Kaylin Holmes

Summer is a busy time of year for the Kachemak Bay State Park and there are three upcoming community events that can both raise money and help train volunteers for park needs.

The Homer City Council voted down a proposal to enact special event fees and more at its meeting last night, and winning a race is no walk in the park, especially if you’re running. But one Sterling woman recently did just that, placing first in a duathlon in Hawaii.

Ninilchik and Clam Gulch beaches will stay closed to razor clam harvests through the year, and Homer’s Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival got underway on Wednesday last week with birding tours and other events scheduled around Homer, Anchor Point, Kachemak Bay and other Cook Inlet locations.

The Homer City Council passed a series of measures, postponed two items and heard from visitors at its meeting last night, Pope Francis died last week at the age of 88 in Vatican City, leaving the Catholic church’s most powerful position vacant, and two people are dead, and one person is seriously injured after a small plane crashed Monday afternoon near the community of Nanwalek on the southern Kenai Peninsula.

Volunteers in Homer are building Kachemak Bay State Park’s first organized response procedure, and Alaskans have been stocking up on emergency supplies in preparation for a possible eruption of Mt. Spurr.