The Soldotna girls and Kenai boys won the Kenai Peninsula Borough Ski Meet on Saturday. Soldotna’s Tania Boonstra led the girls 5-kilometer freestyle with a 13 minute and 29 second finish. She was followed exactly a minute later by teammate Ariana Cannava at 14:39, the top three closed out by another Stars skier, Kara Veideffer, […]
Read MoreTag: Kenai Peninsula Borough
Borough settles harassment and discrimination suit brought by former firefighter
The Kenai Peninsula Borough has settled for $78,500 with a former Kachemak Emergency Services Agency employee who alleged in a 2023 suit that the borough fired her for complaining about sexual harassment. Courtney Moody, who worked as a firefighter technician for KESA from November 2019 to January 2021, said she experienced sexual harassment by the […]
Read MoreHalibut Cove lodge facing misdemeanor charge for illicit trail
The State of Alaska is pursuing a criminal charge against a Halibut Cove-based lodge that it says constructed an illicit trail from the lodge property into Kachemak Bay State Park. True Life Adventures Alaska LLC is facing one misdemeanor charge of disturbance of natural objects in a state park in connection to the trail, which […]
Read MoreCity council joins peninsula voices advocating for increased BSA
The Homer City Council unanimously passed a resolution at their Jan. 22 regular meeting advocating for increased education funding. Resolution 24-015 requests that the State of Alaska make a “meaningful and timely” increase to the base student allocation for public schools. This measure follows others taken this year, including the unanimous passing of Resolution 2024-002 […]
Read MoreBorough plans for 1,000-acre Cooper Landing property take shape
Just over 1,000 acres of land in Cooper Landing were newly classified for resource management and recreation following a vote by the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly in favor of the move last week. The borough-owned parcel, located just north of Cooper Landing, is also called Unit 395 and will be bisected by the Cooper Landing […]
Read MoreNew policy clarifies filming, recording in borough facilities
A new Kenai Peninsula Borough policy that explains what is and isn’t allowed in borough buildings when it comes to photography, filming or recording became effective Monday. The policy was created at the direction of Borough Mayor Peter Micciche in response to a “First Amendment Audit” incident that the borough experienced last year. During that […]
Read MoreAssembly calls on state to increase K-12 funding
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly is calling on the Alaska Legislature to increase and inflation-proof the amount of money the state spends on K-12 education per student, also called the base student allocation. Assembly members unanimously backed — and all sponsored — a resolution during their regular meeting on Tuesday requesting that the State of […]
Read MoreSuit alleges fungal growth at 4 KPBSD schools caused health problems
A former special education teacher at Mountain View Elementary School is suing the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District and the Kenai Peninsula Borough with and on behalf of her four children, who she says have suffered from medical issues after being exposed to mold and other materials while attending district schools. Jennifer Harvey-Kindred and two […]
Read MoreMultiple agencies respond to reports of employee with handgun in borough building
Multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the Kenai Peninsula Borough building in Soldotna last Wednesday after a borough employee called 911 to report that another employee was carrying a concealed handgun in the building. Alaska State Troopers arrested 35-year-old Lucas Thein at the borough building on three fourth-degree domestic assault charges that were unrelated to […]
Read MoreAssembly mulls borough logo rebrand
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly is considering whether to give the borough logo a makeover. The borough’s current logo was adopted in 1995 and shows a fish jumping out of water, a bald eagle, a bull moose and an oil platform in front of a mountain with the words “Kenai Peninsula Borough” in light blue. […]
Read MoreSatanic Temple gets last word as assembly ends open invocation policy
“Hail Satan.” That’s the line that closed out the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly’s final invocation of 2023, and the last invocation to be delivered by a member of the public. Effective Jan. 1, assembly invocations will be delivered exclusively by volunteer chaplains who serve the borough’s fire and emergency medical service areas, as designated by […]
Read MoreBorough to include cities in tourism promotion materials
The Kenai Peninsula Borough will include the peninsula’s six incorporated communities in its tourism promotional materials under an agreement authorized at the Nov. 7 borough assembly meeting. The resolution passed by assembly members will allow the Kenai Peninsula Borough to promote tourism to the peninsula’s incorporated cities. Borough code doesn’t allow the borough to promote […]
Read MoreEmergency services, roads top borough capital priority list
