While 2023 saw the closest thing to a “return to normalcy” since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, actual COVID numbers and hospitalizations were reported to be rising for the first few months of the year before dropping to unprecedented lows. With a drastic decrease in demand for on-site tests and vaccines, the South Peninsula COVID-19 testing and vaccine site closed its doors, giving way to at-home testing and treatment at the regular hospital facilities.
A new officer joined the ranks of the Soldotna Police Department during Wednesday’s meeting of the Soldotna City Council. Soldotna Mayor Paul Whitney swore in Bryan Hahn, originally from the central peninsula, as the department’s newest police officer.