Kenai Peninsula

Ken Lancaster, Soldotna's mayor through the 1990s and later a state representative, has died at 83

Ken Lancaster moved to Soldotna at 19, ran the city through most of the 1990s, and then went to Juneau to represent the area. He died at 83.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Soldotna weighs letting rural lots hold two homes instead of one

Soldotna may let rural residential lots hold two homes instead of one, partly because people east of the highway are already building without permits.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read

Homer asks FCC to keep internet discount that covers most of the public library's bill

Homer's library gets $11,970 a year from a federal internet discount the FCC is reviewing. The City Council would like it left alone, please.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 14

Follows: Alaska superintendents ask FCC not to cut school internet subsidy

Halibut commission staff propose letting AI read half of the fish earbones behind catch limits

The halibut commission wants a neural network to read half its fish earbones. It's cheaper by a factor of ten, and it thinks old fish are young.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Kenai Peninsula voters decide on school board term limits

Kenai Peninsula voters decide on school board term limits that would not keep anyone off a ballot until 2032. The assembly sent it to them 9-0.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 1

Cook Inlet gas storage at 69.5% as winter nears, with one field shut in for maintenance

Southcentral's gas storage fields are still filling and sending nothing out, at 69.5 percent full with winter coming and Enstar 3 Bcf short.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Southcentral's gas storage is two-thirds full with winter coming

Three Homer Electric generators failed at once, and hydro covered the gap

Three of Homer Electric's generators failed at once in August. It bought hydro to cover, from a dam whose lines cannot carry its full output.

by Alaska News1mo ago2 min read

Homer's tsunami evacuation route is being raised and widened

The road Homer would use to get people off the Spit ahead of a tsunami is being raised and widened, with $1.17 million obligated toward it so far.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Kenai refuge's environmental education building gets exterior repairs

The Kenai refuge's environmental education building is getting a $48,000 exterior fix-up this fall, from a small business based in Colorado.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Troopers arrest a Kenai man on a drug warrant after a Nikiski stop

Troopers arrested a Kenai man on a drug warrant after a Nikiski traffic stop and found 1.30 grams of meth, worth about $130 at state prices.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Alaska's three-judge court has been short since 2022; Reardon would fill the last seat

Alaska's federal court has been short a judge for five years, one seat vacated by a judge forced out for misconduct. The Senate questioned his replacement.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readFrom Sep 16

Homer man arrested on 11 felony counts in $8,000 Anchor Point theft

Homer man Wyatt Stollar arrested on 11 felony counts after roughly $8,000 in tools, jewelry, an ATV and firearms stolen from an Anchor Point property turned up at a pawn shop.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Visiting dentist to hold five-day clinic in Nondalton

A dentist comes to Nondalton for five days starting Monday, one of the periodic visits that fill in for a permanent practice around Iliamna Lake.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Three locally drawn library cards are free at the Soldotna library through September

Soldotna's library is handing out three limited-edition cards designed by locals, including a moose under the northern lights by a 12-year-old.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 1

BIA sends nearly $800,000 to five Alaska tribal governments, most of it road money

The BIA sent about $794,000 to five Alaska tribes this month, mostly for roads in Y-K Delta villages that have no road system.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Kenai Assembly asks state to ban cloud seeding, on consent agenda

A company seeded clouds over the Kenai Peninsula and the borough learned about it from a press release. Nobody has the authority to require otherwise.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Troopers find missing hunter near Tanana after weather grounded search a day

Alaska Wildlife Troopers found a missing hunter near Tanana on Wednesday after weather grounded the search a day earlier. He declined medical treatment and returned to camp.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

The state held Kenai coho at two a day through November

Kenai coho limits stay at two a day through November instead of rising to three, on abundance numbers the state admits it can't monitor well.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Visitors keep walking into Seward's industrial port

Cruise passengers in Seward keep wandering into the industrial port instead of onto the sidewalk. The city is paying $79,920 to sort out the signs.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Three of 20 Alaska aviation accidents since July 19 were fatal

Twenty aircraft have crashed in Alaska in eight weeks. Three were fatal. The state's accident rate runs more than twice the national average.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

