Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 196
For the third time in recent history voters will be asked to make changes to the sales tax ordinance. Be it exemptions for senior citizens’ purchases, establishing sunset dates on exemptions for seniors or raising the cap on taxable sales, the voters seem to be consistent. Their response has been, and we think will continue to be, No. That is why it is reasonable for the Assembly to work together with the Chamber of Commerce to craft some ballot propositions that both bodies can agree on, and perhaps, work together, to sell the resulting c...
Petersburg Police Chief Kelly Swihart executed a search warrant at 5 p.m. Wednesday evening, made two arrests and seized approximately 1,500 doses of Methamphetamine from two locations at 503B and 409 Ira II Street. Randy K. Long, 53, a Petersburg resident, was arrested on a single charge of Fugitive from Justice. He is being held in the Petersburg jail on a $250,000 cash only bail. Swihart said Long faces arrest in Maricopa, Arizona on charges of Credit Card Fraud and Credit Card Theft and...
From record high opening prices in March for halibut and black cod to robust projections of returning pinks to Southeast and Prince William Sound, both fishermen and processors are expressing cautious optimism for the upcoming season. "It's a catch-up year for both fishermen and processors," stated one Petersburg cannery manager. Boats are in the yard making repairs, some are buying new nets and there is guarded enthusiasm around town. With Southeast Pinks expected to hit the 43 million mark,...
Alaska Airlines will provide weekly air freighter service to Petersburg and across Alaska in June when a converted 737-700 next generation aircraft will begin flying, according to Jason Berry, Director of Cargo with Alaska Airlines. Berry told a gathering of business representatives from town about the new service at a noon meeting at the Sons of Norway Hall on Monday. The meeting was rescheduled from last fall when fog caused the informational meeting to be delayed after airline representatives...
The Army National Guard is clearing out its Petersburg Armory. On Friday, April 21, CW2 Drew Vandries told the Pilot he and two others were in Petersburg to remove sensitive material and conduct environmental remediation on the armory site. He showed containers of oil, antifreeze and fuel that were going to the baler facility for disposal. Special Assistant to Major General Lori Hummel, Ron Clarke said the National Guard is entertaining ideas from Petersburg concerning the future use of the...
The Petersburg Medical Center is embarking on a program to "grow their own" future staff members and hope that six high school students will fill future nursing positions at the facility. Alexis Francisco, Hana Newman, Helen Martin, Tanya Spears, Madisyn Parker and Julia Evens are set to complete the Certified Nursing Assistant course on May 13 and later take the State of Alaska certification examination on June 2. According to program coordinator Angela Menish, the medical center has a...
The Petersburg Emblem Club received a visit from The Supreme Emblem Club of the United States of America Supreme President Marty Lynch and the Supreme Marshal Paulette Thompson last week. It is an honor for Emblem Clubs to receive a visit from the Supreme President, and it only happens every four years. Lynch is visiting clubs in Alaska and will attend the State Convention, which will be held in Fairbanks. There are 11 clubs in Alaska with a membership of over 800. The Emblem Club got its start...
Police made contact with a man shouting vulgarities and making offensive hand gestures in front of the Rae C. Stedman Elementary School on Monday morning. He was also reported to be wearing a gas mask or respirator. In an email sent to parents and others, Principal Teri Toland said, “Today there was an individual in front of the building shouting offensive messages and using inappropriate hand gestures. We have spoken with police and (are) pursuing every legal avenue to insure students are safe. The police do not feel that the individual is a...
Petersburg's National Ocean Science Bowl Team traveled to Seward in February to compete with 16 schools statewide. The PHS team placed 8th overall, 5th on their research paper, 4th for the oral presentation and 4th on the overall project (a combination of the research paper and the presentation.) Teams conducted research, wrote a paper and made presentations on the topic of the warming Pacific Ocean and its impact on a resource in the community. Students selected the LeConte Glacier for their ce...
Early Tuesday morning the Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association's floating net pens were being moved into position near the mouth of City Creek, when a structural failure took place. Employees had to move the pen into shallow water along the Sandy Beach tide flats to make repairs. Crystal Lake Assistant Hatchery Manager Kevin Chase explained that a metal beam came loose and had to be reattached, forcing them to realign and re-bolt the listing structure before continuing. By 8:30...
We find the Borough Assembly’s opposition to H.R. 232 to transfer up to 2-million acres of the Tongass National Forest to the State of Alaska very short sighted. According to their Resolution #2017-07 they would trade shrinking numbers of government jobs, dwindling federal handouts in the form of Payments in Lieu of Taxes and Secure Rural Schools funding for the opportunity to move acres of federal land into State ownership. Make no mistake. Government is a poor landlord. But with the transfer of Federal land into State hands, the landlord m...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting as the Board of Equalization (BOA), on Monday, upheld the Assessor's property valuations on each property brought before them on appeal. Six appellants sought to have property values lowered on 10 parcels. According to Borough Clerk Debra Thompson 34 property owners brought appeals on 79 parcels. Of that number, the Assessor met with owners and resolved 69 of the appeals before the BOA met. Melinda Hofstad withdrew her appeal during the BOA meeting. Appeal...
