The Homer Legislative Information Office at 270 W. Pioneer Ave. is open from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 1-4:30 pm. Monday-Friday, with special hours to accommodate Legislative hearings and teleconferences outside of normal hours. For more information, call 235-7878.
Burn permits are now required and may be picked up at the Homer Volunteer Fire Department of the Kachemak Emergency Services fire stations or online at http://forestry.alaska.gov/burn.
The Kachemak Emergency Service Area Board holds its monthly board meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 13, at the McNeil Canyon Fire Station, 53048 Ashwood Ave. (Mile 12 East End Road). The public is welcome to attend. The agenda will be posted at the fire station and at the Kenai Peninsula Borough Annex Building at 206 E. Pioneer Ave. Call 235-9811 for more information.
Join the Kachemak Bay Birders for a pre-screening of the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival’s featured film, “China: Between Clouds and Dreams.” This event will be Monday, April 17, from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center Auditorium. The plight of the spoon-billed sandpiper is the centerpiece of this new award-winning documentary series. It was filmed over a three year period by filmmaker Phil Agland who had unique access to seldom-visited, backcountry China. The film includes compelling stories of the everyday people living there combined with the gorgeous scenery and the fascinating account of the spoon-billed sandpiper. Suggested donation is $5, and all proceeds benefit the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival. This event is cosponsored by the Kachemak Bay Birders, the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and the Shorebird Festival. Everyone is welcome to attend. For more information, call Lani Raymond, 399-9477.
HoWL’s (Homer Wilderness Leaders) DiRtBaG Clean-up week is April 17-21, just in time for Earth Day on April 22. Youth ages 8-18 are invited to meet after school in the Duncan House parking lot where they will be assigned teams and dispatched around town to clean up local beaches, streams and roadways. Participants will get free pizza and a chance to win fun raffle prizes at the conclusion of each day.
From 5:30-8 p.m. April 21 at Alice’s Champagne Palace is the DiRtBaG Ball. The event includes door prizes, a handful of live auction items, the top secret DiRtBaG awards, great live music fresh from the Devils Club Trio and an all you can eat Sundae Bar. Volunteers also are needed to drive clean-up crews, tally trash, run auction items and serve ice cream. For more information, visit HoWL’s website at http://www.howlalaska.org or call HoWL at 399-HOWL (4695).
The Anchor Point Fire &Emergency Medical Service Area Board holds its next board meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 19, at the Anchor Point Fire Station, 72440 Milo Fritz Ave. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend. For more information, call 235-6700.
Registration is now open for “150 Years: Kenai Peninsula History Conference.” The first local history conference since 1974 is 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. April 21-22 at the Kenai Peninsula College’s Kenai River Campus in Soldotna. Register online at www.prattmuseum.org/kenai-peninsula-history-conference-registration. The base cost is $50, with discounts for early registration, volunteers and seniors aged 80 or older; students get in free. For more information, visit www.kenaipeninsulahistory.org, the Facebook page “150 Years: Kenai Peninsula History Conference,” email kenaipeninsulahistory@gmail.com or phone (907) 460-7554.
The Homer Chamber of Commerce &Visitor Center is hosting its annual Clean-Up Day in the Chamber parking lot on Saturday, April 22, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Bags will be available at the chamber and numerous business locations all over town. There will be door prizes and prizes for the most trash collected in the Family, Individual, Group/Non-Profit, and Recyclables categories. The chamber also will be a collection point for the Homer Community Food Pantry, so please consider cleaning out your freezers of surplus fish and meats. The chamber will be collecting glass, aluminum, newspaper, cardboard, plastic (#1, #2 and #5) and mixed paper. New this year, the chamber is collaborating with Cook Inletkeeper to provide electronics recycling.Alaska Waste donates the garbage and recycle Dumpsters, Kachemak Bay Lions Club sponsors and cooks the hot dogs, the Kenai Peninsula Borough provides cleanup bags, and the Kachemak Bay Rotary provides volunteers to help load garbage bags and tally the bag numbers for great prize giveaways. For more information, call the chamber at 235-7740 or stop in at 201 Sterling Highway.
There will be a March for Science on Saturday, April 22. Participants will meet at 3 p.m. at the Homer High School parking lot and march down Pioneer Avenue to the Homer Council on the Arts for a short outdoor program. The event is a celebration of science, the role that science plays in all of our lives and the need to respect and encourage research that gives us insight into the world. Dress to Express that you’re #HomerHookedOnScience.
A spaghetti dinner fundraiser for the Salvation Army is 4-8 p.m. Saturday, April 22, at the Salvation Army Church, 1468 Sterling Highway. Dinner includes spaghetti with a choice of mushroom, meat sauce or marinara and a dinner roll for $10. Eat in or take out. “Pizza Nick” Bairamis is cooking. For deliveries in town call 907-756-3155.
There will be a square and contra dance on Saturday, April 22, at West Homer Elementary School, starting at 7:30 pm. David Stutzer will call to music by the Spit City Slickers. Please bring clean, soft-soled shoes to dance in. Beginners welcome. $7 adults. Kids under 16 get in free.
