Tag: Local News

Homer pedestrian pathway project selected for federal funding

The Homer All-Ages and Abilities Pedestrian Pathway project, or HAPP, has been awarded funding and is officially in the works with the approval of the 2024-2027 Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Statewide Transportation Improvements Program. Shannon McCarthy, communications director from the Alaska DOT&PF Office of the Commissioner, confirmed on Saturday, March 30 that […]

Read More

School Board approves rehiring retired teachers

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s school board unanimously approved a resolution last week allowing the reemployment of retired teachers to address vacancies that would otherwise be unfilled. According to the resolution, reemployment of retired teachers without compromising their retirement benefits is allowed under a Senate bill signed into law in November 2018. That bill […]

Read More

Aleutian airways to halt Homer service during runway project

Aleutian Airways will suspend service to Homer for the duration of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Homer Airport improvement project, beginning April 15. Ravn Air confirmed on Friday, April 5 that they will continue providing service to Homer during the ongoing construction, except during scheduled full runway closures. Currently, full runway closures […]

Read More

Kenaitze Indian Tribe hosts meeting to gauge interest in a Dena’ina charter school

Curriculum, logistics and school culture were among the words written at the top of large sheets of paper hung around the Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht Campus last Thursday, where roughly 30 people gathered to share their thoughts about a Dena’ina charter school the tribe is considering starting in Kenai. The initiative comes as the […]

Read More

Homer Flex School principal Chris Brown named Region III Principal of the Year

The Alaska Council of School Administrators named Homer Flex High School principal Chris Brown as Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals Region III Principal of the Year. There are six high schools on the Kenai Peninsula as well as high schools in Palmer, Wasilla, Houston and Kodiak in the region. In a press release describing […]

Read More

Homer High School announces recipients of the annual Mariner Way Award

Each Homer High School teacher selects one outstanding student per year based on exhibition of one or more of the Mariner Way traits. The Mariner Way traits include toughness, compassion, drive, integrity, character, sportsmanship and citizenship. This year’s honorees, their families and the nominating teachers attended a March 28 celebration in the library at the […]

Read More

City to consider business licenses

The City of Homer will begin consideration of establishing a city business license. According to Community Development Director Julie Engebretsen, the Homer City Council will introduce a resolution at their next regular meeting on April 8, requesting that the Economic Development Advisory Commission provide input on a business license program. Currently, Engebretsen wrote in an […]

Read More

Land trust wraps up Cooper Landing project with 46 more acres preserved

Homer’s Kachemak Heritage Land Trust announced protection of an additional 46.393 acres of land on the Kenai Peninsula as of March 22. This land protection is the concluding portion of a five-part mitigation project partnership between the land trust and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. This sector of land is between Mileposts […]

Read More

Homer man found guilty of charges in largest Homer Police drug seizure

A Homer jury convicted 56-year-old Trevor Latimer of multiple drug-related charges last Thursday, the State of Alaska Department of Law announced in a press release on Friday, March 29. Following a seven-day trial, Latimer was found guilty of possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and two counts […]

Read More

Annual Job Fair returns to Kenai Peninsula

The Peninsula Job Center’s annual Job Fair will return to the Old Carrs Mall next week, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10. Jason Warfle, Job Center supervisor, said Monday that the annual fair is an opportunity for job seekers to get face-to-face with potential employers and training providers. Roughly 50 […]

Read More

Cooper Landing residents seek veto for concrete plant lease, mayor upholds assembly decision

Roughly two weeks after the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly approved a lease agreement to Davis Block and Concrete Company for the operation of a concrete plant down Snug Harbor Road in Cooper Landing, residents of that community sent a letter to Borough Mayor Peter Micciche requesting that he veto the move. Micciche said Tuesday that […]

Read More

Film documents local circus arts entertainer’s ‘Third Act’

A short documentary about local resident George Faust will premiere April 11 at the Homer Theatre. “My Third Act,” produced by Affinity Films, is about Faust’s career performing in circus arts in various places around Alaska and how his diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease at age 70 ended the physical part of his career. His circus […]

Read More

Comp plan open house kicks off community conversation

More than 70 community members attended the comprehensive plan open house at the Islands and Oceans Visitor Center last Thursday, March 28. During the two-hour event, residents of the greater Homer area shared their insights and hopes for the future and engaged in one-on-one facetime with project leaders, including representatives from Agnew::Beck and the City […]

Read More

Assembly OKs concrete lease in Cooper Landing

A Kenai-based concrete company will set up shop in Cooper Landing to help build parts of a state bypass project in the community following approval last week by the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly of a lease agreement with the company. The vote came amid widespread community opposition to the agreement. Davis Block and Concrete Company […]

Read More

Some KPBSD schools could benefit from internet bill passed by House

The Alaska House of Representatives on March 21 passed legislation that allows school districts to apply for more federal money to improve internet quality and speed in Alaska’s rural schools. House Bill 193 contains parts of a previous bill lawmakers loaded down with a conglomerate education package, which was vetoed earlier this month by Gov. […]

Read More

HEA board candidates talk renewables, gas shortage at Monday forum

Candidates running for seats on the Homer Electric Association Board of Directors gathered in the Soldotna Public Library on Monday, March 18 for a forum during which they shared their goals and vision for the future of the cooperative. This year, five candidates are vying for three seats on the nine-member board. The forum was […]

Read More

School district committee builds multiple budget scenarios amid uncertain state funding

Members of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Finance Committee on Monday honed three plans for the district’s immediate financial future. The meeting came less than a month after board members opted to build the district’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year around a state funding bump that was approved by lawmakers, but then vetoed […]

Read More

3 Homer High seniors recognized as National Merit Scholarship finalists

Three Homer High School seniors, Spencer Co, Blaise Banks and Lucas Story, recently received recognition as finalists in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship program. The recognition is based on scores received on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test that the students took as juniors. According Homer High School counselor Paul Story, who is […]

Read More