As a result of being elected Mayor on October 6, Whitney submitted his resignation from City Council Seat A, effective October 18 at midnight. Within 35 days, the remaining council members will appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy until the next regularly scheduled election, which is October 5 of next year.

In a memo to the council from Soldotna Police Chief Peter Mlynarik, he noted that the Soldotna Police Department uses in-car cameras in their thirteen marked police vehicles, capturing activity in front of the vehicles when emergency lights are activated, while also recording events that body cameras are unable to capture.

Young: “There’s no such thing as an ‘independent Democrat.’ That’s like a two-tailed monkey. They have two tails so they can’t get up the tree to pick the banana, so it doesn’t work. Either you’re a Democrat or you’re a Republican.” – Galvin: “Think about it: who would have more sway on the House caucus – a dusty minority member who calls them all Socialists, or an independent member of the caucus who tells them how Alaska does things right?”

Motorists on the Kenai Peninsula are urged to use extra caution this time of year when traveling roadways where moose are common.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District announced on Tuesday afternoon that the Central Peninsula’s COVID-19 community transmission risk level jumped to High Risk, prompting 100% remote learning. Remote learning goes into effect on Wednesday, October 14.

Each Wednesday at noon, a team including Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anne Zink, as well as Alaska’s Chief Epidemiologist, Joe McLaughlin, will discuss the latest science and the medical response to COVID-19. This is just one of the online discussions that are taking place each week.

Alaska’s witness signature requirement would have forced interaction on those who live alone, are immunocompromised, or have been self-isolating since the beginning of the pandemic. These voters reasonably fear contracting COVID-19 and have chosen not to be in the presence of others.

In a statement from Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, they announced that McNeil Canyon Elementary in the southern peninsula is moving to remote learning, effective Monday.   The statement says that on Sunday morning, October 11, the school district learned that a positive COVID-19 case is connected to someone at McNeil Canyon. They note that contact tracing is beginning, but without ample time to complete it immediately, and the potential that it affects the entire K-3rd grade classes, with positive cases trending upward, and out of an abundance of precaution, school will immediately change to 100% Remote Learning on Monday, October 12, and possibly longer.   Pegge Erkeneff spoke to KSRM News to say that additional communications will be sent to area families later today, and as contact tracing happens, everyone who is a close contact will be called personally.     Erkeneff also confirmed that Central, Eastern, and Southern portions of the district, not including McNeil Canyon, have not moved into the red High Risk level. Central, even with seven cases across Kenai and Soldotna reported on Sunday, is still in the yellow Medium Risk category, allowing in-school participation to continue.