“Ski Your Age” event covers 1,850 kilometers
Local skiers skied a cumulative total of 1,850 kilometers at the 2nd Annual Ski Your Age on Sunday Dec. 26 at the Sunset Loop Trailhead on Diamond Ridge. Originally scheduled to be held at the Sterling Highway Department of Transportation Trailhead, the event was forced to move to Diamond Ridge due to inadequate snow cover. Fresh snow and immaculately prepared trails greeted the skiers on Sunday, however, and made for a near perfect day of skiing. The event, a fundraiser for the high school ski team,was hosted by the Homer High Ski Team Booster Club and the Kachemak Nordic Ski Club.
Voznesenka wrestlers medal in Maui
• Zenon Martushev wins championship Four Voznesenka wrestlers traveled to Maui, Hawaii last week to compete in the Maui Invitational Wrestling Tournament. The 43rd Annual Maui Tournament, held Dec. 21-22, is usually the second largest wrestling tournament in the state. Jack Kuzmin, Dennis Martishev, Joe Martishev, and Zenon Martushev of Voznesenka joined 19 other teams, [...]
Economic difficulties reached the end of the road, though mildly
One of the biggest stories of the year was a 7,000-mile motorcycle journey from Key West, Fla. to Homer, known as Hoka Hey. Strategizing how to anticipate for 500 cyclists and their families caused alarms among residents who voiced their concerns at Homer City Council meetings. The concerns centered on traffic snarls, possible environmental damage while camping and crime. Despite the ballyhoo, as the cyclists started to arrive in Homer one-by-one the first week in June, none of the problems materialized. Police power was bolstered by help from other law enforcement agencies and the only crime blip occurring over the Fourth of July resulted in locals arrested.
Black bear cub indirectly causes man injury
A Homer man who enjoys viewing wildlife from the comfort of his home got more than he wished for when a black bear cub decided to visit him after dark on Dec. 10.
Julian Massey, a 100-ton boat captain who helped on the Gulf Oil Spill cleanup, monitors the habits of a Steller Jay and other birds through his bird feeder. He tossed out seeds and crumbs on that Friday night. Later on, he noticed a round black shape that he assumed might be a porcupine, so he turned the porch light on.
Hill performs for Homer audience
Lonely winds blowing across vast open tundra can inspire any number of emotions in the children who grow up there, an intangible often difficult concept to depict in songs.
Yet, that is one of the goals in Emma Hill’s music after being raised in Sleetmute the first 14 years of her life. Sleetmute is a community on the Kuskokwim River, 166 miles northeast of Bethel. Hill moved to Palmer when she was 14, and graduated from high school a year early in 2005. After spending a year at the University of Alaska Anchorage she moved to Oregon to continue school at Portland State University and to pursue the music scene.
Community News – Dec. 29
Ski Ohlson mountain Ohlson Mountain Rope Tow will be up and running on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., snow and weather permitting. Before driving up the hill, call 235-SNOW for the latest updates, or call 235-6653 if you have any questions. January mentoring month In honor of National Mentoring Month, Big Brothers Big [...]
Letters – Dec. 29
Local food nourishes us all Nationally there is a movement afoot to buy food locally. Not only is it more fresh, less processed, and healthier, it strengthens the local economy. Everyone wants a more resilient community, right? But who works on the local food economy in Homer? If I want to plug into the Homer [...]
True value of the Homer Spit
The recently issued draft of the Homer Spit Comprehensive Plan goes into some detail as to the “threats” from the natural environment, including potential tsunami and flooding hazards, yet it does not appear to give similar attention to the land use benefits of preserving the Spit’s ecological values. While the plan, correctly, points out that the Spit contains outstanding ecological values, including birding areas, tidal flats and critical habitat, and that the Spit retains a national and international reputation among birders and other visitors to Homer, it does not take the next logical step of analyzing the true economic and other values of the Spit to the public and the local community.
Liberal tradition founded Democracy
Today it seems that a majority of Americans would not want to be called “liberal humanists,” but there was a long period in our history when the American ideal, the democratic ideal, was associated with progressive liberal humanism. American ideals of freedom, equality, minority rights, separation of church and state, elective government, balance of powers and judicial protections were said to be in the Liberal Tradition. Certainly, compared to counties like Saudi Arabia and North Korea, we are a liberal democracy.
Happy new year
With an old year out the door, this time we can celebrate the end of a decade and the beginning of a new one. The decade was launched by fears of a massive computer virus called Y2K brought on by the double OO digits, a reality that never materialized. It was marked by national tragedy in the 9-11 terrorism attacks on New York’s twin towers. It was a decade that saw two wars escalate in the Middle East, and the election of the nation’s first African-American president. A time of economic turmoil twisted the fates of many Americans along the way, in housing finance scams coupled to stock market and banking failures.
