Local fire departments remind everyone that a permit is required to burn anything more than a small campfire, and to remember to always attend your fires until they are out cold to the touch. Burn Permits are available at the Homer Volunteer Fire Station from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday for burn permits inside city of Homer limits. If you are outside city limits, burn permits are available at the McNeil Fire Station-Kachemak Emergency Services, the Fritz Creek Store, from the local Alaska Division of Forestry office on Kachemak Drive and online at forestry.alaska.gov/burn. Follow the directions on the permit and check in daily for burn conditions. For more information, call HVFD at 235-3155, KESA at 235-9811 and Division of Forestry at 235-7734.

Kachemak Emergency Services holds its regular monthly board meeting at 7 p.m. today at the McNeil Canyon Fire Station, 53048 Ashwood Ave. (Mile 12 East End Road). The public is welcome to attend. Call 235-8444 for more information.

Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic presents N.E.D.: No Evidence of Disease, a band of six gynecologic oncology surgeons, in two events this week. At 5:30 p.m. today is “N.E.D.,” a documentary film at the Homer Theatre, about the band. N.E.D. also performs at 7 p.m. Saturday at Alice’s Champagne Palace. The band started as a cover band to entertain their peers at a medical conference, and they continued their work as a way to reach women through music. There is no fee for the film. Admission to the concert is $20, with tickets available at Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic and at Alice’s. For more information, call the clinic at 235-3436.

The Kachemak Bay Birders’ next birding trip is Saturday along the the North Fork Road. Meet at 6:45 a.m. at Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center parking lot to car pool or at 7 a.m. at the bridge parking area two miles down the south end of the road (the end closer to Homer). Most walking will be along the side of the road. Expect mosquitoes. This area has always been a rich oasis for many different birds: songbirds, ducks in the ponds, shorebirds and raptors. Found in previous years were northern waterthrush, western wood pewee, spotted sandpipers, nesting American dippers, plus many warblers and sparrows. Bring binoculars, field guide, and scope if you have one. There is no charge and everyone is welcome. All trips are cosponsored by the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The leaders are Lori Paulsrud and Michael Craig.

Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) volunteer training is offered 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. COASST is a citizen-science project involving volunteers in the collection of high quality data on the status of coastal beaches and trends of seabirds. Its goal is to assist government agencies and other organizations in making informed management and conservation decisions, and to promote proactive citizen involvement and action. COASST volunteers systematically count and identify bird carcasses that wash ashore along ocean beaches from northern California to Alaska.

Volunteers need no experience with birds, just a commitment to survey a specific beach (about ¾ mile) each month. In the training, volunteers learn how to use the custom Beached Birds field guide and try out new skills with some actual specimens. There is no charge to attend a training, but plan to provide a $20 refundable deposit if you would like to take home a COASST volunteer kit complete with a COASST Beached Birds field guide. Training activities take place indoors. Beach surveys are best conducted in groups of two or more — please come with a survey partner in mind or plan to join a team during training. RSVP to coasst@uw.edu or 206-221-6893. For more information on the COASST program, visit www.coasst.org.

Alaska State Parks will be holding Saturday work parties as well as Second and Last Saturday guided hikes on both sides of the bay. It’s all about celebrating our local state park. For more information, call 435-7969, email kbayvolunteer@gmail.com, or visit the Alaska Islands &Ocean.

The Anchor Point Fire &Emergency Medical Service Area Board will hold its next board meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday June 21, at the Anchor Point Fire Station, 72440 Milo Fritz Ave. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend. For more information, call 235-6700.

Sandhill crane chicks have started hatching. Report sightings to Kachemak Crane Watch at 235-6262 or reports@cranewatch.org. Provide date, time, location and number of cranes. Leave a name and number in case they need more details.

Anchor Point Senior Citizens

The Anchor Point Senior Center on Milo Fritz Road is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 9 a.m.-noon Friday. The center serves Thursday night dinners starting at 5:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome. Bingo is at 6:30 p.m. with doors opening at 6 p.m. on Friday nights. The Helping Hands Thrift Store is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Exercise sessions are at 10 a.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. For information, call 235-7786.

Friendship Center

Friendship Center Adult Day Services is open 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday with extended hours for special situations. Programs are offered daily, including story time, crafts and musical performances. Call 235-4556.

Homer Senior Citizens

The Caregiver Support Group meets 2-3:30 p.m. the second and fourth Thursday in the senior center conference room. Call Pam Hooker at 299-7198 or Daniel Weisser at 235-4555.

Homer Senior Citizens lunch is open to seniors and guests and is served noon-1:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. The lunch menu for this week is: today, roast turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy; Friday, rockfish Milanese; Monday, baked chicken teriyaki; Tuesday, lasagna; Wednesday, spanakopita; next Thursday, baked ham and scalloped potaotes.

Strong Women classes are 1:30-2:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the Homer Senior Center. The cost is $3 for members and $6 for nonmembers per class.

Zumba Gold classes with Maria are 11 a.m.-noon Tuesdays and 1:30-2:30 p.m. Thursdays at the Homer Senior Center. The cost per class is $4 for members, $6 for nonmembers.

Duplicate Bridge meets at 1 p.m. Thursdays. Tai chi classes are Thursdays at 3 p.m. The cost per class is $3 for members and $6 for nonmembers. Call Daniel Weisser at 235-4555.

Kachemak Bay Campus

Registration continues for the 2017 Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference, June 9-13, Friday-Tuesday, at Land’s End Resort. A limited number of spaces are still available. For more information, visit http://writersconference.homer.alaska.edu.

Novelist Jane Smiley reads and holds a book-signing at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Mariner Theater. Other writers conference faculty also read at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Alice’s Champagne Palace and at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Land’s End Resort. The readings are open to the public.

Registration for fall classes has begun for general public and degree-seeking students. See the schedule for most classes at www.kpc.alaska.edu/academics/schedule.

Pratt Museum

The museum gallery is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. Business offices are open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Historic Harbor Walking Tours are held starting at the Pratt wheelhouse at the Salty Dawg on the Spit. From 3-4:30 p.m. every Monday and Thursday from June 1-Sept. 4, a museum docent leads a tour of the historic Homer Harbor docks, with information about boats, fishing and some of the characters who shaped Homer’s maritime history. Admission is $10 a person or $8 when purchased with museum admission.

Artist David Rosenthal’s show, “Art and Science on the Katmai Coast,” is on exhibit through July 30. In July of 2015, Rosenthal was artist-in-residence for Katmai National Park.

Student News

Megan Koch of Anchor Point made the spring semester Chancellor’s List at the University of Minnesota Crookston. To qualify for the list, she had to earn a 4.0 grade-point average while taking 12 credits of classes.

Births