Kenai

Kenai Central High School sophmore Riley Graves demonstrates a magnetic rake he built to pick up buried metallic debris on Kenai’s north beach on Wednesday, June 20, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Metal objects present danger on Kenai beaches. A student’s idea may help the city clean it up

Dipnetters, children, and anyone walking barefoot on Kenai beaches this summer may be less likely to step on a nail, screw, wire, lost tent stake… Continue reading

Kenai Central High School sophmore Riley Graves demonstrates a magnetic rake he built to pick up buried metallic debris on Kenai’s north beach on Wednesday, June 20, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)
Customers pick out plants during the Central Peninsula Garden Club’s annual plant sale at Peninsula Grace Brethren Church on Kalifornsky Beach Road on Saturday, June 9, 2018 in Soldotna, Alaska. The annual plant sale is always popular — this year, volunteers said that there was a massive crowd gathered even before the sale opened at 10 a.m., nearly clearing out the tables in less than two hours. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Summer sun, fun arrive on the Kenai

Between the yard sales, lemonade stands, festivals, fairs and markets on Saturday, it was hard not to find something to do. Residents of the central… Continue reading

Customers pick out plants during the Central Peninsula Garden Club’s annual plant sale at Peninsula Grace Brethren Church on Kalifornsky Beach Road on Saturday, June 9, 2018 in Soldotna, Alaska. The annual plant sale is always popular — this year, volunteers said that there was a massive crowd gathered even before the sale opened at 10 a.m., nearly clearing out the tables in less than two hours. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
Dipnetters hold their nets offshore from the north Kenai Beach on Tuesday, July 11, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Beach bacteria testing to resume

Scientists will be sampling water on Kenai’s beaches to see if efforts to reduce fecal coliform and enterococci bacteria have been working. Fecal coliform and… Continue reading

Dipnetters hold their nets offshore from the north Kenai Beach on Tuesday, July 11, 2017 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
This Monday, Oct. 24, 2016 photo shows the Kenai City Dock in Kenai, Alaska. The city is seeking a new concessionaire to operate the dock’s equipment after seafood processor Copper River Seafoods did not show interest in operating the facility for the 2018 season. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

CISPRI to run Kenai city dock

After two tries, the city of Kenai may have someone to operate its dock for the summer. On Wednesday, the Kenai City Council unanimously voted… Continue reading

This Monday, Oct. 24, 2016 photo shows the Kenai City Dock in Kenai, Alaska. The city is seeking a new concessionaire to operate the dock’s equipment after seafood processor Copper River Seafoods did not show interest in operating the facility for the 2018 season. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
Travelers check baggage with airline Ravn Alaska at the Kenai Muncipal Airport on Thursday, May 31, 2018. Kenai’s city government is seeking to raise rents that Ravn and the Kenai airport’s other airline, Grant Aviation, pay for terminal space such as their ticket counters. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai raises airport fees

The two scheduled airlines that operate from the city-owned Kenai Muncipal Airport will pay more toward its operating costs with the government’s planned increase in… Continue reading

Travelers check baggage with airline Ravn Alaska at the Kenai Muncipal Airport on Thursday, May 31, 2018. Kenai’s city government is seeking to raise rents that Ravn and the Kenai airport’s other airline, Grant Aviation, pay for terminal space such as their ticket counters. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Health insurance continues adding to Kenai budget

The city of Kenai’s proposed fiscal 2019 budget includes no tax increases while it copes with rising employee health insurance costs and adds a human… Continue reading

Seagulls flock to where participants in the personal use dipnet fishery fish on the north beach of the Kenai River on July 10, 2016 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Kenai to start using dipnet earnings

Kenai’s city government has made managing the summer dipnet fishery pay for itself. Soon, fishery revenues may pay for other things, too. “What we expect… Continue reading

Seagulls flock to where participants in the personal use dipnet fishery fish on the north beach of the Kenai River on July 10, 2016 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
Alexander Van De Grift races in the Kenai Rotary Club’s 12th anual Soapbox Derby on Saturday, May 12, 2018 at the Challenger Learning Center in Kenai, Alaska. Van De Grift won a craftsmanship trophy for his car, which was sponsored by Outlaw Body and Paint. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion).

Kenai Rotary holds 12th soapbox derby

By BEN BOETTGER Peninsula Clarion… Continue reading

Alexander Van De Grift races in the Kenai Rotary Club’s 12th anual Soapbox Derby on Saturday, May 12, 2018 at the Challenger Learning Center in Kenai, Alaska. Van De Grift won a craftsmanship trophy for his car, which was sponsored by Outlaw Body and Paint. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion).
Kenai’s non-council work sessions to remain unrecorded

Kenai’s non-council work sessions to remain unrecorded

Kenai’s government will continue to not record work session meetings of its Planning and Zoning Commission and joint work sessions between its other commissions and… Continue reading

