Kenai Peninsula

Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion Health care workers wave from inside of Central Peninsula Hospital while awaiting the delivery of the facility’s first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines on Dec. 16 in Soldotna.

Virus hits home

A look back at COVID in 2020

 

Bill Holt sits in the maintenance shed at Tsalteshi Trails just outside of Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. Holt retires as facilities and equipment manager on Friday. He started working at the trails in the winter of 1993-94. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

‘Time to be a beginner again’

Holt steps away from Tsalteshi after over 25 years of driving the expansion and refinement of trails

 

Ashlyn O’Hara / Peninsula Clarion Central Peninsula Hospital Pharmacy Technician Jessica Hulet rolls a cart carrying doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine into Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna on Wednesday.

1st vaccines arrive on peninsula

975 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine were transported from Anchorage to Soldotna Wednesday morning.

 

Four-year-old Lowell Fair indicates the backseat of the Fair family stationwagon during a 1972 photo-op set up by his father. (Photo courtesy of the Fair Family Collection)

Sometimes you just gotta laugh

This is the story of one of my favorite family photographs.

Four-year-old Lowell Fair indicates the backseat of the Fair family stationwagon during a 1972 photo-op set up by his father. (Photo courtesy of the Fair Family Collection)
Alaska SeaLife Center A sea otter pup rescued in Homer is being cared for at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward.

Sea otter pup found in Homer recovering at Alaska SeaLife Center

The Alaska SeaLife Center recently overcame major financial setbacks spurred by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Alaska SeaLife Center A sea otter pup rescued in Homer is being cared for at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward.
Wildwood Correctional Center in Kenai, Alaska, is seen in this undated photo. (Alaska Department of Corrections)

Peninsula correctional facilities see few COVID cases

Wildwood Correctional Facility in Kenai had zero active cases among inmates as of Wednesday, and Spring Creek Correctional Facility had one active case as of Dec. 8.

Wildwood Correctional Center in Kenai, Alaska, is seen in this undated photo. (Alaska Department of Corrections)
Seward junior Lydia Jacoby swims in August 2019 at the Speedo Junior National Championships in Stanford, California. (Photo by Jack Spitser)

Improving through challenging times

Seward junior swimmer Jacoby wins national title at U.S. Open

Seward junior Lydia Jacoby swims in August 2019 at the Speedo Junior National Championships in Stanford, California. (Photo by Jack Spitser)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

Peninsula 3rd in state for cases per 10o,000

COVID-19 update

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
This is the 1908 birth certificate of Russell Martin Wagner. (Certificate courtesy of ancestry.com)

When the Kenai had just one full-time dentist, Part 1

Wagner graduated from dental school at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco.

This is the 1908 birth certificate of Russell Martin Wagner. (Certificate courtesy of ancestry.com)
Russell Wagner graduated from the dental school within the College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco in the spring of 1931. Shortly thereafter, he made his first trip to Seward. (Photo courtesy of college archives)

When the Kenai had just one full-time Dentist, Part 2

Part One discussed how Dr. Russell Wagner, the Kenai Peninsula’s only full-time dentist in 1960.

Russell Wagner graduated from the dental school within the College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco in the spring of 1931. Shortly thereafter, he made his first trip to Seward. (Photo courtesy of college archives)
Photo from the Anchorage Museum of History and Art Dr. David Hassan Sleem stands on the front porch of his large Seward home in 1906.

The multitalented D.H. Sleem, Part two

Syrian-born David Hassan Sleem settled in Seward in 1903.

Photo from the Anchorage Museum of History and Art Dr. David Hassan Sleem stands on the front porch of his large Seward home in 1906.
City of Kenai greenlights “People Counter Project”

City of Kenai greenlights “People Counter Project”

The city will use $135,000 in federal CARES money to purchase cameras and other equipment.

City of Kenai greenlights “People Counter Project”
Anchorage Museum of History and Art Dr. David Hassan Sleem stands on the front porch of his large Seward home in 1906.

The multitalented D.H. Sleem, Part one

Most people, if they have heard of D.H. Sleem at all, know the name because of his Alaska maps.

Anchorage Museum of History and Art Dr. David Hassan Sleem stands on the front porch of his large Seward home in 1906.
From a perch on Lunch Mountain, a hiker enjoys the sunshine and the view of Tutka Bay on the Tutka Backdoor Trail in Kachemak Bay State Park. (Photo by Clark Fair for the Peninsula Clarion)

How Alaska’s state parks came to be

Kachemak Bay State Park and Alaska State Parks have golden anniversary

From a perch on Lunch Mountain, a hiker enjoys the sunshine and the view of Tutka Bay on the Tutka Backdoor Trail in Kachemak Bay State Park. (Photo by Clark Fair for the Peninsula Clarion)
Gary Turner, who recently announced his plans to retire as director of Kenai Peninsula College, addresses the crowd during KPC’s 50th anniversary celebration at the Kenai River Campus on Aug. 25, 2014. (Photo courtesy Gary Turner/KPC)

Kenai Peninsula College head announces retirement

Director Gary Turner will exit at the end of the 2021 academic year

Gary Turner, who recently announced his plans to retire as director of Kenai Peninsula College, addresses the crowd during KPC’s 50th anniversary celebration at the Kenai River Campus on Aug. 25, 2014. (Photo courtesy Gary Turner/KPC)
Almost like being there

Almost like being there

Refuge exhibit uses virtual reality to transport users to wilderness

Almost like being there
Walter and Beverly Christensen are shown in a newspaper photo in their Clam Gulch store and post office, probably in the 1960s. (Photo provided by Mona Painter)

From Nomadic Life to Stability

The Journey of Beverly Christensen — Part 3

Walter and Beverly Christensen are shown in a newspaper photo in their Clam Gulch store and post office, probably in the 1960s. (Photo provided by Mona Painter)
Ed Haun entertains tourists w saw—In this 1972 photo, 87-year-old Ed Haun entertains tourists on his porch with musical abilities on a handsaw. (Courtesy of the Hope and Sunrise Historical Society)

How ‘Red Hat’ fits in

How the life of a man long since dead has jarred loose and clarified a nearly 50-year-old memory.

Ed Haun entertains tourists w saw—In this 1972 photo, 87-year-old Ed Haun entertains tourists on his porch with musical abilities on a handsaw. (Courtesy of the Hope and Sunrise Historical Society)
A fire crew can be seen here at a containment line for the Swan Lake Fire in this undated photo. (Courtesy Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management)

Fire crew’s departure highlights different wildfire season

With fire season winding down, state sends firefigthers south

A fire crew can be seen here at a containment line for the Swan Lake Fire in this undated photo. (Courtesy Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management)
Alaska State Troopers badge

Man found dead after apparent bear mauling

Troopers received a report that a Hope man who set out to clear a trail had not returned home.

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