Awakened from its slumber, Augustine Volcano erupted Jan. 13. With plumes of ash reaching thousands of feet into the air, the volcano drew worldwide attention. What couldn’t be seen by the naked eye from Homer could be viewed on the Web with cameras that showed the volcano erupting and seismographs that monitored its activity.

Three Homer peace activists were charged in January with trespassing after they refused to leave Homer High School. Michael LeMay, Hope Finkelstein and Debbie Poore had gone to the high school to counter the visit of a U.S. Marine Corps recruiter.

Homer City Council member Mike Heimbuch read a letter reiterating his view that the city, college and library staff are investigating a cooperative library project and have not made a decision one way or the other. The idea of a cooperative library grabbed many headlines in 2005 as library supporters and some council members butted heads over the issue for months.

February

The idea of a cooperative library lost steam and construction of the Homer Public Library proceeded as planned, without a section for a college stack.

March

Big-city violence came to Homer with a shooting at the Homer Airport involving police and a Wisconsin drug dealer. Several plane loads of students and adults were at the airport the evening of March 1, on their way to Italy for a choir performance, when U.S. Marshals attempted to capture Jason Anderson, 31, after he drove into the airport parking lot. Anderson pulled a gun, and marshals, backed up by Homer Police, shot back. Anderson’s children were with him. His son, Jason Anderson II, 2, was shot in the face; his infant daughter, Darla, escaped injury. According to the Alaska State Medical examiner, Anderson shot his son and then shot himself. Anderson died at the scene. His son faces a long recovery from a severe brain injury. The Alaska State Troopers completed an investigation in June. Their report was sent to the Alaska Department of Law for review. Despite media requests, the state has yet to release the report — a report that could answer lingering questions about police involvement in the shooting.

Drugs took the life of Bethany Woodworth, 19, March 16. She was found unconscious and not breathing at her Homer Spit cabin and died of an apparent overdose of cocaine and methamphetamines. Saying they hoped their daughter hadn’t died in vain, Woodworth’s parents, Julie and Shane Woodworth, helped other parents get help for their children.

Homer City Council proposed a rezone of the Homer Gateway Business District, urging some to publicly worry about the entrance to the town along the Sterling Highway.

April

Homer and a to-feed-or-not-to-feed-eagles controversy was the target of a segment of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” in April. One of the stars of the segment, Homer City Council member Val McLay and his “eagle-bashing cane,” also earned notoriety and a little ribbing from lawmakers during a visit to Juneau. Homer received other attention during 2006. It was included in “50 Fabulous Places to Retire,” “100 Best Small Art Towns in America” and it was one of Men’s Journal’s 50 “healthiest, sexiest, most adventurous towns.” Frommer’s Budget Travel dubbed Homer as one of America’s top 10 coolest small towns. Land’s End Resort joined 14 other waterfront inns to be recognized by Coastal Living magazine.

A Kenai grand jury indicted Wesley Shandy, 39, of Ninilchik in the November 2005 death of his fiancé, Roxanne Herndon, 25. Herndon drowned in Ninilchik River after falling off an ATV Shandy was driving. Shandy was indicted for manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

Photo by Michael Armstrong, Homer News Eagles on the Homer Spit caught the eye of national media in 2006.

A jury on May 24 found Jay Darling not guilty of the 1997 death of his wife, Wanda Wood Darling, who died from massive injuries sustained while falling from a 1,000-foot bluff near Homer.

The couple had visited Homer shortly after moving to the state and, on their way out of town, stopped at a secluded location on Bluff Road to take pictures, Jay Darling testified.

No resolution came to the murder of Mephibosheth “Moshe” Wilkinson, killed in August 2004 when he was shot in the parking lot of the Carl Wynn Nature Center. Leonard Wallace, 50, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in October 2005, but moved to withdraw that plea this year. Assigned a new lawyer, hearings kept being delayed and rescheduled to see if the court would accept that withdrawal.

The appointment of real estate agents Sharon Minsch and Bryan Zak to the city’s planning commission ruffled some feathers.

June

Getting a jump on competition from Fred Meyer, which seemed to be moving along in its construction plans, Safeway completed a major remodel with a new facade and a new floor design. An old retail rental section was gutted, increasing floor space to 28,000-square-feet and new sections were added, including Homer’s first Starbucks espresso stand.

Subdivisions considered and approved by the Homer Advisory Planning Commission started development or were offered for sale. The Stream Hill subdivision with 30 lots went on sale in August. Sunset View subdivision will start building homes next year.

July

Alcohol was believed to have been involved in the death of Allen Chapman, 25, July 4. Chapman drowned when a skiff sank in a pond near Mile 2 North Fork Road. Chapman had been at a party with juvenile drinking, Alaska State Troopers said.

A scaled-back South Peninsula Hospital expansion began this month with groundbreaking by Cornerstone General Contractors of Anchorage. The $13.5 million project includes a new emergency room, a new main entrance and registration area and a new medical supply area and warehouse, as well as the expansion of the diagnostic imaging area and the specialty clinic. Completion of the work is expected by fall of 2007. (See related story, page 1).

In July, the Homer Chamber of Commerce announced that Executive Director Derotha Ferraro would be leaving her post. In September, Ferraro began working as South Peninsula Hospital’s marketing coordinator and grantwriter.

