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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A state agency plans to swap land in southeast Alaska for federal land that can be developed for timber sales. The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority board on Thursday approved a land exchange with the U.S. Forest Service that will trade 18,000 acres (7,284 hectares) of trust lands for 20,000 acres (8,094 hectares) of federal land, the Juneau Empire reported. The trust lands are scattered throughout southeast Alaska and the exact amount to be traded must be worked out. Wyn Menefee, director of the trust authority land o...
Guylynn Etcher, Grace Wolf and Zoe Marsden of Glacier Express Cafe stand with the Molly sandwich cookie that was being auctioned off on Friday for a fundraiser to raise money for the special education program at the Petersburg School District on behalf of Molly Parks. Glacier Express Cafe raised $2,454, and Common Grounds, who also participated in the fundraiser, raised approximately $1,200, but the final amount has not been tallied....
A warehouse on a piece of land that the borough would receive from Petro 49, Inc. in a land exchange could be utilized by the Port and Harbor Department by upgrading the facility for approximately $18,000 to $20,000, according to harbormaster Glo Wollen. "I think it's a great opportunity for the harbor," said Wollen. "The location is good. It's a decent facility. It's not a Taj Mahal Hall by any means, but it's something that is a good skookum building that doesn't need a lot of maintenance to...
Although negotiations between the Petersburg Borough and Petro 49, Inc. over a possible land swap haven’t begun, borough manager Stephen Giesbrecht anticipates Petro 49, Inc.’s 22-year lease of borough land to be one of the main talking points of the negotiations. In the land trade, the borough would receive Petro 49, Inc. owned land that includes a warehouse, in exchange for borough owned land that is leased by Petro 49, Inc. The borough assembly gave Giesbrecht permission to conduct negotiations in early December. According to borough finance...
January 10, 1919 An aeroplane mail service between Seattle and the cities of southeastern Alaska is one of the probabilities of the near future. The first experiment will in all probability be made next summer, and if it proves successful the service will gradually be extended to include Southeastern Alaska and then Iditarod, Nome and Tanana Valley. A conference at which the initial plans were outlined has already been held by Postal officials and it is said unofficially that it looks very encouraging for installation of the system within the...
Alaska joined the Union as the 49th state 60 years ago this month. The front page of the Petersburg Press proclaimed the event in a bold block headline reading, "State of Alaska enters Union tomorrow," in its January 2, 1959 edition. Alaska was a possession of the United States for 91 years. William A. Egan assumed the governorship shortly after President Eisenhower signed the Statehood proclamation in Washington, D.C. on January 3....
In its second reading, the borough assembly approved ordinance 2018-21 at an assembly meeting on Monday, which allocates $400,000 from the sanitation fund and $200,000 from the Motor Pool to replace the borough’s baler. Last month, the assembly voted to completely replace the baler after public works director Chris Cotta suggested it be replaced because of deteriorating parts that included the belt conveyor, control system and wear surfaces on the rams, hopper and baler chamber. Mayor Mark Jensen was hesitant in voting for the ordinance last m...
Pastor Eric Olsen from the Petersburg Lutheran Church preached at the First Baptist Church this week. He is one of many who have delivered messages before the congregation as the search continues for a permanent pastor for the Baptist church. He posed the question, “Have you ever left anyone behind?” The question pertained to Jesus parents leaving him behind in the temple at Jerusalem after they departed for Nazareth (Luke 2:41-50). For me, the answer was yes. It happened in 1982, shortly after the birth of our eldest daughter Jennifer. I, the...
Borough manager Stephen Giesbrecht submitted a list of potential budget discussion items to the borough assembly on Monday that outlines possible cuts in funding to services as the assembly begins talks on the 2020 fiscal year budget. “The direction that I’ve heard from the assembly prior to today via informal conversations and various meetings is not that we don’t want to consider cuts if the budget’s balanced. What I was hearing from the assembly is we need to reduce the size of the borough government,” said Giesbrecht. One suggestio...
