Politics

Alaska's Fair Share oil tax initiative announced on Thursday that they have collected the required 40,000 signatures to place their initiative on the ballot. The initiative aims to amend existing laws, most notably Senate Bill 21 A, to increase Alaskan's share of production revenues by increasing the gross tax rate and eliminating net tax credits.
Update:
This story has been updated to include initiative sponsor and attorney, Robin Brena.

On Monday December 9, Anchorage Superior Court denied former Homer City Councilmember Thomas Stroozas’ request that the court issue an injunction ordering the council to remove Storm Hansen-Cavasos from the Homer City Council pending resolution of his lawsuit.

Stroozas, represented by attorneys Thomas Amodio and Keri-Ann Baker, is suing the city and the city council asserting that Hansen-Cavasos was ineligible to run as a candidate because she did not meet Homer City Code's one-year residence requirement.

Correction:
A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the councilmember who called for reconsideration of the material site ordinance. Councilmember Jesse Bjorkman called for reconsideration. 

Candidate for U.S. House of Representatives, Alyse Galvin was in Homer on Saturday and Sunday. Galvin is running as an independent.

This is her second attempt to unseat Representative Don Young who commenced his 23rd term in 2018. In that election, Galvin got 47% of the vote.

She sat down with KBBI’s Kathleen Gustafson after her appearance at KBay.
 

Governor Mike Dunleavy was in Homer on Thursday to address the  Alaska State Home Builders Association at their conference at Land’s End Resort.  KBBI's Kathleen Gustafson was there and filed this report.

On this two-part Coffee Table, first, you'll hear from incumbent candidates for Homer City Council, Shelly Erickson and Tom Stroozas. In the second half, guests are candidates Joey Evensen and Storm Hansen-Cavasos. The election is Tuesday, October 1.   Correction: In the on-air version of the show with guests Shelly Erickson and Tom Stroozas, host Kathleen Gustafson incorrectly stated that Councilmember Shelly Erickson signed the 2017 petition to recall three Homer City Council members.

The candidates for Homer City Council met in the Homer Public Library Wednesday, September 25, 2019 for a candidate forum sponsored by the library and the Homer Chamber of Commerce. Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Member Kelly Cooper was the moderator.
Questions were sourced from the audience and from the community at-large. The event was broadcast live on KBBI. Click on the links below to hear a recording of the forum.

Homer Mayor Ken Castner campaigned on the promise that he would not cast votes to break a tie when the city council split their votes evenly. He said he wanted council members, who often split on issues, to not depend on him to decide. At Monday night’s council meeting, in response to Castner casting tie-breaking votes on a couple of issues, Councilmember Rachel Lord brought forth an ordinance that would have required the mayor break ties.

At Monday night’s Homer City Council meeting, the council failed to approve a measure it had been discussing since March that would have allowed properties outside the city to connect to city water. 

The ordinance, amended  city code pertaining to water rules and regulations. It was introduced in April and had been postponed twice.
It would have allowed residents and businesses outside the city to connect to water if their property was adjacent to the city’s water line, as is the case in many areas of Kachemak City.