Sorted by date Results 1 - 21 of 21
A report released last week by the Local Boundary Commission (LBC) regarding the petition for the City of Petersburg to dissolve and become a borough, includes revised boundary lines, and recommendations regarding inclusion of residents who live outside city limits. Petersburg filed a petition with the Alaska State Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development to dissolve the city and for the incorporation of a borough with the Commerce Dept. on April 6, 2011. The Petition was accepted for filing on August 5, 2011, and the LBC bega...
Silas Flor (left) and Chris Bearly clear away the last of chimney at the Lutheran Church on Monday. The chimney has been there for about 100 years. Contractor Jesse West said the chimney was being removed due to safety concerns. Several people who watched the removal took a few bricks as keepsakes West said....
March 3, 1982 - The “Jaws of Life” was recently purchased by the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department, with $10,000 in donations from the community. The hydraulic rescue tool can exert approximately 25,000 lbs. of force for lifting, breaking and prying parts of cars, when victims are trapped inside. The equipment has other accessories and can be used in a variety of rescue applications. February 27, 1992 - Oil spills in the Petersburg Harbor have become so frequent in the last year that if the...
The USCGC Elderberry is currently at the Base Support Unit Ketchikan Marine Ways for a 12-week, dry dock maintenance, said First Class Machinery Technician Cameron Peterson. The scheduled maintenance began on Feb. 15 and will include the replacement of about 60 square-feet of hull plating on the port (left) side of the 65-foot cutter. Other repairs and maintenance, that require the cutter to be out of the water to complete, include shaft seal replacement, prop inspection and repair, shaft and...
The Governor's 2013 budget will include $3.5 million for the North Harbor Replacement as well as $3.4 million for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredging of the North Harbor, said Petersburg City Manager Stephen Giesbrecht to the City Council on Tuesday, Feb. 21 in his regular report. • The city has requested a proposal from PND Engineers for design services and the landfill slope stabilization project to allow for the placement of the North Harbor dredge material and the landfill. • The Mountain View Manor Assisted Living, 12-unit fac...
Field inventories needed To the Editor: The Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan FEIS of 1-23-2008 provides for the sustainability of the resources of the Tongass National Forest yet the proposed Tonka Timber Sale only provides for viable populations of deer for subsistence. Definition of these 3 key words are (1)Sustainability- to provide for support of and sustenance or nourishment for. (2)Resource- something that lies ready for use or that can be drawn upon for aid to the care of a need. (3) Viable- able to live and likely to survive....
The buzz in the hallways, here at the capital, is all about Education funding. We all recognize that if we’re going to keep America’s workforce strong, today’s students need to be getting the best education possible. There are those who believe that the state hasn’t raised education funding in several years. This is not so. In fact, in Fiscal Year 2009 the House of Representatives instituted forward funding education with a three year increase that just ended two years ago. In addition to incr...
Feb. 22 - Caller asked for a welfare check on S. Nordic. Caller reported a vehicle hit a dog and then left the scene on S. 2nd St. Feb. 23 - Officers responded to an unattended death. Caller reported hearing screaming by the ball field. Caller reported an underage party on Kiseno. Caller reported an intoxicated person on 2nd and Fram. Feb. 24 - Caller reported a dog hit by a car and children throwing objects in the street on S. Nordic. Caller reported vehicles speeding on S. Nordic. Caller reported being locked out of a vehicle. Caller...
Feb. 23 - Judge William Carey heard testimony from Parole Officer Marylee Cassell Quinto in an evidentiary hearing regarding visitation rights of Benjamin Phillips. The judge took the matter under advisement. Feb. 29 - Michael Davis was arraigned on charges of illegal storage of crab pots. Davis entered a plea of not guilty and will be back in court on April 18....
Alaska’s current petroleum tax system, Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share (or ACES, for short), was an ill-conceived policy pushed through by then Governor Sarah Palin in 2007. When ACES was voted on in the Senate, I was one of only five Senators who voted against it. My reason was simple: I felt then and I still feel that ACES is anything but “equitable” and that under ACES the government take at high oil prices is excessive. Those who voted for ACES did so with the best of intentions and I don’t hold that vote against them. Instead,...
JUNEAU (AP) — U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Thursday that drilling will happen in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but people shouldn't hold their breath waiting for it. That's one of the messages the Alaska Republican presented during her annual address to the state Legislature. The U.S. House cleared a bill last week that would open a portion of ANWR for exploration and drilling, but Murkowski said strong enough support from the White House and her Senate colleagues appears unlikely. She insisted that “ANWR will happen” but only after Rep...
