Kenai

Kenai Airport Commission recommends council adopt updated plan for 376 city parcels

Kenai Airport Commission backed the city's updated 2026 Land Management Plan covering 376 city parcels, many tied to the airport fund. City Council has final say.

by Walter AlaskaNews15h ago2 min read

Kenai planners to weigh dropping park status from a lot that never became a park

Kenai's Ahlstrom Park has been a park on paper for over 20 years without ever becoming one. Planners vote Tuesday on whether to recommend dropping it.

by Walter AlaskaNews15h ago2 min read

Follows: Kenai parks commission to weigh dropping park status from Ahlstrom Park lot

Kenai planners weigh gravel pit dug below the water table off Beaver Loop Road

A gravel company wants to dig a pit off Kenai's Beaver Loop Road that could one day become a lake with room for houses. The commission takes it up Tuesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews15h ago2 min read

Freezing rain advisory expands to Lower Matanuska and Southern Susitna valleys

Freezing rain advisory now covers Lower Mat-Su and Southern Susitna valleys until 5am Thursday, hitting the morning commute. • Anchorage, Eagle River and western Kenai advisories warn of possible power outages too. • Comes days after Tuesday icing caused 22 Anchorage crashes and a jackknifed semi on the Glenn Highway.

by Walter AlaskaNews17h ago2 min read

NOAA removes remaining funds from two Juneau contracts as they near closeout

NOAA is wrapping up a Juneau air charter contract that flew people and supplies to its research station in one of North America's rainiest places.

by Melinda Communities.News6d ago2 min read

Kenai airport is one of the first two in the US with a working digital control tower

Kenai's airport now has one of the country's first two digital control towers, with cameras giving controllers a 360-degree view. The other one is in Florida.

by Alaska News1w ago2 min read

Kenai land plan would auction part of the sports complex parcel for housing

Kenai's parks commission backed a plan to auction a corner of the sports complex parcel for housing. The memo doesn't say if it overlaps protected acres.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Kenai renews employee health coverage at 29% higher premium, holds workers' share at 13%

Kenai's employee health premiums are going up about 29%. The council is dipping into reserves so workers' share stays at 13% instead of rising to 15%.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min readFrom Oct 21

Appeals send both Woodland Subdivision short-term rental permits to Kenai City Council

Both Woodland Subdivision short-term rental permits, approved by Kenai planners Oct. 14, face appeals heading to City Council.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

Follows: Kenai planners approve two Woodland Subdivision short-term rentals, one 3-2

Kenai parks commission to weigh dropping park status from Ahlstrom Park lot

Kenai wants to drop the park label from a 2.32-acre lot to help redraw a 1955 subdivision with largely unbuilt roads for homes. Parks panel weighs in Nov. 5.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Kenai planners approve Beaver Loop day care and give it two years to open

Kenai planners approved a therapeutic day care on Beaver Loop Road for young children, including kids with disabilities, and gave it two years to open.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Kenai nonprofit seeks permit to open a therapeutic daycare on Beaver Loop Road

A Kenai nonprofit wants to turn an empty former group home into a daycare for up to 20 kids, including kids with disabilities. The city takes it up Wednesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

BBNC hosts youth and young adult event on careers and scholarships in Kenai

BBNC and the Bristol Bay Foundation are hosting shareholders and descendants ages 14 to 26 in Kenai on Nov. 21 to talk careers and scholarships, with pizza.

by Alaska News2w ago1 min read

Kenai asks to join the federal review of a proposed undersea data center in Cook Inlet

Kenai wants a seat at the table as a Massachusetts company seeks to study putting 330-plus tidal turbines and 66 computer pods in Cook Inlet.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min readFrom Oct 7

Kenai man gets more than 14 years for conspiring to traffic fentanyl into Alaska by mail

A Kenai man who prosecutors called the region's main fentanyl supplier got more than 14 years for conspiring to mail over four kilograms of it to Alaska.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Chugach, the Alaska Chamber's business of the year, has bought five Alaska firms since 2024

Chugach, which bought Cordova's Copper River Fleece this summer, won the Alaska Chamber's big-business award. It has bought five Alaska firms since 2024.

by Melinda Communities.News3w ago2 min read

Kenai plans to spend $50,000 replacing damaged holiday decorations along the Spur Highway

Kenai plans to replace worn Spur Highway holiday light decorations using $50,000, favoring repeated designs over many unique ones.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readFrom Sep 8

Kenai faces 29% jump in employee health premiums as council weighs Premera renewal

Kenai's employee health premiums are set to jump 29%, and that's after the broker negotiated Premera down from 36%. The council votes Wednesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

