Homer

Soldotna man arrested on DUI and weapons charges after Ninilchik traffic stop

A Soldotna man was arrested after Alaska State Troopers found his green SUV near Ninilchik following REDDI calls and watched it speeding and swerving on the Sterling Highway.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Homer transfers its ice house lease to Silver Bay Seafoods

The Homer City Council approved transferring the Fish Dock Road ice house lease from OBI Seafoods to Silver Bay Seafoods, catching up to an existing change.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Aug 10

Homer's library is asking the state to cover part of its internet bill

Homer's library wants $5,130 from the state toward its internet bill. That is less than last year, for the pleasant reason that the bill went down.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Aug 10

Homer-based Republican group drops the Homer city election from its reporting

The Homer-based Republican district unit just dropped Homer's city election from the races it reports on. It kept the borough race the same day.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Homer economic commission to finalize short-term rental recommendation to City Council

Homer's Economic Development Advisory Commission finalizes a short-term rental recommendation to City Council on Tuesday after a five-month review.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read

Recover Alaska wins $349,809 to put a peer recovery specialist on the lower Kenai Peninsula

Recover Alaska won $349,809 to place a peer recovery specialist across five lower Kenai Peninsula communities for three years, serving 225 adults with substance use disorders.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Homer Electric reports $2.2 million June operating loss as purchased power costs run over budget

Homer Electric lost $2.2 million in June as purchased power costs ran over budget, pushing year-to-date margins $1 million below target.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 11

Troopers search by air and ground for missing hunter near Halibut Cove

Alaska State Troopers are searching by air and ground near Halibut Cove for a solo hunter who stopped communicating with his wife Monday evening and has not been found.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Kelp that washes up on Cook Inlet beaches can now be harvested and sold

Kelp that washes up on Cook Inlet beaches can now be harvested and sold, up to 86,000 pounds. Beachcombers are still capped at 10 gallons a day.

by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read

Homer Spit seafood plant lease passes to Silver Bay at unchanged $69,877 rent

Homer City Council approved a lease transfer of the seafood processing plant on the Homer Spit to Silver Bay Seafoods-Valdez, LLC, keeping the annual rent at $69,877 through 2036.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Homer's zoning rewrite gets its first public hearing Wednesday

Homer's Planning Commission takes testimony Wednesday on a zoning rewrite. An earlier draft drew 905 comments and two petitions with about 600 signatures.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Why the Coast Guard is paying a Homer helicopter company to reach roadless villages

The Coast Guard is paying a Homer helicopter company $345,000 to fly inspectors to roadless Alaska villages to reach the fuel facilities it regulates.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Comments on the $400 million Bradley Lake expansion close Friday

Federal comment on the Bradley Lake expansion closes Friday. The price has been stated three ways since spring, and Railbelt ratepayers carry the debt.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

The Coast Guard is giving Homer a building that needs a new roof

The Coast Guard is handing Homer a building assessed at $635,400 that needs a new roof, flooring, paint and electrical work nobody has priced.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Homer signs off on a change of ownership at a Homer Spit seafood plant, after the fact

Homer's council signed off on a change of ownership at a Homer Spit seafood plant after the fact — the second corporate handoff on the lease in six years.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Follows: A Homer seafood plant would pass to Silver Bay amid an OBI takeover

Homer weighs spending $6,000 to inform voters about a road-tax measure, near a line the law draws

Homer may spend $6,000 to inform voters about renewing its road-and-trail sales tax, though the ordinance's own title admits it "may influence" the vote.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

South Slope Drive owners learn Monday what the sewer will cost them

Homer owners on South Slope Drive find out Monday what they owe for sewer. Past city sewer assessments have run past $11,000 for a single parcel.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Homer Electric members will be able to buy into shared solar starting in February

Homer Electric members can buy into shared solar or wind starting around mid-February. Subscribers will pay a monthly fee nobody has put a number on yet.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Golden Valley Electric has rules for community solar and no community solar

Golden Valley Electric now has approved rules for community solar and no community solar. Someone outside the utility has to build it first.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Troopers investigate death of Homer woman, 37, who collapsed in Anchor Point

Erin Kitchen, 37, of Homer died Monday night in Anchor Point after collapsing. The State Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska regulators may open the grid to far more home and community solar

