News

Sales tax initiative won’t go to ballot this year

Kenai Peninsula voters won’t have to decide on a half-percent increase in the sales tax this October, though they still may in 2019. A citizen… Continue reading

A brailer bag full of commercially-caught salmon is hoisted up to the Snug Harbor Seafoods dock for processing on Thursday, July 12, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. On Tuesday the Alaska Department of Fish and Game downgraded its estimated Kenai River sockeye run from 2.5 million fish to less than 2.3 million, changing some of the management procedures for commercial fishing in Upper Cook Inlet. (Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Fish and Game lowers Kenai River sockeye estimate

The sockeye salmon run to the Kenai River is weaker than the Alaska Department of Fish and Game predicted in the preseason forecast, according to… Continue reading

A brailer bag full of commercially-caught salmon is hoisted up to the Snug Harbor Seafoods dock for processing on Thursday, July 12, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. On Tuesday the Alaska Department of Fish and Game downgraded its estimated Kenai River sockeye run from 2.5 million fish to less than 2.3 million, changing some of the management procedures for commercial fishing in Upper Cook Inlet. (Photo by Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)
2017 Kenai Peninsula History Conference releases book with presentations, stories, pictures and more

2017 Kenai Peninsula History Conference releases book with presentations, stories, pictures and more

Last spring, local historians organized a history conference to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the U.S. purchase of Alaska from Russia. Conference speakers and panelists… Continue reading

2017 Kenai Peninsula History Conference releases book with presentations, stories, pictures and more

Conviction overturned in 2013 Sterling assault

A man convicted in 2013 of assaulting his mother and an Alaska State Trooper at a Sterling home has had his conviction reversed after appeal.… Continue reading

Deanna O’Connor plays with Chloe, an alpine goat, at her home in Nikiski, Alaska on Tuesday, July 3, 2018. O’Connor milks her 11 goats twice a day, and uses the milk to make homemade ice cream, cheese and soap. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

From surplus to soap: Peninsula goat farmers get crafty with products

Goat hobby herds are becoming more and more popular on the Kenai Peninsula. While some farmers sell their excess milk through herdshare programs — in… Continue reading

Deanna O’Connor plays with Chloe, an alpine goat, at her home in Nikiski, Alaska on Tuesday, July 3, 2018. O’Connor milks her 11 goats twice a day, and uses the milk to make homemade ice cream, cheese and soap. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)

Sterling woman charged in motorcyclist death

A Sterling woman has been charged with manslaughter in the death of a motorcyclist killed at a Sterling intersection Thursday night. Aprile D. Cresap, 53,… Continue reading

Sterling teen awarded Youth Salmon Fellowship

Eve Downing, a 16-year-old from Sterling, has been chosen as an Alaska Youth for Environmental Action Youth Salmon Fellow, an extension of the Alaska Center… Continue reading

Kenai Parks and Recreation employee Jacob Hart rakes Kenai’s south beach to demonstrate how the magnetic bar hanging behind his rake picks up nails and other metal debris buried under the sand, on Friday, July 20, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. The idea of using a magnetic rake to sweep up metal objects — left after many years of pallet bonfires, lost tent stakes, and general litter — came from Kenai Central High School sophmore Riley Graves, who created a magnetic leaf-rake prototype for this April’s Caring for the Kenai competition. Kenai Public Works Department shop foreman Randy Parrish built the rake after Graves’ idea, which he presented to the Kenai City Council on May 16. Since the July 10 beginning of this summer’s personal use dipnet fishery, Hart said the rake’s been deployed every evening. “When you drive over a dark spot in the sand, where you can tell it’s been a fire pit, you can hear the nails going tink, tink, tink,” he said. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Metal harvest: High schooler’s project make a dent in beach litter

A local teenager’s invention has been put into action cleaning Kenai’s beach. Since this summer’s personal use dipnet fishery season launched July 10, Kenai Parks… Continue reading

Kenai Parks and Recreation employee Jacob Hart rakes Kenai’s south beach to demonstrate how the magnetic bar hanging behind his rake picks up nails and other metal debris buried under the sand, on Friday, July 20, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. The idea of using a magnetic rake to sweep up metal objects — left after many years of pallet bonfires, lost tent stakes, and general litter — came from Kenai Central High School sophmore Riley Graves, who created a magnetic leaf-rake prototype for this April’s Caring for the Kenai competition. Kenai Public Works Department shop foreman Randy Parrish built the rake after Graves’ idea, which he presented to the Kenai City Council on May 16. Since the July 10 beginning of this summer’s personal use dipnet fishery, Hart said the rake’s been deployed every evening. “When you drive over a dark spot in the sand, where you can tell it’s been a fire pit, you can hear the nails going tink, tink, tink,” he said. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Multiple accidents lead to injuries, fatalities over weekend in Sterling, Cooper Landing

An Eagle River man was airlifted to the hospital with serious injuries after a head-on collision on the Sterling Highway Saturday afternoon. The accident, which… Continue reading

Three Skilak area campgrounds closed after bear damages tent, scratches camper

The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge has closed three campsites after a black bear damaged a tent at the Lower Ohmer campground and scratched the tent’s… Continue reading

Pilot Alex Agosti inspects Kenai Aviation’s Cessna 206 before a flight with Kenai Aviation owner Joel Caldwell on Tuesday, July 17, 2018 at the Kenai Municipal Airport in Kenai, Alaska. The family-owned aviation business flew passengers and cargo around the Cook Inlet region for 56 years before closing in September 2017 after the Cook Inlet oil field operators who were its primary customers consolidated and dropped investment in response to low oil prices. Caldwell bought the business early this year from Jim Bielefeld, son of founder Bob Bielefeld. Calwell plans to revive and expand Kenai Aviation into a statewide charter. Presently he and two other pilots — Agosti and Keith Ham — are offering flightseeing trips. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

