Thank you Homer Council on the Arts!

I couldn’t be more thankful for the community of Homer. This summer, Homer Council on the Arts graciously awarded me with their Ron Senungetuk Youth Arts Scholarship. Because of it, I was able to attend the art program of my dreams: The Sitka Fine Arts Camp.

The camp was a two-week summer program in Sitka, located on the Sheldon Jackson School National Historic Landmark campus. Students from all around the world came to do the one thing that they all love to do: art.

The program hosted over 300 high school students ranging from day students who lived in Sitka to people who came from as far away as Venezuela. The community of students and faculty were inspiring, and along the way I met many new people who I will continue to keep in touch with.

Sitka Fine Arts Camp offered many different types of art classes to students, including music, dance, visual arts, writing, digital arts and theater. In all, I took five classes: acrylic painting, filmmaking, experimental filmmaking and animation, landscape painting, and portrait painting. My favorite class was experimental filmmaking because I got to combine everything I was learning into one multimedia animation project called “Current.” I loved being in a community of teachers and students where I was inspired and supported to create art.

Thank you again to Homer Council on the Arts for giving me the opportunity to study what I love.

Marina Co

Thank you for compassionate hospital care

The family of William (Bill) Walls would like to publicly thank South Peninsula Hospital’s fine doctors, nurses and staff for the compassionate professional care of our father during his long and often visits to SPH. We always felt like he was in good hands with the care team who took time to get to know him and meet his many needs. He always returned home in great spirits and much improved after his frequent stays knowing he had made a great many friends there.

South Peninsula Hospital has impressed us greatly with conscious ethics, skilled CNAs, nurses and doctors as well as clean rooms and delicious meals. We often joked that “Pops” was lodging at a five-star hotel and that we needed to “step it up” at home to maintain the quality of care he was getting used to!

What impressed us the most were the three hospitalists, who clearly and effectively worked together as they conveyed knowledgeable treatment plans seamlessly between them. To those ladies, we bow deeply with humble gratitude and thank them for their great bedside manner, approachableness and gentle answers to our queries which granted us ease during the difficult times we were facing.

Again, thank you South Peninsula Hospital.

Marie, Russell and Robyn Walls

Protect Homer’s precious wildlife

A few weeks ago, on the edge of dark, a jet ski loudly roared into the entrance of the China Poot Bay estuary. With its bright lights it raced back and forth doing very high speed loops and circles, in the Critical Habitat waters. Then the driver charged at the sleeping seals. At the last minute he turned and threw his wake on the shore where they had been sleeping; the females with young pups dashed wildly for safety.

Driving in the very shallow water, he nearly ground to a stop as he raced across a few inches of water where his engine impeller sucked up so much gravel, clams and mussels that it coughed and choked and nearly died. He continued this madness until darkness overcame his inappropriate play.

Those of us who oppose jet skis in Kachemak Bay feared that this sort of thing would happen. In 53 years of living cliffside overlooking China Poot Bay, I have seen this quiet place go from only a few boats per year passing by to hundreds of boats coming and going for the dipnet salmon fishery and thus close to the sun-sleeping herd. This makes this the most observed seal herd, perhaps anywhere. Most of the observers keep a respectful distance from this valuable resource.

It was the classic behavior of someone valuing their own thrills, impulsive wants, who put themselves above a sustainable and appropriate interaction with the natural world upon which we all depend, especially our recreational industry which needs nature protected, intact and available.

Next time I will have my spotting scope trained on the spot to get a good photo ID of the driver harassing marine mammals. NOAA Enforcement said they would appreciate that! Save and call this number to report harassment like this: 1-877-925-7773.

By the way, the NOAA fine for this kind of deliberate harassment: “Civil penalties up to $34,457. Up to 1 year in prison, plus criminal fines and confiscation of vessel.”

Michael McBride

Voting yes on Prop 1 is a win for everyone

I attended the recent town hall to gain better knowledge on Proposition 1, a proposal to fund improvements and expand services at South Peninsula Hospital. One thing convinced me to vote yes: Adding nuclear medicine to our community hospital is a WIN-WIN for everyone.

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night with chest pain and shortness of breath. As you arrive at SPH’s Emergency Department, the ER medical team does its best to stabilize you. But, next thing you know, you are being medevaced out to a faraway hospital that is better equipped to diagnose and treat your condition.

By adding nuclear medicine — a Holy Grail of cutting-edge technology — our community hospital’s team would have the technology to diagnose and treat you right here at home. This could be lifesaving.

Or imagine a child getting hit with a line drive baseball to their head, knocking them unconscious. In situations like these, time is of the essence! If our community hospital had access to nuclear medicine, quick diagnostics could save that child’s life.

The accumulated financial cost of having to stay in a hotel, transportation to get you to an out-of-town hospital, and lost paychecks can be a devastating financial burden. These out-of-pocket costs are far greater than a reasonable property tax increase.

How do I know? I suffered a health emergency and had to be airlifted to Anchorage.

My out-of-pocket expenses put a hit on my wallet.

I am truly grateful for the medical staff here at SPH, as well as the medevac services to Providence Hospital. They saved my life, because they had advanced technology.

No one likes a tax increase, but health is wealth. From my heart to yours, I am voting YES on Proposition 1 for my community’s best health.

Peggy Murphy

Kachemak City

Infrastructure or trust?

At the South Peninsula Hospital town hall last Thursday at Christian Community Church, one panelist commented that people are drawn to a city by “hospitals, schools, roads,” in other words, infrastructure. That might draw some but it’s not what builds strong, healthy towns and cities.

No community, no matter how infrastructurally wealthy, will be worth living in without trust. Are the plans in Prop 1 practical for a community the size of Homer considering we’re only 80 miles from Soldotna? That’s just one question and there are many others.

If panelists really believe SPH belongs to the community, they’d offer options to us, the positives and negatives of each, breakdowns of costs, any information which would help the individual decide which option they think best and encourage residents to participate in the decision-making process to as great a degree as possible.

Instead, SPH has relied on the opinion of “experts” to establish Prop 1, then is spending hospital resources to promote an all-or-nothing proposal. We’re not expected to think, but are being told what to think. This is another example of why nationwide there’s an increasing mistrust of many medical institutions.

If Prop 1 fails, it may very well be because those who are promoting it don’t understand what builds strong, healthy communities; they don’t understand what builds trust. Please vote no on Prop 1.

Leonard Miller

Hospital, borough need to rethink bond plan

I am voting No on KPB Proposition 1 (South Peninsula Hospital bonding) for three reasons.

First, the owner of the three properties is demanding too much money and won’t agree to sell at the value determined by an independent appraisal.

Second, while I generally support bonding to pay for capital improvements, the proposed services in this bond primarily benefit senior citizens over the next 20 years, and will disproportionately tax young families who do not benefit from the senior property tax exemption.

Third, parking is already difficult at the hospital and providing more on-site services will make this situation worse. The hospital is already contemplating tearing down the building on one of the properties to make more parking space. So not only would we pay an exorbitant sum for the buildings, one will likely be removed.

I challenge the hospital and borough to revisit their master plan and develop better alternatives to meet the needs of this service area.

Mary Griswold