Sandwich board signs can stand for now
For now, business owners protective of their sandwich board signs will be able to keep them within certain established limits, after contentious testimony at the Homer City Council meeting called into question a constitutional issue.
If Homer sign rules were to change, favoring real estate agents and nonprofits, but not allowing a cafe to broadcast its soup du jour – would it amount to stifling speech and enterprise?
In the end, the council voted unanimously to send sign changes back to the Homer Advisory Planning Commission for more tweaks. Then it’s to land on the work table of the Homer Economic Development Commission for a look over, before coming back to the council for a vote.
What time should area schools start?
The day hasn’t fully awakened yet when, in the dark, children at Paul Banks are dropped off by their parents for kindergarten through second grade.
These tender years, parents can be seen walking their children to class and every bus is met by Principal Benny Abraham or staff, ready to offer a hand for the district’s littlest students.
“We start at 8:30 a.m. It would be hard for us to start much earlier,” Abraham said. “I would rather keep our start time where it is at, though we may not be able to do that.”
The Kenai Peninsula School District continues to hold public meetings in order to receive input on a pressing dilemma. About $750,000 in busing costs needs to be reduced throughout the district. Homer is targeted for cuts in five or six buses at a cost of $60,000-65,000 each for more than half the savings.
Tusty 200 adds two new Homer checkpoints
Volunteers are the staple for dog mushing check points along the trail, which includes Homer at McNeil Canyon School this weekend for the first time.
For Kasilof resident James Banks, being a volunteer for the Tustumena 200 Sled Dog Race seems more like fate than a choice. Growing up in Michigan, dogs were a part of his daily life for as long as he can remember, but these were family pets or bird dogs used for hunting, not the powerful pulling huskies of the north.
“I’ve always had dogs since I was born. When I was four, my parents used to find me outside, sleeping in the doghouse with our St. Bernard,” he said. “But when I got here I knew nothing about mushing or sled dogs.”
Sports Briefs – Jan. 25
Mariner hockey struggles to score After logging a few wins on the road last week, the Homer Hockey Team struggled to score against Wasilla, falling 0-5 in conference play. Five different Wasilla players were able to push the puck past Homer goalie Alex Sanarov for the shutout on Friday. The Warriors outshot Homer 44-9 in [...]
Warriors rumble, but fall short of tourney title
The future of Warrior basketball is alive and well in Nikolaevsk. The proof of this lies not only in the consistency of guidance from coaches Steve and Bea Klaich, or the powerful din of cheers in both English and Russian that echo off the walls of the tiny gym.
No, the future of basketball is thriving in the village because members of the small community support the teams and promote the sport as a positive outlet for youth.
That investment seems to be paying off.
Nikolaevsk boys and girls teams fell just short of winning their tenth-annual Warrior Rumble Tournament in Nikolaevsk over the weekend, both falling at the hands of a stronger and older Fort Yukon squad.
The Warriors hosted Nenana, Fort Yukon and Tri-Valley in three days of round-robin play.
On the wings of Homer’s Sandhill Crane migration
In 2008, working in cooperation with the International Crane Foundation and crane biologist Gary Ivey, Kachemak Crane Watch funded a satellite banding project to determine where Homer’s Lesser Sandhill Cranes migrate to spend the winter. Homer’s Sandhill Cranes go to the Sacramento area in California where they feed and roost with the valley’s Greater Sandhill Cranes.
Jan. 6-9, Edgar Bailey and Nina Faust, co-founders of Kachemak Crane Watch, went to Sacramento, to meet with crane advocates who founded Save Our Sandhill Cranes, a nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining open-space habitat and the conservation of the California Central Valley’s Sandhill Crane populations through education, outreach, and community activism.
Art Brief – Jan. 25
Call for artist submissions The Kachemak Bay Science Conference planning team is requesting artist’s submissions for a conference logo-design competition. The selected logo-design would have all or parts of the design used for conference outreach such as flyers (header design and/or background), newspaper ads, conference banner, website header, and additional conference materials. The ideal [...]
FYI – News briefs & announcements – Jan. 25
HEA nomination period opens Homer Electric Association is accepting nominations from members interested in running for a seat on the cooperative’s Board of Directors. The board is made up of nine directors, three from each of the three districts that make up the service area. This year, the District 1, Kenai-Nikiski-parts of Soldotna, seat held [...]
From Capitol Hill to comedy, it’s all politics
The switch from Capitol Hill to comedy wasn’t too broad a leap for Mark Eaton, who served “on the Hill” 10 years as a staffer for two senators.
“There were always characters. Certainly, when I worked for Jessie Helms. He was about as far to the right as Ted Kennedy was to the left,” Eaton said. “Our theory is that if you don’t laugh, it might drive you crazy.”
In 1999, Eaton tried out for the Capitol Steps, a theatre group that quickly gained in popularity in the decades after its 1981 start. “I had some theatre experience and one day in the office, I heard they were doing a role call, that Capital Steps was looking for a part time performer.”
Community News – Jan. 25
Re-taking the plunge Christie Bond Hill faced her coldest plunge yet, suffering frostbite as she raised $13,330 for cancer this weekend in the Seward Polar Plunge. Temperatures dipped to a windchill of minus 30, while water temperatures registered at 38.9 degrees. “I had some frostbite on my hands and feet. It was so cold after, [...]
