Summer is almost here and there is a very obvious tension on the Kenai Peninsula related to the role of salmon in local communities and how to qualify what that role is among different user groups.

Yes, we eat a lot of fish here and the availability of salmon to anglers is important. Salmon is a fabulous source of food, superb nutritional value. Everyone should eat it. However, to suggest that it is a real subsistence product for anglers is questionable. 

When Homer’s varsity soccer teams opened their seasons Friday on Colony High’s shiny new artificial turf playing field, it was the first time all year that Homer players had gotten outdoors to play. Homer’s grass field was still sodden and untouchable. 

For their opponents from Houston High, who have access to state-funded turf and indoor fields in the Valley and Anchorage, it was already the fourth game of the year.

Your article last week: "Bears out and about; be cautious" was duly noted. Blown away, I was, reading in the Anchorage Daily News a couple of Sundays ago about Dan Bigley's 2003 bear attack on the Russian River, which left him blind. He's written about it in a book: "Beyond the Bear," soon to be published.

In the last few weeks the United States government has received multiple threats from North Korea involving nuclear attacks on major U.S. cities. These threats come from the newly appointed dictator of North Korea Kim Jung-un (30 years old), who was recently appointed after the death of the previous dictator (his father). In order for the U.S. to maintain a healthy relationship with North Korea, several measures should be taken. First, the U.S. should work with the forces influencing North Korea, such as China, to communicate with them in a non-conflicting manner.