State funding cuts may force Homer’s job training center to close next month, and for a short time in July, Alaskans line up at the mouth of the Kenai River with big aluminum nets hoping to catch sockeye salmon.

The Homer City Council is setting aside nearly one million dollars [WEB: $900,000] to go towards a new recreation center. State funding cuts may force Homer’s job training center to close next month. Last week, a brown bear was spotted by multiple fishermen swimming in the mouth of the Kenai River near Kenai’s personal use fishery.

For the second year in a row, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has largely barred over 400 permit holders in Cook Inlet’s east side commercial setnet fishery from putting any gear in the water this year.

A group of mountaineers rescued a stranded dog near Seldovia last Thursday [July 18]; Aleutian Airways is returning to Homer this fall; and a new food truck is serving up the flavors of Puerto Rico from Kenai.

A missing hiker sparked a two day search effort in Kachemak Bay State Park earlier this week, and a new guardian is watching over the treacherous waters of Lynn Canal, where several historic shipwrecks happened.

A missing hiker sparked a two day search effort in Kachemak Bay State Park earlier this week; an Anchorage man is dead after he was found floating in the Kenai River near Bing’s Landing just north of Sterling; and a fire has caused “irrecoverable damage” to a rocket that was initially expected to launch this summer from Kodiak’s Pacific Spaceport Complex.

An Anchor Point woman died from an all-terrain vehicle crash last week, and every year the Arctic gets millions of feathery visitors, who come to the region specifically to raise their young. The visitors - a small shorebird called the long-billed dowitcher travel thousands of miles to the vast, open tundra.

An Anchor Point woman died from an all-terrain vehicle crash last week. Officers with the Kodiak Police Department practiced entering stressful, and potentially dangerous situations like responding to armed suspects last week. Last week was the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge’s annual Fish Week celebration, held each July to commemorate the region’s salmon population through educational activities.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game opened parts of the Chenik Subdistrict to commercial fishing last Sunday, and the City of Homer approved a contract for a new city manager at Monday night's meeting, and last week was the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge’s annual Fish Week celebration, held each July to commemorate the region’s salmon population through educational activities. With the help of the Kenaitze Indian Tribe, the refuge hosted a salmon leather-making workshop as part of the week’s festivities.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game opened parts of the Chenik Subdistrict to commercial fishing last Sunday. The City of Homer approved a contract for a new city manager at last night’s meeting. This fishing season, first responders have rescued multiple people who have fallen into the Kenai River.