20 years ago

Homer residents came out in favor of larger retail stores in a special election Tuesday that brings the city closer to determining the fate of development within its boundaries. Preliminary results tallied at City Hall Tuesday night after polls closed at 8 p.m. called for a victory on the “vote yes” side of the battle between large and small retail size caps. It’s a struggle that has been playing out in the council chambers, media and streets of Homer since Fred Meyer first went public in December 2002 with its plans for a 95,000-square-foot store in the city.

— From the issue of June 17, 2004

30 years ago

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has found itself embroiled in a clash of government officials after federal resource managers did an about-face on the merits of filling about an acre of wetlands in Homer — a project that would threaten a nesting colony of rare Aleutian terns. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Environmental Protection Agency, which originally had no objections to the proposal, said last week that they hadn’t realized the area to be filled was so close to the bird colony, along Kachemak Bay Drive.

— From the issue of June 16, 1994