Seward and the rest of Alaska watched proudly Monday when 17-year-old Lydia Jacoby won Olympic gold in the women's 100-meter breaststroke.

Lydia’s parents, Rich and Leslie Jacoby, were watching, too, with other Olympian families in Orlando, Fla.

Rich, a maritime instructor for AVTEC, said they’ve been catching up with their gold medalist over the phone. And he said the last few days have been really exciting.

When an 8.2-magnitude earthquake hit near the Alaska Peninsula Wednesday, local alert systems sprang into action, beeping, buzzing and blaring to notify Alaskans in coastal communities they should get to higher ground.

Those notification systems require lots of preparation and funding well before a tsunami threat hits, explained Dan Nelson, emergency manager with the Kenai Peninsula Borough’s Office of Emergency Management.

Kenai is more than just home to Christine Cunningham and Steve Meyer. It's also where the duo — and their eight dogs — have been recreating and hunting for years. They write about their adventures in a weekly column for the Anchorage Daily News.

We had them on the show to talk about their philosophies on hunting, how they document their trips while still staying in the moment and their thoughts on "type 2 fun."

You don't have to know a lot about fishing to know that dipnet season is back in Kenai.

But if you do want to learn more about the fishing that makes the city a summer destination for AK anglers, we've got you covered. This week's Kenai Converstaion is a 2020 online presentation from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on the basics of dipnetting, from what to bring to how to avoid a ticket.

In the second part of the presentation, how to navigate the personal use fisheries in the Kenai, Kasilof and China Poot fisheries.

Outdoor, in-person beer festivals return after the dark year of COVID, including the 10th annual Kenai Peninsula Beer Festival. Bill gets an update from KP beerfest organizer Matt Pyhala and muses on what makes a good beer festival (hint: quality, not quantity). Plus, interviews with Girdwood Brewing and Darcy Kniefel, with the 2021 Alaska Craft Brew Festival, on July's Drinking on the Last Frontier.
Cheers!

On this month’s Drinking on the Last Frontier, aging beer in whisky barrels is a great way to add class to craft brews. Plus, Bill checks in on the new location for Bearpaw River Brewing Co. in Wasilla, the new construction for Grace Ridge Brewing Co. in Homer and the newcomer brewery to the peninsula’s beer scene — Stoney Creek Brewhouse in Seward.

Cheers!

Gherkin Radio Theatre offers a double-header for episode four: