Community news – May 8
Waclawski named Homer High principal The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District has announced the new Homer High School principal is Doug Waclawski. At Homer Middle School the principal is Kari Dendurent and Paul Banks Elementary School principal is Eric Pederson. Port Graham-Seldovia principal Sheryl Hingley is now the Sterling and Cooper Landing School regional administrator. [...]
Chicken, pigs, livestock rearing on the boom
There’s something about the smell of eggs cooking in a skillet first thing in the morning, and if recent sales of chicks are any indication, there are a growing number of people who prefer the taste of farm-fresh eggs versus store-bought.
“We got in 700 (chickens) today alone, and over the course of the season we’ll go through around 8,000 from March to June,” said Dianna Taplin, owner of Cad-Re Feeds and Grandma’s Cupboard in Soldotna.
Kasilof brown bear tests negative for rabies
A brown bear killed by Alaska State Troopers Sunday on the Kasilof River’s north beach following reports of an attack and other aggressive behavior has tested negative for rabies. A necropsy revealed the bear was likely blind or partially blind. The unprovoked attack resulted in minor injuries to Kenai resident Toby Burke. Subsequent reports of [...]
Dock washed ashore at China Poot
Among the strong winter storm damage in Kachemak Bay is a lone dock that likely broke lose and rode the currents out of Peterson Bay.
This substantial and reportedly well manufactured dock floated into China Poot Bay this winter, and its finders are hoping to reunite it back to its owners.
George Reising, a winter caretaker at the Kachemak Bay Wilderness Lodge, described the dock as 32-by-8 feet, built of plastic coated floatation material and treated timbers on top.
“It washed in this winter in December and we tied it off on a high tide,” Reising said Friday morning. Now that summer residents will be returning to the area, he sought help from the Homer Police since it’s a good time to get the word out to its owners, he said.
Police report – May 8
Fire Kachemak Emergency Services responded to one medical emergency call during the week of April 29 – May 5th. Homer Volunteer Fire Department responded to 12 emergency service calls for the week of April 29 – May 5. Kachemak Emergency Service Area Board will be holding a special meeting and site visit on May 13, [...]
For the Record – May 8
The following records are cases and records filed in court. Individuals are innocent until proven guilty, and copies of the records are publicly available. Indictment Amanda M. Baer, 22, misconduct involving a controlled substance in the fourth degree Aubrey M. Marcorelle, 23,theft in the second degree by receiving, tampering with physical evidence Tommie Lynn Adams, [...]
Births – May 8
Maridian Rosalie Bacher was born at home on April 20, 2013 at 6:30 a.m. To Tela and Paul Bacher. She weighed 8 pounds 13 ounces. She is welcomed by her two older brothers: Raiden and Yuki. Her grandparents are Claire O’donnell and Tom Kane, and John and Janet Bacher.
Can birding save the world? Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival keynote speaker Jeffrey Gordon thinks it can
The laundry list of complaints people tend to worry about would all go away if only they would take up birding.
They spend too much time in front of computer screens. They spend too much time indoors. People are not feeling connected to nature and communities.
“Birding is a perfect anecdote to all these things. Fishing or hunting or jogging, you can do the same things, but birding can do a few things that are really unique,” said Jeffrey Gordon, this year’s keynote speaker at the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, which starts tomorrow.
What makes birding better is it’s shared. A hundred people could all look at the same bird and enjoy it equally, he said.
Birders are also a community built on trust. If a birder reports seeing a black bellied plover that day at Mud Bay, you can believe him.
Buccaneer partners with ConocoPhillips in Cook Inlet for drilling oil
Buccaneer Energy struck a deal with ConocoPhillips that greatly expands the Australian company’s holdings in Cook Inlet and moves a major back in the inlet.
Buccaneer executed an agreement with ConocoPhillips that allows it the right to earn a 100 percent working interest in ConocoPhillips deep oil rights in 23,368 acres held by the North Cook Inlet Unit.
That’s a sizable unit that provides a “huge area to explore,” said Cathy Foerster, a commissioner at the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
Steam helps reduce fossil fuel needs at new HEA plant
By New Year’s day next year, Homer Electric will be supplying all its own energy with new technology that partners with one of the world’s oldest energy sources, steam.
Since waste heat is being used to produce steam, the Nikiski HEA plant will see an increase from its original output of 40 megawatts to 60 megawatts without using any additional natural gas. Natural gas will be used to bring the plant up to its full 80 megawatt capacity when operated above 60.
