Thanks for D-Day Commemoration help

Following a sun-drenched D-Day Commemoration on June 6, we are overwhelmed with gratitude to many. First up is Cmdr. Tom Gregoire of the  General Buckner Post 16 of the American Legion. Tom ensured a seamless sponsorship with our Brother Asaiah Chapter of Veterans for Peace.

We thank our speakers: Paula Gallagher, Auxiliary Chaplain of Post 16 for her inspirational prayer; history professor, Jeff Myers, for a succinct retelling of the events prior to D-Day; and Ginger Van Wagoner, our very special guest who spoke about her Dad’s role before, on and after June 6 (Ginger graciously shared with us her Dad’s World War II memorabilia); Coast Guard Lt. Juston Lee who spoke of Coast Guard history; Doug Van Patten representing the Navy; Dan Boulton for the Marine Corps; Bill Bartee for the Army and Army Air Corps; and Aneesa Ahad who reminded us to recommit ourselves to peace, equality and human dignity.

We were overjoyed with the participation of the Girl Scouts of Homer and Anchor Point as they performed a flag ceremony, followed by leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Later, they expertly accomplished a flag folding ceremony after Taps was played. We thank Girl Scouts Rei Beams, Eliphalet Bice and Sei Beams with leaders Rachel Bice, Megumi Beams and Tina Seaton.

 After a hard day’s work, three anonymous Emerald Air Service pilots provided us with a flyover, including the missing man formation in a performance adjacent to the American Legion Post. This was their generous salute to honor all of our deceased heroes from Operation Overlord and from the remainder of the war in Europe.

We also thank Simon Lopez of KBBI, Alex and Cindy Koplin, Lani Raymond, Frank Quinn, Tina Seaton, Ron Keffer, Kate Finn, Ruth Alvarez, Nusy Ahad and Homer Jeans for all of their selfless efforts.

We are grateful for all the attendees as we together remembered and honored our cherished heroes who sacrificed their lives for a cause greater than themselves.

I thank you all with a deep bow,

 Michael A. LeMay

 Homer Veterans For Peace

Foundation supports after school program expansion

The Paul Banks Elementary PTA is thrilled to share the inspiring progress of our After School Program (ASP) during the 2025-2026 year — an achievement made possible by the generous support of the Opportunity Fund at the Homer Foundation.

This year, the program expanded to offer 260 enrichment seats and 50 aftercare spots, growing from just 62 seats in 2022. New classes, including academic tutoring and arts, music, and physical education, welcomed students from all Homer K-2 schools. The introduction of a dedicated aftercare program and scholarships made the program accessible to more children than ever before.

Our community saw what is possible when youth programming is properly resourced — and the Homer Youth Programming Everyday (HYPE) team learned, grew and are now ready to lead the charge.

Thank you to the Homer Foundation and everyone who made this possible. Now let’s make sure HYPE has what it needs to keep going—follow Homer Youth Programming Everyday on Facebook and get involved.

Sincerely,

 

Angela Head 

Paul Banks Elementary PTA

Community support takes softball to state

Mariner Softball returned to the state tournament for the first time in four years and garnered fourth place with some thrilling games, but could not have done it without the support of local businesses and sponsors. The team thanks our perennial supporters: Homer Foundation-Schroer, KNS, Geragotelis and Fastpitch Funds, Sons of the American Legion, Preventive Dental Services, Coops Coffee, Ulmers, Arno Construction, Beachy Construction, East Road Services, Homer Jeans and many individual donors as well as in-kind support from SpitwSpots, City of Homer, Kachemak Freight Services and AC/DC Electric.

The local sports teams rely heavily on community support and that will be especially true as school budget woes markedly increase the player fees for students, likely leading to an exclusionary “Pay to Play” scenario. The Icelandic Prevention Model (and Planet Youth Homer) have shown how crucial it is for youth to have after-school activities. After 22 years of high school coaching, I worry that those most needing the benefit of structured activities will face financial exclusion as businesses themselves face increasing budget woes. It will be incumbent on the community to address these issues in any future planning.

Thank you,

Bill Bell

Elks donation supports student outdoor education

On behalf of the fourth‑grade students, teachers and parents of West Homer Elementary, we extend our sincere appreciation to the supporters who made this year’s Outdoor Education trip to the Kachemak Bay Wilderness Lodge possible. We especially acknowledge the $3,500 contribution from Homer’s Elks Lodge #2127, awarded through the Elks National Foundation Community Investment Program Gratitude Grant. This generous support ensured full student participation in this long‑standing educational tradition.

We also wish to apologize for the omission of the Elks Lodge in our original letter to the editor. Their contribution was essential to the success of this year’s program, and we are grateful for their continued commitment to local youth.