Alaska regulators may raise the rooftop and community solar limit from 1.5% to 20% of a utility's demand, opening the grid to far more customer-owned power.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Cook Inlet king fishing reopens north of Bluff Point at one fish a day

King fishing reopened north of Bluff Point on Aug. 15, one fish a day through Sept. 15. Every Cook Inlet king run was forecast under its escapement goal.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Railbelt ratepayers will repay up to $100M for a Bradley Lake expansion built around federal tax credits

Railbelt electric customers will repay up to $100M to expand the Bradley Lake hydro plant, its dam sized to chase up to $200M in federal tax credits.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Homer planning commission asked to name Spit erosion, public works campus and harbor floats as top capital projects

Homer's planning commission votes Wednesday on three capital projects to recommend to city council: Spit erosion protection, a new public works campus, and $2.2 million in harbor float repairs.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Homer's library wants a remodel, starting with a $75,000 study

Homer's library wants a remodel, a teen room, a bigger meeting room, a covered outdoor space and more storage, starting with a $75,000 study to price it out.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Homer man arrested on eight counts in Anchor Point home burglary

James Longero of Homer faces eight counts including burglary and vehicle theft after troopers say he took multiple vehicles and nearly all contents from an Anchor Point home in August.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

ADF&G asks Kenai bull moose hunters for tissue samples within 24 hours of harvest

Alaska Fish and Game wants Kenai bull moose hunters to deliver tissue samples within 24 hours of harvest, a tight window that will force some hunters to cut their field time short.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Homer's eroded Watermelon Trail is getting rerouted to protect a salmon stream

A 1920s trail near Homer, eroded 6 feet deep and dumping sediment into a salmon stream, is finally getting rerouted. Work starts Aug. 19 and wraps in 2027.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Kamishak District closed to seining after survey found fewer pinks

Alaska closes the Kamishak District to commercial salmon seining Wednesday night after an aerial survey found fewer pink salmon than expected in Lower Cook Inlet.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Lower Cook Inlet seiners are shut down while set netters keep fishing, days before the season ends

Lower Cook Inlet's purse seiners are shut down while set netters in the same district keep fishing, right as the salmon season closes out Aug. 15.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

A fuel break cleared years ago helped keep the Grandview Fire out of Sterling

A fuel break cleared in 2019-20 helped keep the Grandview Fire out of Sterling — a case of wildfire prep paying off, with no injuries and no homes lost.

by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read

Coast Guard asks Homer to accept transfer of cutter support building

Homer City Council votes Aug. 24 on accepting ownership of a Coast Guard cutter support building. • The ordinance does not specify maintenance costs or operational details the city would assume. • Residents can testify at the 6 p.m. public hearing.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

A Homer seafood plant would pass to Silver Bay amid an OBI takeover

A Homer Spit seafood plant would pass to Silver Bay as it absorbs OBI statewide — a deal some fishermen and workers fear could erode local wages.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Homer electric members get a small break while Interior faces a big spike

Homer electric members are paying about $3.30 less since July 1 — a rare bit of good news, while Interior members brace for a 62% cost-of-power spike.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Kids get the Homer Spit's prime fishing spot for a day

Kids get the Homer Spit's best fishing hole to themselves Saturday for the lagoon's youth day — a perk some shut-out adults grumble about.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

A 20-acre parcel near Homer is headed to public hands — but for what?

Twenty acres near Homer could be sold to a public or charitable group with no auction — though the state's notice doesn't say who wants it or why. Comment by Aug. 31.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

With 331 belugas left, the Park Service is chartering a boat to learn what they eat

Just 331 Cook Inlet belugas remain, so the Park Service is chartering a boat to study what they eat in winter — while critics say research alone won't save them.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Mike Rowe helps mark a $250,000 gift to Seward's trade school

Mike Rowe showed up in Homer to help hand Seward's trade school a $250,000 Wells Fargo gift for scholarships and instructors.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Homer reverses Copper River Seafoods building plan, keeps December deadline

Homer City Council voted to scrap redesigned plans for a Copper River Seafoods facility and revert to the original 2019 building design, keeping the December construction deadline in place.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Five commercial fishers cited in single-day Bristol Bay closed-water sweep

Alaska Wildlife Troopers cited five commercial fishers on July 15 for fishing in closed Bristol Bay waters during the sockeye run, with all five scheduled for arraignment Aug. 5.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read