Kenai Peninsula Borough

Water pools near at the intersection of Patrick Drive and Bjerke Street, where contractors for the Kenai Peninsula Borough install a culvert to mitigate flooding off of Kalifornsky Beach Road on Friday, July 21, 2023, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Water pools near at the intersection of Patrick Drive and Bjerke Street, where contractors for the Kenai Peninsula Borough install a culvert to mitigate flooding off of Kalifornsky Beach Road on Friday, July 21, 2023, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Water flows over Big Eddy Road in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Borough declares state of emergency for flood response

The disaster declaration opens access to emergency funds

Water flows over Big Eddy Road in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Ryan Tunseth, Adam Bertoldo, Bill Elam and Nissa Savage participate in a Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly candidate forum at Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Election 2023: 1st round of assembly candidates tackle issues

Participating in Monday’s forum were Adam Bertoldo, Bill Elam, Peter Ribbens, Nissa Savage and Ryan Tunseth

Ryan Tunseth, Adam Bertoldo, Bill Elam and Nissa Savage participate in a Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly candidate forum at Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Sidewalk chalk drawings cover the outside of corroding insulation at Soldotna Elementary School on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Sidewalk chalk drawings cover the outside of corroding insulation at Soldotna Elementary School on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The George A. Navarre Kenai Peninsula Borough building. (Peninsula Clarion file photo)
The George A. Navarre Kenai Peninsula Borough building. (Peninsula Clarion file photo)
Sample ballots are displayed ahead of the Oct. 4 municipal election at an absentee in-person polling place in Kenai City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Sample ballots are displayed ahead of the Oct. 4 municipal election at an absentee in-person polling place in Kenai City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A newly installed culvert moves water at the intersection of Patrick Drive and Bjerke Street on Monday, July 24, 2023, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly OKs money for K-Beach flood study

The area is prone to severe flooding and located adjacent to wetlands

A newly installed culvert moves water at the intersection of Patrick Drive and Bjerke Street on Monday, July 24, 2023, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Hoses pump water along Patrick Dr. to help mitigate flooding near Kalifornsky Beach Road on Friday, July 21, 2023, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly to consider expedited request for K-Beach water study funding

The legislation would pay for a professional engineering or hydrology service for the study of a long-term solution

Hoses pump water along Patrick Dr. to help mitigate flooding near Kalifornsky Beach Road on Friday, July 21, 2023, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Sample ballots are displayed ahead of the Oct. 4 municipal election at an absentee in-person polling place in Kenai City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Sample ballots are displayed ahead of the Oct. 4 municipal election at an absentee in-person polling place in Kenai City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The Soldotna Landfill is seen on June 27, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion file)
The Soldotna Landfill is seen on June 27, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion file)
A spruce bark beetle is seen on the underside of a piece of bark taken from logs stacked near Central Peninsula Landfill on Thursday, July 1, 2021, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Borough gets $1.5 million to fell beetle-killed trees along roads

The assembly will decide next Tuesday whether or not to accept that money

A spruce bark beetle is seen on the underside of a piece of bark taken from logs stacked near Central Peninsula Landfill on Thursday, July 1, 2021, near Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Outlaw Body and Paint’s Wesley Jackson (center) testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly about the affects of calcium chloride brine on vehicles he treats during a meeting on Tuesday in Soldotna. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

DOT to review salt brine use on peninsula roads

Multiple people, including automotive workers, testified in opposition to the use of the salt brine

Outlaw Body and Paint’s Wesley Jackson (center) testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly about the affects of calcium chloride brine on vehicles he treats during a meeting on Tuesday in Soldotna. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
From left, Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly members Bill Elam, Brent Johnson, Tyson Cox and Brent Hibbert attend an assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Election issues tackled at assembly

The body created a voter turnout working group and approved other changes to borough election code

From left, Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly members Bill Elam, Brent Johnson, Tyson Cox and Brent Hibbert attend an assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A Mackey Lake voter fills out a special mayoral ballot at Soldotna Prep School on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A Mackey Lake voter fills out a special mayoral ballot at Soldotna Prep School on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
People vote in polling booths at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

3 cities oppose alignment of borough, state election days

The Soldotna City Council on Wednesday became the latest group to object to the proposed alignment

People vote in polling booths at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A tip jar collects money for Cooper Landing Emergency Services inside the Sunrise Cafe on Saturday, July 8, 2023, in Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Borough to probe eastern peninsula, rather than Cooper Landing, emergency service area

The service area would need to implement a mill rate between 3.7 and 3.95, according to estimates

A tip jar collects money for Cooper Landing Emergency Services inside the Sunrise Cafe on Saturday, July 8, 2023, in Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A firefighter from Cooper Landing Emergency Services refills a water tanker at the banks of the Kenai River in Cooper Landing, Alaska on Aug. 30, 2019. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)

Cooper Landing considers emergency service area for region

The community is currently served by Cooper Landing Emergency Services

A firefighter from Cooper Landing Emergency Services refills a water tanker at the banks of the Kenai River in Cooper Landing, Alaska on Aug. 30, 2019. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Discarded items await new homes at the “Sterling Mall,” located inside the Sterling Transfer Facility on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in Sterling, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

‘Sterling Mall’ up and running

At the site, residents can drop off items for reuse that may otherwise end up in a borough landfill

Discarded items await new homes at the “Sterling Mall,” located inside the Sterling Transfer Facility on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in Sterling, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
People vote in polling booths at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly bumps vote on resolution that would ask voters whether to align state, local election days

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday voted to postpone until August a vote on legislation that would ask peninsula voters whether to align local… Continue reading

People vote in polling booths at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
From left, Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly members Brent Johnson, Bill Elam, Tyson Cox and Brent Hibebrt participate in a meeting on Tuesday, July 11, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. All assembly members pictured voted in favor of a resolution that supporting the separation of transgender and cisgender girl student athetes. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly OKs resolution supporting separation of cisgender girls, other student athletes

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday voiced support for the separation of transgender and cisgender girls in high school sports. The body during its… Continue reading

From left, Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly members Brent Johnson, Bill Elam, Tyson Cox and Brent Hibebrt participate in a meeting on Tuesday, July 11, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. All assembly members pictured voted in favor of a resolution that supporting the separation of transgender and cisgender girl student athetes. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)