Sincerely,

Karen Corbell, Kathryn Crowley and Zachary Heilman, the WHE fourth-grade team, and the fourth-grade students of West Homer Elementary 

Elect a representative who won’t starve public education

I was surprised at the headline last week that Alaska had dropped to 47th in the nation for children’s welfare and 49th in childhood education. Somehow with the current administration’s handling of education issues I thought we were already 50th! For eight years, Dunleavy and his Republican legislators have starved Alaska schools of needed funds. He has vetoed and, with few exceptions, the Republicans have sustained his vetoes of increased funds for schools.

Some may still somehow believe that “schools need to show progress in test scores before more money is warranted” but that argument is blatantly false. You can’t do “more with less” when you don’t have enough to start. Our teachers have been working without a net for a long time now and doing a yeoman’s job at that.

Dunleavy and his ilk have prioritized charter and private schools over public education and starved public education. And one of his biggest supporters, one who voted to sustain most of his vetoes is our very own Rep. Sarah Vance. It’s time to show her the door and elect a legislator from our district that will deliver votes to fund education fully and to make up for the last eight years of neglect.

Hal Smith

Electronics recycling a success

Thanks to the support of our community partners, generous donors, and the hard work of a dedicated group of volunteers, Electronics Recycling 2026 was a great success. Across the Kenai Peninsula, we diverted over 36,000 pounds of electronics from our local landfills this year. Thanks to ReGroup, Sustainable Seward and Ninilchik Health and Wellness Club, we are able to serve the communities of Kenai and Soldotna, Seward, Seldovia, Port Graham, Nanwalek, Ninilchik and Homer. As of 2026, we have collectively diverted more than 700,000 pounds of electronics waste!

It is undeniably valuable to recycle the metals inside our old devices. The global demand for gold in industrial applications can be met through recycling, as gold is often recovered because the market prices are so high. Keeping those devices from leeching toxic material into our watershed is an even greater benefit to us all and to the salmon we eagerly await every year. The electronics we use every day contain lead, mercury, chromium and a host of other toxic compounds, which are released when these devices are dumped in landfills.

It is simple to purchase anything we can imagine and have it delivered within a matter of days. The excitement of a new gadget can totally obscure what comes next — how do we dispose of the old one?

Luckily, many electronics manufacturers will accept disused devices that are returned to them — Apple, Canon and Sony, among others. Similarly, some retailers, including Best Buy, Walmart and Amazon, will take back old products. A few online retailers, such as Back Market, will even give you credit towards the purchase of a new device. Disposing of our old electronics is worth a quick web search, phone call and a little extra effort.

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our enthusiastic group of volunteers and our event partners: ReGroup, Sustainable Seward, Ninilchik Health and Wellness Center, Seldovia Village Tribe, Port Graham Village Council, Nanwalek IRA and the Kenai Peninsula Borough.

Our electronics recycling initiative would not be possible without the generous support of TOTE Maritime, Weaver Brothers, Spenard Builders Supply and Mako’s Water Taxi. We also thank our financial sponsors, including the Homer Foundation, Homer Real Estate, South Peninsula Hospital, Homer Veterinary Clinic and River City Books. Most of all, thank you to everyone who dropped off their electronics at our events. Keeping hazardous waste out of our watershed is a community effort with incalculable benefits.

Aaron Ford

Cook Inletkeeper

Dispose of your waste and recyclables responsibly

I was talking with someone the other day about the Homer transfer/landfill site. We were both disgusted at constantly seeing trash thrown in the recycle bins and often items that shouldn’t even be in that particular bin. What’s wrong with people, we wondered, why do they disregard the basics of what goes where and the difference between trash and recyclable items?

Maybe they don’t see the signage on the bins that have diagrams along with words on what exactly is allowed in the bins. Maybe the signs are too faded and old, or maybe there are so many things posted these days we’ve just become inured to even bothering to read them.

Unfortunately, this makes for a lot of extra work for landfill employees. We should have a landfill employee recognition day to honor their work of cleaning up after human slobs. 

It also points to a future of everything getting buried, which would necessitate the borough to acquire more land to bury it all. Recycling is not profitable; what is needed is to either stop buying or start reusing. The volunteer citizen group Homer Drawdown is taking initiative in that area.

In the meantime, how about if all of us just took some extra time and read the signs to see what goes where. How about we take a good look at our trash and look for ways to cut back on buying so much stuff?

Plastics are toxic bad juju, something we all now know but will probably never ever stop using. Trying to avoid buying items cocooned in plastic is practically impossible. The best we can do is keep on our legislators to enact stewardship laws. Alaska has none, not even an electronics recycling law. One bill that passed this session prohibits the use of Styrofoam, a known carcinogen, in to-go containers. It awaits the governor’s approval (fingers crossed).

Extended Producer Responsibility is another option. These are laws currently being enforced or encouraged in many states. It places the burden of the product’s end-of-life on the producer. Seven states have passed packaging EPR bills. 

Our borough landfills are at a crossroads. Either we all start taking responsibility for our waste or….

Therese Lewandowski