The Homer Bed and Breakfast Association’s Annual Spring Kickoff will be from 1-4 p.m. Sunday, April 30, at the Homestead Restaurant. This popular gathering brings together hosts of dozens of local accommodations to learn directly from local businesses and organizations what services and offerings are available to visitors this season. This helps the association make well-informed recommendations and referrals. There will be social networking, a round-table of presentations, snacks and door prizes — no charge. Call or text Marcia (299-1566) to learn more, volunteer to bring a snack, door prize or help with set up or clean up.
Sandhill cranes should begin arriving soon. Report sandhill crane sightings to Kachemak Crane Watch at 235-6262 or reports@cranewatch.org. Provide date, time, location and number of cranes. Leave a name and number in case they need more details.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Road Service Area has announced the following weight restrictions for all borough-maintained roads within the service area, effective 8 a.m. April 10. Weight restrictions are stated as a percentage of legal allowable weight and shall be applied to the maximum axel loading of 17 AAC 25.013(e). All borough-maintained gravel roads: 50 percent; and all borough-maintained paved roads: 75 percent. Additional restrictions nad modifications may be imposed as necessary.
The Cooperative Extension Service and Homer Homemakers FCE are offering free testing of pressure canner dial gauges on Monday, May 15, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Ulmer’s Drug and Hardware. Gauges can be tested on or off the canner lid. It is important to have pressure canner dial gauges checked annually to help assure home canned food is safely processed. There will be free food preservation publications available. Pressure canners using weighted gauges do not need to be checked. For more information, call the Cooperative Extension Service Office at 1-800-478-5824.
Anchor Point Senior Citizens
The Anchor Point Senior Center on Milo Fritz Road is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 9 a.m.-noon Friday. The center serves Thursday night dinners starting at 5:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome. Bingo is at 6:30 p.m. with doors opening at 6 p.m. on Friday nights. The Helping Hands Thrift Store is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Exercise sessions are at 10 a.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. For more information, call the senior center at 235-7786.
Friendship Center
Friendship Center Adult Day Services is open 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday with extended hours for special situations. Programs are offered daily, including story time, crafts and musical performances. Call 235-4556.
Homer Senior Citizens
The Caregiver Support Group meets 2-3:30 p.m. the second and fourth Thursday in the senior center conference room. Call Pam Hooker at 299-7198 or Daniel Weisser at 235-4555. At 2 p.m. April 27, Risa Jackinsky and Dean Sundmark of hte Independent Living Center speak on veterans options for independent choice and empowerment and how to access VA benefits. For more information, call Pam Hooker.
Homer Senior Citizens lunch is open to seniors and guests and is served noon-1:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. The lunch menu for this week is: today, roast turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy; Friday, battered cod; Monday, sweet and sour pork; Tuesday, beef tacos; Wednesday, mustard and rosemary roasted pork; next Thursday, roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy.
Strong Women classes are 1:30-2:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the Homer Senior Center. The cost is $3 for members and $6 for nonmembers per class.
Zumba Gold classes with Maria are 11 a.m.-noon Tuesdays and 1:30-2:30 p.m. Thursdays at the Homer Senior Center. The cost per class is $4 for members, $6 for nonmembers.
Duplicate Bridge meets at 1 p.m. Thursdays. Tai chi classes are Thursdays at 3 p.m. The cost per class is $3 for members and $6 for nonmembers. Call Daniel Weisser at 235-4555.
Homer Folk School
Homer Folk School offers these upcoming classes, held at Ageya Wilderness Center above Skyline Drive at the top of East Hill Road. To register or for more information, visit homerfolkschool.org or call 299-9117.
• April 8, 1-3 p.m., Advanced Beekeeeping, $35. Expand on skills learned in Beginning Beekeeping, including swarm behavior, bee yard and harvest efficiency, processing honey and overwintering hives.
• April 22, 5-7:30 p.m., Fireside Chat about Folk School Facilities and Permaculture, $5 suggested donation. Join an Earth Day discussion and learn about Ageya’s permaculture plan.
• April 23, 9 a.m.- 4 p.m., Carpentry Basics for Women, $40. An overview and introduction to the basics of carpentry, this class is for women who want to learn about tools and completion of household projects with practice in designing and building a small project.
Kachemak Bay Campus
Upcoming community classes are Deck-hand Skill Training on April 8, 9 and 15 and Tree Planting and Care on April 19. For information on community education classes, visit kbcnoncredit.asapconnected.com.
Registration for the 2017 Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference, June 9-13, is being held. Early bird registration at reduced rates ends May. For more information, visit http://writersconference.homer.alaska.edu.
A Student Art Showcase opening featuring work from painting class is 5-6:30 p.m. April 28.
Pratt Museum
The museum gallery is open noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and closed Sundays and Mondays. Business offices are open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Artist Argent Kvasnikoff’s exhibit, Qena Sint’isis, is up through May 29. It presents a unique form of cultural expression that describes a new take on the indigenous culture of the southern Kenai Peninsula.
South Peninsula Hospital
South Peninsula Hospital offers a free training for responding to opioid overdose from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 20, at the SPH training center. Attendees will learn how to recognize and respond to an opioid overdose and receive a free Narcan (naloxone) response kit. Dr. Sarah Spencer, addiction medicine specialist, does the training. Please register in advance at 235-0258.
