Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 29/03/2026About 700 people attended a #NoKings rally today in Homer, Alaska (pop. 5,500). @indivisible.org 14570129
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 12/01/2026Thanks. I was editor at the Homer News when Sound Publishing bought the Alaska papers from GateHouse. They were OK, but after I left Carpenter Media Group bought Sound and things got weird. 020
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 11/01/2026This isn’t the first time it has happened at a protest in Homer. 321
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 11/01/2026About 150 people in Homer, Alaska attended an #ICEoutForGood protest against ICE and a vigil for #ReneeGood. It was the first event I covered for the #HomerIdependentPress after coming out of retirement so of course someone rolls coal. (Photos by Michael Armstrong/Homer Independent Press) 36114
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 05/01/2026The Esterbrook pen company is back in business. I don’t see the statehood pen, though. www.esterbrookpens.comesterbrookpens.comEsterbrook PensThe Esterbrook Pen Company, a true American Original, is writing its next chapter. As Americana and nostalgia for the past have come into favor, iconic American brands are being reborn in the cities w... 110
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 01/01/2026Visit homerindependentpress.com . #Journalismhomerindependentpress.comHomer Independent Press – Telling the stories of the Kenai Peninsula accurately, honestly and with respectTelling the stories of the Kenai Peninsula accurately, honestly and with respect 151
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 01/01/2026Well, I thought I had retired from journalism… I’m now the volunteer editor for the Homer Independent Press. We went live on New Year’s Day. homerindependentpress.com/2026/01/01/e...homerindependentpress.comEditorial: Castles in the air – Homer Independent Pressby Michael Armstrong Interim editor, Homer Independent Press Decades ago, when my wife and I added on to our 320-square-foot dry cabin on Diamond Ridge, we had to jack up the building to put in a full... 5338
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 23/11/2025Protesters showed up on a sunny but chilly day for the #RemoveTheRegime rally in Homer, Alaska. 15418
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 12/11/2025There were reports that people saw them in Florida. 110
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 12/11/2025Holy coronal mass ejection! I think these are the most amazing auroras I’ve seen in 45 years in Alaska! Taken from Diamond Ridge, Homer, Alaska, looking all directions. #auroras #NorthernLights 714917
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 12/11/2025Whoa! They’re friggin amazing here in Alaska. 140
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 10/11/2025When I lived in Florida I knew about snow but no way one told me about the magic of hoar frost. Photos taken with a #LensBaby Sweet 22 lens. 090
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 19/10/2025The city of Homer is about 6,000. Add in the surrounding area and it’s about 10,000. The South Kenai Peninsula is the hospital service area. 021
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 19/10/2025Well, we did elect Mary Peltola, a Democrat, in 2022. Alas, she lost re-election. Homer tends to be more progressive. 121
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 19/10/2025About 700 people showed up for the #NoKings protest in Homer, Alaska. That’s almost 5% of the population on the Southern Kenai Peninsula. 734149
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 06/10/2025Some of the best reporting on l’affair Vance has been by @matt.akmemo.com . Holly Todd’s cartoon here is wonderful. mailchi.mp/thealaskacur...mailchi.mpFreedom of speech for me, not for theeFar-right Homer Rep. Sarah Vance got her way after complaining about the Homer News’ coverage of her Charlie Kirk rally 230
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 03/10/2025@nytimes.com reports on the resignation of four Alaska journalists. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/u...nytimes.comJournalists at 3 Newspapers Quit Over Edits to a Charlie Kirk Story 0114
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 03/10/2025Oh no! I’ve been scolded by Rep. Delores Umbridge. alaskawatchman.com/2025/10/02/r...alaskawatchman.comREP. VANCE: Why I criticized Homer News for ‘vile and slanderous’ statements about Charlie KirkThe following post was published on Alaska Rep. Sarah Vance’s Facebook page on Oct. 2. It responds to criticism she has received for calling out the Homer News for the way it characterized the late Ch... 060
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 03/10/2025“You are not required to work” = “We shut off your email and access to the company server.” 000
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 02/10/2025Corporate has to corporate. Maybe this means you’re officially fired and can get unemployment. 110
