Radio Kenai » News

Soldotna Mayor Peter Micciche to Run for State Senate

Andrew Rogers — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:00:34 +0000

5/21/12

Late last week, Soldotna Mayor Peter Micciche filed his intent to run paperwork through the Alaska Public Offices Commission for the state senate seat currently held by Senator Tom Wagoner of Kenai. Micciche made the announcement to the KSRM News Department.

Download audio file (MICCICHE-ON-SENATE-RUN.mp3)

Micciche is serving his second term as they mayor of Soldotna, and outlined his platform in the state race..

Download audio file (MICCICHE-ON-SENATE-RUN-2.mp3)

Senator Tom Wagoner has previously announced his candidacy for the seat.

Hillcorp to Hold Public Meeting This Week

Andrew Rogers — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:30:48 +0000

5/21/12

Hillcorp was very active in last week’s Annual Cook Inlet lease sale. Lori Nelson with Hillcorp said that the company will hold a public meeting in the city of Soldotna this week..

Download audio file (LORI-ON-HILLCORP-MEETING.mp3)

Hillcorp recently acquired Chevron’s remaining Cook Inlet assets.

New Water Treatment Plant Almost Online in Kenai

Andrew Rogers — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:00:34 +0000

5/21/12

The city of Kenai has been working to improve not only the quality but the color of the city’s water. We’ve followed the process of the new water treatment plant that the city is working on. Kenai City Manager Rick Koch provided an update…

Download audio file (KOCH-ON-WATER-PLANT.mp3)

Koch said that once online, the watercolor will improve very noticeably…

Download audio file (KOCH-ON-WATER-PLANT-2.mp3)

The city administration has found out that the process that will be use will remove more color parts from the water than they’d hoped for.

Majority of High School Graduation Begin Today

Andrew Rogers — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:30:36 +0000

5/21/12

Beginning today, the 6 largest high schools in the area will be holding their annual commencement ceremonies. We asked Pegge Erkeneff with the district, how many students will be crossing the stage in the next two days..

Download audio file (PEGGE-ON-BIG-6-GRADS.mp3)

SoHi, Nikiski, and Homer High will hold commencement ceremonies today, and tomorrow, Kenai Central, Skyview and Seward will hold their ceremonies.

Click here for a list of all district wide graduations…

Olson : 27th Legislature Came in with a Bang….

Andrew Rogers — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:00:47 +0000

5/21/12

State lawmakers have been home for a few weeks now, and last Friday, Rep. Kurt Olson of Soldotna spoke to the Kenai Chapter of the Alliance. Olson provided an overview of their time in Juneau

Download audio file (OLSON-ON-END-OF-SESSION.mp3)

59 of 60 legislators will be facing reelection this November this year due to the redistricting process.

Kahtnu Appealing State CON Ruling

Andrew Rogers — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:30:04 +0000

5/21/12

After having their Certificate of Need application denied by the State Department of Health, the local surgeons who make up Kathnu Ventures LLC are appealing that ruling. We spoke to Dr. Jim Zirul, about why they’re making the appeal

Download audio file (ZURIL-ON-APPEAL.mp3)

Kahtnu had also filed a lawsuit against the state ofAlaska, the Kenai Peninsula Borough, and CPGH Inc. That suit was recently settled this case by dismissing it with prejudice, which would mean that Kahtnu Ventures LLC is barred from filing another case on the same claim.

Zirul had no comment on the settlement.

State Forestry Office Suspends Afternoon Burning

Andrew Rogers — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:00:00 +0000

5/21/12

We’ve reported that the local area has seen moderate to high fire danger recently. Those conditions have led the state office of Forestry to put a suspension on permitted burning. Sharon Roesch explains…

Download audio file (ROESCH-ON-SUSPENSION1.mp3)

Those who have burn permits issued from the cities of Kenai, Homer, and Seward need to contact the issuing department for details about burning in those areas.

Large Solar Eclipse to be Seen in Local Area Today

Andrew Rogers — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:00:27 +0000

5/20/12

There will be a large solar eclipse occurring today. We spoke to Kenai Vice Mayor Ryan Marquis, a local astronomy enthusiast, about the event.

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Download audio file (MARQUIS-ON-ECLIPSE.mp3)

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Marquis did say that it’s not advised to look directly at the eclipse

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Download audio file (MARQUIS-ON-ECLIPSE-2.mp3)

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Marquis also said that everyday sunglasses would not suffice.

Marquis has expanded details available on his blog

Soldotna Safety Day Today

Andrew Rogers — Sat, 19 May 2012 16:00:38 +0000

5/19/12

The annual Soldotna Safety Day is today. Nancy Field organizes the annual event…

Download audio file (nancy-on-safety-day.mp3)

The event will be held from 11-3 at SoHI.

April Jobless Numbers Flat for Alaska

Andrew Rogers — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:30:53 +0000

5/18/12

The state of Alaska’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for April was 6.9 percent, unchanged from 7.0 percent in March.

The comparable national rate was 8.1 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point.

The Jobless rate for both the U.S. and Alaska have both declined gradually but consistently in recent months, although unlike Alaska’s rate, the U.S. rate remains significantly higher than pre-recession levels.

Job numbers show the same pattern.U.S.employment is still about five million below its January 2008 peak, while

Alaskaquickly recovered after the mild job losses of 2009. Early estimates for 2012 show a continuing trend of modest job growth inAlaska.

Unemployment rates around the state, which are not seasonally adjusted, fell in all but one region in April as the labor market geared up for summer.Juneau’s rate of 4.8 percent was the state’s lowest, and the Wade Hampton Census Area’s was highest at 21.4 percent.

Rates tend to decline over the spring and summer as many Alaskans take seasonal jobs in fishing, seafood processing, construction and tourism.