Using donated yarn, these ladies made blankets, scarves, caps, mittens and slippers for children at an orphanage in Zmiev, Ukraine. The orphanage is home to 64 children that range in school grades from first to eighth. Pictured are (top row) Katey Gilpin, Arlene Williams, Cathy Harris, (seated) Ruth Callihan, Winny the Pomeranian, Adelyn Funk and Shirley Short....
Last week, residents with a landline received an automated phone call asking them about their interest in bio fuels — an alternative form of energy that could be used to heat homes. The Feb. 23 phone survey was conducted by the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC) and asked both Wrangell and Petersburg residents two things: what their primary source of heating is, and if they would consider using a locally manufactured bio fuel product to heat their home. According to the survey results, Wrangell was more open to bio fuel use than P...
Trident Seafoods in Petersburg may be the smallest of the three seafood processors, but it has the largest fleet. And that fleet has a high demand for ice, said plant manager Dave Ohmer. This spring, Trident is more than doubling its ice-making capacity by adding a new ice maker and swapping out the current ice storage box for a much larger one. According to Ohmer, the fleet has gradually gotten larger over the years, and with that growth has been an ever-increasing demand for more ice. “Since the beginning of time, there's been a shortage o...
At the regular Petersburg School Board meeting Feb. 21, Superintendent of Schools, Robert Thomason reported that Justice, the drug dog visited the schools and stirred a lot of interest from the students, but didn't find any drugs on the premises. It was an unannounced visit. “It was a regular school day, and that's how we want it, to make sure the school is safe,” Thomason said. The board heard from high school representatives that revealed Diane Murph's poster design was chosen by the governor for the state's Choose Respect campaign. Ala...
A lack of information about the elk on Etolin Island sparked a collaborative study between the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) last year. With the use of tracking collars, the study attempts to collect more data on the non-native species, such as population numbers, their habitat and their effect on the environment and other animals. Last week, ADFG Aerial Wildlife Biologist Richard Lowell came to Wrangell to discuss the elk study as part of the Chautauqua lecture series at the Nolan Center. Since...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — More than 12,000 acres of the Tongass National Forest's oldest and largest trees are being targeted for logging under a bill that would place wide swathes of forest lands in private hands, an Audubon report says. “These are the ancient giant tree stands,” said Audubon Alaska policy director Eric Myers. “These are effectively the redwoods of the Tongass.” Audubon Alaska used U.S. Forest Service data to look at the potential impact of a bill pending in Congress that would allow Sealaska Corp. to pick choice lands in the natio...
JUNEAU (AP) — The board that redraws Alaska's political boundaries would be comprised of five Republicans, five Democrats and four people not affiliated with either party under a proposed constitutional amendment introduced in the Senate Tuesday. SJR19 is sponsored by Anchorage Democratic Sen. Hollis French. It would nearly triple the size of the redistricting board and seek to do away with concerns that creep up every 10 years, when the lines are redrawn, that politics influence the process. Board members would no longer be appointees but i...
State fishery managers project a lower Alaska salmon harvest this year, due to an expected decrease in those hard to predict pinks. The total catch forecast by the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game is 132 million salmon, down 25% from the 177 million fish taken in 2011. The statewide breakdown is 120,000 Chinook salmon (in areas outside Southeast, where catches are dictated by treaty with Canada); 38.4 million sockeye salmon, a decline of 4%; 4.3 million coho (similar to last year); 19 million chums, 12% higher; and 70.2 million pinks, a 40%...
Beverley Jean (Reid) Coleman, born April 8, 1952 lost her battle with cancer on February 16, 2012 at home, in Randle Wash. surrounded by family and friends. Bev was born and raised in Petersburg, where she married her high school sweetheart, Brian Coleman. They were married for 42 years. They moved to Randle in 1974 where Bev stayed home and raised their four children. Bev will be remembered for her faithful and longtime service as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Anyone that met Bev noticed her b...
The Make Alaska Competitive Coalition claims Alaska's oil flow and production are in a slow rate of decline and that if something isn't done to turn things around, difficult financial times could be looming. “Life in Alaska couldn't be better, there's fishing, mining, tourism, however all is not well,” said coalition spokesman William Corbus. “Expenses are going up … and the production of oil is at a precipitous stage.” The coalition, made up of professionals, former politicians and at least...
