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The Petersburg Borough Assembly will discuss at its next meeting in February a request to the state asking the legislature to reallocate funding from the $40 million Kake Access Road project. Many Petersburg residents have expressed criticism and concerns regarding the road that would connect Kake to northwest Kupreanof Island, where a proposed ferry would increase traffic in between the two communities, and think the project isn’t sustainable and won’t serve its expressed need. The assembly discussed the idea of reallocating the funds dur... Full story
In less than a week authorities arrested three individuals on drug distribution charges. On Monday, January 18, after obtaining a search warrant, officers seized Marvin Jackson, 27, and his belongings after arriving in town on an Alaska Airlines flight. "After a search of his belongings a black/brown substance was found wrapped with tape inside a shampoo bottle," the probable cause statement states. "A field test of the substance resulted in a positive reading for heroin." The heroin weighed 22... Full story
January 22, 1916 – The red-light buoy in the Narrows was broken away from its anchorage by ice the first of the week and drifted about to various locations. The mishap was reported by wireless to the proper authorities, and the tender is due here today or tomorrow to replace the light. Work is to start next week on repair of the dock at Tonka, on completion of which the Packing Company's wharves in Petersburg will be given an overhauling. January 24, 1941 – Petersburg is to have a Cold Storage plant. Costs and estimates were submitted at the...
A handful of citizens applied for a referendum earlier this week that would have allowed voters to choose whether or not the $9.9 million police and municipal building remodel project should move forward. Gerry Whitethorn and Don Koenigs spearheaded the effort and turned in the referendum for certification on January 19, which included 16 of the required 10 signatures needed in order to apply. It would require 125 total signatures if the referendum was approved. The application, in part, states, “information regarding the long-term operation an... Full story
Permits will soon become available for those wanting an opportunity to visit Anan Wildlife Observatory this summer. Known primarily for its abundance of bears, the observatory was identified as Wrangell’s top attraction by a survey conducted by the city last summer. According to Forest Service records, Anan draws between 2,400 and 2,800 visitors each summer. These travelers contributed around $1.5 million to the local economy in 2014, making up more than a third of all tourism-related spending. Starting Feb. 1 at 8 a.m. the public will be a...
12 years of making Petersburg better To the Editor: My mother Ruth and I enjoyed a trip to the airport in September. It was a fine day and we collected wild flowers. Some of you saw her photo on Facebook. Mom wanted to thank those who planned and built the bike path. She was glad to hear that it’s being extended to Sandy Beach. Just like the good old days. Ruth has been a community booster for 75 years and is still interested in making Petersburg a better place.* Her list of interests and volunteer activities is very long. The Library, M...
By now, most of you know we have a budget challenge: Over the past two years, Alaska’s oil revenue has plummeted by 88 percent, mainly due to a sharp drop in oil prices. We’ve cut the budget from $8 billion in 2012 to $4.8 billion. Despite these reductions, our deficit amounts to more than half our annual budget. If we do nothing, we’re on a course to drain the constitutional budget reserve within two years – and the permanent fund earnings reserve within another two years. Dividends would likely end within four years, and we’ll be left with...
It is illogical that the remodeling of the Borough Municipal Building should go to a vote of the people. If the public voted not to fund the remodeling project, it would leave the local government in the exact predicament they now find themselves. The police department is presently housed in a substandard, non-compliant structure that is a danger to employees, prisoners and local citizens who rely on the department to provide first responder assistance in an emergency. Furthermore, the City of Petersburg and now the Petersburg Borough have...
January 13 A caller reported a found firearm that was earlier reported missing. A caller reported three bikes might have been stolen near the Le Conte RV Park. Police received a report of a disabled van on the side of the road. A caller reported harassment. January 14 A caller reported an abandoned vehicle. A caller reported the possible theft of a flare gun. A caller brought in a credit card and personal papers left at a business a month ago. January 15 A caller reported a dog bit her eight year old. A caller reported a water meter leaking. A...
