Sorted by date Results 201 - 225 of 596
Two Petersburg businesses are semi-finalists in a contest amongst Southeast Alaska entrepreneurs competing for $40,000 in consulting funds to grow and expand their business. Path to Prosperity (P2P), a partnership between the Haa Aani Community Development and The Nature Conservatory, was developed to support entrepreneurs and increase economic development and sustainability in Southeast communities. Local businesses Tonka Seafoods and Petersburg Indian Association’s SeaLife Compost were selected as semi-finalists from 27 applicants. Ten o...
A grand jury indicted Christafur Morrell, 19, for two out of the three charges Petersburg Police filed against him related to heroin distribution last week. Police seized around $75,000 worth of heroin last Thursday after arresting Morrell, of Des Moines, Wash., on multiple felony charges. The grand jury indicted Morrell with Possession of Heroin with Intent to Distribute and Possession of Heroin. The prosecuting attorney dropped the third charge: Maintaining a Dwelling Used for Distribution of a Controlled Substance. Police Chief Kelly...
This October’s municipal ballot is the largest Petersburg voters have seen for many years, according to Petersburg Borough Clerk Kathy O’Rear. Thirty-six elected positions and seven ballot propositions, pending assembly approval, are on the ballot. In a report to the Borough Assembly, O’Rear wrote in regard to the need for election workers. “A push to recruit new workers in 2009 to train for future elections failed,” O’Rear wrote. “The numerous letters and notices we have recently placed seeking new election workers have largely gone unanswer...
Petersburg resident and little league umpire Ted Sandhoffer is heading to San Bernardino, Calif. in August to umpire the Western Regional Little League Tournament. Sandhoffer has been a volunteer umpire for more than ten years. He has participated in a Southeast District tournament and two state Little League tournaments in Anchorage-requirements for umpiring in the Little League regional tournaments. Little League District Administrator and Petersburg resident Duane Bell nominated Sandhoffer...
Local, regional and federal law enforcement officers seized around $75,000 worth of heroin last Thursday after arresting Christafur Morrell, 19, of Des Moines, Wash. on multiple felony charges. Petersburg Police, Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs and the FBI arrested Morrell last Thursday in a local motel. Officers also seized around $6,000. Police charged Morrell with Possession of Heroin with intent to distribute, Possession of Heroin and Maintaining a Dwelling used for the distribution... Full story
The Petersburg Medical Center's Physical Therapy Department is holding the Paddle Battle in the Narrows fundraiser on July 12 to raise money for new parallel bars. The Paddle Battle consists of two courses that run along the Wrangell Narrows where kayakers, paddle boarders, rowers or whatever flotation craft one prefers can find community members to sponsor each mile of their trip. A long course, from Woodpecker Cove to Middle Harbor, is planned for those looking for more of a challenge. Fundrai... Full story
Two men died Sunday evening after their 18-foot skiff capsized near Level Island 22 miles south of Petersburg According to an Alaska State Troopers press release, a United States Coast Guard (USCG) helicopter found Jonathan Comfort, 45, and Kenneth Rupprecht, 58, dead around 10 p.m. in the water and without life jackets near Douglas Bay on the south end of Kupreanof Island. Comfort called 911 around 5:30 p.m. and told Petersburg Police dispatch their boat had capsized and they were swimming toward Level Island. Petersburg Police notified the... Full story
Last week Lutheran Church pastor Mike Schwarte called a meeting of community leaders to address a perceived increase in the local homeless population. "It seems like the frequency and intensity is increasing about the transient and the homeless situation in town," Schwarte said. "There seems to be two classifications. There's the people who live here and the people who are passing through town working for the summer." The evidence of an increased homeless population is anecdotal at this point....
Foul play is suspected as the cause of two vehicle fires that occurred last Monday evening. Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department (PVFD) firefighters responded to a call Monday around 10:30 p.m. about two fires on Twin Creek Road. PVFD spokesperson David Berg said responders first came upon a container van that was fully engulfed in flames. About one quarter mile down the road, firefighters found another vehicle completely destroyed by fire. “The late model SUV vehicle was almost out and the fire had completely burned everything in it,” Ber...
Former Petersburg Community School District Maintenance Director Tye Petersen, 46, plead guilty last week to Distribution, Receipt and Possession of Child Pornography—three counts that carry up to a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years of imprisonment and a $250,000 fine for each count. Petersen was arrested last October after federal investigators and local police conducted a search warrant of his home and electronic devices. Investigators found email attachments as well as CDs containing images and videos of young children e...
Salvation Army Lieutenants Caleb Fankhauser and Christin Fankhauser are transferring to a post in Homer and their replacements are due to arrive July 2. John Birks, 30, and Mysti Birks, 32, just graduated from a 22-month Salvation Army training program in Los Angeles and will serve their first post, similar to the Fankhausers, in Petersburg. "We both kind of have the same thought with just being able to go to a community and do the best we can to serve that community," John Birks said. "We have...
Four past and present Petersburg artists will have their work on display in the Ketchikan Area Arts and Humanities Council’s Main Street Gallery from July 4-25. Artists Joe Viechnicki, Susan Christensen, Pia Reilly and John McCabe are all transplants to Petersburg but have lived here for decades. Their work explores themes common to island living and the Pacific Northwest including community, isolation, solitude, beauty, strength and loneliness. Christensen recently returned to Seattle after living in Petersburg for many years. She currently p...