For the second time since a new roof was installed on the borough downtown building, a leak has appeared in the ceiling of the Assembly Chambers. After the first leak appeared, the roofing subcontractor located and made repairs at the site of the leak. At last Friday's work session, another leak had stained the ceiling tiles in the chambers. According to Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht this is the second time the leak has appeared. The first leak happened in the early stages of construction...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board approved a budget of up to $250,000 plus design costs of $42,000 to renovate the basement kitchen at the hospital at a special meeting last night. The kitchen is located in the basement of the Long Term Care facility adjacent to the hospital. That building is located in the oldest section of the facility that was built in 1969. CFO Doran Hammett told the board that design and renovation expenses should be taken from the hospital's long-term investment...
Despite a high participation rate in the Petersburg Borough’s recycling program there is still too much recyclable material going to the baler facility, according to Public Works Superintendent Karl Hagerman. 95% of Petersburg’s 1,200 sanitation customers participate in the recycling program, but Hagerman says the waste diversion rate hovers around 16%. Hagerman wants to move that number to 30-50%. Recycling can make a significant difference in the cost of removing trash from Mitkof Island. The sanitation department pays $113/ton to ship garbag...
The thought of hiring an out of town contractor to complete capital project work for the local utility is not fiscally sound and does less to benefit Petersburg’s beleaguered economy. Since the Power and Light Department has been operating without a third journeyman lineman for two years, it has been impossible for them to safely complete many construction projects they would normally take on. If PMP&L’s improvements were of a short-term nature, hiring a private firm to complete the work would be advantageous. However, the utility has pro...
Petersburg Power and Light is seeking to fill a vacant journeyman lineman position to enable the local crews to complete improvements and upgrades to the utility infrastructure. At a Friday morning work session Superintendent Joe Nelson told the Assembly his workers can complete the work at lower cost to the utility than hiring contract workers from Juneau. Nelson said Chatham Electric in Juneau could do the work at more than double the cost of local crews. A Chatham foreman would cost $175/hr and overtime would cost $242/hr. PMP&L’s foreman w...
The Port and Harbor Advisory Board recommended against changing the zoning on waterfront parcels along Nordic Drive at its Friday meeting. The zoning change request is now before the Planning and Zoning Commission. The owners of five lots at 806, 804, 710, 712 and 708 Nordic Drive are making the request and told the commission in a letter dated Jan. 27 that Commercial 1 Zoning would be more appropriate to potential development of the lots. Water access to these lots is restricted due to...
While not a line item on the harbor advisory board agenda, sea lion activity in the harbors was a board discussion item at the March 10 meeting. "There are not a lot of issues in the winter until the bait herring shows up," Harbormaster Glo Wollen told the board. Harbor policy continues not to allow fish scraps to be dumped into the harbors, she added. Wollen referenced a story out of Sand Point at the Peter Pan Seafoods dock where a Petersburg person aboard the F/V Cape St. Elias was attacked b...
The Petersburg Borough is responding to accusations that it made an illegal search of Karen Ellingstad's Wrangell Avenue home on Jan. 9 and 13, 2014 to seek and retrieve asbestos samples prior to the scheduled demolition that had been upheld by the Superior Court. Furthermore, Ellingstad states that entry to her home by Public Works Director Karl Hagerman violated her right to privacy and required a search warrant based on the Fourth Amendment and Art. 1, Sec. 14 of the Alaska Constitution....
The final chapter of Petersburg Medical Center's strategic plan is likely the most daunting. The first goal of the plan states: "Fix or replace the facility to create a safe environment for patients, staff and community." Decisions need to be made to remodel the current facility at an estimated cost of $16 million or to replace the facility for an estimated $33 million. Both options require outside funding sources. In May 2016 Joann Lott of Jensen Yorba Lott Architects told the PMC board:...
Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke Inc. was the keynote speaker at the Chamber of Commerce annual meeting and banquet on Saturday night at the Sons of Norway Hall. His company purchased Icicle Seafoods in June of last year. Cooke lives in Saint John, New Brunswick with his wife Pamela and two young children Allison and William. "Every time I come to Petersburg I discover we have many more things in common than we have differences. We all speak the language of seafood. We all depend on the sea for our liv...
Oversight and communication by the Chief Financial Officer are a key component of PMC's strategic plan to achieve a break-even operation. The CFO is charged to balance quarterly spending with revenue and reimbursement in each department and control unnecessary waste at PMC. Doran Hammet, CFO, regularly communicates PMC's financial position to employees, physicians, management and the board. He does this at monthly meetings of the hospital board. He assures that pricing is competitive and he...
State Senator Bert Stedman predicts the legislature will be in session for a full 120 days with an additional 30 day session if they are to complete their work this session. “There’s a lot of talk of the 90 day session but the constitution calls for 121 days. “We’ve only finished in 90 days one time,” Stedman noted. Stedman was in Petersburg this past weekend to attend the Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet along with his wife Lureen. Stedman said there is a “near zero chance of a 90 day session with any quality work being accomplishe...
Petersburg Rotarian Rick Braun traveled to India recently to administer polio vaccines and help build two dams to create a water retention reservoir. The reservoir will provide both crop irrigation water and raise the underground water table, enabling area wells to store more water for village residents. Braun has been a member of the Petersburg Rotary Club since 1987. The club has carried out fundraising projects for the organization's Polio Plus project for decades. Braun said polio has been...
