Daylight-saving time starts Sunday

On Sunday, March 14 at 2 a.m., Daylight-saving time 2010 begins. Be sure to move your clocks ahead one hour in order to “spring” into the season.

Blizzard leaves town covered

State ski meets were completed barely a week and winter carnivals come and gone by the time Homer received its first significant snowfall this winter.
The March blizzards of ‘10 likely will go down as some kind of record, but that won’t be determined until after the tallies are in later today or Thursday, said National Weather Service Forecaster Dan Peterson.

Costly rock, politics stymie harbor project

The high expense of armor rock lies at the bottom of a problem holding up public works projects throughout Alaska, and places Homer’s hopes for an East Harbor beyond reach for now.
According to U.S. Army Corp of Engineer’s Patrick Fitzgerald, that was one reason why Homer’s East Harbor estimates stretch to $107 million.
Fitzgerald gave a presentation to the Homer City Council at a Monday afternoon work session. The city and Corps partner with the Alaska Department of Transportation on the project. DOT officials Ruth Carter and Harvey …

Beluga comments stretch into the thousands

The testimony on whether or not to designate most of Cook Inlet as beluga habitat is now in, with some 91,668 responses to the public comment period that ended March 3.
The comments will be available to the public shortly at the National Marine Fisheries Service Web site, said spokesperson Sheela McLean. It is important to note that the number of responses didn’t calculate how many made repeat testimony. However, the numbers from organizations were noted, with Sierra Club accounting for 43,339 responses. The Natural Resource Development Council …

Art Briefs – March 3

Downward Dog brings Peter Rowan
Grammy-award winner and five-time Grammy nominee, Peter Rowan will play at the Down East Saloon tomorrow at 8 p.m. Tickets for the Downward Dog-sponsored, no-smoking show are $32. Rowan is a bluegrass singer/songwriter with a career spanning more than five decades. He spent his early years playing under the tutelage of bluegrass patriarch Bill Monroe, and had a stint with Jerry Garcia in “Old and In the Way.” Rowan has …

Is Homer high fashion starting a new trend?

Local artist Ann-Margret Wimmerstedt took top honors at an Anchorage fashion show Feb. 6 that pitted her against some fairly stiff competition from centers of high fashion as far away as Los Angeles. “Object Runway” certainly seems a bit more en vogue than some would guess Homer could outdo, yet fellow artists shouldn’t underestimate the power of a painter with miles of beach out her front door and lots of dreaming space.

Sports Briefs – March 10

Both Homer Mariner basketball teams ended their respective seasons with losses in the Northern Lights Conference tournament Thursday at Skyview High School.
Alecia Stafford led the Lady Mariners in scoring with four in the Homer loss to Wasilla 15-62.
In boys’ action, Homer held its own against a tough Colony squad in the first half, trailing just 15-19 at the half. However, the Knights mounted a 21-7 third-quarter charge, and ended the M’s season with a 53-36 win.

Girls

Wasilla 62, Homer 15

Homer 0 …

Homer Broomball standings

Otter Room 6 wins, 3 losses, 5 ties
Down East Saloon 4-5-5
Duggan’s Pub 5-7-2

Scoring Leaders:
Dan Deschamps 9 goals, 2 assists, 11 points
Mark Wayne 3-5-8
Brandon Grochow 6-0-6
Heath Smith 5-1-6
Donna Boss 0-2-2
Jennifer Bando 0-2-2
 
Broomball teams from the Down East Saloon and Otter Room are heading to a tournament at Fort Richardson in Anchorage this weekend. The second-annual Alaska State Broomball Championships will be in Homer on April 2-3. E-mail homerbroomball@gmail.com for more information.

The little giants of the South Peninsula

The unsung heroes of junior high wrestling for 2010 are the Russians of Voznesenka. There are only 12 boys in the junior high at Voznesenka, and nine of them wrestled. From the very beginning of the season, the Voz boys established themselves as the wrestlers to beat. And, according to Cougar fans, when the Voz team walked into the gym for the Kenai Peninsula Borough Tournament at Nikiski, they were met with a chant of: “Fear the Voz, Fear the Voz.”

Lady M’s drop 2 at home against Kodiak

After a crushing 13-58 loss at home on Friday to the Kodiak Bears, the Homer Lady Mariners rebounded on Saturday to make things much more exciting in the second game of the weekend doubleheader.
Homer struggled on Friday, scoring only single digits in each quarter against a quick and aggressive Kodiak defense.
Ashley Ketelle was top scorer for the M’s, picking up 5 points for the game.

Lady M’ alumna to mix it up at March Madness

Former Mariner basketball standout Lindsay Layland will join her Lady Logger teammates in representing the University of Puget Sound at the NCAA Division III National Tournament this weekend in Newberg, Ore.
Layland starts as a freshman for the 13th-ranked Loggers and Coach Suzy Barcomb, and is averaging seven points and six rebounds per game. She is currently undeclared, but is leaning toward psychology as a major.

Meet-up on the Internet, then take it outside

A new online group started this month seeks to match people of like interests for organized excursions on hiking trails and other outdoor pursuits.
The site, called the “Homer Outdoor Meet-up Group,” was organized by Valerie DeLaune, who said she started it in order to assist people in finding fellow hikers, skiers, kayakers, mountain climbers, or even those who want less arduous walks, to meet up for activities.