Light up the tree

Do you know that Anchor Point had a giant tree that had a lot of Christmas lights scattered everywhere? We are writing about this because it was lit up every year, and there was a big party. There has been no tree lighting party for three years. We want to light up the tree this year. If you don’t want to have the tree lighting this year, maybe we will change your mind by saying they used to give out free hot cocoa and different types of cookies. It is our favorite time of the year. This is why we think Anchor Point should light up the tree.

Kiano Slaughter and Jaxon Adams, fourth-grade students, Chapman School, Anchor Point

Keep Jet Skis out of Kachemak Bay

I’m currently an owner of two Jet Skis or personal watercrafts.

I am totally against Jet kis being allowed on Kachemak Bay. My Jet Skis are used at our lake property located in the upper Kenai Peninsula area. The lake does have some birds native to Alaska, but not the sea otters, whales and many other marine animals that would been harmed by the quickness and speed of a Jet Ski.

As a businessman that has lived in Homer for years and has been directly involved in the tourist business, I cannot began to tell you how many times I have heard kayakers, paddle boarders or tour boat operators talking about how great it is to paddle up close to a sea otter and her pup eating a clam on her belly.

The commercial usage of the oyster growers and the other types of user groups that depend on the calm waters of this one-of-a-kind Kachemak Bay critical habitat area cannot survive without the normal usage of what Mother Nature has provided. What kind of rules and regulations would be necessary to not destroy what the Kachemak Bay and the Kenai Peninsula can never replace if this law was repealed?

Please do not allow what nature has provided us in the lower Kenai Peninsula that very few people every get to enjoy.

Let the Jet Ski community enjoy their PWCs on areas that are not as fragile as our marine ecosystem, that we are so very fortunate to have in Kachemak Bay.

Very Sincerely,

Terry Yager

Cece says good-bye

I regret that I had to close Cece’s Kitchen as of the last day in November. The last few years have been very hard. After 22 1/2 years, more restuarants have opened. People have moved or passed away, prices on everything from food to propane have increased, and you can only raise prices on your food and keep it affordable for your patrons.

I’d like to thank everyone who supported me in the last 22 1/2 years. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Cece Grevenberg

Reduce plastic

Pollution,either you care about it or you don’t. Plastic is a huge problem to our oceans and ecosystems. One thing people do not realize is that it takes 10-1,000 years to dispose of plastic waste. The average amount of trash that we produced is 4.40 pounds each day.

Let’s think hypothetically here: what if the amount of trash we produce increases? Let’s say every day we produce 7 pounds of trash, 210 pounds per month, 2,555 pounds a year. On paper that doesn’t sound too bad — 2,555 pounds is about how much a car weighs. Let us go even further into this. Let’s say everyone in Alaska produces 7 pounds of trash. There are about 750,000 people in Alaska. If we do the math, that’s about 5 million pounds of trash every day; 4.40 million is what goes to our dump — 132 a month, 1,606 a year, and about 3 million throughout Alaska, but this is just the average.

Now how much of that actually goes into our ocean? Every year, an estimated 8 million to 12 million metric tons of plastics enter the ocean on top of the estimated 150 million metric tons already in our marine environments. I know that people will think it’s fine — the millennials will fix it. We can’t leave our oceans in the hands of people who might not care.

You don’t need to change your lifestyle to be eco-friendly. Buy reusable straws, water bottles, even reusable bags. Small changes like that could have a huge impact, even just being crafty with plastic is good. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Lillie Mae Kuhn

Farmed fish different from hatchery fish

I understand that there is confusion between farmed fish and hatcheries. It turns out there is a big difference. Farmed fish are kept in tanks until they are killed and sold while hatcheries take the fertilized eggs of the fish that have come back to spawn. Unlike farmed fish, hatchery fish are released into the wild once they turn into fry. They are put in net pens that are in the ocean. They stay in the pens until they are able to make it on their own. After that, they are released in the ocean to live like normal salmon.

