BUMPS, the community bus service provided by the Ninilchik Traditional Council, will now be travelling their usual Homer-Kenai route five days a week. Since its inception, BUMPS has operated three days a week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Now, thanks to an increase in grant funding from the Federal Transit Administration, NTC Tribal Management Assistant […]
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Community meeting in Homer to focus on proposed state forest
The Department of Natural Resources will hold a meeting at the Kenai Peninsula College Kachemak Bay Campus in Homer this Tuesday at 6 p.m. to continue gathering public input on the potential creation of a Kenai Peninsula State Forest. The Division of Forestry and Fire Protection has already hosted several meetings around the Kenai Peninsula […]
Read MoreCalderwood pretrial hearing rescheduled
Court proceedings for Kirby Calderwood have been delayed once more, though possibly for the final time. The 35-year-old Utah man was indicted in September 2022 for the abduction and murder of Anesha “Duffy” Murnane, who went missing in Homer in October 2019. An omnibus, or pretrial, hearing held last Wednesday, Dec. 17, was continued to […]
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Troopers seek Kenai man accused of sexual abuse of a minor
Alaska State Troopers are actively seeking Kevin Hunter, 31, according to a bulletin posted at 10:23 a.m. Friday morning, Dec. 19. Hunter is wanted on an active arrest warrant, which was issued by a judge following his indictment by a Kenai grand jury on Wednesday, Dec. 17, for allegedly sexually abusing multiple juveniles. Hunter was […]
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Peninsula organizations awarded mental health trust grants
The Nikiski Senior Center and the Kenai Peninsula Homeless Coalition both recently received grants from the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority. According to a Dec. 10 press release, the trust awarded over $7.2 million in grants to organizations throughout the state during the second quarter of fiscal year 2026. According to the release, the Trust […]
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Homer girls wrestling team named regional champions
The Mariner girls were named regional champions at the Kachemak Conference Wrestling Championships on Saturday, securing their victory with 125 points. The Homer boys’ team finished fourth with 176.5 points. Homer High School will send 11 wrestlers to the state championships this weekend, held at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage on Friday and Saturday, […]
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Peninsula radio receives ‘stabilization’ funds from national nonprofit
Homer’s KBBI AM 890 and Kenai’s KDLL 91.9 FM are two among 74 organizations nationwide who recently were awarded “stabilization” grants through the Public Media Bridge Fund. The fund is a “strategic philanthropic initiative” begun earlier this year by the Public Media Company, a nonpartisan national nonprofit organization established in 2001 by an association of […]
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Kenai Central’s Sophie Tapley signs with UAA volleyball
Kenai Central’s Sophie Tapley has committed to continuing her volleyball career at the University of Alaska Anchorage during the 2026-2027 school year. She signed the offer on Nov. 26 during a ceremony in Kenai Central’s theater and will don a Seawolf jersey next fall. Tapley began playing volleyball in seventh grade. She was attending the […]
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Christmas Comes to Kenai and Soldotna Turkey Trot kick off a month full of holiday festivities
Last weekend’s holiday festivities drew folks from all over the Kenai Peninsula. Soldotna Parks and Recreation’s first annual food drive and Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day had 98 participants and raised six large bins of food for the Soldotna Food Bank. T-shirts were given to the person with the largest donation and longest run, with […]
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Utilities say Alaska needs an LNG import terminal. Consumers could end up paying for two.
As urban Alaska’s electric utilities look to import natural gas to fill a looming supply gap, residents and businesses face a future surge in electricity and heating prices. Some of the price increase is unavoidable: Importing gas will require expensive infrastructure, and those construction costs will be paid by consumers. But observers of the state’s […]
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Kenai National Wildlife Refuge to allow permitted firewood collection
The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge is allowing personal use firewood collection by permit as of Wednesday, Nov. 19. Permits allow collection of up to five cords — which the park service defines as four feet high by four feet wide, and eight feet long — of firewood for personal use per household. Cutting is limited […]
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Kenai Central takes home 3rd volleyball state title
The Kenai Central High School varsity volleyball team brought home the Class 3A state title following a 3-2 victory against Nikiski in the final championship bracket of the Alaska School Activities Association 3A/4A Volleyball State Championships, held Nov. 13-15 in Anchorage. This is the third state championship title that the Kards have brought home in […]
Read MoreKenai Peninsula public radio receives grant funding
Following the loss of critical federal funding earlier this year, the Alaska Community Foundation announced Monday that it has awarded $2.9 million in grants to public media stations across the state. KBBI AM 890 in Homer and KDLL 91.9 FM in Kenai were listed as grant recipients. ACF “grows philanthropy to strengthen Alaska’s communities,” managing […]
Read MoreFederal mandate orders Grant Aviation to cut flights
The federal government issued an emergency order on Friday, Nov. 7 requiring Grant Aviation to cut 10% of its flights between Kenai and Anchorage by Nov. 14. The order doesn’t impact any other routes at this time, but it comes only days after Kenai Aviation owner Joel Caldwell announced the company is ceasing operations due […]
Read MoreKenai students prepare to open ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
Kenai Central High School students have been hard at work preparing for the opening night of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on Friday, Nov. 14. Travis Lawson, KCHS science teacher and director of the drama department, said approximately 20 students have been rehearsing multiple times per week since September. The play, written by Shakespeare at the […]
Read MoreKenai City Council terminates Challenger Learning Center’s lease
