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Kenai Peninsula Borough Clerk Johni Blankenship stands near a bouquet of flowers and her workspace during a Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Borough staff, assembly members honor outgoing clerk

Johni Blankenship began working in the borough clerk’s office in 1999

Fishing guide Reubin Payne testifies in support of a public boat takeout facility on the Kasilof River during a Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 15. 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Assembly rejects resolution supporting privately owned boat takeouts

The resolution was in response to a plan by the State of Alaska to develop a drift boat…

The sign in front of the Homer Electric Association building in Kenai, Alaska as seen on April 1, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)

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Project would convert landfill methane to energy

The project would located at the Central Peninsula Landfill

As measured by the CDC, dispensing rate reflects the number of prescriptions dispensed per 100 persons per year. While the United States’ dispensing rate peaked at 81.3 in 2012, the Kenai Peninsula’s rate was 100 or higher every year between 2001 and 2015. Graphic by Ashlyn O’Hara.

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Borough opioid grant program accepting applications through end of month

The program was launched in August and has not yet received applications

The drop-off bay is seen at the Soldotna Landfill on June 27, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file)

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Assembly approves more money for borough transfer facility contracts

The Kenai Peninsula Borough needs about $654,000 more than it thought it needed

Assembly members participate in a meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Special mayoral election will be Feb. 14

Kenai Peninsula Borough voters will get to cast their ballots for the next borough mayor on Feb. 14…

Kenai Peninsula Borough Clerk Johni Blankenship collects ballots from assembly members during a meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Assembly retains Johnson as president, makes Cox vice president

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly voted Tuesday to retain Brent Johnson and elect Tyson Cox as president and…

Charlie Pierce, a Republican candidate for Alaska governor, answers a question during a debate, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska. A lawsuit filed a day earlier by an employee when he was mayor of the Kenai Peninsula Borough accuses Pierce of “constant unwanted physical touching, sexual remarks and sexual advances.” Pierce declined comment on the lawsuit to The Associated Press, and said he didn’t plan to suspend his gubernatorial campaign. (AP Photo / Mark Thiessen)

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Lawsuit details allegations of sexual harassment by former borough mayor

The suit was filed by Charlie Pierce’s former executive assistant

Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre, right, and his chief of staff, Max Best, participate in an assembly meeting on Tuesday in Soldotna. The meeting was Navarre’s first as mayor since being appointed last month.

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Navarre attends 1st assembly meeting as mayor

Navarre took time during his first mayor’s report to address concerns voiced surrounding his appointment

From left: Kenai Peninsula Borough Clerk Johni Blankenship swears in newly reelected assembly members Tyson Cox, Brent Johnson and Jesse Bjorkman during a meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Election results are certified as new assembly members sworn in

Incumbents took home easy victories on both the assembly and school board

Voting booths are set up at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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Unofficial results: school bond, field house OK’d

Incumbents also came out ahead in preliminary results

Spencer McLean and his daughter, Emma McLean, show their support for Proposition 3, through which a new CES Station 1 would be constructed in Soldotna, on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Blustery weather, average turnout mark municipal election day

Up for consideration this year were city council, board of education and assembly seats, as well as a…

Soldotna Elementary School Principal Dr. Austin Stevenson points out elements of the school building on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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‘Critical needs’: Aging school on the brink

Renovations are cost prohibitive at Soldotna Elementary

Cars line up ahead of dismissal at Mountain View Elementary School on Thursday, September 29, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. A bond package up for consideration by Kenai Peninsula Borough voters on Oct. 4 would fund improvements to the school’s traffic flow. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

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‘Critical needs’: Parking lot problems

Lack of space for pickup and drop-offs creates traffic jam at elementary school

Graphic by Ashlyn O’Hara Graphic by Ashlyn O’Hara

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What’s on the ballot: Reapportionment, new field house, school bond

Voters will decide on ballot measures that address schools, public safety and legislative bodies

Principal Sarge Truesdell looks at cracked siding outside of Soldotna High School on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. The siding is one of several projects in a bond package Kenai Peninsula voters will consider during the Oct. 4 municipal election. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

‘Critical needs’: Split siding at SoHi

The damage has been given patchwork treatment over the years

Kenai Middle School Principal Vaughn Dosko gestures toward a cart used to provide school lunch services on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

‘Critical needs’: Security concerns and lunch lines

Safety upgrades, more space sought at Kenai Middle

Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly candidates Dil Uhlin, left, and Jesse Bjorkman participate in a candidate forum at the Soldotna Public Library on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. Both candidates are running for the assembly’s Nikiski seat. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Nikiski assembly candidates talk borough issues at final municipal election forum

There are three candidates running for the assembly’s District 3 - Nikiski seat

Nikiski Middle/High School Principal Shane Bostic stands near a track and field long jump sand pit on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022, in Nikiski, Alaska. The track is one of several projects in a bond package Kenai Peninsula voters will consider during the Oct. 4 municipal election next month. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

‘Critical needs’: Nikiski athletes await upgrade

Funding for long-delayed school projects on Oct. 4 ballot

A “Vote Here” sign is seen outside of the City of Kenai Building on Monday, Sept. 21, 2020, in Kenai, Alaska.

News

Assembly considers dates for special mayoral election

Outgoing Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce announced last month that he would be stepping down effective Sept. 30