Water rates frustrate council
A fish story to illustrate how much Homer water-sewer rates differ from other comparable communities surfaced at the Homer City Council work session Monday.
A commercial fishing processor cleaning 40,000 pounds of fish at Kodiak docks will pay 90 cents per 1,000 gallons of water to prepare the fish for shipment.
In Homer, where water rates are $12.64 per 1,000 gallons, the total will come to more than $500 to process 40,000 pounds of fish. What will a Kodiak boat pay in total? That would be about $36, said Councilman Kevin Hogan, who made the comparison.
Voters: weigh in on districts
Under proposed changes to voting districts, one map depicts Kachemak Bay cut in half: Homer would be separated from Seldovia, Halibut Cove, Nanwalek and Port Graham.
District 35 voters, currently under Rep. Paul Seaton’s representation, could see changes in late June after the Alaska Redistricting Board adopts one final map for the entire state’s 40 house districts.
About nine plans for redrawing the boundaries between voting districts are available for public scrutiny. Two options were drafted by the Alaska Redistricting Board, with other options coming from the Alaska Bush Caucus, city or borough governments and civil rights groups.
Wiley, Gaylord run for HEA Board of Directors
Homer Electric Association’s District 3 election poses a choice between a Homer and a Clam Gulch candidate who were Each involved in many civic boards as well as familiarity with HEA proceedings.
Malcolm Gaylord of Homer faces off with Mike Wiley of Clam Gulch. Wiley was appointed by the HEA board to serve after HEA Board Member Mike Pate’s resignation in 2009.
Ballots sent out April 1 will be counted before the annual board meeting to determine the winner. The new board member will be announced at the HEA Board Member Meeting 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. May 5 at Soldotna High School, where members have one last chance to cast their ballots.
Popeye wrestlers medal
Forty Homer wrestlers brought home numerous awards when they competed with over 1,300 athletes in the three-day state tournament in Wasilla last weekend.
Mitch Wyatt entered the Junior Category (17-18 year-olds) and 189-pound division with one mission, to win the triple crown – the USA Folkstyle, Greco and Freestyle State Title, according to Coach Chris Perk. “This was a lofty goal,” he said. “He had never won a Freestyle Title before and what are the odds that he could continue his dominance of Alaskan wrestlers and add to his 171- pound ASAA High School Championship?”
River habitat studied
In the wake of the closure of Anchor River to salmon fishing last summer, residents may want to learn more about research efforts on the river at“Celebrating the Anchor River through Stories and Science” Saturday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Chapman Elementary School in Anchor Point.
Terry Thompson, manager of the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve explained the purpose of the event. “Over the years there have been numerous projects studying the watershed as a unit, so this provides different research organizations an opportunity to talk about the work that’s being done and make the public aware of what we’re learning.”
‘Ring ring ring went the trolley’
Meet Alex Knudtson, likely to be Homer’s youngest entrepreneur if he can pull off plans for his newly-purchased Homer Trolley set to begin hop-on, hop-off service between the Homer Spit and downtown.
Knudtson is 14 years old.
The home-school student and son of Sally Oberstein drafted a business plan as an assignment based on an interest he held in amphibious cars. Salty Dawg’s original owner, Charles Abbott, had a couple of the amphibians operating in the 1960s that drew his interest.
‘On The Wing’ celebrates poets
The last time Sunrise Kilcher Sjoberg performed on the stage at the Homer Theatre, she was five or six years old singing with her well-known family.
Except for the spelling bee in grade school and a brief senior talent show act, Sjoberg hasn’t viewed an audience from that stage since she sang “Among the Leaves so Green” as Jackie Boy in a call-and-response song 50 years ago. All that changes on the opening day of the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival when she hosts an evening of music and poetry, the Eighth Annual On the Wing Concert at 8 p.m. May 5. The event raises funds for the shorebird conservation and education fund.
Community News – April 27
Recycle This year’s Electronics Recycling Event saw 130 households recycling electronics compared to 107 households in 2010. The total weight is not yet tallied. Announcement There will be no bingo at the Homer Elks Lodge until May 18. Piper, Szarzi named Teachers of Excellence Two of the five teachers selected for BP Teacher of Excellence [...]
No new rate hikes for water
Water rates have long frustrated consumers in Homer. Monday night’s Homer City Council meeting included a discussion of the reasons the City of Homer Water and Sewer System ranks high among Alaska towns for its costs: its Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation-certified operation is a state-of-the-art sanitized water system that should last many years while [...]
Middle Creek’s salmon better bet than coal
Some folks from Texas are planning to strip-mine 12 million tons of coal a year for 25 years at the Chuitna River on the west side of Cook Inlet. Because it flows above the coal, they want to destroy 11 miles of Middle Creek, a beautiful stream that is home to all five species of Alaska’s salmon. To reach the coal, each year they would dig the equivalent of a ditch 100 yards wide, 100 feet deep, and nearly 11 miles long. This, over the 25 years of the project, would be the equivalent of a ditch of that size stretching from Homer to Anchorage.
