Kenai Peninsula Borough won’t say if Pierce's resignation is linked to a recent HR investigation; and the fourth annual Alaska World Arts Festival kicks off in Homer on Sept. 9.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce announced that he's resigning; and the city of Soldotna said it will start a review of its park reservation policies this fall, as opposition to a June Pride Month event continues to dominate public testimony at city council meetings.

The climate in Nikiski isn’t particularly kind to most cherry trees. But that didn’t stop a farmer there who is growing 50 varieties of cherries; and sailings of the M/V Tustumena have been canceled due to a crew shortage for the second time this summer.

Every Sunday, Ernie Norton wakes up at 4 a.m. and heads to the public radio station in Kotzebue. It's been his routine for more than three decades. Ernie is the host of a gospel radio program on KOTZ.

Two harbor seal pups who were rescued in Kasilof earlier this summer are ready to be released back to the ocean; and the Kenai Public Health Center now has doses of the monkeypox vaccine and is encouraging people who might be at risk to get the shot.

Fish counting has wrapped for the sockeye runs on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers this summer; and the end of a two-year federal free school lunch program is causing confusion and stress among students and parents in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District.

A new overhaul to Kenai Peninsula Borough code regarding gravel pits is up for public comment next month — the latest in a years-long effort to rework the borough’s permitting process and draw compromise between those gravel pit owners and those who live nearby; and Alaska’s potential to provide “critical minerals” is the focus of a two-day meeting that got underway Monday morning at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

A new overhaul to Kenai Peninsula Borough code regarding gravel pits is up for public comment next month — the latest in a years-long effort to rework the borough’s permitting process and draw compromise between those gravel pit owners and those who live nearby; and Alaska’s potential to provide “critical minerals” is the focus of a two-day meeting that got underway Monday morning at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Homer’s Crane Count starts back up this weekend. The Kachemak Crane Watch project has been holding the annual event for about five years to get up-to-date local data on the once-threatened species; and a family with deep roots in Soldotna has been named the 2022 Alaska Farm Family of the Year.