20 years ago

Parents concerned about a comprehensive sex education program at Homer Middle School and Homer High School objected to the display of condoms in the class. High school students in the Reducing AIDS Risk Effectively in Teens, or RARE-T, program showed how condoms could disintegrate when they come into contact with petroleum-based lubricants like Vaseline. Parents have to opt-in to the program. Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic sponsored the program. Director Michelle Waneka said that since RARE-T began, the teen pregnancy rate has declined and more teens are waiting to have sex.

— From the issue of March 16, 2000

30 years ago

About 96,000 gallons of Cook Inlet crude oil spilled from an open valve on a pipeline and into a storage containment area at the Drift River Oil Storage Terminal on March 10, 1990. No oil got into the river or Cook Inlet. An Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation official blamed the spill on “operator error.”

— From the issue of March 15, 1990

50 years ago

An extreme high tide on Saturday, March 7, 1970, caused a power outage when the tide and strong southwesterly winds washed out the powerline crossing Beluga Lake below the Waterfront Bar and Grill. The line served the Homer Spit and some residences along Kachemak Drive. Homes on Kachemak Drive and on the Spit had power restored within four hours, but power to commerical buildings on the Spit was out until late Sunday morning. Homer Electric Association crews rebuilt the washed out section of the line.

— From the issue of March 12, 1970