KDLL Kenai Conversation: Recent Episodes
Sabine Poux, Riley Board
On this episode of the Kenai Conversation, we’re joined by Julie Bunch and Amanda McKinley.
This week, we're joined by current and former directors of Kenai Peninsula College to talk its 60th anniversary.
Incumbent Sarah Vance is a Republican from Homer. Her challengers are Kasilof Independent Brent Johnson and Anchor Point Republican Dawson Slaughter.
Josh Ball, Tyler Payment and Joe Rizzo from Triumvirate Theatre's election-season spoof show, "Lame Ducks and Dark Horses," are live in the studio to talk about this year's show to close out KDLL's Fall Membership Drive. Is truth stranger than fiction? Is it dicier to joke about national or local politics? Have they ever washed those Java Girls wigs? Tune in to find out!
This forum was held Monday, Oct. 7 at the Soldotna Public Library. The Peninsula Clarion’s Jake Dye co-hosted.
We're chatting with Mike Fitz, who helps run Fat Bear Week. The bracket-style competition celebrates Katmai National Park and Preserve's brown bears gearing up for hibernation.
This forum was held Monday, Sept. 16, at the Soldotna Public Library. The Peninsula Clarion’s Jake Dye co-hosted.
On this special, two-hour episode of the Kenai Conversation, we’re sharing the next installments in our 2024 candidate forum series.
Sovala Kisena and Deborah Sounart are running unopposed for the two open council seats.
We're joined by founders, advocates and organizers of Industry Appreciation Day, an annual celebration held each year in Kenai.
On this week’s episode of the Kenai Conversation, we’re joined by Superintendent Clayton Holland.
On this special, two-hour episode of the Kenai Conversation, we talk to three former borough mayors about their time at the Kenai Peninsula’s helm — the decisions they made, ones they didn’t, and the role they played in helping get the borough where it is today.
We’re joined by Soldotna City Librarian Rachel Nash and Kenai Library Director Katja Wolfe to talk about the central Kenai Peninsula’s libraries.
We’re joined by Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank and Kenai Parks and Recreation Director Tyler Best to talk about Kenai’s Personal Use Fishery.
We’re joined by biologists Alison Derry and Andrew Hendry, who are running an experiment in Kenai lakes to better understand the ecological and genetic process of restoring native stickleback fish.
Department spokesperson Shannon McCarthy also called in to provide a more in-depth look at some of the projects on the central peninsula.
Rep. Justin Ruffridge and Sen. Jesse Bjorkman join us to debrief the most recent session of the Alaska Legislature.
Our guest this week is Michael Engelhard, longtime wilderness guide and author of two new books about Alaska's landscape.
Our guest this week is KDLL's outgoing senior reporter Riley Board, who is wrapping up her two year stint at the station. We're also chatting with former reporter of The Peninsula Clarion and KDLL's newest reporter Ashlyn O'Hara.
Our guests this week are some of the organizers behind the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, an annual birding event in Homer. We’re also joined Ted Floyd, editor of Birding Magazine.
Our guest this week is Mary McCubbins, who organizes the lineup for the Levitt AMP Soldotna summer music series.
Our guest is Robert Ruffner, a Kenai Peninsula resident who recently completed a three-week raft adventure in Bolivia.
Our guests this week are five international exchange students currently attending Kenai Central High School. Our conversation also included Chris Bergholtz, a local coordinator of the AFS program.
Our guest is Bjorn Olson, an Alaskan filmmaker who's currently working on a documentary about climate change impacts on the Native Tribe of Diomede.
Our guest this week is Susan Pope, author of the new memoir "Rivers and Ice: A Woman’s Journey Toward Family and Forgiveness."
Homer Electric Association Board of Directors candidates Michael Jones, Crystal Schwartz Mckenney and Louie Flora joined us for a forum in advance of the election, which begins March 29.
Our guest is Christine DeWeese, a researcher whose Applied Anthropology work focused on the federal nonrural determination status in Moose Pass.
Our guest this week is Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Superintendent Clayton Holland.
This week, guest Derek Foote, general manager of the Peninsula Oilers baseball team, joined us to talk about the organization's 50th anniversary.
Our guest this week is Ian Hartman, associate professor of history at the University of Alaska Anchorage and author of the book "Black History in the Last Frontier: African American History in Alaska."
Our guests this week, tribal members Bernadine Atchison and Charmaine Lundy, spoke of their respective tribes' history, values and struggles.
