Central Peninsula Hospital is seen in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Central Peninsula Hospital to get new CEO this summer

Shaun Keef will replace outgoing CEO Rick Davis, who plans to retire June 30

Central Peninsula Hospital is seen in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Signs warn Fred Meyer customers to prepay if they think they may go over limits while pumping gas on Friday, March 11, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai police ask to use surplus funds for fuel

The cost of fuel per gallon has increased sharply over the last year

Signs warn Fred Meyer customers to prepay if they think they may go over limits while pumping gas on Friday, March 11, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
A participant seeks probation services at the Kenai Peninsula Re-Entry Coalition simulation at the Old Carrs Mall in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, April 2, 2022. The event was intended to give community members an understanding of the challenges faced by those leaving incarceration. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Life after incarceration

Simulation walks community members through re-entry challenges

A participant seeks probation services at the Kenai Peninsula Re-Entry Coalition simulation at the Old Carrs Mall in Kenai, Alaska, on Saturday, April 2, 2022. The event was intended to give community members an understanding of the challenges faced by those leaving incarceration. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
A health care professional prepares to administer a COVID-19 test outside of Capstone Clinic in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Uncertainty for uninsured as COVID-19 funding runs out

Uninsured peninsula residents will still be able to get free tests and vaccines from some providers

A health care professional prepares to administer a COVID-19 test outside of Capstone Clinic in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna resident Karyn Griffin, seen here, has joined the list of candidates vying for Alaska’s newly vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The seat was formerly held by Rep. Don Young, who died March 18, 2022, after nearly 50 years in office. (Photo courtesy Karyn Griffin)

Soldotna resident joins bid for US House seat

Karyn Griffin said she is mostly running to raise awareness about different issues

Soldotna resident Karyn Griffin, seen here, has joined the list of candidates vying for Alaska’s newly vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The seat was formerly held by Rep. Don Young, who died March 18, 2022, after nearly 50 years in office. (Photo courtesy Karyn Griffin)
Bruce Vadla, left, and Kaitlin Vadla brainstorm during a community solutions meeting held by Cook Inletkeeper on Thursday, March 31, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Talking trees: Cook Inletkeeper floats tree planting as possible next step

The group convened Thursday at the Soldotna Public Library

Bruce Vadla, left, and Kaitlin Vadla brainstorm during a community solutions meeting held by Cook Inletkeeper on Thursday, March 31, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Boats are moored near the Kenai boat launch in Cook Inlet on Friday, June 18, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

New processor enters Cook Inlet market

The move follows the exit of Copper River Seafoods

Boats are moored near the Kenai boat launch in Cook Inlet on Friday, June 18, 2021, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly convenes on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Assembly gravel pit group to meet next week

The group is a subcommittee of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly convenes on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Michael Heimbuch attends a memorial service for the late Drew Scalzi on Aug. 5, 2005, at the Seafarers Memorial on the Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Heimbuch appointed to Board of Fish

Homer fisherman, former city council member appointed to Board of Fish

Michael Heimbuch attends a memorial service for the late Drew Scalzi on Aug. 5, 2005, at the Seafarers Memorial on the Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
The Alan G with C & C Diving and Salvage tows the Cook Inlet Spill Prevention and Response Inc. barge Redoubt away from the Mud Bay beach in Kachemak Bay off Kachemak Drive at about 2:20 p.m. Thursday, March 31, 2022, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Barge runs aground in Mud Bay

Tug hauls vessel off Homer beach on high tide

The Alan G with C & C Diving and Salvage tows the Cook Inlet Spill Prevention and Response Inc. barge Redoubt away from the Mud Bay beach in Kachemak Bay off Kachemak Drive at about 2:20 p.m. Thursday, March 31, 2022, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Bing’s Landing boat launch is seen in this undated photo. (Photo via Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation/dnr.alaska.gov)

Bing’s Landing to close for most of April

State crews will make improvements to the boat launch

Bing’s Landing boat launch is seen in this undated photo. (Photo via Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation/dnr.alaska.gov)
Alaska State Troopers logo.

Soldotna man arrested on murder, assault charges

Troopers allege the suspect shot a man “several times” with a handgun

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Linda Farnsworth-Hutchings attends a Soldotna City Council meeting on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. Farnsworth-Hutchings was one of two names submitted for the Soldotna seat on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission after a monthslong standoff between the city and borough mayor over the appointment. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Monthslong commission delay could end next week

Tautfest’s appointment, if approved, would cap a 10-month process to fill the vacancy

Linda Farnsworth-Hutchings attends a Soldotna City Council meeting on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. Farnsworth-Hutchings was one of two names submitted for the Soldotna seat on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission after a monthslong standoff between the city and borough mayor over the appointment. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Loretta Knudson-Spalding, left, and Regional Director of the Office of the Governor Jill Schaefer, right, pose next to the Soldotna Senior Center’s new cars in Soldotna on Wednesday, March 30, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Senior meals program gets a lift

Soldotna Senior Center uses federal rescue funds for new Meals on Wheels vehicles

Loretta Knudson-Spalding, left, and Regional Director of the Office of the Governor Jill Schaefer, right, pose next to the Soldotna Senior Center’s new cars in Soldotna on Wednesday, March 30, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
A sockeye salmon’s tail protrudes above the edge of a bin on a setnet site July 11, 2016, near Kenai, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file photo)

Salmon runs projected to be weaker than average

A run of around 4.97 million sockeye is projected to return to Upper Cook Inlet

A sockeye salmon’s tail protrudes above the edge of a bin on a setnet site July 11, 2016, near Kenai, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion file photo)
The City of Kenai Boat Launch into Cook Inlet is photographed May 14, 2020. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)

Copper River Seafoods halting Kenai operations this salmon season

The company salmon cited the fisheries management plan, rising production costs and the poor forecast

The City of Kenai Boat Launch into Cook Inlet is photographed May 14, 2020. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
KPBSD Finance Director Elizabeth Hayes (left) gives a presentation on the school district’s FY23 budget at Soldotna High School on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

KPBSD student enrollment higher than projected

Historical enrollment numbers were presented to the KPBSD Board of Education

KPBSD Finance Director Elizabeth Hayes (left) gives a presentation on the school district’s FY23 budget at Soldotna High School on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2021 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna Mayor Paul Whitney speaks during a meeting of the Soldotna City Council on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna mayor vetoes financial support for Triumvirate production

The council voted to use up to $25,000 to support an outdoor community theater production

Soldotna Mayor Paul Whitney speaks during a meeting of the Soldotna City Council on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Alaska State Troopers logo.

2 killed in head-on crash in Kasilof

Both vehicles received “disabling damage,” troopers reported

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Soldotna City Hall is seen on Wednesday, June 24, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna mulls parks and rec changes

Soldotna parks and rec board would get bigger, meet more often under proposal

Soldotna City Hall is seen on Wednesday, June 24, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)