With new owner, Kenai Aviation looking beyond Cook Inlet

When Kenai Aviation closed in late 2017, it left behind more than half a century of history at the Kenai Municipal Airport and a generation… Continue reading

Pilot Alex Agosti inspects Kenai Aviation’s Cessna 206 before a flight with Kenai Aviation owner Joel Caldwell on Tuesday, July 17, 2018 at the Kenai Municipal Airport in Kenai, Alaska. The family-owned aviation business flew passengers and cargo around the Cook Inlet region for 56 years before closing in September 2017 after the Cook Inlet oil field operators who were its primary customers consolidated and dropped investment in response to low oil prices. Caldwell bought the business early this year from Jim Bielefeld, son of founder Bob Bielefeld. Calwell plans to revive and expand Kenai Aviation into a statewide charter. Presently he and two other pilots — Agosti and Keith Ham — are offering flightseeing trips. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)
Docent Carroll Knutson describes Alaska’s 1964 earthquake to visitors of the Soldotna Historical Society Museum on Tuesday, July 17, 2018 in Soldotna, Alaska. The Historical Society will be kicking off this year’s Soldotna Progress Days celebration on July 27 with a free community barbecue featuring several of Soldotna’s early settlers and their descendants. Knutson, whose family began homesteading about eight miles south of Soldotna in 1958, will be among those telling stories and leading tours through the museum’s collection of homesteader cabins and exhibits of artifacts. The event, from 4 p.m to 7 p.m, will also include music from Hobo Jim, a dutch oven demonstration, and children’s scavenger hunts. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)

Past and present: Homesteaders offer perspective on Progress Days

As Soldotna celebrates its progress from a collection of homesteads on the edge of the Kenai National Moose Range to the business and tourism hub… Continue reading

Docent Carroll Knutson describes Alaska’s 1964 earthquake to visitors of the Soldotna Historical Society Museum on Tuesday, July 17, 2018 in Soldotna, Alaska. The Historical Society will be kicking off this year’s Soldotna Progress Days celebration on July 27 with a free community barbecue featuring several of Soldotna’s early settlers and their descendants. Knutson, whose family began homesteading about eight miles south of Soldotna in 1958, will be among those telling stories and leading tours through the museum’s collection of homesteader cabins and exhibits of artifacts. The event, from 4 p.m to 7 p.m, will also include music from Hobo Jim, a dutch oven demonstration, and children’s scavenger hunts. (Ben Boettger/Peninsula Clarion)
Setnetters make their way back to the beach near a site on July 11, 2016 near Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)

Setnetters ask Fish and Game to clarify commercial king harvest

With low king salmon counts in the Kenai River and restrictions tightened on most fisheries in the area, scrutiny is tightening on the commercial set… Continue reading

Setnetters make their way back to the beach near a site on July 11, 2016 near Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion, file)
Motorcyclist dead after collision with car in Sterling

Motorcyclist dead after collision with car in Sterling

A Sterling man has died after colliding with a truck on his motorcycle on Thursday. Sterling resident Michael Corteg, 60, died on scene Thursday. Alaska… Continue reading

Motorcyclist dead after collision with car in Sterling
Kids slip and slide down the slip n’ slide at the Disability Pride event at Soldotna Creek Park on Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Peninsula residents gather for Disability Pride event

With a live band, facepainting, food trucks and peals of laughter as kids made their way down a broad slip and slide, Soldotna Creek Park… Continue reading

Kids slip and slide down the slip n’ slide at the Disability Pride event at Soldotna Creek Park on Saturday, July 21, 2018 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
This May 15, 2017 photo shows a drift gillnet reel on the back of a commercial fishing vessel docked in the Homer small boat harbor in Homer, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Federal council names 5 commercial fishermen to committee

A committee of five fishermen, four of whom live on the Kenai Peninsula, will help provide advice to the council that will write a new… Continue reading

This May 15, 2017 photo shows a drift gillnet reel on the back of a commercial fishing vessel docked in the Homer small boat harbor in Homer, Alaska. (Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)
Boy, 8, killed when rock falls off truck, hits car

Boy, 8, killed when rock falls off truck, hits car

An Eagle River boy has died after a large rock fell off a truck on the Sterling Highway and crashed through the windshield of the… Continue reading

Boy, 8, killed when rock falls off truck, hits car
Jessica Entsminger’s dog, Leah, stands guard in front of the tent where they live on East Hill Road. (Photo courtesy Jessica Entsminger)

Short-term rental boom exacerbating the summer labor shortage

Jessica Entsminger is back to living in a tent. She had a brief stay in a small dry cabin out East End Road where she… Continue reading

Jessica Entsminger’s dog, Leah, stands guard in front of the tent where they live on East Hill Road. (Photo courtesy Jessica Entsminger)
Colorful blooms peek out of the green foliage in a section of the Pratt Museum’s garden Thursday, July 12, 2018 in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

The Pratt’s new gardener wants you to rediscover the many uses of plants

Yarrow Hinnant has long known the many health and subsistence benefits native plants can provide. As the Pratt Museum’s new official gardener, he’s excited to… Continue reading

Colorful blooms peek out of the green foliage in a section of the Pratt Museum’s garden Thursday, July 12, 2018 in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)
An aerial photo taken in 2014 shows the current South Peninsula Hospital campus. (Homer News file photo)

Assembly approves hospital boundary ballot questions

Voters in both hospital service areas will weigh in on who should pay taxes to which hospital this fall.

An aerial photo taken in 2014 shows the current South Peninsula Hospital campus. (Homer News file photo)