Thanks!

Omg thank youuuu!

Thanks!!!!

Off the Shelf: ‘Anxious Generation’ underserves conversations about cellphones - Peninsula Clarion The book has been cited in recent school board discussions over cellphone policies.

And, finally, I got second place arts and culture criticism in print for my magnum opus on how Anxious Generation is dumb.
www.peninsulaclarion.com/2025/01/08/o...

‘Theater for theater kids who want to take it a bit more seriously’ - Peninsula Clarion Peninsula students compete at Soldotna DDF invitational.

I got second place best arts reporting in print for this story about a drama, debate and forensics competition.
www.peninsulaclarion.com/2025/02/17/t...

Proposal to use beach seines in commercial fishery killed - Peninsula Clarion The board amended the proposal to remove setnets from the east side setnet fishery before the motion failed 3-3.

I got third place in reporting on government or politics for print large for this story about some State Board of Fish shenanigans.
www.peninsulaclarion.com/2025/03/18/p...

Giving students their ‘best year yet’ - Peninsula Clarion The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s 42 schools welcome kids back into classrooms.

I won best short feature in print large (competing with larger daily publications like the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Beacon) for this story about the first day of school.
www.peninsulaclarion.com/2025/08/19/g...

More than 50 people work together to perform a traditional blanket toss during the Kahtnuht’ana Hey Chi’ula Native Youth Olympics Invitational at Skyview Middle School near Soldotna, Alaska, on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

This was my first place winning feature photo, taken while covering a Native Youth Olympics competition at Skyview Middle School.

Jake holds his five (!) Alaska Press Club awards at 49th State Brewing in Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday, April 18, 2026.

Jake’s press club awards are splayed on a black couch, including first place best feature photo; first place best short feature in print large; third place best reporting on government or politics in print large; second place best arts reporting in print; and second place best arts & culture criticism in print.

Since quitting the Clarion I’ve struggled to see a place for myself in journalism, but the Alaska Press Club conference this weekend was so reinvigorating! Great to spend time learning with reporters from across Alaska and so honored to be recognized for my work alongside so many talented folks!

The chamber says that affixing a new page is unrealistic, but that getting a reprint from a busy press may take until the end of July, well after the time the chamber would be wanting to have the guides in the hands of potential visitors.

The cost for either replacing the ad or reprinting the guide will be split evenly between the chamber, Lakeshore Lodge and Land’s End Resort, the decision reads.

Before remaining copies of the guide can be distributed, Seifert’s decision reads, they must be “physically altered and corrected by adhering a replacement advertisement” over Lakeshore Lodging’s advertisement. The chamber may alternatively decide to simply reprint the remaining guides.

Judge Seifert initially declined to prevent the chamber from distributing the 50,000 copies of the guide. To date, around 10,000 have been distributed, while around 25,000 are stored in Homer and 13,000 are in Anchorage. This week, she ruled that distribution must be ceased and copies recalled.

Land’s End co-founder (and Must Read Alaska owner) Jon Faulkner sued the chamber, Lakeshore Lodging and its manager Jim Anderson in March and called for distribution of this year’s visitor’s guide to be blocked.

At question is a full-page ad by Lakeshore Lodging, which features an image alleged to be an “iconic” photograph representing Land’s End Resort. The image is used in ads for both Land’s End Resort and Lakeshore Lodging in this year’s Homer Chamber of Commerce Visitor’s Guide.

Judge blocks distribution of new Homer tourism guide By Jake Dye Special to the Homer Independent Press The Homer Chamber of Commerce will be unable to distribute the bulk of its 2026 visitor guides until an advertisement is replaced or the guides ar…

The Homer Chamber of Commerce will be unable to distribute the bulk of its 2026 visitor guides until an advertisement is replaced or the guides are reprinted, under a preliminary injunction granted Monday by Superior Court Judge Bride Seifert.
#aknews
homerindependentpress.com/2026/04/15/j...

Artemis II parachutes down towards the Pacific Ocean in a livestream by NASA.

We are *SO BACK*

The Alaska House of Representatives meets on Friday evening, as seen on a broadcast by Gavel Alaska

We’re so back.

A computer screen shows livestreams of both NASA’s Artemis II and a House Floor Session of the Alaska Legislature.

Taking bets at this time as to who will make it back first: Artemis II or the Alaska House of Representatives

From Space Camp to NASA Mission Control: Soldotna woman helps send astronauts to space Dr. Tess Caswell is a Soldotna High School graduate who works as a lead capsule communicator for NASA’s Artemis II mission. The four-member crew is scheduled to return to earth Friday evening.

Dr. Tess Caswell is a Soldotna High School graduate who works as a lead capsule communicator for NASA’s Artemis II mission. The four-member crew is scheduled to return to earth Friday evening. #KPBorough #aknews www.kdll.org/local-news/2...

Public pools, small schools will close under newly adopted district budget By Jake Dye Special to the Homer Independent PressHomer’s public pool will be defunded, four schools in other towns will be closed, librarians will be eliminated and teachers will lose their jobs u…

Four schools will be closed, librarians will be eliminated, pools will be defunded and teachers will lose their jobs under a budget adopted Monday by the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education.
#aknews
homerindependentpress.com/2026/04/09/p...

School district, unions at impasse on salary negotiations In its latest offers, the district proposed a three-year contract with a 3-2-2 raise structure to both unions. Staff would get a 3% raise for the current school year, then 2% and 2% raises through the...

@a-ohara.bsky.social at KDLL has been on this story — hard to see how this all shakes out.
www.kdll.org/local-news/2...

Negotiations are such an underrated part of this whole conversation, former board prez Zen Kelly said tonight that a 2% raise for staff would add roughly $3 million in spending — the current, status quo budget leaves only around $500,000 in surplus.

They set the dates for next year as part of their consent agenda tonight — they'll be in Seward on Oct. 5 and back in Homer on March 1, 2027.

They do one meeting a year each in Homer and Seward scheduled very far in advance, so it's really just coincidence that this is happening in Homer but also they did of course know these action items were coming up.

The board had wanted to close Paul Banks Elementary in Homer, too, but decided that it couldn't this year because of a lease to a charter school for space within West Homer Elementary — the implication has been that the lease is the only thing keeping the school from closing now but won't next year

It's *super weird* that this all happened in Homer where most of the folks wanting to testify on behalf of their schools had to do so over Zoom — not that the standard Soldotna setting would have been much better for Seward Middle, for which only a single person spoke tonight.

According to the board’s draft budget, those closures are projected to save the district nearly $2 million next year — only a step towards overcoming a projected $8 million deficit for the coming fiscal year that comes even after the district already closed a school and slashed staff last year.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s board voted today to close Tustumena Elementary, Sterling Elementary, Seward Middle and River City Academy. Those schools have a combined enrollment of 380 students. There will be no school in Kasilof or Sterling — kids will commute to Soldotna.
#aknews

I didn’t! Is it worth a shot? I was pretty charmed by the ramyeon fries — my fiancée and friend failed to agree tho