The Kenai Peninsula Borough will seek funding for improvements to emergency communication upgrades, fire and emergency medical services, and roads during the upcoming session of the Alaska Legislature following approval Nov. 7 of the borough’s capital project wishlist by borough assembly members. The 72-page plan outlines more than 30 projects identified by either the Kenai […]
Read MoreAssembly OKs changes to borough invocation policy
Members of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly at their Tuesday, Nov. 7 assembly meeting unanimously approved changes to the way invocations are given before the body’s regular meeting. Effective Jan. 1, 2024, assembly invocations will be delivered exclusively by volunteer chaplains serving the borough’s fire and emergency medical service areas, as designated by the president […]
Read MoreSchool board rejects Nikolaevsk charter school application
Members of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education last week narrowly rejected a charter application that sought to open a new K-12 school in Nikolaevsk, about 10 miles east of Anchor Point. The vote capped more than a year of work by both the Nikolaevsk community and the school district to find […]
Read MoreAssembly calls for economic disaster declaration for east side setnet fishery
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly is calling on Gov. Mike Dunleavy to designate the area of the Upper Cook Inlet East Side Setnet Fishery as one affected by an economic disaster this year. The resolution, sponsored by Assembly President Brent Johnson, Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche and Assembly Vice President Tyson Cox, is in […]
Read MoreAssembly OKs overhaul of borough gravel pit regs
A tiered permitting structure, more noticing of permit applications and more safeguards for land reclamation are among the highlights of a 27-page overhaul of the section of Kenai Peninsula Borough code governing material site permits approved by the borough assembly earlier this month. The unanimous vote in support of the ordinance caps more than a […]
Read MoreDOT commissioner: New road maintenance strategy could reduce brine use by 40%
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is exploring maintenance strategies that could reduce the use of brine on state roads by about 40% this winter. That’s what Ryan Anderson, commissioner of the department, told attendees during a community discussion on road brine held on Oct. 11 in Soldotna. The event, facilitated by Kenai […]
Read MoreBorough, school district present local funding process
The process for determining how much money the Kenai Peninsula Borough gives the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District each fiscal year was the subject of the latest installment in a series aimed at boosting public awareness about how the school district’s budget process works. KPBSD Finance Director Liz Hayes and Kenai Peninsula Borough Finance Director […]
Read MoreHome-school meeting draws dozens
Access to Kenai Peninsula Borough School District facilities and more extracurricular opportunities were among the ways attendees at a community meeting last week said the school district’s home-school program could be improved. In all, more than 70 people attended Thursday’s meeting, organized by the Kenai Peninsula Borough and school district, either in person at the […]
Read MoreIncumbents lead in Homer early results
Election day was an incumbent’s game for Homer’s political hopefuls, the first round of unofficial election results show. Overall, incumbents led in races on city councils, but margins were slim in many contested races for seats on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly and on the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education. In Seward, […]
Read MoreElection 2023: When, where to vote Tuesday
Voters around the Kenai Peninsula will head to the polls Tuesday to cast ballots in races for city council, Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly, the local school board and several other local seats. In Kenai, four candidates are vying for two open seats on the city council. Incumbents Henry Knackstedt and Teea Winger are running to […]
Read MoreAssembly extends borough flood disaster declaration
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Tuesday voted to extend until Oct. 24 the local disaster emergency issued on Sept. 14 in response to high water and flooding events around the borough. Kenai Peninsula Borough Emergency Manager Brenda Ahlberg wrote in a Sept. 19 memo to assembly members that the initial declaration was set to […]
Read MoreElection 2023: 1st round of assembly candidates tackle issues
Candidates for seats on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly gathered Monday in the Soldotna Public Library to talk about their bid for public office and issues facing borough voters as part of a candidate forum moderated by the Peninsula Clarion and KDLL 91.9 FM public radio. The forum, hosted in partnership with the Central Peninsula […]
Read MoreBorough to hold community meetings to gauge local funding priorities
The Kenai Peninsula Borough will hold meetings in 11 communities this month to better gauge the peninsula’s capital project priorities heading into the next session of the Alaska Legislature. That’s according to a memo included with the packet for Tuesday’s borough assembly meeting, in which Borough Clerk Assistant Tamera Ward said the borough is reviving […]
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