Homer Opinion

Following is the latest in a monthly series of articles about birds and birding, celebrating The Year of the Bird, 2018, with authors from Kachemak Bay Birders.

I am writing to urge the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly not to make any change to the service area of South Peninsula Hospital (SPH). The current service area is working well and is not in need of change.

Clients of all ages often infer that substance experimentation is a normal developmental process. Or that genetics predispose a person to addiction. The desire for social connection and the natural process of curiosity are certainly common influences, as are family history and genetics. But considering the many factors involved in early substance use, how can we as parents, teachers, and community members make a difference? My response to this question is “education and social connection.”

KHLT needs rough cut/untreated boards for between the fence posts and for two raised beds for KHLT’s garden on their Poopdeck property.

Over the course of the past three weeks, the students, who I have the pleasure of working with every day, in my freshmen language arts classes have been studying opinion/editorial writing as part of our argument writing unit. They have been reading example editorials, scouring news sites, researching data from government and educational institutions, reading others’ stories, talking with friends and family, reflecting upon their own experiences and much more in order to craft short — never have students sought to write more! — editorials about issues they care about. Each topic is their own. Their voices are their own. And, as I was reminded, as I am every day and every year, their voices are powerful, thoughtful, and insightful. Their voices matter.

These are the names of children and adults killed in mass shootings and stabbings at schools and universities in the United States going back to the Bethel Regional School shooting, Feb. 19, 1997:

Last week, many of us faced the scare of a lifetime: a midnight wake-up call from a powerful earthquake that triggered a tsunami warning and evacuation for many coastal communities. Homer rallied together in the middle of the night to ensure that all residents looking to evacuate and seek shelter were safe. Emergency responders, volunteers and many others worked to assist those that needed emergency evacuation. Many people tuned into KBBI for hours anxiously waiting for news of an “all clear” and that everyone could safely return to their homes.

I suspect that each of us have thought about how we can make our lives more meaningful. Do we find a greater purpose in serving others? Helping abused children? Getting involved in politics? Inspiring youth to play sports or get involved in art or theater? Saving salmon habitat? Building community? Often, the value we hope to impart on the world from our lives is focused on only our lifetime. But human lifetimes are but a blip on the radar. If you can effect change while you’re alive, imagine what you could do if you had more time.

Marches are fun. They are great exercise, a fun community social activity, and on Jan. 20 in Homer, we are planning a celebration march for the anniversary of our huge Women’s March last January which included at least 800 participants here. Some of our folks were young, some old (actually some very young and some very old), some with disabilities, men and women, rich and not-so-rich, different faiths, different ethnicities, but all of us were part of our wonderful Homer community.

When southern Kenai Peninsula residents heard BlueCrest’s plans for the Cosmopolitan project just north of Anchor Point, it brought two new words into our vocabulary: hydraulic fracturing, or, simply, fracking.

He was 46 and I was 19. He was the pilot and I was the passenger. He was the highly qualified employee and I was the entry-level new hire. We were the only occupants in the airplane, a Helio 185 heading towards a sportfishing lodge in rural Alaska where I had been hired over the phone for a housekeeping position.

Nonprofit Needs for October

Pierce has best fiscal experience

Dear Anchor Point and Homer Communities,

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

To my fellow citizens;

For 32 years I have lived in a “non-incorporated area” of the Kenai Peninsula Borough which means I do not live within the city limits of Seward, Soldotna, Kenai, or Homer. I am voting “”yes on Prop. 1”. 1” 1 and hope you do as well.

In the UPS world we have many safety catch phrases that must be committed to memory and, more importantly, incorporated into our everyday work methods.

Second thoughts?

The Homer tribal wars of 2017 that began with the political ineptness of a city council and then became fully inflamed by the baser instincts of people who are quicker to judge than to forgive was an appropriate time for examining the real meaning and implications of diversity.