A Kenai grand jury indicted 35-year-old Joseph Mesa last week in the death of 39-year-old Derek Berry. In addition to murder charges, Mesa was indicted on charges of evidence tampering, burglary and misconduct involving controlled substances in an investigation state prosecutors say is ongoing.

Donation bins are out near the entrances of grocery stores in Kenai, Soldotna and Nikiski, including Walmart, Fred Meyer, Save-U-More, Three Bears, Safeway, IGA and M&M Market.

Across all grade levels, about 38% of Kenai Peninsula students are proficient or advanced in English Language Arts. The same proportion are proficient or advanced in math. That’s about five percentage points higher than statewide proficiency levels.

The company says it received necessary permission to make rain with drones, but local officials are pushing for more transparency.

The state Department of Natural Resources wrote the company a stern letter last month, giving BlueCrest 30 days to prove it could fund more development, or risk losing access to the unit.

The vote caps a year-and-a-half of work between the district and unions’ bargaining teams that was punctuated by multi-million school district budget shortfalls, a rejected healthcare proposal and an impasse over salaries.

A Funny River man faces murder charges in connection to human remains found in Soldotna earlier this year. Alaska Senate President Gary Stevens prepares to retire. Plus, a new bridge restores road access to the interior of Denali National Park.

The Kenai Peninsula Food Bank is holding a food drive through the end of September. U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan's bycatch reduction legislation clears a Senate committee. Plus, scientists discover nine new sea sponge species off the coast of Alaska.

On this episode of the Kenai Conversation, we're joined by Augustus Doricko. Augustus is the CEO of Rainmaker, a cloud seeding company that recently created 19 million gallons of water over three hours above Homer.

On this episode of the Kenai Conversation, we’re airing the next installment of our 2026 candidate forum series. Incumbent Republican candidate Rep. Bill Elam is running for reelection to State House District 8 against nonpartisan challengers Nissa Savage and Frank Quinn.