colonist category at this year's Alaska State Fair's Great Alaska Beard Contest in Palmer. Terp was severely burned in a house fire in October 2010. Since the fire, his facial hair has now grown back enough to allow him to compete in beard contests again. On Friday, Sept. 12, the staff and clients at Birchwood Center in Soldotna, where Terp receives assistance, celebrated his blue ribbon win. Photo by Kaylee Osowski/Peninsula Clarion

The beard is back

Facial hair of different colors and lengths — some real, some store-bought and others homemade — adorned the faces of staff and clients alike Friday… Continue reading

  • Sep 14, 2014
  • By KAYLEE OSOWSKI
Jerry Terp, 59, of Kenai, won the Colonist category at this year's Alaska State Fair's Great Alaska Beard Contest in Palmer. Terp was severely burned in a house fire in October 2010. Since the fire, his facial hair has now grown back enough to allow him to compete in beard contests again. On Friday, Sept. 12, the staff and clients at Birchwood Center in Soldotna, where Terp receives assistance, celebrated his blue ribbon win. Photo by Kaylee Osowski/Peninsula Clarion

Lost hiker rescued

Alaska State Troopers located an out-of-state man who got lost on a hiking trip near Skilak Lake on Sept. 11.Josh Blackmore, 43, of Midland Mich.… Continue reading

  • Sep 14, 2014
  • By DAN BALMER

Strong salmon runs recorded in Yukon River

FAIRBANKS — The Yukon River is having strong runs of silver and chum salmon this fall, giving a boost to fishermen after another tepid summer… Continue reading

  • Sep 14, 2014
  • By Jeff Richardson

Report: Ketchikan ship projects equal revenue

KETCHIKAN — Ketchikan could see significant economic benefits — both in terms of new jobs and money spent in the community — if either the… Continue reading

  • Sep 14, 2014
  • By MATT ARMSTRONG
In this photo taken Aug. 28, 2014, road work leader Rick Weibel waves to a road grader while making the rounds to the work sites along the Park Road in Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve. The workers on the Denali National Park and Preserve road crews spend their time navigating a narrow path between two imposing bodies. The road crew spends each day maintaining the narrow, two-lane road that runs for miles between 6,000-plus foot ridge lines. (AP Photo/Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Erin Corneliussen)

Denali road crews juggle access with protection

FAIRBANKS — The workers on the Denali National Park and Preserve road crews spend their time navigating a narrow path between two imposing bodies.In the… Continue reading

  • Sep 14, 2014
  • By WESTON MORROW
In this photo taken Aug. 28, 2014, road work leader Rick Weibel waves to a road grader while making the rounds to the work sites along the Park Road in Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve. The workers on the Denali National Park and Preserve road crews spend their time navigating a narrow path between two imposing bodies. The road crew spends each day maintaining the narrow, two-lane road that runs for miles between 6,000-plus foot ridge lines. (AP Photo/Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Erin Corneliussen)

Two men charged with paying for sex

The Kenai Police Department has charged two more men for paying for sex at a Kenai massage business, bringing the total number of alleged “Johns”… Continue reading

  • Sep 13, 2014
  • By DAN BALMER
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Ryan Peterson, of Anchorage, listens to Ricky Gease, executive director of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, speak to a group of Russian delegates Wednesday September 10, 2014 in Soldotna, Alaska. Peterson acted as an organizer and guide for the group as they travelled around Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula.

Exchanging culture, conserving salmon

Even as political relations between the United States and Russia devolve, scientists, activists, conservationists and fishermen between the two countries push for further protections of… Continue reading

  • Sep 13, 2014
  • By Rashah McChesney
Photo by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion Ryan Peterson, of Anchorage, listens to Ricky Gease, executive director of the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, speak to a group of Russian delegates Wednesday September 10, 2014 in Soldotna, Alaska. Peterson acted as an organizer and guide for the group as they travelled around Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula.
Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion Glenn Sackett, owner of Sackett Family Farms' Organic Produce located in Sterling, has 800 tomato plants he is in the process of harvesting, Friday, September 12, 2014 in Sterling, Alaska.

Sterling farmer works to open an organic grocery store

Musty warmth carries the sour odor of fresh manure inside Sackett Family Farms Organic Produce second greenhouse. The sharp smell is distracting. Glenn Sackett, owner… Continue reading

  • Sep 13, 2014
  • By Kelly Sullivan
Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion Glenn Sackett, owner of Sackett Family Farms' Organic Produce located in Sterling, has 800 tomato plants he is in the process of harvesting, Friday, September 12, 2014 in Sterling, Alaska.