Simon Lopez

A jet boat carrying seven people sank just minutes after leaving Homer Harbor on Tuesday evening; and Homer’s Lisa Talbott, former pastor of the United Methodist Church where she has served since 2013, has recently started her new role as Assistant to the Bishop for Equity and Intercultural Competency for the greater northwest area which covers Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

The vessel sank just minutes after leaving Homer Harbor on Tuesday evening. Nearby vessels responded quickly after a passenger called for help.

Alaska Sea Grant based out of the University of Alaska Anchorage campus has a cohort of six undergraduate students working across the state of Alaska, particularly in rural communities on projects related to marine coastal sciences; and the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly adjusted its agenda Tuesday night before voting on community grants, service area proposals and a series of code changes.

Crews battled a roughly 10-acre fire north of Kasilof over the weekend. The Alaska Division of Forestry first reported the so-called Bruces Fire on the Fourth of July around 4 p.m.; and the Dena’ina people have lived on the Kenai Peninsula for thousands of years. But today, the group’s Indigenous language isn’t spoken as widely as it once was.

Kenai Peninsula State House members say Gov. Mike Dunleavy asked them not to attend the first five days of a special legislative session he scheduled for next month to avoid potential veto overrides; and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game will open commercial salmon fishing in Aialik Bay on Wednesday and Friday.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is on track to keep its pools and Sterling Elementary School open for another year; the U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its search for the source of a mayday call reported near Anchor Point Monday afternoon; and the waters where the Russian and Kenai rivers meet, known as the Russian River Confluence, opened Tuesday to sockeye and coho salmon sport fishing.

Dungeness crab harvest is now open in parts of Cook Inlet under a newly approved subsistence fishery. The season opened July 1 and runs through March 2026.

Alaska residents can now harvest Dungeness crab for subsistence in parts of Cook Inlet. It’s the first time it’s been open in decades; and red flag fire warnings are in effect for interior Alaska after a week of high burn rates at the end of June.

Muskrats are furry, nocturnal, and, now, the stars of a new children’s book. “Melba Muskrat’s Big Heart” was written and illustrated by two Kenai Peninsula residents, including a recent high school graduate; Nikiski Republican Rep. Bill Elam reflected on his freshman legislative session last week at a joint meeting of the Kenai and Soldotna chambers of commerce; and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced new fishing openings around Homer this week for both commercial and sport users.

Former Homer High School student and resident Emma Sulczynski will be starting her senior year the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus in the fall of 2025; the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward has admitted five harbor seal pups from across the state in the last two weeks; and the commercial lingcod season opens in Cook Inlet at midnight on July 1.