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People line up at food trucks and trailers on Saturday, June 19, 2021, at the Kevin Bell Ice Arena parking lot on the Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska. Part of the Homer Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center's Food Fest last week, the two-day food truck event drew a steady crowd. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Homer’s Best Bets
June 23, 2021 2:30 am

The Solstice might be over, but we still have 18 hours and 42 minutes of daylight, which ought to be…

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Children help create art with the projectile painting booth on Saturday, June 5, 2021, for Mary Epperson Day at the Homer Council on the Arts in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News0
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June 9, 2021 2:30 am

Holy ultraviolet, has this been an awesome June or what? Any time you can get at least one weekend day…

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Poot Peak looms over visitors to the Homer Spit on Saturday, May 29, 2021, in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
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June 2, 2021 2:30 am

Now we’re talking summer, Betster persons. There’s so much to do that yours truly will shut up and cut to…

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The Homer Spit and the Kenai Mountains catch the afternoon sunshine of Monday, May 17, 2021, as seen from West Hill in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
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May 26, 2021 2:30 am

The awesome weather we’ve been having this past week has done wonders to ease a lot of the anxiety and…

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An atmoshpheric phenomena called STEVE — for "Sudden Thermal Emission from Velocity Enhancement" — is seen in the southern sky early on Saturday, April 17, 2021, from Diamond Ridge near Homer, Alaska. The STEVE appeared the same night as a strong display of auroras to the north. Don Hampton, a research associate and faculty member at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, said STEVEs are not auroras, but a stream of charged particles or sub-aurora polarization streams. "It's actually primarily a different phenomena or mechanism that is creating light," Hampton said of STEVEs. A STEVE is more of a broadband emission than an aurora and can be distinguished by its color of light. Auroras tend to be green or vivid red, while a STEVE appears white to the human eye and may have tinges of red. Hampton said scientists knew about streams of charged particles that are not auroras, but hadn't thought to look if there's an optical phenomena associated with. Aurora chasers in Canada first noticed the optical phenomena in 2014, and it was named by Chris Ratzlaff as a joke reference to the film "Over the Hedge," where the animals called the hedge "Steve." NASA scientist Elizabeth Macdonald came up with the description. "It's pretty cool," Hampton said. "The whole history of the STEVE is that it's a citizen scientist discovery." (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
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April 21, 2021 2:30 am

In the long haul toward spring, even though winter might be hanging on with all its might, light and warmth…

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A trumpeter swan feeds in Beluga Slough on Monday, April 12, 2021, in Homer, Alaska. According to local birders, both tundra and trumpeter swans have been seen in the area the past week. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
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By Michael Armstrong • April 14, 2021 2:30 am

Congratulations, citizen! You have diligently fulfilled your duties as a tax-paying, law-abiding resident of the United States of America and…

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Workers with Psenak Construction return with an empty load after dumping armor rock at the Ocean Drive seawall on Monday, March 22, 2021, at Mariner Park on the Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
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March 31, 2021 2:30 am

Everyone loves a good joke, especially today, when pranks are taken to an art form. Perhaps because we live in…

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A cow moose and calf stand by spruce trees on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, near the Homer News in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
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March 24, 2021 2:30 am

Last week the Betster got so busy yammering away about Salty Dawg hoodies that yours truly totally forgot about the…

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A bald eagle perches in a spruce tree near the Lake Street stoplight on Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Homer, Alaska. Since 2010, a pair of bald eagles has nested in the area near Beluga Slough south of the Lake Street and Sterling Highway intersection. The first nest was destroyed when the tree fell down in a winter storm in 2011. In 2012 the eagles built a new nest across from the Homer Post Office by the motorhome dump station. In 2014 they built another nest in a new tree closer to the slough. This year’s eagles have returned to a nest built in 2016 just east of the 2014-2015 nest.
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March 17, 2021 2:30 am

Social media is all aflutter with the news that an Alaska man the FBI arrested on charges that he participated…

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Snow covers the historic Harrington cabin and outhouse on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at the Pratt Museum in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
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March 10, 2021 2:30 am

For the past few months the Betster has been working at home at the Fortress of Solitude in an undisclosed…

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Waves during an extreme high tide and big seas pound the Homer Spit on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 28, 2021, on the Homer Spit, as seen through photographer Malia Anderson's windshield. (Photo by Malia Anderson / Homer News)
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March 3, 2021 2:30 am

All those social media photos of arms being poked as Alaskans get vaccinated are getting a little cliche — and…

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The Alaska and U.S. flags fly at half staff on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021, at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Vistor Center. President Joe Biden on Monday ordered flags to be flown at half staff at federal facilities for five days to honor the 500,000 Americans who have died of COVID-19. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
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February 24, 2021 2:30 am

It’s hard to believe we’re already two months into 2021, but here we are. After Sunday, February will be all…

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