Thanks to all for supporting justice for Duffy Murnane

Duffy, was abducted, tortured, and murdered while walking to a doctor’s appointment in Homer, Alaska on Octo. 17, 2019. Thanks to the unrelenting efforts of the people of Homer, and a determined detective of the Homer Police, her killer was arrested in May 2022. Yesterday, thanks to experienced and hard-working prosecutors, Duffy‘s family and friends attended the hearing, or listened on the line, as her murderer pled guilty in the courtroom in Kenai, Alaska.

Thank you to everyone in Homer, supporters across Alaska and friends around the world for helping us search when she was first missing, for keeping her case alive, pressing for her killer to be found and more recently attending case hearings.

For many years, Duffy was a missing and murdered rural Alaskan woman. Her case reflects a larger crisis in Alaska. She is one of many women who have gone missing and been murdered, particularly those from our rural communities.

The long delay in her case shows a failure of the criminal justice system. Delayed justice is denied justice — and it also wastes taxpayer money. For 40 to 50 years, Alaska has spent petroleum revenues on systems that have not delivered timely investigations or accountability. We need a criminal justice system that investigates these crimes more quickly, thoroughly, and professionally, so that more offenders are held accountable without years of delay.


Michael Huelsman, uncle of Duffy Murnane

KBBI Coffee Table on 20-year Homer Public Library anniversary was great


It was with great pleasure that I listened to KBBI’s Coffee Table program on Wednesday, Feb. 4.  In celebration of 2026 being the library’s 20-year anniversary, Josh Krohn interviewed initial new library facilitators Nancy Lord, Sue Mauger, Ken Castner and Ben Gibson, as well as current library director Dave Berry.  What an informative, articulate and interesting round table discussion about how the new library came to be. 


Thank you for being visionaries and then doers to make this beautiful building happen.  I believe our local public library is a ‘crown jewel’ of Homer.   Thank you again.


Judy Gonsalves


In Memory of Harper and Fletcher

Stepping back in time a few months to this past fall I recall it was very troubling to me that our local representative went after our community newspaper.   Defensively, she believed its reporter wrote a biased, nonfactual article that covered a memorial for Mr. Charlie Kirk.  I thought it was a well-covered article,  representing him as he is represented in the press and online.  What he said and did for a living is common knowledge.  The article was very respectful and informative, I thought.

The Homer News has always reported on community events. From the Town Crier listing local nonprofit events to local sports and school activities, obituaries and births, arts and music events.  I just don’t get the “liberal rag” rant.  The paper runs articles by Gov. Dunleavy, Senators Stevens and Bjorkman, even Rep. Vance.  It runs articles on land use, community planning, Spit erosion, harbor use, commercial/sport fishing and every parade.  Recipes, history, a handy tide list for the week.    

Opinion letters ranged from conservative to progressive over the years, sparking some entertaining reading in the winter months.  But there were also tons of Letters to the Editor thanking the community for a range of things from Share the Spirit to the many scholarships kids got from local nonprofits.   Grateful thankful letters.  Are we really in a time when being grateful is a bad thing? 


That’s why I am very glad and relieved to see an ethics violation investigation into Rep. Vance for use of her legislative position to pressure Carpenter Media to penalize the reporting and thus the reporter.  The representative even stated the paper will feel financial pressure if it didn’t.  

The Homer News is now down to one amazing and awesome reporter. Thank you Delcenia Cosman!  

The saddest part in this story is that about two weeks prior to the murder of Mr. Kirk two children were murdered —  Fletcher Merkel age 8 and Haper Moyski age 10 — while attending the first mass of the school year at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.  

None of these three victims lived in Homer.  But one, a popular young Republican party political influencer, had a memorial here in his name sponsored by Rep. Rep. Sarah Vance.  That was a tribute to a member of their party.   When I read the Homer News article on the memorial I wondered if maybe Harper and Fletcher were mentioned in memory of their recent terrible murders. Were two children representing no political agenda remembered too?  Why did Kirk’s murder get so much more outrage than the murder of two innocent children? 

We all suffer the consequences of politically radicalized people who seek out their rage with guns.  All of us.  

Let’s always remember them.  Harper and Fletcher.


Therese Lewandowski

Rep. McCabe shows conflict of interest

Dear Chair Thomas and members of the Select Committee,

Rep. Sarah Vance is the subject of Ethics Complaint H25-02 to H25-18. 

The House Subcommittee for the investigation consists of Rep. Alyse Galvin and Rep. Kevin McCabe and other non-House members. There is a potential conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest between Rep. Sarah Vance and Rep. Kevin McCabe. Rep. Sarah Vance is the Alaska State Chair of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers (NACL) and  Rep. Kevin McCabe is the Alaska State Vice Chair of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers (NACL). 