A second power link to Kenai would run under Cook Inlet

Alaska wants a second power line between Kenai and Anchorage, under Cook Inlet's tides and ice. First it needs builders, and $142.5 million more.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Like Vance and Trump, Cruz will campaign for Sullivan in a Republican-leaning region

Vance hit Fairbanks, Trump hit the Mat-Su and Cruz heads to Kenai. All three picked parts of Alaska where Republicans did best in 2024. We ran the numbers.

by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago3 min read

Kenai commission rejects family RV campground permit on Tundra Rose Lane, 4-1

Kenai's planning commission voted 4-1 to deny Nicole and David Smith a permit for a family RV park on Tundra Rose Lane, citing traffic and neighborhood character concerns.

by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago2 min readFrom Sep 23

Kenai planners approve two Woodland Subdivision short-term rentals, one 3-2

Kenai OKs two Airbnbs in the Woodland Subdivision. Ash Avenue neighbors of 41 years lost 3-2, and one says she'll be back to oppose every permit.

by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read

Kenai parks director hopes to bring mural costs and artist options in January

Kenai wants murals on its blank walls. Step one: get the artist to call back. The parks director hopes to have costs and options by January.

by Alaska News1mo ago2 min read

Kenai accepts $3.1 million FAA grant for new airport perimeter and security fence

Kenai City Council accepted a roughly $3.1 million FAA grant for a new perimeter and security fence at the airport. The city covers about $154,000, with QAP as contractor.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Oct 8

State approves Seward timber sale with a logging road along a recreation trail

The state will sell 55 acres of Seward spruce, hauled out on a road along a year-round trail the Forest Service says wasn't built for log trucks.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kenai commission weighs ending newspaper publication of land notices

Kenai's Planning and Zoning Commission meets Wednesday to weigh recommending an end to newspaper publication of zoning and land notices, shifting them to a city webpage instead.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kenai will seek up to $250,000 in federal money to replace Old Town Park's playground

Kenai wants up to $250,000 in federal money for a new Old Town Park playground. The catch: grant-funded park land has to stay a park, more or less forever.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kenai library rules move out of city code Friday and into staff-approved policy

Kenai's library rules leave city code Friday, and the sleeping ban goes with them: seated "quiet rest" will be fine, but lying down still won't.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kenai commission weighs letting a gravel operation dig into required setbacks

Kenai will decide Wednesday whether a gravel pit can dig closer to its neighbors than city rules allow. An earlier, similar variance drew an appeal.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Southcentral weekend brings ski swap, winter prep and fall festivals

Southcentral Alaska hosts a ski swap, winter prep fair, half marathon, pumpkin festival and Indigenous Peoples Day celebration Saturday through Monday as cool, wet weather moves in.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

FAA keeps plowing roads to Alaska navigation beacons as it retires others

The FAA pays local crews to plow roads to Alaska's radio navigation beacons each winter, even as it retires more than a dozen others in favor of GPS.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read

Kenai awards $98,000 contract to move shallow water line on eroding bluff

Kenai awarded Peninsula Construction $98,000 to move a water line on the bluff before it freezes and ruptures this winter.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Kenai's council will award a bluff erosion contract the day after bids close

Kenai council waives road requirement quoted at $63,000

Kenai City Council waived a $63,000 road-building requirement for a property owner whose project started before the city's new road standard took effect.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Alaska's 2026 fishing derby winners, from Valdez to Wrangell and Juneau

Chase Edstrom of North Pole won Valdez's Silver Salmon Derby with an 18.80-pound coho worth $10,000, the largest catch since 2010.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Health care workers tell Alaska high school students many jobs don't need a four-year degree

Some health care jobs take 6 to 12 weeks of training, and Alaska teens can get a pharmacy tech license at 16, students heard at a state career session.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kenai silver salmon derby canceled over unclear coho run data

Kenai Chamber canceled the 2026 Silver Salmon Derby over unclear coho run data, and Fish and Game cut the daily coho limit to two fish through November.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Aug 31

Regulators cut Hilcorp's Kenai gas storage rates up to 31% while they investigate

Regulators cut Hilcorp's Kenai gas storage fees up to 31% after its own study showed it was overcollecting. Whether your utility bill notices is another matter.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kenai City Council to vote on intervening in federal review of Cook Inlet undersea data center

Kenai's council votes Wednesday on intervening in the federal review of a plan for 66 undersea data pods and 350 tidal turbines off the East Foreland.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Kenai commission backs grant bid for $800,000 Old Town Park playground and court plan

Kenai's Old Town Park would get a new playground and basketball court under an $800,000 plan, about half the cost of the bulldoze-and-start-over version.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kenai parks commission puts tennis and pickleball courts ahead of shop design

Kenai's parks commission wants to shift $150,000 from a parks shop design to fixing tennis and pickleball courts. The pickleball crowd wants concrete.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read