News from Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Troopers arrested nine at Salmonfest, eight on felony drug distribution charges, though the dispatch names no one and gives no drug quantities.

A multiple-vehicle collision closed the Sterling Highway in both directions at Milepost 164 on Wednesday afternoon, according to a high-importance Alaska 511 alert. Traffic is detoured onto the Old Sterling Highway, and the closure is expected to last several hours.
Alaska is opening Kenai lynx season Dec. 15–Feb. 28 while already predicting it'll close next year — the cats are heading toward the bottom of their boom-bust cycle.
Flood watch expanded Sunday to Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula as atmospheric river brings 2 to 4 inches of rain and 55 mph winds through Monday. • Yentna River in Susitna Valley forecast to crest above flood stage by Tuesday, threatening cabins at two lodges. • River users warned to expect higher water levels and monitor forecasts closely through midweek.
Alaska ordered Cook Inlet setnetters onto gear their permits don't allow, deepening a years-long squeeze on a fishery it controls in state waters.
HB 381 replaces municipal property taxes on the Alaska LNG project with a new volumetric tax. • Phase 1 revenue splits favor pipeline communities while Phase 2 directs 48 percent to the Kenai Peninsula Borough. • The state expects the project to generate 26 billion dollars over 30 years. • Tax changes expire if construction misses a December 31 2034 deadline.
Kenai's school board is trying to write AI classroom rules firm enough to matter but loose enough to last, the same bind every district is in. They want them set by fall.

A fish truck rolled on the Seward Highway late Friday, scattering its load and closing the road into town for hours — just as crowds arrived for the Fourth and Mount Marathon.
Good news for Kenai anglers and dipnetters: strong sockeye runs just pushed the daily limit to six fish on the Kenai, Russian, and Kasilof — with more dipnet room on the Kasilof, too.
Kenai and Mat-Su landowners can get the state to cover up to half or two-thirds of eroding-bank repairs — if they use salmon-friendly fixes, not rock armor.

Troopers say a Wasilla woman attacked her partner with a hatchet, choked him, and threw full beer cans at him at a Kenai Peninsula campground. She faces assault charges.
Two people were charged after troopers found them back at a Clam Gulch cabin they'd allegedly burglarized more than once, hauling out a large appliance. Most of the stolen goods were recovered nearby.

With Cook Inlet gas set to run short by 2027, Alaska wants to squeeze 38% more power from the existing Bradley Lake dam — raising the reservoir 16 feet and piping in glacier melt, no new plant required.

Troopers say a teen set a sleeping man on fire at a Kasilof cabin during a treatment-program fishing trip. The man survived; the teen faces felony charges.
Alaska Department of Transportation is narrowing lanes and running pilot-car escorts on the Seward Highway between milepost 25.5 and 36 through summer to rehabilitate a 10.5-mile segment near Kenai Lake and Moose Pass.
Kenai's assembly weighs term limits for school board members — but can't impose them alone, so a yes vote just puts the question to borough voters. Hearing Sept. 1.

Alaska Wildlife Troopers cited a 19-year-old Wisconsin man for lifting a king salmon from the Anchor River and releasing it, violating an active Emergency Order requiring all kings to stay in the water.
Most of the 19 deer Alaska moved to the southern Kenai last fall died over a brutal winter, but the state is releasing 15 to 20 more this fall to try to build a future huntable herd.

As peak season packs the Kenai, a company wants to build a cabin inside the 50-foot buffer that keeps development off the river's salmon-bearing banks.
Getty tries to tell Alaskans about his bio. Hughes has not been shown in the top four in any publicly available poll.

Alaska has charged 15 people in five Medicaid fraud cases totaling $1.8 million — though every count is, for now, an allegation no court has tested.

A Kenai-area candidate filed two different Alaska move-in dates on two candidacy forms. Asked to prove one, he withdrew the next morning.

Alaska State Troopers arrested three drivers on DUI charges Saturday, two on the Kenai Peninsula and one in Fairbanks, after crashes that injured multiple people.

North Slope Borough Mayor Patkotak and Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Micciche negotiated property tax terms for the Alaska LNG project as the House Finance Committee delayed its amendment deadline to allow talks to continue.

Sterling residents want to tax themselves for recreation. On Aug. 4 the borough sets the date for a public meeting where they can back or fight the plan.

Two boaters capsized on the remote, glacier-fed Killey River and spent the night on the bank — warm, fed, and in cell contact — before troopers flew them out the next day.

Alaska State Troopers arrested a Soldotna man Sunday after a speeding stop on Sterling Highway revealed an active Arizona warrant for seven felonies including robbery and burglary.

Russian River Sanctuary opens for sport fishing Thursday after Alaska Fish and Game confirmed early-run sockeye escapement goal will be met, with 7,512 fish counted at the weir through June 16.

Alaska closed Anchor River and Deep Creek to all fishing through July 15 to protect king salmon. Gear restrictions apply through end of July on these and other Kenai Peninsula streams. This is the third straight year of major king salmon fishing limits in the region.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly will reconsider Tuesday its approval of transferring the $8 million Nikolaevsk School to a Russian Old Believer nonprofit.

A gas-tax bill could add up to $9.4 million a year to Kenai's school costs — but the Legislature's analyst says a sunset means none of it would ever be charged.

Nikolaevsk — a Russian Old Believer village on the Kenai — may hand its shrinking school to a local nonprofit, a bid to keep education in the community as families drift away.

Guy Foreman, 45, of Anchor Point was arrested April 28 on charges of vehicle theft, assault and driving with a suspended license after allegedly assaulting someone and stealing their vehicle.
Kenai Peninsula Disability Pride Celebration comes to Soldotna Creek Park on July 18, 2026, marking the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act with community organizations and local voices.

Silver Bay is putting a dock right in front of Snug Harbor's waterfront on the Kasilof. Competition is the substance.

Six smokejumpers reached a holdover fire near Allakaket on June 29 that had smoldered in duff for days before flaring up, while the Kenai Peninsula faces the state's highest fire danger.

Kenai Peninsula Borough planners will decide July 20 whether to allow a road and bridge over an anadromous creek in Anchor Point, a project that requires a conditional use permit under borough code.

Governments are making compromises on the amount of property tax they'll receive - not all are happy about it

Bank of America filed four debt collection lawsuits against Kenai Peninsula residents on May 5, 2026, part of a pattern of collection activity that raises questions about whether the bank is pursuing debts it may have already sold.











