Soldotna City Council reinstates mask mandate for public buildings

By
Suzanne Downing
-
51

The Soldotna City Council has passed a resolution requiring face masks be worn in public indoor areas of city-owned buildings whenever the Central Kenai Peninsula is seeing spiking cases of Covid-19.

Soldotna’s mask mandate was implemented in January, but had been relaxed in late May, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines.

The council vote was 5-1 in favor of reinstating the mandate, which says when there are more than 50 new cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 persons in the central Kenai Peninsula over the past 7 days, or if the percentage of positive tests reaches past 8 percent, the mask mandate will be in effect.

The new rule goes into effect on Monday, Aug. 16 for the main lobby and council chambers of Soldotna City Hall, the Soldotna Public Library, the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex, and the public lobby of Soldotna Police Department, Wastewater Treatment Plant, and Maintenance Shop.

Soldotna’s city manager has the authority to interpret the mandate and make exceptions, for example people who are eating or drinking or to conduct tasks during which wearing a mask would not be safe. Children under the age of 2 are exempt.

Soldotna, on the Kenai Peninsula, has 4,649 residents in the city limits. There are two open seats on the Soldotna City Council for this October’s election.

51 COMMENTS

  1. Say it ain’t so, common Sense has arrived on the kenai? I like how the author always slips in right at the last the fix such as there’s an election coming up or there is storm clouds on the horizon stuff like that. It’s becoming kind of predictable.

  2. Easy enough. Just don’t go into a public building in Soldotna, and come election time, get a new city council.

    There. Fixed it.

    • Welp, won’t be setting foot in the library ever again. I don’t live inside the city limits so I can’t run.

  3. At least we have Mat-Su for our “control” in Alaska, there will be some good scientific data drawn from them. The lower 48 will have Florida, after all the smoke clears, unless the pseudo-science crew get their way with Broward County and contaminate the data by masking, at that point Florida data becomes worthless.

    • Yeah we have about 20% of all new covid cases in the country going on right now and hospitals overflowing. About 100 people a day are dying from it. Most are the unvaccinated. Schools are going back to masking up. Walmart closed for 2 days to deep clean and sanitize and will reopen today here. They are telling everybody to make sure you know where a copy of your shot card is and if you can’t find it where you can get a new one. Going to have to start showing it to get in places. Heard immunity is not obtainable now since so many people didn’t get the shot, and people still get sick who have been vaccinated. At least the vaccinated won’t wake up dead like a lot of people here.

      • CDC amends Florida’s COVID-19 numbers after inaccuracies.

        “After the CDC website showed record high numbers for Sunday, Aug. 8, the Florida Department of Health balked, accusing the agency of folding several days of new cases into one.”

        LOL

      • Greg, you are so full of it! Your misrepresentations, hysterical misinterpretations of reality, and outright lies do nothing but highlight your mindless parroting of corporate media fearporn and propaganda.
        .
        Hospitals in Florida are NOT ‘overflowing’, the majority of those (supposedly) dying from the Wuhan Virus are in fact the so-called “vaccinated”, and you still ignore the growing evidence of both ineffectiveness and significant side effects from the death jabs that all you ignorant, compliant and emotion-driven sheep lined up to take.
        .
        You have NOTHING — not facts, not logic, not reason, nor the ability to critically think and independently judge — on your side. NOTHING, except pandering to mindless and uninformed fear. You are pathetic.

        • He doesn’t even present a sense of humor, which is no surprise as there is a direct relationship between a sense of humor and intelligence.
          Imagine being the kind of guy that trolls a website of opinions contrary to your own. Me thinks someone has some S/M issues. Probably calls his dog to him so he can kick it.
          Poor little man, so sad.

          • This website posted my previous comment in the wrong place. I had inserted it as a reply to “Jefferson / August 12” about his reply to “Greg Forkner” Instead it comes out as a reply to “Greg” which puts a 180 spin on it’s meaning, and no way to edit it to repair. So…

      • You don’t know what herd immunity is. It’s going happen one way or another and if you think vaccines will get anybody to herd immunity just look up what’s going on in Iceland right now — their 90% vax rate has failed.

      • The only people who can wake up dead are the ones who live in fear, such as yourself.

        Your consciousness is so narrow, you cannot see past your ignorance.

