Sorted by date Results 526 - 550 of 596
Petersburg residents who don’t qualify for the federal facilitated health insurance exchange and purchased insurance after March 2010, who were “grandfathered in”, are seeing their rates more than double. To qualify for federal subsidies, a person needs to make less than $50,000 a year. According to the Alaska Department of Labor Research and Analysis Division Data, the average private sector annual wage in Petersburg is $31,365. Susan Erickson, owner of Petersburg-Wrangell Insurance Center, said rates are rising for everyone she’s been wo... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved a resolution Friday informing the Wrangell assembly of its acceptance of Southeast Alaska Power Agency’s offer to take over Tyee Hydroelectric Project operation costs. The resolution urges the Wrangell assembly to also accept the offer. SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson presented the offer that would also absorb existing Thomas Bay Power Authority employees along with their Public Employee Retirement System unfunded liabilities in excess of $750,000 should SEAPA ter...
Hammer & Wikan Grocery is expanding their produce, meat and freezer sections as its new freezer and refrigeration project is nearly complete. Hammer & Wikan CEO Larry Martin said his store is tripling its organic produce products. The produce section already has around 100 new items in stock. “Industry standards are moving towards natural and organic and gluten free,” Martin said. “We are trying to carry as much of that as possible.” The meat, dairy and frozen foods section is also expandi...
The new Petersburg Library grand opening celebration was packed with visitors last Saturday. Senator Burt Stedman and Rasmuson Foundation CEO Diane Kaplin spoke during the event. Among many remarks and thanks, Kaplin made a point to thank Borough Librarian Tara Alcock for her dedication to Petersburg’s library. “I really want to congratulate Tara. She has worked very, very hard on this,” Kaplin said.“You can tell when you walk into a library if it’s a great library. The second you walk in t...
The Petersburg High School swim team took several first place positions two weeks ago in Ketchikan. The men’s 200-yard relay team placed first with a time of 1:46.32. Skipper Erickson, 16, took first in the men’s 200-yard freestyle event with a finals time of 2:00.92. Shania Dahlberg, 17, placed first in the woman’s 200-yard IM with a finals time of 2:29.06 Evan Marsh, 16, placed first in the 200 yard IM in the men’s 200-yard IM with a finals time of 2:09.95. Marsh also took first place in the men’s 100 yard backstroke with a finals time of 5...
The Vikings varsity girl’s volleyball team had a strong start last Friday night when they faced Sitka High School but didn’t pull through for the win. Assistant Coach Lana Corl said she’s happy with the girl’s performance in the face of a more experienced team. “We came out Friday night and showed them our stuff,” Corl said. The Vikings lost to Sitka 16-25 the first match but were able score more points the second with a 20-25 loss. They won the third match with a final score of 25-19. Corl...
Petersburg officials are improvising as the North Harbor’s dredge material is more fluid than they expected. Because copper levels were too high to dispose the spoils into the ocean, the original plan was to use the dredge material to cover the landfill’s scrap metal pile but Karl Hagerman, Public Works Director, stated in a report to the borough that when the project began September 12, “it was immediately evident that the material being delivered to the landfill was different than what the sanitation department was expecting.” The Army Co...
Thirty-seven moose have been checked in to Alaska Department of Fish and Game this season. Rich Lowell, Area Wildlife Biologist for Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said nineteen moose were checked in during the first week, which is close to average for the last 10 years “Most of the harvest occurs within the first two weeks of the season,” Lowell said. As of yesterday afternoon, 12 moose have been harvested from the Stikine, 12 from Kupreanof and six from Mitkof. Although 12 moose were taken from Kupreanof only six were taken from the Kak...
The Petersburg Borough is seeking legal advice as it considers drafting an ordinance requiring agencies, including the state of Alaska, using broad based spraying methods to deliver herbicides and pesticides to require the approval of the borough assembly. The state adopted regulations this past spring that would allow agencies to apply herbicides and pesticides on state property without obtaining a permit from the Department of Environmental Conservation and without public review. Petersburg, Skagway and Haines have all written letters to the...
The Sales Tax Ordinance Review Committee will be reviewing exemptions outlined in the tax code during the next several months. The group also outlined its mission statement during the meeting. It states, “…to simplify the code and collection procedures, and to generate an equal or greater amount of revenue so the Borough does not have to decrease services or increase property taxes.” Anne Hurt, Finance Clerk for the Petersburg Borough, went through 26 exemptions and made suggestions as to which ones could stay and those that could be remov... Full story
Twenty-six moose have been checked in to Alaska Department of Fish and game this season. Rich Lowell, Area Wildlife Biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said nineteen moose were checked in during the first week, which is close to average for the last 10 years “Most of the harvest occurs within the first two weeks of the season,” Lowell said. As of yesterday afternoon, nine moose have been harvested from the Stikine, seven from Kupreanof and five from Mitkof. Although seven wer... Full story
A crew filmed Axe Men promotional videos at the Tonka Logging site on Kupreanof Island last week. Sean Moody, Assistant Production Supervisor for The Arsenal Film & Creative, said they lucked out during last week despite all the rainy days. “We got really lucky on the first shoot day, the bigger day, when we were out with all the machines. We even got a little bit of sun in the sky.” The film crew used a remote controlled helicopter camera to do some of the shooting. “We kind of shoot thing... Full story
The Petersburg School board prepared a resolution Wednesday to send to the Alaska Association of School Boards, or AASB, urging the state legislature to clarify a statute that makes school districts responsible for paying for physical examinations of incoming students. School districts across Alaska require incoming students to receive physical examinations and parents or caregivers are responsible for paying for the exams. But after several Petersburg parents questioned the requirement, the school board had its attorney, Allen Clendaniel,...