A fishing advocate warns Kenai over an undersea Cook Inlet data center

A fishing advocate told the Kenai council the federal application for an undersea data center off Nikiski has no thermal modeling, in endangered beluga habitat.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: Massachusetts firm seeks study permit for a 66-pod undersea data center in Cook Inlet

Low water slows Seward's youth coho fishery, open through Oct. 5

Kids have four more weeks to catch a silver at Seward Lagoon, where low water has been holding the fish outside waiting on enough rain to get in.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

House committee advances bill treating hatchery fish as wild under Endangered Species Act

House committee voted to require federal agencies to consider hatchery fish alongside wild ones in Endangered Species Act consultations, a shift with major economic implications for Alaska's salmon industry.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Soldotna council candidate Conner refiles disclosure on the last day to file

Soldotna council candidate Nicholas Conner refiled his financial disclosure Tuesday, the last day of the filing period, after listing the wrong municipality on his original form.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Mat-Su kept the Long Trail sign, and the $300,000 that came with it

Mat-Su took $300,000 and kept the trail sign some members worried would invite federal control. The borough's own attorney said it would not.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

State Parks tells Homer hikers to avoid new Kachemak Bay trails near moose kill

Alaska State Parks is warning Homer hikers to avoid new trails in the Cottonwood Eastland section of Kachemak Bay State Park because a moose kill near the construction site may attract predators.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Sullivan's bycatch bill reaches its first Senate committee test

Sullivan's bycatch bill gets its first committee test Wednesday. It mandates gear changes and monitoring, but doesn't ban trawling or set catch caps.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Three Southcentral villages get visiting primary care this week

A doctor is in Chenega Bay through Monday, in Nanwalek through Friday. Tyonek got one day, and sees a primary care provider every two months.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Park Service warns of ice collapse and tsunami waves at Aialik Glacier

National Park Service warns that unstable ice at Aialik Glacier terminus in Kenai Fjords can collapse without warning and trigger tsunami waves capable of causing severe injury or death.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Seward council approves five-year lease moving food pantry to senior center

Seward City Council approved a five-year lease moving He Will Provide Food Pantry from City Hall Annex to the senior center starting Jan. 1, 2027, gaining more space and a better kitchen.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Search resumes on Kasilof River for man missing after boat overturns

A 67-year-old Kasilof man is missing after his boat overturned on the Kasilof River Sunday. The search resumed Monday by air, boat and on foot.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Troopers find two asleep in sedan towing stacked logs, cocaine in driver's lap

Troopers pulled alongside a log-hauling sedan in Soldotna and found the driver and passenger asleep, cocaine in his lap, they say. He's presumed innocent.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Water damage in the Kenai Senior Center overhang halts work and adds $45,000

Contractors reroofing the Kenai Senior Center entry found rot underneath. Everything but the beams comes off, and the city needs $45,000 to finish.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Wind gusts to 50 mph are coming, and the trees still have their leaves

Wind gusts to 50 mph hit Anchorage from Tuesday morning through Wednesday. The trees still have their leaves, which is how the outages happen.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

A builder across from a Soldotna school pushed its snow into the street

A builder across from a Soldotna elementary school left no room for snow, so it went into the street. The city says snow storage is required.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 9

The Kenai Borough Assembly president wants three votes to carry the assembly

The Kenai Borough Assembly president wants three votes to carry the assembly instead of five. Two of nine members were appointed on his motions.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read

Follows: Kenai Peninsula assembly president proposes rewrite of rules for filling assembly vacancies

Troopers seize 4.5 ounces of suspected heroin after Sterling traffic stop

Troopers say they found 4.5 ounces of suspected heroin and two guns in a truck near Sterling, charging the driver with six counts. He's presumed innocent.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

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

Seward would allow rainwater catchment in new subdivisions, but only by waiver

Seward would allow rainwater catchment in new subdivisions only by waiver. A commissioner who wanted it struck called it a dry cabin at in-town prices.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 1

Soldotna planning director drafts code change to replace court citations with civil fines

Soldotna's planning director is drafting a code change to replace court citations for unpermitted rentals with staff-issued civil fines, which could speed enforcement.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Sep 2