Farmed fish stay in their tanks until they are killed. The farmed fish are also loaded with toxins that are harmful to other fish. Hatchery salmon are identical to their wild counterparts.

Additionally, hatcheries are good for the salmon population and therefore fisheries in Alaska. The pink salmon run in Prince William Sound averaged 6,065,336 from 1960 to 1972 which is when hatcheries were built.

From 1972 to present the average for the run is 198,076,910. That’s a lot so hatcheries are needed for a healthy pink salmon harvest.

As you can see there is a big difference between these numbers.

From the data you can tell that hatcheries are helpful for our salmon.

Luke Nelson

Pebble process is broken

I received from Pebble mine a mailed pamphlet making it sound like the Nondalton Tribal Council and Cunyung Tribal Council helped produce the draft EIS. In the tribal leaders letter to the editor on Nov. 18 in response to the advertisement that Pebble submitted to Anchorage Daily News on Nov. 6, Pebble stated that the permitting process for Pebble’s proposed mine is working. In the tribal leaders letter titled “Don’t be misled: Pebble’s permitting process is broken,” this ad gave the impression that our tribal governments support the work that the Army Corps of Engineers has done on Pebble’s environmental review to date. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our tribes have been part of this process from the start. And let us tell you: The process is broken and it shouldn’t be trusted. Pebble did not ask for permission to use logos, and we wouldn’t have granted it if they had.

In the last month Pebble has misrepresented these tribes three times. Tom Collier, CEO, did it when testifying before a Congressional hearing. He claimed they had total support for access from the majority of tribes around Iliamna Lake. Alannah Hurly testified to the fact that they do not. She is Executive Director of United Tribes of Bristol Bay.

If Pebble would create falsehoods about this, what else would they lie about? The capability of their water treatment plant? The level of toxins their putting back into the lakes, rivers and streams? This is exactly what residents of Likely, British Columbia, are asking with the reopening of the Mount Polly Mine. Concerned Citizens of Quesnel Lake organized out of fear about if the mine’s waste waters were even being treated before being discharged into their lake. Some aren’t drinking the water or eating the fish. Here’s their website: ccql.ca. In May of 2019 the Mount Polly Mine closed again, citing financial concerns.

Vicki Duggin, Nikiski

Try to have an open mind about global warming

The Green New Deal is a massive propaganda movement. CO2 isn’t causing global warming. It is actually an integral part of photosynthesis.

Furthermore, the overall atmospheric temperature peaked in 2010 and is now on the decrease. Against all warming predictions, cooling is bringing on record snow, before winter.

This green movement is thrust upon us in order to subjugate us. The truth matters. We are in circuit with the sun and on the threshold of another little ice age, like the Maunder Minimum from 1650 into the 1700s. It’s the Grand Solar Minimum. We’ll be seeing the plunge in the coming years.

Food harvest will diminish because of the bitter cold.

Try to have an open mind. Anthropogenic global warming is junk science.

Tod Tenhoff

Thanks for Nutcracker Faire support

Homer Council on the Arts and our board members would like to graciously acknowledge the community of Homer for contributing to the successful, festive spirit of our Nutcracker Faire with your cheerful participation. Thank you to all of our volunteers who helped put flooring down in the gym, loading and setting-up vendor booths, assistance with parking logistics, managing the music stage, helping with the HCOA booth and all of the clean-up tasks. All of the effort was much appreciated; we could not offer the merry in it all without you.

A grand thank you to the variety of vendors and their willingness to share; the assorted talents and available art and gifts were impressive as always.

To the Nutcracker dancers and theater crew and all of those who support and produce the event — remarkable show. Thank you for the opportunity to share weekend holiday fun with all of you.

We certainly look forward to all of it again next year and are ready to compose plans, ideas, thoughts and most of all, Homer art.

Sincerely,

Emilie Springer, for the Homer Council on the Arts