The potential conflict of interest arises from their relationship with one another as state leaders of this organization and by the relevance of the subject matter of the news article to which Rep. Vance publicly objected, her subsequent alleged misuse of legislative resources, and the involvement of the NACL.

I am requesting that Rep. McCabe be recused from the House Subcommittee to preserve the integrity of the investigation into the ethics complaint against Rep. Vance and any subsequent Subcommittee actions taken due to its findings.

Thank you for your consideration of this complaint.

Respectfully,

Deborah Oudiz, PhD


Thanks for Kachemak Bay Search & Rescue support


The initial training cohort of the Kachemak Bay Search & Rescue group completed a four-day training this last weekend.  Formed through the Friends of the Kachemak Bay State Park (FKBSP), we will provide search and rescue operations on both sides of the Bay. For those interested, details can be found on the FKBSP website:  https://www.friendsofkachemakbay.org/kbaysar. 

We would like to sincerely thank the Kachemak Bay Services fire station located next to McNeil Canyon, along with our instructors from Anchorage. You were all brilliant and extremely kind to us.


Andy Haas


Share the Spirit’s call for help was answered



Dear Editor and Community,

What a wonderful place we live in! Once again, Share the Spirit’s call to shop, wrap, cook, pack and care for our neighbors was well answered. Our 33rd year wouldn’t be complete without letting you know how you took care of your own, so here is our final rundown: 

This year you provided food and gifts for 290 households, helping a total of 880 individuals, 306 of whom were children. Those 290 households also encompassed an incalculable number of veterans, senior citizens and disabled neighbors.

We specifically want to thank the following businesses and organizations for their contributions of food, space, services, gifts, money, and general support:

Alibi Bar and Cafe, Boatyard Cafe, Twisted Goat, The Kannery, South Peninsula Hospital and SPH employees, Two Sisters Bakery, Latitude 59, Vida’s, Duncan House Diner, Wild Honey Bistro, The Homestead, Hook & Cook, The Bagel Shop, Alice’s Champagne Palace, Red Bird Cafe, River Cafe, Pho & Thai, The Best Western Bidarka Inn, Oval Bakery, Save U More, Fat Olives, Cole’s Market, Cole’s Butcher Shop, Fritz Creek General Store, The Angry Salmon, Land’s End Resort, AJ’s Oldtown Steakhouse and Tavern, Homer Art and Frame, Bay Excursions, Dibble Creek Rock, Old Sterling Outfitters, North Wind Home Collection, Don Jose’s Restaurant, The Porcupine Theater, Kristen Wright Massage, Great Tao Massage, The Classic Cook, Homer Animal Friends, Fireweed Gallery, The Homer Bookstore, Beta Sigma Phi, Homer City Hall, Fritz Creek Baptist Church, Grace Ridge Brewing Company, Homer Electric Association, Homer Police Department, Homer Volunteer Fire Department, Arctic Chiropractic, Kachemak Bay Wilderness Lodge, Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic, Kharacters Alaskan Bar, American Legion Post #16, Sons of the Legion and Legion Auxiliary, Homer Port and Harbor, Homer Public Works, Summit Physical Therapy, Southwest Alaska Pilots’ Association, Homer Community Food Pantry, Anchor Point Food Pantry, The Job Center, South Peninsula Behavioral Health, Hospice of Homer, Head Start, Independent Living Center, Sprout, Women Infants & Children, Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic, Department of Public Assistance, Homer Flex School, Seldovia Village Tribe Health & Wellness, South Peninsula Haven House, Homer Elks Lodge #2127, Homer Emblem Club #350, Kachemak Bay Lions Club, Wells Fargo Bank, Coal Point Seafoods, Vice Principal Bynagle and the staff of Homer High School, East End Mini Storage, Silver Bay Seafoods, Elemental Consulting, Organizer Tina Seaton and the Girl Scouts of Homer, Ulmer’s Drug and Hardwear, The Homer Bookstore, Captain’s Toy Chest, Homer Chamber of Commerce, Kachemak Gear Shed, Homer’s Jeans, and all the individuals and groups who made direct monetary contributions to Share the Spirit, as well as all of our amazing cookie bakers and volunteers. 

As always, so many local businesses and community members contribute each year that inevitably our list is incomplete and we offer our sincere apologies if we missed your name. 

To the whole community, we ask that you patronize these businesses and contribute to the non-profits listed. They truly make this a better place for us all to live in. We are blessed with many organizations that work year-round to help feed and house our community members in need and we ask that you keep them in mind and help them throughout the year. 

So, this really does bring us to the end of the 33rd Share the Spirit season, and we hope that each of you was enriched in some small way, either by giving or receiving.

Warm wishes to you all. Watch for our letter in the fall to alert you when it’s time to start the 34^th season, and please…

Always remember to Share the Spirit,

Kelly Glidden, President;  Shari Daugherty, Vice-president;  Emmy Olsen-Drye, Secretary