Letters to the Editor

Published 2:30 am Thursday, April 16, 2026

Pay your dues, so you can vote!

Homer Senior Citizens will have their Annual Meeting on May 21. In order to vote, you must be a paid-up member for 2026. This is an important election for new board members and to vote on some bylaw changes.

Homer Senior Citizens is a vital part of our community, including services, recreation, meals and providing about 80 senior apartments (some independent apartments and some Assisted Living). As a member, you could play a vital role in fostering a welcoming, inclusive space where seniors can thrive, stay active and connect with others.

Anyone ages 18 and up can become a member. Join at www.homerseniors.org, click on “Membership”, or join in person at the business office.

Lani Raymond

Homer

Woe America

Schools, hospitals, bridges, medical suppliers, residential buildings, journalists and civilians are the targets of the U.S. and Israel’s bombings across Iran. Trump says, “We will bomb them back to the Stone Age.”

We no longer have a Department of Defense; it has been transformed into the Department of War. Hegseth insists on building the “warfightingness warfighters” after we murdered 168 school children and their teachers.

Trump’s bullying has become the new standard in moral vacuity. By their actions, Trump and his minions insist that America is no longer the leader of the free world. Now, morality is for suckers and losers.

A budget always highlights a president’s values and priorities. Trump’s proposed 2027 budget calls for $1.5 trillion more for war, at the expense of childcare or healthcare. “We’re a big country. We’re fighting wars. It’s not possible for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare, all of these things,” according to Trump.

Note that Trump didn’t mention clawing back the billionaire tax breaks that the One Big Beautiful Bill granted them. No, let’s keep harming everyone except the wealthy.

President Dwight Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe in World War II, reminds us that: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

Michael A LeMay, Veterans for Peace

Homer

Alaska could be a solution

The conflict, which may yet become a war, begs for a permanent solution. Clearly, the issue is: who has the current excess production of crude oil? And who enjoys an operable revenue stream resulting from sales of crude oil worldwide? For the last few decades, Iran has enjoyed that distinction.

In the chaotic finger pointing which has evolved from Iran’s desire to have nuclear capability to the leverage that Iran has used in closing the Straits of Hormuz to tanker traffic. Their action has resulted in historically high prices for crude oil worldwide and fear and confusion for the exposed population.

In the meantime, in Alaska, we have an 800-mile pipeline TAPPS with a proven capacity of 2 million barrels per day, which is currently flowing at only 465,000 BPD. It is currently operating at 25% of designed capacity, which incidentally, between 1985 and 1990 operated as high as two million BPD. At the same time, Alaska’s production is currently on a slight increase with the Department of Revenue forecasting a peak of 679,000 by 2034.

Why can’t Alaska’s North Slope oil production achieve the designed level of 2 million barrels? We currently have favorable prospects for major oil discovery in the Pikka satellites and the Sockeye discovery by Armstrong Oil, Santos Ltd and Apache. A major production process is underway at Willow by Conoco Phillips.

Further, with the record NPR-A lease sales just concluding and the North Slope lease sale, the prospects for increased exploration will undoubtedly be successful.

Increasing production based on existing reserves suggests that two million barrels per day outflow is achievable, but only with President Trump’s energy and assistance. Such action will bring our nation to a degree of certainty in achieving independence on oil for the foreseeable future.

I would encourage Alaskans to join with our delegation to highlight the fact that we have oil reserves for certain. And yet, our delivery system, the TAPPS Pipeline, is only operating at 25% of its full two million BPD capacity.

We can’t afford to wait any longer. Alaska is an achievable solution.

Former Alaska Gov. Frank H. Murkowski

Homer supports the arts

Thank you, Homer, for supporting the Climate Artists Collective’s two-week residency this March. Coastal Contrasts printmaking at Kenai Peninsula College and Sacredness of Place, a community outdoor installation at the Pratt Museum, brought artists and community together through workshops, artist talks, pit firing, exhibitions, and potlucks.

Rhode Island artist Caroline Anderson shared that what stayed with her most was how people in Homer went out of their way to support this work. Chicago artist Elaine Miller expressed gratitude for the support of Kenai Peninsula College staff and the warmth she experienced here. New York artist Rosemarie Gleiser reflected on the meaningful connections formed through shared creative work. Wisconsin artist Rebecca Carlton thanks the more than 100 school and community participants who helped create Sacredness of Place.

We are deeply grateful to our Alaskan partners: Juneberry Lodge, for their unmatched hospitality; Alaska State Art Council on the Arts, Adventure Alaska Car Rental; Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, Chapman School, Dibble Creek, Homer Council on the Arts, Homer Emblem Club, Homer Foundation, Homer High School, KBay Clay, KBBI, Manz Hay & Cattle Co., Moose Times Lodge, National Endowment of the Arts, Paul Banks Elementary School, Pratt Museum, Sherry Robinson, and the many community members and volunteers who made this work possible.

Homer showed what is possible when art and community come together. We are deeply grateful!

Sharlene Cline

Homer