Kasilof

It’s been about four years since the state put the brakes on a project that would have improved a boat ramp facility on the Lower Kasilof River. Now, the Alaska Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation is seeking to formalize that facility as drift boat retrieval only.

Every year, Alaskans flock to the Kenai and Kasilof rivers for a chance to scoop up some of the sockeye salmon that pack the estuaries on their way upriver to spawn. Many peninsula residents have mixed feelings about these fisheries, but one thing that's pretty clearly unpopular is the mess the fisheries often generate.

A photo of overflowing dumpsters at the mouth of the Kasilof River, near the personal use dipnet fishery, touched off angry debates on social media this week. The photo, taken Monday morning after a busy three-day holiday weekend loaded with beautiful weather and a healthy sockeye run to the Kasilof, shows four dumpsters packed to the brim with trash and more scattered across the pavement nearby.

Firefighters responded to a small grass fire in the Kasilof area yesterday along K-Beach Road. According to the Alaska interaction Coordination Center, a caller reported that a bald eagle struck a power line and caused a spark to fall and ignite the grass in the ditch below.

  Residents beware -- there's going to be a lot more traffic on Kalifornsky Beach Road for the next week.

It's the result of work being that will close the Sterling Highway to all through-traffic between miles 105 and 107 starting at 8 p.m. tonight (Friday).

The closure is to replace the Coal Creek Culvert, though southbound traffic will have to detour onto K-Beach Road about 15 miles ahead of that spot in Soldotna. Northbound through-traffic will be diverted at the south end of K-Beach Road.