An Anchor Point resident was sentenced for poaching and wasting three bull moose last week. Rusty Counts will spend nine months in jail. Counts is also required pay over $100,000 in fines and restitution and forfeit his rifle and ATV used while taking the illegal moose. The Homer District Court also suspended his hunting license for three years.

Fish heavily impacted by a three-year marine heatwave in the Gulf of Alaska may be headed for round two. Commonly referred to as the blob, warmer waters between 2014 and 2017 were blamed for a dramatic decline in Pacific cod and are thought to have negatively impacted other species such as pollock.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council set catch limits for several groundfish species in the Gulf of Alaska Thursday afternoon. Before members set those limits, Stephani Zador with the Alaska Fisheries Science Center updated the council on the latest trends in the Gulf. 

The Department of Natural Resources adopted a new management plan for Kachemak Bay State and Wilderness parks earlier this month without an announcement. But the new commissioner of the department rescinded the plan Friday.

The draft management plan, which has been in the works for roughly seven years, will shape recreation and commercial uses in both parks as well as state recreation sites on the southern Kenai Peninsula.

If you still need a flu shot, you’re in luck. This Saturday, the State of Alaska Section of Public Health Nursing in collaboration with numerous local organizations is offering free flu shots.

The shots will be offered during a community emergency drill. The exercise will help providers train for events where medications or vaccines need to be dispensed to every member of a community in a short period of time.

Lorne Carroll is a public health nurse for the Homer Public Health Center. He says in an emergency, the plan is to provide medicine to residents within a few days.

Instead of heading up to Anchorage for a pair of games this weekend, the Homer Mariners hockey team will square off against the Soldotna Stars tonight in an effort to raise money for the Big Lake Rec Center. The Mat-Su valley rink was damaged in last Friday’s earthquake.

Indy Walton is the head coach of Soldonta Stars. The team was scheduled to play in a tournament at the damaged rec center this weekend, but the games were canceled due to school closures following the quake.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council could be taking additional steps to reduce the catch of halibut by the charter fleet in the central Gulf of Alaska next year. Those charters could see some regulation shifts in 2019 while the rules for Southeast-based charters will remain the same.

The council regulates halibut charters based upon the expected total allowable catch along the U.S. and Canadian Pacific coast. Those catch limits will be set by the International Pacific Halibut Commission in January.

The Homer Volunteer Fire Department is seeking a new fire chief. According to a City of Homer press release, Former Chief Terry Kadel is no longer with the department after taking over the position just eight months ago.

The release quoted City Manager Katie Koester wishing Kadel luck on his future endeavors, though it did not disclose why Kadel is no longer serving as fire chief.

Governor Mike Dunleavy appointed a Homer hotel owner to serve as deputy commissioner of the state Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development.

Jon Faulkner owns Land’s End Resort in Homer and he began working this week. Faulkner will help oversee six divisions, including the divisions of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing and Banking and Securities. He will also oversee a handful of corporations such as the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, but won’t directly manage them.