20 years ago

Unocal Corp. announced it had found a new natural gas reservoir under an exploration well near Ninilchik. Local business officials greeted the news with enthusiasm, saying the find makes bringing natural gas to Homer more feasible. Unocal said the 11,600-foot deep well showed significant natural gas accumulation. The formation was expected to yield 11.2 million cubic feet of gas a day.

Anchor Point Chamber of Commerce Director Tom Clark praised the discovery. Cook Inletkeeper Director Bob Shavelson expressed skepticism that the find would bring natural gas soon to the southern Kenai Peninsula in the foreseeable future.

— From the issue of Jan. 23, 2002

30 years ago

Parents in the Russian Old Believer community of Voznesenka pulled their children from public school after learning a computer had been installed there. However, after Kenai Peninsula Borough School District officials assured parents their children would not be using the computer, parents sent their children back. The district put in a Unisys computer to handle administration data.

The district alternative school coordinator, Rick Matiya, said he understands the objection to computers comes from the name. If each letter is assigned a number in their order — a=1, b=2, c=3, etc. — added together, and multiplied by six, it equals 666, the mark of the beast in the Book of Revelations.

“They interpret it as a satanic sign,” Matiya said. “Ergo, you shouldn’t have computers.”

— From the issue of Jan. 23, 1992

50 years ago

The Jan. 20, 1972 issue is missing from from the Homer News archives.