A grand jury indicted Melvina “Bobbi” Crumpler, 41, of Fairbanks in the death of a tourist killed in a three-vehicle accident on the Sterling Highway in Ninilchik over the 2004 Independence Day weekend. Crumpler was charged with second-degree murder, man-slaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the death of Zoe Kreizenbeck, then 49, of Nevada City, Calif. Crumpler was alleged to have been under the influence of amphetamines, methamphetamines and marijuana.

Photo by Michael Armstrong, Homer News Jay Darling, left, reacts on May 24 after being found not guilty of the 1997 death of his wife, Wanda Wood Darling.

A fishing trip on Kachemak Bay ended tragically with the death of Gene Speece, 74, of Washington. Speece was trapped inside his 18-foot Fiberform when it capsized on Aug. 11. His nephew, Mike Speece, 54, and Mike Speece’s son, Charles, 29, both of Washington, were rescued by the Silver Fox I with Silver Fox Charters.

A letter from Doug Stark, who did not sign his name as a city council member, urged Kachemak City residents to merge with Homer and drew a quick response from other council members in August, who passed a resolution reaffirming that the council is not behind the effort.

After six years as the director of Homer Council on the Arts, Janet Bowen left the council to become the outreach coordinator for Fireweed Academy.

September

Shari Henkelman, 49, was found dead in her car in heavy brush off the side of the Seward Highway near Summit Lake on Sept. 22. Reports of where the Henkelman was last seen helped guide friends and Rotarians from Homer and Anchorage in a two-day search.

About 1,500 people visited Homer’s new showcase public building, the Homer Public Library, when the 15,000-square-foot building opened Sept. 16. Attendance at the library grew so fast that the library asked for — and got — another position in its 2007 city budget.

Homer City Council dropped the tax rate for residents 0.5 mills in September, then thought better of the idea and rescinded the action in October.

Homer city streets got repaved and were striped with narrower lines in a traffic calming measure. Residents of Diamond Ridge Road and Skyline Drive finally saw paved roads come to the hills above Homer. Even though estimates came above budget, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities awarded a contract to QAP to pave the roads. By fall, drivers had smooth roads from the Sterling Highway along Diamond Ridge Road to East Skyline Drive and Ohlson Mountain Road.

October

The fast actions and cool-headed response of 13-year-old Brendan Rider of Anchor Point drew praise from his community, the Anchor Point Volunteer Fire Department and the state Fire Marshall at a Chapman School awards assembly in October. When fire broke out in Brendan’s home, he tried to extinguish the flames and summoned help. Most importantly, however, Brendan quickly removed his 1-year-old brother and himself from the burning structure.

The remains of a man missing for a year were found in October by students in a Kachemak Bay Campus geology class. Doug Betts, 33, of Elkhorn, Wis., had gone missing in September 2005 when he wandered away from a cabin off Kilcher Road near McNeil Canyon.

Municipal elections had little impact on the southern peninsula’s Kenai Peninsula Borough School Board and Borough Assembly representation. Liz Downing, who ran unopposed, will continue to represent Homer on the school board. Also unopposed, Milli Martin will continue to serve on the borough assembly, representing the southern peninsula.

Francie Roberts and Dennis Novak won seats on the Homer City Council, despite a letter circulated and signed by council member Doug Stark that called for votes for candidates Bryan Zak and Val McLay.

Roberts, a high school math teacher running for her first elected office, tallied 65 percent of the vote, while incumbent Novak grabbed 54 percent. Novak was later named Mayor Pro Tempore to replace McLay. Mayor James Hornaday was not opposed in the election.

Stark’s letter prompted an ethics complaint from former council member John Fenske in October and a public quasi-judicial hearing.

A seasonal sales tax proposal went to the voters during the regular municipal election, but was defeated.

November

Rising constructions costs were blamed when Fred Meyer postponed indefinitely plans to build a 66,000-square-foot grocery and general merchandise store on six acres of Cook Inlet Region Inc. land near Main Street and the Sterling Highway. Fred Meyer got a conditional use permit in August from the Homer Advisory Planning Commission, the main permit needed. A group of citizens appealed the permit, but later withdrew its appeal.

The January charges of trespassing were dismissed this month when the Homer Three — Michael LeMay, Hope Finkelstein and Debbie Poore — and the Kenai Peninsula School District reached a civil compromise. The three agreed not to go on campus for political purposes. They planned to challenge in civil court the district’s policy of not letting counter-recruiters on campus when military recruiters visited.

In state elections, Rep. Paul Seaton, R-Homer, and Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak were both re-elected to the Legislature. Republican candidate Sarah Palin defeated Democrat Tony Knowles to become Alaska’s first woman governor.

The Homer City Council voted to condemn council member Doug Stark for his actions during the October municipal election, but stopped short of further punishment because the council did not have the authority to do so according to city code.

Photo by Michael Armstrong, Home Sue Mauger, president of the Friends of the Homer Public Library, smiles after a long day leading tours of the new library last Saturday.

A vehicle accident in December killed an Anchor Point woman and her daughter, on icy roads near Girdwood. Leslie Lancaster, 48, and her daughter Morgan, 6, died when Lancaster lost control of her vehicle on the Seward Highway south of Girdwood and was struck by a pickup truck.