        There is more to our existence than just life on this planet. Earth is not our final destination. Why you so attached?
        Scared that there is nothing for you when the big sleep comes?
        Come on brother, there is a better way.

        Living this life in fear is an absolute waste.
        Turn off your TV and go live.

      • If the Vax protects you from the virus, then why are all the vaccinated people getting sick and the anti vax people just fine and dandy? Follow the science and explain to me why you would want to be a Lab Rat?

        • William, the facts do not support your assertions here. 95-99% of hospitalizations and deaths are in unvaccinated individuals. So clearly the vaccine is working.

          Time for you to start following the science.

          • Coleman, your “facts” are nothing of the sort, merely more misinformation, propaganda and lies spewed by the increasingly desperate and discredited corporate media and political establishment.

      • The mart probably shut down because the production and supply line disruptions from this bs has become so bad that there is no product left on the shelves to sell, but they certainly can’t announce that to everyone, it would be bad for business.

  5. I bet a majority, and minority, are Democrats who needed a job and found it in the few government jobs in Soldotna. I never see a Democrat today going into a depressed (economically dying) community just to start up small businesses.

    • I bet anyone anything if Republicans started moving out to Rural Alaska for a new life and revive those dying communities, the government jobs will follow, the small business community will be better, and then more Democrats will move out into once dying communities only because of the families that already did the work for them. Hahahaha

      • This was a no-brainer as masks work-you don’t think so but you are full of bull manure.
        “In June, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that other mitigation measures — such as physical distancing and handwashing — are “insufficient by themselves” in curbing the pandemic without mask use, too.”
        Put this in your pipe and smoke it!

      • Another fool who doesn’t know that masks work to limit the spread of this virus.
        In June, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that other mitigation measures — such as physical distancing and handwashing — are “insufficient by themselves” in curbing the pandemic without mask use, too.

        • Who’s the fool? A person who believes everything a corrupt government and obviously biased media tells them or the person who weighs the tangible facts surrounding them everyday. Who’s the fool? A person willing to give up his personal freedom out of fear and is quick to force others to give up theirs or the person weighs the tangible facts surrounding them everyday. Take away the fear mongering bullhorns of the TV and internet and you wouldn’t have even knew there was “pandemic”. People die every day. Live your life freely. If you live in fear, you are already dead. If you believe in God you would already know that.

        • Another spineless, compliant and conformist sheep.
          .
          Bill, you are not really even human, if you cannot exercise even a modicum of critical thinking and independent judgment. You are simply a mindless drone, terrified of life and terrified of freedom. But we’ll be damned if we let you drag the rest of us into your Orwellian dystopian hellhole due to your irrational fear of life.

          • Brian and Jefferson-like I showed I believe in the science and not some BS from a right-wing website.
            The science is with masking and it’s their critical thinking that is behind their results. This has not a single thing to do with personal freedoms and like Arnold says “screw your freedoms.” Heheh!
            And by the way, have you two even looked at the serious issues those governors that don’t have mask mandates are facing???

  8. When you get this disease, fight for your Life. A 15-year-old walked today down here for the first time in over 3 weeks after having been on a ventilator. Her mom told her that every day and that’s what she did.

  9. Believe what you want but I’ve been neck deep in Covid since day one on the front line. I run a hospital in the lower 48/ Louisiana. The people that have died from Covid are the exception, the minority. Nearly everyone either gets sick and moves on or doesn’t get sick at all. Over half the patients I’ve treated and my colleges are treating are vaccinated and the other half not. Biggest mass brainwash propaganda ever carried out on a weak minded nation of sheep! But y’all watch the news and trust government controlled and influenced sources. Hospitals that count the days just like the government says in order to remain in “compliance” and eligible for Medicare dollars. Lol people will believe anything on tv but very few are willing to seek the truth. Give up your core liberties and try to take mine based on fear that has been planted in you by the enemy. Censor all dissenting opinion, efforts to reach you with the boots on the ground facts. But what do I know, just 22 years of medicine and acute care hospital leadership. Lol.

  10. This Covid pandemic has a higher survival rate without the COVID shot. Stop listening to the MSM, they are nothing but fear mongering puppets and you allow yourself to be spit on. The CDC & WHO were under fire when 45 was in office… and for good reason!

Comments are closed.