Kenai’s non-council work sessions to remain unrecorded

Borough and municipalities contest revenue changes

Editor's note: This story has been changed to correct Soldotna's yearly sales tax revenue.  City managers from around the Kenai Peninsula said Kenai Peninsula Borough… Continue reading

Glenn Beckmann of Rainproof Roofing inspects a weathered and tilting cross atop Kenai’sHoly Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church before removing it on Friday, May 4, 2018. Dorothy Gray , a Holy Assumption member and treasurer of the preservation nonprofit Russian Orthodox Sacred Sites in Alaska, said the church is now looking for local craftspeople interested in making replacements for the three old crosses. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Orthodox church to get new crosses

One of the triple-armed Russian Orthodox crosses atop Kenai’s Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church was taken down by a boom-lift crew… Continue reading

Glenn Beckmann of Rainproof Roofing inspects a weathered and tilting cross atop Kenai’sHoly Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church before removing it on Friday, May 4, 2018. Dorothy Gray , a Holy Assumption member and treasurer of the preservation nonprofit Russian Orthodox Sacred Sites in Alaska, said the church is now looking for local craftspeople interested in making replacements for the three old crosses. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Worker-inmates to be housed in Kenai cannery

As inmates in the work-release program at Kenai’s Wildwood Correctional Complex prepare to go to work at the town’s seafood canneries, the Alaska Department of… Continue reading

This photo from David Leuthe’s book “The 50-Year Summer” shows David and Lynne Leuthe onboard their drift gillnet fishing boat, the F/V Lynne Marie, in Cook Inlet, Alaska. David Leuthe, who died in 2015, documented his decades of fishing in Cook Inlet in the book, which Lynne Leuthe worked to compile after his death with editor Jackie Pels and published in January 2018. (Photo courtesy Hardscratch Press)

Book documents former fisherman’s decades on Cook Inlet

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to show that Jackie Pels will speak at the Kenai Historical Society's meeting at 1 p.m. Every place… Continue reading

This photo from David Leuthe’s book “The 50-Year Summer” shows David and Lynne Leuthe onboard their drift gillnet fishing boat, the F/V Lynne Marie, in Cook Inlet, Alaska. David Leuthe, who died in 2015, documented his decades of fishing in Cook Inlet in the book, which Lynne Leuthe worked to compile after his death with editor Jackie Pels and published in January 2018. (Photo courtesy Hardscratch Press)
New Kenai Planner emphasizes listening, balance

New Kenai Planner emphasizes listening, balance

Elizabeth Appleby, who became Kenai’s new city planner on April 9, said she’s practiced the skills of listening to and balancing different interests through her… Continue reading

New Kenai Planner emphasizes listening, balance

Kenai plans airport terminal renovation

On Wednesday the Kenai City Council moved ahead with plans to renovate the Kenai Muncipal Airport’s passenger terminal. Council members saw a cost-breakdown and floorplan… Continue reading

Winged words

Winged words

Parents and children catching flights at the Kenai Municipal Airport now have the chance to make waiting time into story time. On Friday afternoon the… Continue reading

Winged words
This Monday, Oct. 24, 2016 photo shows the Kenai City Dock in Kenai, Alaska. The city is seeking a new concessionaire to operate the dock’s equipment after seafood processor Copper River Seafoods did not show interest in operating the facility for the 2018 season. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Copper River to stop operating Kenai dock

Seafood processor Copper River Seafoods won’t be operating the city of Kenai’s dock this year. The company, which has operated the dock’s heavy equipment and… Continue reading

This Monday, Oct. 24, 2016 photo shows the Kenai City Dock in Kenai, Alaska. The city is seeking a new concessionaire to operate the dock’s equipment after seafood processor Copper River Seafoods did not show interest in operating the facility for the 2018 season. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Kenai Council limits appeals of city decisions

At their Wednesday meeting the Kenai City Council voted to change the rules that had allowed any Kenai resident to challenge any decision by city… Continue reading

Alycia Backstrom (left) and Steven Taylor pose with infant Bailey Backstrom outside their rooms in Kenai’s new Clear Pointe six-plex — the city’s first income-restricted rental housing, constructed by the Homer-based not-for-profit Kenai Housing Initiative — on Wednesday, April 4, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. After a roughly two-month search for a place to live, Taylor and Backstrom became Clear Pointe’s first tennants after moving in Monday. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai’s first income-restricted housing now open

The central Kenai Peninsula’s small low-income rental housing market grew six units larger with the recent completion of Clear Pointe, the first low-income housing building… Continue reading

Alycia Backstrom (left) and Steven Taylor pose with infant Bailey Backstrom outside their rooms in Kenai’s new Clear Pointe six-plex — the city’s first income-restricted rental housing, constructed by the Homer-based not-for-profit Kenai Housing Initiative — on Wednesday, April 4, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. After a roughly two-month search for a place to live, Taylor and Backstrom became Clear Pointe’s first tennants after moving in Monday. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Road construction to tie up central peninsula this summer

The snow is melting, the aspens are budding and the construction contractors are gearing up to work on the Kenai Peninsula’s roads. This summer will… Continue reading