Our guests this week are John Walsh, Pat Broaders and Andrew O’Brien, members of the musical group Myles from Dublin. The traditional Irish musicians will be performing at Kenai Peninsula College this Friday.
Our guests this week, Kenai city officials Terry Eubank and Scott Curtin, joined us to talk about the past, present and future of the bluff stabilization project.
Our episode this week features a Kenai Peninsula College Showcase presentation titled "Breaking Trail: Reflections on the Iditarod." The presentation highlights two Iditarod legends and their experiences with what is known as "The Last Great Race of Earth."
Our guests this week are some of the organizers behind The Race Across Alaska, a virtual multi-sport distance challenge that kicked off this month.
Our guests this week are Leah Eskelin, Dan Saxton and Matt Bowser of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Our conversation also included Steve Ford of the Kenai Peninsula Outdoor Club.
Our guests this week are current and future Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District Directors Tim Dillon and Cassidi Cameron.
Our episode this week features a Kenai Peninsula College Showcase presentation titled "Three in the Far North, Packrafting and Hunting in Arctic Alaska." The presentation follows Ben Meyer, Maura Schumaker and Buck Kunz in their three week journey via packraft down the Sagavanirktok River in Alaska’s Brooks Range.
Our guest this week is James Hornstein, programmer for the Anchorage International Film Festival.
Our episode this week features a presentation from the Kenai Watershed Forum's 2023 Fireside Chat Series, about work mapping anadromous streams and rivers across the central Kenai Peninsula.
Our guests for our third forum are the candidates of the Kenai, Nikiski and Sterling seats on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly.
This is our second 2023 candidate forum. Our guests for this forum are Kenai City Council candidates Teea Winger, Henry Knackstedt and Phil Daniel.
This is the first in our series of 2023 candidate forums. This week, we hosted three candidates for Soldotna City Council, Chera Wackler, Garrett Dominick and Dan Nelson. Our forum also included incumbent Mayor Paul Whitney, who is running unopposed for reelection.
Our guests this week are tsunami researchers and emergency mangers. We're discussing new tsunami maps of upper Cook Inlet.
This week's guests are cast members in an upcoming performance of Wind in the Willows, the first show from new theater company Treefort Theatre.
Our guest this week is Sabine Poux, a KDLL reporter, host and news director of three years. It's Sabine's last week, and we sat down to reflect on her time at the station.
This week, we hosted Matt Miller from the Alaska Department of Fish & Game for a discussion about the personal use fisheries in the Cook Inlet region.
Our guests this week are four members of the Kenai Potters' Guild, in advance of their 50th anniversary show at the Kenai Art Center.
Our guests on this episode are two of the people behind Cat Tree & Barkery, a local kitten rescue organization that also provides spay and neuter clinics for the community.
Our guest this week is the new executive director of the Kenai Watershed Forum, Trent Dodson.
Our guests this week are new Soldotna City Manager Janette Bower. and Kenai City Manager Terry Eubank.
This week, we’re joined by Haley Terpenny, Tim Dillon and Caitlin Coreson, some of the people behind a $49 million statewide mariculture grant.
June is Pride Month, a time of celebration for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Elliot Wilson, Joe Spady, Ray Lee and Leslie Byrd joined us ahead of Pride to talk about what the month means to them, the importance of LGBTQ+ representation in media, their thoughts on the word "queer," and how faith and identity intersect in their lives.
We spoke with Rachel Pioch from the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District's Indigenous Education Department about the department's rebrand and what this last school year has been like, as it comes to a close.
It's Stephanie Queen's last week as Soldotna city manager. We took a look back on the last five years as Queen transitions out of her role and gets ready for what's next.
Journalists Riley Board and Larry Persily join us from Juneau to talk about local journalism, how the legislative session has been going so far and what they'll both be watching as it comes to a close.
Maggie Winston, of Kenai, joined us in the studio to talk about her advocacy for Alaskans with disabilities, her work with the Soldotna Independent Living Center and why she thinks vulnerability is an important part of being a leader.
We talked with educators Misty Nelson and Tara Oberts about how teachers are feeling about the new educational standards act signed into law last year.
Voting in Homer Electric Association’s 2023 election opens Friday. This year, voters in each of HEA’s three districts will decide between two candidates for the co-op’s board of directors.
The Peninsula Period Network is working to put free period products in all Kenai Peninsula schools. Our guest, network founder Chera Wackler, talks about the process of making that goal a reality.
