20 years ago

Last year, when Homer was selected as the site of the curling competition for the 2006 Arctic Winter Games, most folks around town were asking themselves the same question: What in the heck is curling? Few Alaskans have watched a curling tournament — called a bonspiel — and even fewer have played the sport. Coverage of curling events on U.S. television so far has ranged from satirical (What will those funny Canadians think up next?) to nearly nonexistent. But to the 40 athletes coming to Homer to compete for five days beginning March 6, curling is more than some obscure northern pastime.

— From the issue of Jan. 26, 2006

30 years ago

Michael Armstrong spotted a smoky haze building up in the valley behind his Diamond Ridge home last Wednesday afternoon. Then, he started smelling — and tasting — it. From a vantage point overlooking the North Fork area, Armstrong could see four bonfires blazing, and columns of smoke several hundred feet high — all emanating from loggers’ brushfires. After watching the illegal brush fires burn unchecked for 48 hours, he now realizes that Homer isn’t exempt from big-city air and environmental problems. Like the three other Homer residents who called the Department of Environmental Conservation to report the smoke — two of whom reported asthma or other family respiratory problems that they feared the smoke would exacerbate, according to a DEC field investigator — Armstrong is one of many Homer residents wondering who, if anyone, is keeping Peninsula loggers in line.

— From the issue of Jan. 25, 1996