Shaylon Cochran, KDLL - Kenai
Shaylon Cochran is a host and reporter at KDLL in Kenai. He’s reported on fishing, energy, agriculture and local politics since coming to Alaska in 2011. He has worked at KDLL/KBBI on the Kenai Peninsula, where he picked up lots of new hobbies, like smoking salmon, raising chickens, skiing and counting RV’s. He holds a bachelors degree in Journalism from Iowa State University.
Disaster Declared For Area South Of Kenai
A handful of residents on the Kenai Peninsula have been battling surface and groundwater flooding for more than a month.
Chuitna Citizens Coalition Gets Win In Superior Court
After a four year wait, the Department of Natural Resources will finally make a decision on applications having to do with the proposed Chuitna mine. A superior court decision handed down this week compels the Department to make its decision within 30 days.
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Industry, Agencies Probe Aging Cook Inlet Infrastructure
Leaders from the oil and gas industry and state regulatory agencies met in Anchorage Monday for a work session to begin the conversation about what to do with aging infrastructure in Cook Inlet. One of the biggest questions to answer: who will be responsible?
Board Shake-ups at Buccaneer Continue
The Board of Directors for Buccaneer Energy has a new look again, just weeks after an attempt to overtake the Board by two Singapore-based investment companies was only partially successful.
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National Guard Cavalry Goes On ‘Spur Ride’ In Kenai
Every weekend across the country, service men and women in the National Guard fall in for training drills. Troops with the 1st Squadron 297th Cavalry did the same in Kenai recently, but this wasn’t an ordinary drill weekend.
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AK: Fish Camp
Dotting the coast line of Cook Inlet from Ninilchik to Nikiski are some of the Kenai Peninsula’s oldest businesses. Many of these commercial fish camps are still owned and operated by the families that started them two or three generations ago. KDLL’s Shaylon Cochran has a closer look at the family traditions that are at the center of the culture of setnetting.
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Central Peninsula Hospital Opens New Oncology Unit
Wednesday was the grand opening of a new oncology unit at Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna. Tt’s the latest development in a broader effort to expand medical services on the Peninsula.
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Kenai Peninsula College Founder Dies
The Kenai Peninsula lost one of its most influential figures Wednesday. Clayton Brockel, the founding director of Kenai Peninsula College died. He was 85.
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Study Attempts To Pinpoint Salmon As They Hit Rivers
King salmon runs to the rivers of Cook Inlet are down again this year. After last year’s disastrous fishing season, the Parnell administration launched a 5-year, $30 million effort to find out more about salmon life cycles in the ocean. One of the studies under way is trying to figure out where kings and reds are hanging out in the water just before they return to the rivers.
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Hilcorp Handed $115,000 Penalty
Citing aggressiveness in its operations, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has handed down several orders to energy producer Hilcorp, including a $115,000 civil penalty.
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Lawsuit Over Beluga Population Counts Settled In Court
A lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service has been settled in District Court in Anchorage. Native and environmental groups took issue with some of the math the agency used in calculating how many Cook Inlet Beluga whales would be affected by seismic testing for oil and gas.
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Tesoro Fined For Clean Air Violations
Tesoro Corporation has been issued a fine of more than $1 million for violating provisions of the Clean Air Act.
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Kenai Peninsula Group Seeks To Increase Voter Turnout With New Ordinance
A group of citizens on the Kenai Peninsula is trying to change the way voters cast their ballot in Borough elections.
State Leases Nearly 150,000 Acres To Oil, Gas Developers
The state of Alaska leased nearly 150,000 acres to oil and gas developers in a sale on Wednesday. The sale represents a continued interest in development in Cook Inlet that could focus on oil drilling in the coming years.
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Kenai Man Describes Bear Attack
A weekend encounter with a brown bear on the Kasilof River left a Kenai man with just minor scrapes and bruises and his family unharmed. But the encounter was a terrifying one. KDLL’s Shaylon Cochran spoke with Toby Burke for a first hand account of what happened.
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Hilcorp, Aurora Outline Cook Inlet Drilling Plans
The summer drilling season is getting closer and operators in Cook Inlet have big plans for 2013.
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Buccaneer Energy Files Countersuit Against Archer Drilling
Buccaneer Energy Alaska has filed litigation countering a lawsuit brought by a subcontractor in December concerning work on the jack-up rig Endeavor. The Endeavor is currently in Homer. KDLL’s Shaylon Cochran has the details.
Environmental Group Sues Over Seismic Work in Cook Inlet
Oral arguments are being heard Friday in US District Court in Anchorage for a lawsuit that challenges the decision made by the National Marine Fisheries Service to authorize the first of at least three years of seismic exploration in Cook Inlet.
AK: Restoration
For the past three years, a small group of dedicated volunteers has been putting in countless hours restoring a Watchmen’s cabin for the Kasilof Regional Historical Association. Each Friday they get together and make a few small steps toward bringing the once-ailing cabin back to life.
Cook Inlet Energy Proposes Pipeline To Link West Side Of Cook Inlet
Plans for a 29-mile pipeline underneath Cook Inlet were announced Wednesday. Cook Inlet Energy, one of many new players in the area, is the company applying for a right-of-way lease from the Department of Natural Resources. An underwater pipeline would solve several problems for Cook Inlet oil producers, but other concerns remain.