The federal Inflation Reduction Act contains large amounts of funding to incentivize the energy transition nationwide. Our guests talk about how to make the most of that funding here at home.
Incoming Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche joined us in the studio today to talk about the borough-wide issues he plans to address in his new job. Micciche begins his new role as mayor next week.
Shanon Davis is moving on from her role at the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce. We spoke with her and incoming director Maddy McElrea about what the chamber of commerce does, how it has helped businesses throughout the pandemic and the ways in which Soldotna has changed since both of them were growing up here.
We spoke with fisheries economist Gunnar Knapp and set-netter Brent Johnson about trends in Upper Cook Inlet's commercial salmon fishery — from changes in catches and permit prices, to how those numbers track with those coming from Bristol Bay, to how fishermen are reacting to the changing landscape in the inlet.
Four candidates are running for the open Kenai Peninsula Borough mayor seat in the Feb. 14 special election. The winner will serve through the next municipal election, in October.
The cast and crew of Disaster! The Musical join us to talk about the upcoming show and what else is on the Kenai Performers' docket in 2023.
On this week’s Kenai Conversation, We talked to 911 Operational Manager Ryan Tunks and Shift Supervisor and Training Officer Suzanne Hall from the Soldotna Public Safety Communications Center.
The exhibits' creators joined us on the program this week to talk about what to expect from each show and the common threads that run through them both.
We talked to three local leaders about how housing availability impacts the workforce, volunteers and seniors across The Kenai.
We had three local business owners in the studio to talk about what this time of year means for them and how the local shopping climate on the Kenai Peninsula has changed over time.
Four cast members from the Discovery show Alaskan Killer Bigfoot join Kenai Conversation to talk about their experiences filming the show, and their hopes for a possible second season.
We spoke with Shaylon Cochran and Steve “Vinnie” Catalano from the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council about preventing oil spills and protecting Cook Inlet through winter conditions.
As high food and fuel prices persist, we spoke with some of the people who feed the Kenai Peninsula during the holiday season.
The forum was the last in our series in partnership with The Peninsula Clarion. We spoke with incumbent Sen. Gary Stevens and candidate Heath Smith, both Republicans and both running for the Alaska State Senate District C seat. Republican Walter Jones is also running for the seat.
The forum was the latest in our series in partnership with The Peninsula Clarion. We spoke with candidates Ginger Bryant and Louie Flora, running for District 6.
The forum was the latest in our series in partnership with The Peninsula Clarion. We spoke with candidates Tuckerman Babcock, Jesse Bjorkman and Andy Cizek, all running for Alaska State Senate District D.
The forum was the sixth in our series in partnership with The Peninsula Clarion. We spoke with incumbent Rep. Ron Gillham and candidate Justin Ruffridge (District 7) and Rep. Ben Carpenter (District 8) about where they stand on a constitutional convention, their thoughts on Alaska's fiscal and energy futures, and what singular bill they would sponsor this session — if they could pick just one.
KDLL's Sabine Poux and Riley Board are joined by Peninsula Clarion reporters Jake Dye and Ashlyn O’Hara to talk about last night's municipal election results and other local stories they've been following.
We spoke with two of the three candidates for Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly District 3 at a live candidate forum this week. This forum was the fifth in our candidate forum series in partnership with The Peninsula Clarion — and the final forum before municipal election day Oct. 4.
We interviewed the candidates for KPBSD Board of Education during a live candidate forum at the Soldotna Public Library on Sept. 19. This forum was the fourth in our candidate forum series in partnership with The Peninsula Clarion.
We spoke with three of the candidates for the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a live candidate forum at the Soldotna Public Library on Sept. 12. This forum was the third in our candidate forum series in partnership with The Peninsula Clarion.
We spoke with the candidates for Soldotna City Council during a live candidate forum at the Soldotna Public Library on Sept. 6. This forum was the second in our candidate forum series in partnership with The Peninsula Clarion.
We spoke with the candidates for Kenai City Council during a live candidate forum at the Soldotna Public Library on Aug. 29. This forum was the first in our candidate forum series in partnership with The Peninsula Clarion.
Data from the 1950 Census was released this year. Here's what that information tells us — and what some early homesteaders remember about that time.
It’s Farmers Market Week. We’re celebrating through interviews with market managers from around the Kenai Peninsula
Jennifer Williams and Joel Isaak with the Kenaitze Indian Tribe join us to talk about the new online Dena'ina audio dictionary.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory has been active since 1988. A lot of the tools it uses to monitor volcanoes in Alaska have changed since those early days.