During an emotional Kenai City Council meeting last Wednesday evening, Nov. 5, one of the resolutions up for discussion was terminating the lease of the building that houses the Challenger Learning Center of Alaska. Since opening in 2000, the center has offered programs to spark kids’ interest in STEM fields by offering workshops, space-themed simulations […]
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Homer man sentenced for sexual abuse of minor
Michael Robert Fisher, 55, was sentenced last Wednesday, Oct. 29, to 20 years in prison for sexual abuse of a minor. Fisher was convicted of a consolidated count of sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree by a Kenai jury earlier this year for crimes committed in Homer in 2012. According to an […]
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HEX/Furie CEO, Kenai Chamber receive state business awards
Two peninsula recipients were named in the Alaska Chamber’s recent bestowal of the 2025 Premier Business Awards during the Alaska Business Summit on Oct. 9. John Hendrix, president and CEO of HEX, LLC and Furie Operating Alaska, received the William A. Egan Outstanding Alaskan of the Year Award. The Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor […]
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Kenai elects new mayor
The City of Kenai saw some turnover following Tuesday’s municipal election, with a new mayor and one new city council member. The second city council seat on the ballot is retained by incumbent Victoria Askin. Soldotna also held a city council election, but both candidates were unopposed and thus reelected to their seats. The contentious […]
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Homer football tops Kenai
The Homer football team defeated Kenai Central 44-6 on Saturday in Mid Alaska Conference action at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School. The Mariners move to 3-1 in the league and 6-1 overall, while Kenai is 2-2 and 3-4. Barrow leads the league at 4-0 and has the top seed no matter what […]
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Kenai Central swimmers, divers sweep Kenai Invitational
The Kenai Central swimming and diving teams swept the Kenai Invitational on Friday and Saturday. On the girls side, the Kardinals scored 119 points to beat the 83 of runner-up Palmer. Soldotna was third with 40, while Homer was fifth with 32. For the boys, the Kards scored 116 while Palmer had 81, SoHi had […]
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Walking toward a world without Alzheimer’s
Holding promise flowers and in purple shirts, walkers and dancers made their way down Lawton Drive in Kenai on Saturday at the Third Annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Held for the third year on the Kenai Peninsula, and for the second at the Challenger Learning Center of Alaska in Kenai, the Walk to End Alzheimer’s […]
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Kenai sets stage for roughly $25M in airport maintenance next summer
The City of Kenai will leverage federal grants to complete roughly $25 million in maintenance and construction at the Kenai Municipal Airport next summer, though city officials said there will be no impact to airport service while construction is underway. Only a couple of weeks after making a rare, truncated single reading process to meet […]
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Kenai mayoral, city council candidates talk city’s future at forum
The two candidates hoping to be the next mayor of Kenai, and two of the three candidates running for the two open seats on the Kenai City Council, met last week to discuss their visions for the future of the city as part of a candidate forum moderated by the Peninsula Clarion and KDLL 91.9 […]
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Kenai to receive $1.6M federal grant for airport improvements
The City of Kenai will receive a nearly $1.6 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration for repairs to the apron space — where airplanes are parked and stored — at the Kenai Municipal Airport. The city council last month enacted an ordinance through a rare, truncated single reading process. City Manager Terry Eubank said […]
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Flood watch issued for low-lying areas of Kenai River
The National Weather Service on Tuesday issued a flood watch for low-lying areas near the Kenai River including the Kenai Keys, as a glacier dam near Skilak Lake “is likely releasing” and will cause a steady increase in water levels through Sunday morning. Per a message from the service published Tuesday morning, flooding is likely […]
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SeaLife Center releases 2 harbor seals at Kenai beach
Dozens gathered at North Kenai Beach on Thursday to watch the Alaska SeaLife Center’s Wildlife Response Program release a pair of young harbor seals into Cook Inlet. According to information posted to Facebook by the center, the two seals released last week were Zulu, who was admitted from Anchorage on June 3, and Copa, who […]
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Giving students their ‘best year yet’
At the front entrance of Nikiski North Star Elementary on Wednesday, music was playing, bubble machines were filling the air with soapy spheres, and Nikiski Fire Service Area staff were directing traffic and greeting students on the first day of school. Similar, though perhaps not as exuberant, scenes were playing out across the Kenai Peninsula […]
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Tribal health, nutrition discussed during U.S. Health Secretary Kennedy’s visit to Kenai
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday toured the Dena’ina Wellness Center in Kenai to hear from the Kenaitze Indian Tribe on Native health and access to traditional foods. Speaking during a brief press conference Thursday afternoon, Kennedy said his focus was on nutrition. He said he would be visiting […]
Read More Tribal health, nutrition discussed during U.S. Health Secretary Kennedy’s visit to Kenai
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday toured the Dena’ina Wellness Center in Kenai to hear from the Kenaitze Indian Tribe on Native health and access to traditional foods. Speaking during a brief press conference Thursday afternoon, Kennedy said his focus was on nutrition. He said he would be visiting […]
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Work continues on Kenai Bluff stabilization project
Since May 16, cranes, barges and heavy equipment have been busy at the toe of the Kenai River bluff installing the stone berm that is intended to halt erosion. The wall has already taken shape over a broad swath of the affected area, but on Wednesday morning, another barge of rocks from Sand Point arrived […]
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