A dipnetter wrangles a salmon North Kenai Beach on Saturday, July 10, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)

It’s that time again

Weekend rain didn’t stop dipnetters

A dipnetter wrangles a salmon North Kenai Beach on Saturday, July 10, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
A sign indicates the turn for Jim’s Landing on Skilak Lake Road on Sunday, June 13, 2021 near Skilak Lake on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

4 rescued after boat breaks loose

The boat broke loose and drifted away from a small island on the Kenai River.

A sign indicates the turn for Jim’s Landing on Skilak Lake Road on Sunday, June 13, 2021 near Skilak Lake on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Voters fill out ballots in voting booths at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Voters fill out ballots in voting booths at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Brtini Siekaniec’s peony painting is part of an exhibit opening Friday, July 2, 2021, at Grace Ridge Brewing in Homer, Alaska. It also will be on the label for Grace Ridge’s Imperial White beer made especially for the 2021 Homer Peony Festival.(Photo provided)

‘City of Peonies’ celebrates 2nd annual peony festival

The Homer Chamber of Commerce is hosting the second annual Homer Peony Celebration July 9-24.

Brtini Siekaniec’s peony painting is part of an exhibit opening Friday, July 2, 2021, at Grace Ridge Brewing in Homer, Alaska. It also will be on the label for Grace Ridge’s Imperial White beer made especially for the 2021 Homer Peony Festival.(Photo provided)
Gus Reimer crosses the finish line in front of Adam Reimer and Julie Laker during the first race of the Salmon Run Series at Skyview Middle School on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)

On your mark, get set, Salmon Run

The Kenai Watershed Forum’s five-week Salmon Run Series kicked off Wednesday

Gus Reimer crosses the finish line in front of Adam Reimer and Julie Laker during the first race of the Salmon Run Series at Skyview Middle School on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
Triumvirate Theatre President Joe Rizzo testifies before the Kenai City Council on Wednesday, July 7, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Triumvirate Theatre President Joe Rizzo testifies before the Kenai City Council on Wednesday, July 7, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Sara Berg, right, talks with artist Brad Hughes, left, at Hughes’ Homer, Alaska, studio in June 2021 about the Loved & Lost Memorial Bench project Berg and other family and friends of Anesha Murnane commissioned to honor Murnane and other missing woman and children. (Photo by Christina Whiting)

Missing Homer woman presumed dead

A six-person jury determined Anesha “Duffy” Murnane, then 38, died of a homicide.

Sara Berg, right, talks with artist Brad Hughes, left, at Hughes’ Homer, Alaska, studio in June 2021 about the Loved & Lost Memorial Bench project Berg and other family and friends of Anesha Murnane commissioned to honor Murnane and other missing woman and children. (Photo by Christina Whiting)
Kenai Peninsula Borough Land Management Offficer Marcus Mueller testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, July 6, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly OKs sale of borough land following debate

A live outcry auction is tentatively scheduled for the second week of August at Soldotna High School.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Land Management Offficer Marcus Mueller testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday, July 6, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Fishers dipnet on the North Kenai Beach on July 17, 2019. (Peninsula Clarion/file)

Dipnet fishery opens Saturday on the Kenai

Dipnetting is only available to Alaska residents with a current Upper Cook Inlet personal-use permit and a sport fishing license.

Fishers dipnet on the North Kenai Beach on July 17, 2019. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
Hannah Lafleur, 32, of Seward defends her title in the women's Mount Marathon Race in Seward, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Lafleur, Norris rack up more MMR crowns

The 3.1-mile scramble up and scream down the mountain of about 3,000 feet returned to Seward after a pandemic-forced pause in 2020.

Hannah Lafleur, 32, of Seward defends her title in the women's Mount Marathon Race in Seward, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Flowers bloom at Soldotna Creek Park on Tuesday, June 29, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Borough honors July as Parks and Recreation Month

The proclamation acknowledges the role parks and recreation play in the quality of life of borough residents.

Flowers bloom at Soldotna Creek Park on Tuesday, June 29, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A registered nurse prepares a COVID-19 vaccine at the pop-up clinic on the Spit on May 27. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)

Tracking vaccine rates presents challenges

DHSS only last month began sorting vaccination rates at the community level.

A registered nurse prepares a COVID-19 vaccine at the pop-up clinic on the Spit on May 27. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)
Barnadine Atchison speaks during a business luncheon at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center on Wednesday, July 7, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenaitze educational hub slated for completion next spring

The Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht Campus, meaning “the learning place,” has been in the works for more than 20 years.

Barnadine Atchison speaks during a business luncheon at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center on Wednesday, July 7, 2021 in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The entrance to the Kenai Peninsula Borough building in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)

Deadline for borough CARES funding set for December

The borough has about $390,000 in remaining CARES Act funds.

The entrance to the Kenai Peninsula Borough building in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
Alaska SeaLife Center
Rescuers assist an injured harbor seal pup on July 4. The pup was spotted in Resurrection Bay and taken to the Alaska SeaLife Center.

Injured seal pup admitted to SeaLife Center

The pup was rescued July 4 from Fox Island in Resurrection Bay.

Alaska SeaLife Center
Rescuers assist an injured harbor seal pup on July 4. The pup was spotted in Resurrection Bay and taken to the Alaska SeaLife Center.
A sign offering tips on how to recreate safely around bears can be seen on Thursday, July 1, 2021, on Skilak Lake Road in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Black bear killed in Seward

The bear reportedly scratched and attempted to bite the victim’s leg.

A sign offering tips on how to recreate safely around bears can be seen on Thursday, July 1, 2021, on Skilak Lake Road in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Rock’n the Ranch spectators listen to live music at the festival in 2017. (Photo courtesy of Carlos Pereira Jr.)
Rock’n the Ranch spectators listen to live music at the festival in 2017. (Photo courtesy of Carlos Pereira Jr.)
Ranger Meredith Baker helps Fredrick Bryant decorate a fish mobile at the Kenai Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center on July 6, 2021 for Fish Week. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)

‘Family fishy fun’

Kids turn out for a week of tying, casting and reeling.

Ranger Meredith Baker helps Fredrick Bryant decorate a fish mobile at the Kenai Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center on July 6, 2021 for Fish Week. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
Members of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meet on March 2, 2021, at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

School board grades its performance

An anonymous survey including six board members assigned letter grades between “A” and “F” to the board’s actions in the last year

Members of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education meet on March 2, 2021, at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The entrance to the Homer Electric Association office is seen here in Kenai, Alaska on May 7, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)

Several thousand affected by Soldotna power outage

Homer Electric Association said the power outage was caused by a faulty cable.

The entrance to the Homer Electric Association office is seen here in Kenai, Alaska on May 7, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)