Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy issued a declaration of public health disaster emergency on Wednesday, in response to the COVID-19 anticipated outbreak.

The Alaska Senate on Tuesday voted 17-to-2 in favor of a bill that requires state regulated private health insurers to cover telehealth services.

The Homer Winter King Salmon Tournament will be occurring on March 21 at 8 a.m.  The tournament is a one-day fishing event sponsored by the Homer Chamber. It is the longest running winter king salmon tournament in Alaska. More than 700 anglers on average participate in the tournament every year.

Guardian Flight will be taking up residency at the Kenai Municipal Airport in April, offering service to peninsula hospitals including South Peninsula Hospital in Homer, Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna and Providence Seward Medical Center in Seward.

On Monday, March 9, the Alaska House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 101 by Sen. Donny Olson (D-Golovin) to establish March 12 as Ashley Johnson-Barr day in perpetuity.

Members of the Alaska House Republican Caucus are requesting additional information from Governor Mike Dunleavy’s administration regarding the number of available COVID-19 test kits and the health and economic impacts in the event of a prolonged outbreak in Alaska.

City Manager Paul Ostrander and his staff will be at the Kenai Senior Center on Tuesday, March 10 at 6 p.m. for their Invest In Kenai presentation.

Governor Mike Dunleavy’s office announced on Monday that his travel schedule for the week has changed, suspending his community visits and planned town hall meetings in Kenai, Seward, and Homer until further notice.  That includes a suspension of Monday night’s planned Conversations With Alaskans town hall meeting at Kenai Central High School.