Surviving the blizzard of 2010
After months of waiting for the elusive winter snows to grace our presence in 2010, March truly rolled into Homer like a lion.
Students across the south Kenai Peninsula relished in two snow days – but found themselves relatively unable to enjoy the fresh powder thanks to hurricane-force winds that pushed snow into every crevice imaginable and mounded drifts some six feet high.
Parents around town talked about the last time school was canceled, and speculated on whether Kachemak Bay kids are as hardy as they used to be. By more than one account, school hadn’t been closed for 25 years around Homer. If that’s true, then it’s been a while since K-Bay kids have been truly tested.
What a community is …
As residents packed the dining room at the Anchor Point Senior Center Monday night, it became obvious fairly quickly that they wanted answers.
After Trooper Commander Dane Gilmore got up in front of the 200-plus crowd to explain where things stood in the case involving the two young people recently arrested for breaking into area cabins and homes and burglarizing them, Anchor Point citizens weighed in on just how disappointed they were with the lack of help.
A plan of attack
With the recent death of Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies Director Terry Shepherd, many residents in Homer have begun questioning their own health status – as well as the health status of our community as a whole.
After months of searching out and compiling data for a relatively fair assessment of just where Homer stands, healthwise, the Southern Kenai Communities Health Project released its report on the community’s current health status.
Should we really take control?
Vigilantism isn’t a word or concept you hear much about these days. When you do hear it, it is often used in a relatively negative way, often involving violence and desperate measures to “take the law into one’s own hands.” The idea of common citizens making an arrest or taking matters into their own hands used to be — in a less complicated judicial world — an option for helping keep the peace or solve a crime.
Hometown people who make us proud
Whether in a moment, over a decade, or throughout a lifetime, some people touch our lives more than others. The impact of people on our lives can be in a variety ways — seen or unseen, known or unknown. When we think of their stories, we often find the inspiration to continue to foster that kind of positive thinking and giving in our community.
Keeping ‘home’ in Homer
After some 13 years of living and working at the End of the Road, I find it virtually impossible to write anything related to “home” without throwing an “r” on the end of the word.
In some ways, it’s quite irritating. Most of the time, however, it serves as a friendly reminder that Homer really is home for most of us. It’s where we choose to deal with the throngs of visitors and tourists that crowd the street and the Spit in the summer. It’s the place we winter through, despite the cold, and the wind and the dark of night. It’s a place where many of us have chosen to raise our families and invest in our community and schools because we want the best for our children — and ourselves.
Pollution at 100 tons: Too much by any name
Sometime back in 2006, Chevron started having a little trouble with the vapor control units on a couple of their oil storage tanks at Trading Bay. So, they did what anyone might do in a similar scenario:
They shut them down.
When hardship hits home
Not too many people around the state know that Homer has two weekly newspapers. The fact that both have continued to survive so long in such a small community is certainly a testament to the town, and the people who seek to support their neighbors.
Be prepared for 2010
As another new year rolls into Homer, it’s always good to plan ahead with an eye toward accepting the opportunities coming our way.
After 2009 saw economic trouble in terms of fewer tourists and a suffering national economy, Homer can and should be proactive in looking ahead for chances to strengthen our image at the end of the road.
Are we paying attention?
It’s 6:15 p.m., two days before Christmas, and you are cruising home in your 136-foot tug after completing an ice survey near Prince William Sound. The weather is clear, and you are looking forward to spending the holidays with family and friends. You’ve got a lot on your mind. Maybe you’re even a little distracted as you navigate your tug filled with several thousand gallons of diesel fuel into your home port of Valdez.
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