January 14 Taylor Homer and Anthony Sainz appeared before Magistrate Judge Burrell on 12 counts related to the theft and burglary that occurred on Christmas Eve in December. The court entered a not guilty plea on the defendant’s behalf. The court set bail at $5,000 among other conditions of release. January 19 Guy Birchell appeared before Magistrate Judge Burrell on a charge of Driving While License is Cancelled Suspended or Revoked. The court entered a not guilty plea on the defendant’s behalf. Robert Feist appeared before Magistrate Jud...
The Petersburg High School boys basketball team just keeps on rolling adding three victories to their season total last week. After beating Haines at home on Wednesday night, 68-30, the Vikings played host to the Metlakatla Chiefs on Friday and Saturday, and head coach Rick Brock was pleased with how the team performed. "We played well on both ends, together," Brock says. "We passed the ball well, we looked for good shots and defensively helped when needed. It was a good weekend for us to play...
Petersburg High School girls basketball team traveled to Metlakatla to take on the Lady Chiefs last weekend in a two-game set. Going into the games, head coach Dino Brock said dealing with the 2-3 zone defense of Metlakatla would be one of the major keys to having success against the Lady Chiefs. The Lady Vikings prepared to play against the zone defense all week in practice, and Metlakatla did not disappoint. The Lady Chiefs were on point and played very good on the defensive end Friday and Saturday. The intensity of the Lady Chief’s on defens...
Various streets and road patches will soon be paved after the Petersburg Borough Assembly approved a resolution providing $532,085 in funding for and approval of a sole source contract for paving services to Southeast Alaska Construction SECON at its January 19 meeting. The bulk of the funding comes from National Forest Receipts, federal dollars to the municipality, along with some from the Rasmus Enge Bridge Reconstruction Fund. This is the last year the borough will receive National Forest Receipts unless congress reauthorizes the funding...
During the January 19 Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting, Petersburg Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht reported the following: Power & Light has completed the major re-write of our Emergency Action Plan required by FERC for our Blind Slough Hydro. A tabletop exercise to familiarize plan holders with the new document has been scheduled for January 21. The next SEAPA meeting will be held in Wrangell on February 11-12. This will be the first meeting of the new year, so there will be an election of officers. We will be having weekly diesel runs on...
WRANGELL - Members of the community were invited to the Wrangell Ranger District Office on Jan. 13, to meet and greet with some of the minds behind the latest proposals for the future Tongass management plan. The United States Forest Service is amending the current Land and Resource Management Plan for the Tongass National Forest, which is the largest in the country. Covering 16.7 million acres in Southeast Alaska, 3.4 million acres of that has been set aside for resource development. The...
Fishing issues will take a back seat to budget cutting when the Alaska legislature convenes on January 19 for its 90-day session, but two early fish bills (and one hold-over) already are getting attention. One new measure aims to stop the migration of fishing permits outside of the state. We lost over 50 percent of our permits over the 1973 original issuance of permits,” said Robin Samuelsen of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation (BBEDC), speaking at a two day Alaska Sea Grant workshop last week in Anchorage titled Fisheries Access...
The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA) will offer a 10-hour Fishing Vessel Drill Conductor workshop in Petersburg at the Tides Inn on February 4 from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm and on February 5 from 8:00 am – 5:30 pm. Instructor Dug Jensen will cover cold-water survival skills; EPIRBs, flares, and maydays; man-overboard recovery and firefighting; immersion suits and PFDs, helicopter rescue, life rafts, abandon ship procedures, and emergency drills. There will be and in-the-water practice session, giving participants practical exp...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) announced Wednesday that the District 8 commercial beam trawl shrimp fishery will be closed effective 11:59 p.m., Saturday, January 23, 2016. Effort levels and harvest data obtained from fish tickets and call in information indicate that the upper bound of the 25,000 - 250,000 pound guideline harvest range for the fourth fishing period in District 8 will be reached at the time of the closure. Shrimp tickets must be submitted to an ADF&G office within seven days of the closure. The District 8...
JUNEAU (AP) — A government watchdog found no evidence of bias in how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted a study on the potential effects of large-scale mining on a world-class salmon fishery in Alaska's Bristol Bay region. The inspector general for the EPA also concluded in a report released Wednesday that the agency did not predetermine the study's outcome. The state of Alaska and the owner of the proposed Pebble Mine, Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., were among those who asked for an investigation. The EPA, petitioned by A...
