The American Legion Post 15, VFW Post 10221, and Ninclick Post 18 are hosting Memorial Day services on Monday. Celebrations will be at 10 a.m. in Homer, noon in Anchor Point and at 2 p.m. in Ninclick. The ceremonies are to honor and remember those veterans that have died in service to the United States.
Rally on the Bay: Help Kelly Cooper kick off her campaign for State House in physically-distanced style. Join Kelly and her supporters out on the water at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26 just past the deepwater dock as you leave the harbor. Whether you’re in a sailboat, skiff, kayak or gillnetter, they hope you can join. This is weather dependent; see the Kelly Cooper for State House page on Facebook for the details.
The Homer Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center is sponsoring and embracing a new approach to cleaning up our community with a “Do-It-Yourself Clean-Up Month” through Saturday, May 23. Yellow trash bags, provided by the Kenai Peninsula Borough, can be picked up outside the Chamber & Visitor Center front canopy entrance at 201 Sterling Highway. Take only the number of yellow bags that you or your group can use and sign out on the clipboard the area of our community that will be cleaned up. Go outside with your family, church group, non-profit or civic organization, neighbors or employee group to clean up Downtown and Old Town Homer, the Spit, East End and West End Roads or around your own home, cottage, cabin, business or when you are walking the trails during May. Practice social distancing, face mask etiquette and enjoy being outdoors. Take your filled yellow bags directly up to the Homer Transfer Facility (HTF) 3.5 miles northwest of Downtown Homer, located at Mile 169.3 Sterling Highway. They are open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Closed on Sundays.
Homer’s sandhill crane pairs are starting to nest. Watch for the pairs to start showing up alone, indicating one is sitting on the nest. An accurate count of nesting cranes helps Kachemak Crane Watch estimate our local population and provides an indication of how well reproduction is doing from year to year.Please report nesting sandhill cranes to Kachemak Crane Watch at 235-6262 or reports@cranewatch.org. Date, time, location, behavior, and number of cranes is helpful. Leave a name and number in case Kachemak Crane Watch needs more details.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Solid Waste facilities are now open Sundays. For more information contact the KPB Solid Waste Department at 907-262-9667 or check their webpage at https://www.kpb.us/swd-waste/about-solidwaste.
The May 2020 Hazardous Waste Collection Days for Soldotna, Seward and Homer are canceled. Organizers anticipate the July 2020 events will resume as normal. For more information, please contact the Kenai Peninsula Borough Solid Waste Department at 907-262-9667 or email solidwaste@kpb.us. Also, check the borough website for updates.
Kenai Peninsula Votes tidbit:
The novel coronavirus has changed our normal activities in so many ways. One of these ways is possibly changing the way we vote in Alaska. This week, the Kenai Peninsula Borough is looking at conducting the October election through a mail-in vote. Kenai Peninsula Votes is endorsing this method of voting. Currently, the borough already uses mail in voting in some areas because of the remoteness of these places.
Currently, five states already do a form of vote by mail. In a May 5 New York Times opinion piece, “We Should Never Have to Vote in Person Again,” the authors found that elections in Colorado with all-mail voting increased turnout among all groups, including “disenfranchised voters, young people, voters of color, less-educated people and blue-collar workers.” The opinion piece went on to say that fraud is rare, and hard to affect election results and also is more secure than in-person voting because it leaves a paper trail. Mail-in voting would allow for more people to vote because it is not a one-day event and also would minimize contact with poll workers and voters. The borough would still have some polling stations available, so if you wanted to vote on the day of the election you could. There will be questions and concerns, but mail in works. We are already doing it and it has been successful. In this age of social distancing and safety we need to come together and look at what is best for the whole. Your voice matters — please vote.
Kenai Peninsula Service Area Boards meetings have been postponed until further notice. For more information, visit kpboem.blogspot.com.
Anchor Point Senior Citizens
The Anchor Point Senior Center on Milo Fritz Avenue is closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Congregate meals and the Helping Hands Thrift Store also are closed. The Anchor Point Senior Center serves take-out meals on Monday and Thursday evenings with pickup from 5-6 p.m. Donations for Helping Hands Thrift Store can dropped off. The office staff are at work and available by phone for addressing needs. For information, call 235-7786.
Friendship Center
Friendship Center Adult Day Services is closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Call 235-4556.
Homer Senior Citizens
All activities are canceled and the Homer Senior Center is closed to the general public during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Homer Senior Citizens congregate lunch is closed, but meals can be picked up at noon from Monday-Friday. You must call 907-235-7655 by 10 a.m. daily to reserve your meal.
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Hospice of Homer
Hospice of Homer requests that anyone who needs to borrow or return medical equipment or to pick up disposable personal care items, call the office. Staff will check availability and arrange a time for pick up.
Anyone needing access to grief counseling or other services should also call to talk with a staff member. Staff will be available Monday-Thursday at 235-6899.
Support Group meetings have been canceled.
Hospice of Homer has had an unusually high demand for medical equipment recently and are in great need of many items. Anyone wishing to help can go to Smile.amazon.com.
Select Hospice of Homer as your charity then select Charity List and choose any of the items on our List of Current Needs. All donated equipment is loaned out free of charge to anyone who needs it in the Homer vicinity and a percentage of the purchase is donated to Hospice of Homer.
Kachemak Bay Campus
Fall registration is open now. Now is the perfect time to pick-up a class you might have missed during the spring semester. Visit this link to see what we have on offer: https://tinyurl.com/y9bdk3fm. Call 235-7743 with questions.
For the fall, the printed schedule is back. Look for it in your mailbox and around town in May. Register now to hold your place in your local campus classes. Want a sneak peak? Visit this online link, https://bit.ly/2wRIxEA to see what KBC is offering our community; call 235-1655 to talk to an advisor.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Homer Annex is closed to walk-in traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic at its location at 638 East Pioneer Ave. in the Homer Borough Maintenance building east of the Homer Volunteer Fire Department. The office is staffed for help by phone or email. For more information call 235-9837 or email Tamarron Baxter at tbaxter@kpb.us. Forms for property tax exemptions or appeals are available outside on the door, and a dropbox is available for completed forms.
Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center
The Alaska Islands & Ocean Visitor Center operations are temporarily suspended following guidelines from the CDC and recommendations from state and local health authorities. Updates will be posted to the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge website and social media channels. The Beluga Slough Trail and other outdoor areas on the refuge will remain open to provide healthy options for recreation and relaxation. A reopening date has not been determined at this time.
Updates about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s response to coronavirus will be posted at https://www.fws.gov/home/public-health-update.html. Please check with individual refuges or facilities regarding the change of operations or postponement of events and programs.
To reach refuge staff call 907-235-6546 or email alaskamaritime@fws.gov.
South Peninsula Hospital
Got symptoms? Get tested!
Symptoms of COVID-19 include: cough, chills, difficulty breathing, diminished sense of taste or smell, diarrhea, fatigue, fever, headache, muscle/joint aches, nausea, rash, chills with shivering, runny nose, sore throat, or increased sputum (phlegm) production.
Three ways to get tested if you have symptoms:
• Call your provider
• Call the hospital Covid Nurse 235-0235
• Just show up! Come to the drive through testing in the hospital’s main entrance parking lot.
COVID-19 testing does not require a referral and there is no charge to the individual, regardless of insurance or not. Testing is offered 24/7 in the tent in the hospital’s main entrance parking lot. Call 235-0235 en route to be met outside for a drive by swabbing.