Petersburg’s high school girl’s volleyball squad fell to the two time defending state champions of Mount Edgecumbe in Sitka last weekend. Coach Jaime Cabral said despite the defeat the young team showed a lot of promise. “We were a little bit intimidated against a very strong team,” Cabral said. “But our girls played extremely hard and extremely well.” Sophomore setter Ruby Brock ended up with 20 assists over the weekend and Cabral commended middle blockers Adanna Kvernvik and Kyla Willis. “Our freshmen also did a nice job stepping up,...
This summer’s warmer than average temperatures could carry over into the winter if current climate trends continue. Two main factors affect winter weather in Southeast Alaska—the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, or PDO, and the El Nino/La Nina Oscillations or ENSO. Each factor has two phases—positive and negative and both affect sea surface water temperatures. The positive PDO phase happens when increased storm activity in the north Pacific blows warmer water into the Gulf of Alaska and raises the average sea surface temperatures. The winds also...
Wrestling Hall of Fame member Wade Schalles taught a wrestling camp in Petersburg last week. Schalles won four NCAA Championships, is registered in the Guinness Book of World Records as having the most pins and wins of any wrestler and won 15 national championships in five different disciplines. And according to Schalles, he would not have earned those accolades if he hadn’t failed. He just never failed twice. Schalles related an anecdotal conversation between himself and a student. We’ll cal...
Blue skies and warm days enveloped Petersburg like seine nets to pink salmon this summer as the Southeast saw temperatures above and rainfall below average. According to National Weather Service Data, the temperature on August 1 reached 83 degrees tying the warmest day ever recorded in Petersburg and breaking August 22, 2004’s 82-degree record high. Summer temperatures remained consistently warm across the region. Petersburg saw daily average temperatures in June and August reach three degrees above normal. And through September 15, average d... Full story
The Petersburg Library opened its doors to the public for the first time Monday. The facility boasts several new features such as a self-checkout station, a teen room and the ability to borrow laptops and iPads. There are six stationary express computers library users can log onto for 30 minutes at a time. But Tara Alcock, Borough Librarian, said people generally need more time than that. “People can come check them out (laptops and ipads), have two full hours and can sit anywhere they want i... Full story
Alaska’s salmon fishery harvest smashed records this season with everyone from fishermen to cannery workers feeling the tremors. Alaska’s Southeast regions pulled more than one third of the salmon stock from the waters this summer. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s website, roughly 103 million salmon were caught in Southeast waters compared to the 265 million salmon caught statewide according to the Alaska Journal of Commerce. The Southeast Alaska purse seine fishery closed for pink salmon September 8. ADFG final harve...
The Petersburg based commercial gillnet vessel Shelo caught fire on September 3 and was recently salvaged in Ketchikan. The incident happened in Nakat Inlet. Ryan Erikson, Chief of Incident Management for the U.S. Coast Guard, said the coast guard wasn’t notified until after the fact. “We know that it did catch fire and caught fire very rapidly,” Erikson said. “It pretty much burned itself out.” Erikson said a Good Samaritan vessel assisted the Shelo crew. The Coast Guard arrived on the site about a week later to observe the scene. Erickson...
Aside from massive fish harvest, Petersburg canneries felt the added pressure of worker walkouts and no shows. This summer was the first time the companies couldn’t hire foreign student workers coming on J1 Visas after the federal government ended the program in an attempt to provide more jobs to American workers. Some estimates early in the season put no show rates between 15-20 percent. A local manager said working with a changed employee pool combined with peak production was a “double whammy.” “There were less workers in the pool and mor...
Every school district in Alaska requires new or incoming students to receive physicals before starting school and most, if not all, don’t cover those costs. Most school districts in Alaska might be in violation of state statute. That’s if Petersburg School District’s attorney Allen Clendaniel’s interpretation of Alaska Statue 14.30.070 is correct. In part, it states, “The governing body of each school district shall provide for and require a physical examination of every child attending school in the district.” “If you look at the literal l...
Some initial concern over the Petersburg Road Improvement Plan turned out to be less of an issue than originally anticipated. The $4.1 million dollar project began in September of 2012. According to a project report written by Bryce Iverson, SECON Project Manager, “…2,800 cubic yards of concrete were placed, over 4,800 linear feet of curbs and gutter, 3,100 square yards of sidewalk, and nearly 10,000 square yards of concrete pavement.” The initial concrete pouring phase was put on hold because of early season freezing temperatures. Barry Morri...
Tommy Joseph, master woodcarver and Tlingit artist, gave a Technology, Education and Design talk in the borough assembly chambers last Thursday. Joseph talked about his experiences traveling the world learning about Tlingit battledress and how he incorporated that knowledge into pieces he crafted called “Rainforest Warriors” that are in display at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau. His work was inspired in 2004 while researching the battledress used during 1804’s Battle of Sitka that pitte...
The PHS cross country team raced last Saturday in Wrangell. Beautiful weather brought out crowds of spectators and parents many of whom made the trip over from Petersburg for the competition. This meet was the closest thing Petersburg will have to a home meet in this cross-country season. “It’s tough not having a home meet,” said PHS head coach Jo Ann Day. “We really appreciate the support of parents and fans who made the boat trip over to Wrangell.” This season feels like a quick one, with weat...
