Sorted by date Results 226 - 250 of 304
Twelve-year-old Luc Diaz didn't waste any time getting his Alaska Mountain Mutts dog treat business up and running after moving to Petersburg from Girdwood, Alaska in April. Many around town already associate the industrious youngster with the homemade treats from events like Mayfest, The Market and Oktoberfest Art Share where he's become a staple vendor. The quick start to the Petersburg chapter of his business was made possible by his prior years of experience. The 7th grade homeschooler...
Petersburg pulled in 123 million pounds of fish in 2013, making it the 17th top U.S. port for commercial fishery landings last year, according to the annual NOAA fisheries report. A record-breaking salmon year, 2013 landings were more than double those of 2012 when fishermen brought in 52 million pounds of fish. This reflected a national trend: “The report shows that while national total of fish and shellfish landings remained about the same, total landings of wild salmon topped one billion pounds setting a new record, up 68 percent from 2...
Interim CFO Doran Hammett told the Petersburg Medical Center board at a special meeting Monday that a draft cost report revealed some $928,000 was due to Medicare. Though PMC still has $380,000 on hand from a mid-year overpayment by Medicare to pay the bill, the amount due was unexpectedly high and prompted further investigation by Hammett and the consultant who prepares the reports, Martin Michiels of Health Care Consulting Services, LLC. Hammett told the Pilot on Wednesday that after recalculations by Michiels, the hospital now expects to... Full story
Don Spigelmyre just finished his first salmon season as Icicle Seafood's new Fleet Manager for Southeast Alaska. A native Michigander, Spigelmyre brings 22.5 years of experience with the Coast Guard to his new post. "I was a damage controlman (with the Coast Guard). That was my primary job. Basically firefighting underway, teaching people how to patch their boats up if they're sinking," he said. He was stationed in Petersburg with the Coast Guard from 1999-2003. It was at that time he and his...
It’s the most wonderful time of the year or at least the officers and volunteers at the Salvation Army are working to ensure that’s so for local families who may not be able to afford food and gifts this holiday season. Lieutenants John Birks and Mysti Birks will be working with board members and volunteers to assemble Thanksgiving food boxes for 62 households representing 154 individuals this year. The boxes will be distributed Nov. 25 in time for families to make preparations for the big meal on Thanksgiving Day. Sign-ups for Christmas foo...
Veterans were honored for their service around town Tuesday, Nov. 11 in celebration of Veterans Day. Students from the elementary, middle and high schools as well as many community members attended an assembly at the high school Tuesday morning. Honored veterans sat front and center with family members to listen to speeches and music performed by students of all ages. The audience was treated to information ranging from the historical background of the holiday given by the high schoolers to... Full story
The Petersburg Public Library was given a four-star rating this month by the Library Journal. The library was one of eight that ranked in the state. Borough librarian Tara Alcock said the library has received a star rating five times since the system was introduced in 2008, but this is their first four-star rating. In previous years, they’ve received three stars. "It’s exciting to see we’re one of the top eight libraries in the state and that we went from three to four stars. I was really excited to see that," Alcock said. The Library Journ...
After much discussion, the assembly unanimously approved a resolution to establish a new budget policy that will help guide management of Borough funds. Giesbrecht introduced a document he and Finance Director Jody Tow have been working on to help department heads more easily formulate their budgets and to help explain the budget process more simply to the public. The resolution was approved with one change introduced by member Nancy Strand, which moved tobacco excise tax funds from a special fund into the general fund. The excise tax was... Full story
By and large local voters aligned with state results. In two races, Petersburg voters diverged with the state, the race for governor and the State House District 35 seat. Local resident Steven Samuelson was vying for the State House seat against Sitka-based incumbent Jonathan Kreiss Tomkins. Local supporters turned out to show their support for the home-town candidate who was a clear win among Petersburg voters. It wasn't enough, though, to give him the win districtwide. Kreiss Tomkins took the... Full story
A thorough discussion of public services under the Borough charter was had at Monday's regular Assembly meeting. Member John Havrilek broached the matter at the last meeting and asked for a public comment period wherein discussion and clarification of services for outlying areas would be addressed. Since then, Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht worked with department heads to assemble a matrix outlining services offered before and after Borough formation. According to that matrix, no services have been discontinued due to Borough formation. That'...
Robert Davis Hoffman is coming to town this weekend to teach a formline design workshop at the library. Formline design is the characteristic element in Tlingit art. "It describes the basic shapes that are used. It's a very sophisticated art form, but once you understand some basic rules, almost anybody can find a starting point to understand it," Hoffman said. The historical use of the Native design is important to Tlingit, Haidi and Tsimshian clans. "It's the clan crest art form. I'd say...
The main topics at Monday's regular assembly meeting were service areas and a new budgeting tool for use in the Borough. The following is a list of other business discussed: Don Nelson and Janet Holten submitted letters of interests to serve on the Historic Preservation Committee. Nelson was appointed as the committee historian. Holten was appointed as an additional member at large, replacing the code-suggested archeologist position. Due to recent travels, Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht did not prepare his usual report for the assembly. He...