Jeffrey Erickson was named to the Dean’s List at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for the Fall 2018 semester. Kaia Dahl was placed on the Dean’s List at Greenville University in Greenville, Illinois for the Fall 2018 semester....
January 2 — Prescription glasses were found at a location on Baler Access Rd. and given to authorities. Criminal mischief was reported at a location on Haugen Dr. January 3 — A quarterly sex offender registration was conducted Authorities responded to two parking complaints on Kiseno St. Extra patrols were requested on 4.5 St. January 4 — A vehicle running stop signs on 3rd St. was reported to authorities. Extra patrols were requested on 3rd St. A resident requested authorities to view footprints on the porch of her house on 4.5 St. Janua...
WRANGELL — In an 8 ½ hour meeting Tuesday, Jan. 8, the Wrangell School Board upheld the firing of first year art teacher Shanna Mall. Starting at 4 p.m., the school board held a public hearing on the potential termination of a high school art teacher well past midnight. Shanna Mall, was hired by the Wrangell school district this school year. However, she was put on paid administrative leave and received a termination notice last November, before the end of her first semester teaching. According to Allen Clendaniel, a lawyer representing the sc...
The Petersburg High School boys varsity team won two out of three games in a basketball tournament in Nome over the weekend, and came in second place over all. On Thursday, the team’s first game was against Grace Christian School. The first quarter ended with the Vikings behind 10-12. Grace Christian is an aggressive and quick team and has a strong half court defense, said Viking head coach Richard Brock. Petersburg went into half time down 18-30. “We missed some makeable shots and they don’t give you very many opportunities to score,” said Br...
Participants in this year's Polar Dip line up on a dock in South Boat Harbor on the morning of Jan. 1 before taking the plunge into the frigid waters of the harbor....
The Petersburg High School girls varsity basketball team game came in fourth place in a tournament in Nome playing against Grace Christian School, Nome-Beltz High School and Unalakleet School. “I thought that we did a nice job on the board against games that were big and physical,” said head coach Dino Brock. “Overall, we responded pretty well to it.” The team’s first game of the weekend was against Grace Christian. At the end of the first quarter, both teams were tied at 7-7, but by half time, Petersburg was ahead 15-14. In the third qua...
The government shutdown has caused few problems so far in Alaska’s fisheries, but concern is growing as it enters a third week. The shutdown of nine out of 15 federal departments and agencies on Dec. 21 has furloughed about 800,000 workers nationwide, most with no pay, including fishery oversight and research jobs. In many cases, that means there’s no one to issue fishing permits, licenses or other documents and services required before setting out. “I have not heard of any problems, but that’s not to say that there aren’t any,” said Forres...
The Petersburg School District school board accepted the resignation of Rae C. Stedman Elementary School principal Teri Toland on Tuesday. She will be retiring at the end of the school year in June. "I'm appreciative of the opportunity to serve the students and families of Petersburg," said Toland. "I am just really grateful for that. It has been a wonderful experience for me." Toland, 59, first arrived in Petersburg 13 years ago with her husband Kim Toland who had just retired from the...
Flight 64 was expected to land in Petersburg on Saturday at 2:43 P.M., but was rerouted to Wrangell, because the 737-700 jet was experiencing problems with its auxiliary power unit, according to Alaska Airlines spokesperson Ray Lane. Additionally, the air cart at the Petersburg James A. Johnson Airport was not operating correctly. The flight was rerouted to Wrangell where the air cart was operational and the jet could connect to a power source. There was not a safety issue, according to Lane. The aircraft was taken out of service for...
The borough assembly approved an amended version of the capital projects list for the 2020 fiscal year on Monday that lists the replacement of the E911 system as the borough’s first priority. On the list are capital projects from every department in the borough and how much each project costs. Those projects that were approved by the borough will be put on its capsis list, which is a list that goes to the state legislators. When oil prices were high and the state had plenty of money to fund capital projects, an online system called capsis w...