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 30/09/2025I think the Clarion will fold. It has little advertising. There’s strong community and business support for the Homer News, but I think that will collapse. 120
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 30/09/2025Here in Homer, Alaska, yet another media corporation has bent the knee because a conservative Republican Representative, Sarah Vance, did not like how the Homer News covered a vigil for Charlie Kirk. But Alaska reporters still have integrity. #indivisible www.juneauindependent.com/post/editor-...juneauindependent.comEditor, most news staff of Carpenter Media’s Alaska newspapers resign due to censoring of storyArticle about a Charlie Kirk vigil referring to controversies involving him was altered after a GOP Alaska lawmaker complained to company management 2153
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 30/09/2025This is a devastating blow to community journalism. I’m proud of Chloe, Erin, Jake, and Jeff. They are journalism heroes. Shame on Carpenter, Sound Publishing, and Black Press for bending the knee to a petty tyrant. As the Finns would say, “Perkele, Rep, Vance.” 050
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 27/09/2025I was paraphrasing Alan Moore in “V for Vendetta.” “People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.” 060
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 27/09/2025More on l’affaire Vance in which reporter Eric Stone interviews me. My quote: “I don't think newspapers should be intimidated by their government. I think the government should be intimidated by the newspapers.” alaskapublic.org/programs/ala...alaskapublic.orgAlaska News Nightly: Friday, September 26, 2025Juneau residents will soon decide whether to change the city's sales tax. 1141
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 27/09/2025This is not just spot on, it’s laser beam burning a hole in steel spot on. 060
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 26/09/2025The Rep. Vance press-bullying story has been picked up by Matt Buxton of the Alaska Current. thealaskacurrent.com/2025/09/25/a...thealaskacurrent.comAlaska GOP Rep. Vance threatens boycott of Homer News over Charlie Kirk coverage - The Alaska CurrentExtreme-right Republican Rep. Sarah Vance this week joined the fervent movement of conservatives using their official platforms and conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death to try to silence the pre... 110
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 26/09/2025Someone in the parent corporation of the Homer News removed the original web story and later replaced it with an edited, toned down version. The original reporter’s byline was replaced with “staff report.” But print endures. 020
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 25/09/2025And this: “If the paper continues to treat community events as opportunities for partisan spin, the consequence will be financial as well as reputational.” 010
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 25/09/2025Vance wrote: “Because of this ongoing bias, I am fully aware of a growing movement to boycott Homer News advertising. Local businesses are openly discussing pulling their dollars, and many readers are ready to walk away altogether.“ 110
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 25/09/2025Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, didn’t like the Homer (Alaska) News coverage of the vigil she organized for Charlie Kirk. On her official letterhead she threatened a boycott. Intimidating a free press because you don’t like what they write? I wonder who she learned that from? 4159
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 14/09/2025I can’t decide if the Kirk murder is a Reichstag fire or the death of Horst Wessel. 100
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 14/09/2025Every year artist Mavis Muller coordinates the creation of a beautiful basket on a beach in Homer, Alaska—and then it’s transformed into heat and light. 082
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 06/09/2025I checked the court filing. There are 500,000 works in the lawsuit so the number of authors affected would be less. 010
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 06/09/2025Clarification: The settlement says it’s per work, with 500,000 works registered. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... 000
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 06/09/2025“The settlement is (the) largest payout in the history of U.S. copyright cases. Anthropic will pay $3,000 per work to 500,000 authors.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/t...nytimes.comAnthropic Agrees to Pay $1.5 Billion to Settle Lawsuit With Book Authors 140
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 06/09/2025Some of you missed this paragraph: “The settlement is (the) largest payout in the history of U.S. copyright cases. Anthropic will pay $3,000 per work to 500,000 authors.” That’s =per work=. Some writers had more than 50 works pirated. 120
Michael Armstrong @maarmstrong.bsky.social · 06/09/2025Authors may get $3,000 per work pirated. Some writers had 50 or more pirated works. 110