With a crew working six days a week, construction at the Crystal Lake Hatchery facility is moving along on schedule. "We're basically on schedule, which is a little bit surprising for a construction project," Bill Gass said with a laugh. Gass is the production manager for Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (SSRAA), which is contracted to operate the Crystal Lake facility by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Sport Fish Division. The incubation building and generator shed a... Full story
Mad hatter auctioneer Brad Taylor ups the bidding for a package at Saturday night's Viking Swim Club auction. All told, organizers said the event raised about $25,000 for the club. "The live auction was up from last year while the silent auction was down from last year. This was Heather Conn's and my first year coordinating the auction so we learned a lot and plan on doing it again next year," co-organizer Savann Guthrie said....
Though the case is still under advisement with a judge, the building at 1011 Wrangell Avenue owned by Karen Ellingstad and Fred Triem has been taken down. “The building is down. We’re still in the process of cleaning up,” Ellingstad said in a phone interview this week. “We’re not done cleaning up everything. It’s not done done, but the house is down.” She added that work on dismantling the building has been done in stages since late August of this year. “It’s a long process,” she said. The owner’s have salvaged many of the materials from th... Full story
The Petersburg Vessel Owners Association hosted a presentation by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) exploring long-term halibut trends. IPHC Executive Director Bruce Leaman and quantitative scientist Ian Stewart presented the findings and fielding questions from the audience. The data collected look at halibut stocks from across the Pacific, from Alaska to British Columbia, Canada and south to Washington and Oregon. Stewart said that the IPHC has 100 years worth of data on the Pacific stock of halibut, which help IPHC to exami...
At his arraignment held Oct. 23, Petersburg resident Mark Weaver, 59, plead not guilty to two felony charges of Possession of Unregistered Destructive Devices. U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie C. Longenbaugh presided over the arraignment at the U.S. District Court in Anchorage. Weaver was indicted by a Grand Jury on those two charges following an explosion in the Petersburg rock quarry July 13 where he sustained injuries and was subsequently transported for treatment to a hospital in Washington. Following the incident, local police, the FBI and off...
In last week’s regular Assembly meeting, members decided to draft an ordinance to address herbicide spraying in the Borough. This represents the next step in a more than year-long process addressing potential herbicide spraying by the state and the lack of opportunity for public input on the issue. The issue has been ongoing since March 2013 when the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) changed their regulations regarding herbicide use. Under the new regulations, agencies seeking to apply herbicides are required to draft an I...
Public Defender Eric Hedland, representing 20-year-old Christafur Morrell, was recently denied a Motion to Suppress evidence by Superior Court Judge William Carey. Morrell was indicted by a Grand Jury in early July on two charges of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance after being arrested June 26 in Petersburg for possession of heroin. Hedland moved to suppress the evidence in the case on two bases: “there was not valid consent to the warrantless search” and “the officer’s initial request to search was improper,” according to court docu... Full story
Petersburg Police Chief Kelly Swihart is participating in an exclusive training opportunity with the FBI National Academy (NA) this fall. Swihart described it as "a total immersion into leadership training" and said that "less than 1 percent of law enforcement officers will ever attend." According to the NA website, participation is by nomination and invitation only. That plus the acceptance of candidates from countries worldwide makes it difficult to get into. For those who make the cut, like... Full story
A few issues sparked a lively discussion among assembly members and the public at Monday’s regular meeting. Four residents spoke out against the use of herbicides and pesticides to be sprayed by the state in the area. The assembly discussed the issue and then voted to draft an ordinance that would take a position on spraying in the Borough. It will be modeled after a similar ordinance from the community of Skagway. Mayor Mark Jensen said that he’s still working to secure a date for a public community meeting regarding state regulations on the...
Lizzie Thompson began dreaming up a service project to participate in with her daughter, Kate, when Kate was still a baby. "I decided that when she was old enough to participate in and feel empowered by a service project that I would find something to do with her that would give her a strong sense of her ability to make a difference in this world and to know the wonderful feeling of helping others," Thompson said. Though she wasn't sure exactly what the project would be, a recent perfect storm...
Two issues related to public services and service areas surfaced at Monday’s regular assembly meeting. Assembly member Bob Lynn introduced a motion to table an ordinance, on its second reading, to transfer traffic codes from the former City of Petersburg into official Borough code. Lynn’s request to table the motion stems from a murky understanding of the role of police in enforcing the code. If adopted as is, the traffic code would bring the previous regulations pertaining to the then-City (now Service Area 1) borough-wide. “This parti...
After hearing from incumbent U.S. Senator Mark Begich and his opponent, Republican candidate Dan Sullivan, at the ANB/ANS Grand Camp last Friday, the Native organization endorsed Begich. Both candidates spoke on issues important to the Native community including subsistence rights, access to healthcare for rural veterans, and curbing domestic violence among other issues. Begich's talk focused on his work in the senate to date as an advocate for Alaska Natives. He spoke of his work on the Senate... Full story
Petersburg resident Mark Weaver, 59, awaits an arraignment and status of counsel hearing in Anchorage after the U.S. Marshal's service transferred him from Tacoma, Wash. where he was arrested in late August. Weaver was indicted by a Grand Jury on two counts of Possession of Unregistered Destructive Devices following an explosion in the Petersburg rock quarry July 13 where he sustained injuries and was subsequently transported to Washington for medical treatment. Following the incident, local police, the FBI and officials from the Bureau of... Full story
