Ken Castner will be Homer’s next mayor. Castner officially came in with 53 percent of the vote, defeating his opponent David Lewis, who garnered 46 percent of the vote. 

Castner did not run on any particular issues, saying his goal was to help the council come to an agreement on policies. Lewis supported a plastic bag ban in his run for mayor and making Homer more accessible. He also promoted more advertising of Homer as a four-season destination.

A vehicle crashed through the front wall of the Anchor Point Post Office Friday. According to Alaska State Troopers, officers responded to the two calls alerting them that a Ford Explorer had crashed into the building shortly before 2 p.m. this afternoon.

An officer at the scene did not identify the driver who is said to have accidently pushed the gas pedal instead of the brake. Both troopers and first responders at the scene said no one was hurt in the incident, though the post office was open at the time of the crash.

Homer Middle School now has the prestigious distinction of being a National Blue Ribbon School. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos awarded the 2018 blue ribbon honors to roughly 350 schools nationwide earlier this week.

Homer Middle School was one of three schools to be awarded in Alaska. The middle school was recognized in the exemplary high performing school category, which is measured by state assessments or national tests. 

Some of Alaska’s seafood industry has escaped the Trump administration’s trade war with China for now. The industry is happy the administration dropped some mainstay seafood products from a list of tariffs it imposed last week.

The Trump administration levied billions of dollars worth of tariffs on the world’s second largest economy on Sept. 24.  The tariffs start at 10 percent and will ratchet up to 25 percent by 2019. The Trump administration’s original list of levies included seafood products that Alaska processors export to China for reprocessing.

The final vote count isn’t in quite yet, but Kenai Peninsula Borough voters overwhelmingly approved two bond propositions Tuesday that will shift both the Central Peninsula and South Peninsula hospitals’ service area boundaries.

The CPH service area will move about 15 miles south to Barbara Drive in Ninilchik. SPH’s boundary will expand to include all communities on the south side of Kachemak Bay except for Seldovia.

Wednesday was the very first national test of the Wireless Emergency Alert System, and there are reports that some phones in Alaska and across the country did not receive the test message. State and federal officials are now working to sort out the kinks.

Millions of Americans’ phones made a strange noise Wednesday as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, tested the Wireless Emergency Alert System. But some phones did not go off, including here at KBBI.

Kenai Peninsula voters spoke loudly on three ballot propositions Tuesday.

A $5.4 million bond proposition for a new school in Kachemak Selo failed by a wide margin. Nearly 60 percent of voters opposed the measure on Tuesday. The state allocated about $10 million for the project, but that money is set to expire in 2019.

Several elected officials have warned that if the borough does not provide an adequate school in the village near the head of Kachemak Bay, the borough could wind up in court over the issue.