The Thomas Bay Power Authority (TBPA) Commission placed General Manager Michael Nicholls and Administrative Clerk Rhonda Christian on paid leave last Friday after a reported lack of communication from the TBPA office. TBPA, the organization responsible for operation and maintenance of the Tyee Hydroelectric Plant that provides power to Petersburg and Wrangell, is undergoing negotiations to transfer its operations to Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA). Commission members haven’t received financial information and haven’t approved a bud...
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT) released a draft Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan (SATP) for public review. The plan includes the construction of a road from Kake to Petersburg and a Wrangell Narrows ferry. According to the plan, the road is meant to be a low-volume road intended to provide local traffic between the two communities. “A road connection to Petersburg would allow access to many of the needed goods and services and could be accomplished with a day trip at significantly reduced cost,” the... Full story
Issues of funding assistance continue to crop up between the Petersburg Borough Assembly and Petersburg Medical Center, and an ambiguous relationship between the two bodies isn’t clarifying the matter. Last week, PMC CEO Liz Woodyard requested, on behalf of the hospital board, the assembly pay for repairs on a leaking exhaust stack in the borough-owned hospital facility—a request the assembly denied. Woodyard said PMC is struggling to keep up with repairs as the borough-owned building ages, and the dilemma of not being able to afford the rep... Full story
More than 100 Petersburg youngsters are spending part of their summer break reading books and competing for prizes in the Petersburg Public Library summer reading program. Kids can read a book and then head to the library to test their comprehension of the themes, characters and plot of the story. Each book is worth a certain amount of points, and the kids receive tickets for each point they earn. The tickets are then used to enter in random drawings for prizes. There are more than 60 prizes ava... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved $137,538 in repairs to the failing parks and recreation HVAC system. Parks and Recreation Director Donnie Hayes said the repairs would help his department save money in the long run through energy savings. The pneumatic controls of the more than 25 year-old system are leaking, and many of the springs and actuators that assist the system's air pump have lost tension, causing too much heat to escape the system. “That compressor pumps air to an actuator and tells that actuator 'you need to o...
The Thomas Bay Power Commission will hold a meeting in the Petersburg Borough Assembly Chambers Friday, June 27 at 10 a.m. The commission will elect new officers after previous TBPA President James Stough resigned his position last week. Commission member David Galla also resigned. The commission will also discuss the transfer of TBPA Operations and Maintenance to Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) and work on providing all the necessary documents for the transfer to the Wrangell Borough Manager. The commission will also discuss the fiscal...
Local land surveyor Rick Braun recently began using newer GPS technology and has interesting insights into its application and the land it measures. Braun used to use the Trimble system—a system that required the use of at least five U.S. satellites out of the 31 that are in space. “It works okay, but you need a really good look at the sky,” Braun said. “That system is only accurate to within 1 to 3 meters.” The new GPS system Braun is using, the Javad system, utilizes both U.S. and Russian satellites that send signals to a rover and a base st...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved a letter to the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities and a union representing ferry service employees to settle a labor contract dispute in a timely manor so as to not disrupt ferry service by the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS), which has already decreased in Petersburg during the past several years. “We, of the Petersburg Borough, encourage a timely and equitable settlement of this dispute,” the letters states. “In addition, we continue to suggest to AMHS, and their...
Alaska’s largest air medevac provider Guardian Flight bought ApolloMT, the state’s largest membership program. Guardian Flight transports urgent and non-urgent patients from rural healthcare facilities to tertiary care facilities across Alaska. In a press release, Guardian Flight stated current ApolloMT policyholders’ accounts will not change or be disrupted. “Moving forward, customers can purchase the new program, AppolloMT by Guardian Flight, and receive the same peace of mind knowing that their remaining balances will be forgiven if transpo...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted against a funding request from the Petersburg Medical Center Hospital Board. The board requested $21,900 to repair a leaking exhaust stack in the building. PMC CEO Liz Woodyard made the request to the assembly on behalf of the hospital board and the conversation soon turned to the relationship between PMC and the borough—a discussion that hasn’t resolved since last summer. “We are an essential service to the community just like the police, fire and schools,” Woodyard said. “Many local communities in Alaska... Full story
The Crystal Lake Hatchery reconstruction project has one less hurdle to jump through after Kim Rice, Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities deputy commissioner, delegated authority to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) in order to expedite project completion. “(DOT&PF) generally oversees state facility projects such as the Crystal Lake Hatchery,” Rice wrote in a letter to Petersburg Mayor Mark Jensen. “However, because DOT&PF is aware of the critical nature of this facility to the community of Petersburg, my staff... Full story
Petersburg Borough Parks and Recreation staff member Dave Nauman responded during the last borough assembly meeting to complaints some members of the public have lodged about the length of time it's taking to build the new log shelter at Sandy Beach Park. "It's been a privilege to work on that project, show it the respect that it deserves, and it continues to be a privilege," Nauman said. "That being said, we all know that it's gone past the date that we initially said that it would be done."... Full story
A hook setter was killed last Thursday at the South Mitkof timber sale site near Banana Point. Mark Debates, 51, had just finished hooking cables onto logs near the camp at 28 mile when a tree fell onto him after the helicopter transferring the logs to a barge flew away. “He was there with a partner who witnessed it,” said Beth Ipsen, Alaska State Trooper spokesperson. “The helicopter was flying off when the top of a tree broke off and fell on him. His partner said he heard a crack and saw the treetop fall.” Ipsen said there’s no indicatio...
