Tag: 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 […]

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City 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 […]

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New 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 […]

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Assembly 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 […]

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Suit 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 […]

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Multiple 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 […]

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Satanic 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 […]

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Borough 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 […]

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Emergency 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 […]

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Assembly 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 […]

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School 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 […]

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Assembly 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 […]

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Assembly 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 […]

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DOT 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 […]

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Borough, 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 […]

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Home-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 […]

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Incumbents 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, […]

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Borough 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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