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The borough assembly approved a second follow-up letter at last week's assembly meeting regarding a letter sent to Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen in November requesting information about a possible review of the Tonka and Big Thorne Integrated Resource timber contracts. "It feels like we've been stonewalled for the last six months on that," said vice mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor at a borough assembly meeting on April 15. "Frankly, I want to put this issue to bed." The letter is the third...
Those at Alaska Marine Lines, including President Kevin Anderson, always closely watch salmon forecasts in Southeast Alaska. In recent years, salmon runs in the region have been lower than average, and the shipping company has felt it. "We had a bad year last year here in Southeast Alaska," Anderson told a crowd at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday. "If we were just in Southeast Alaska, we would not have been profitable." Fortunately for AML, the company isn't solely dependent on Southea...
April 25, 1919 US Department of the Interior: Notice is hereby given that Olaf Arness of Petersburg, Alaska has filed notice of his intention to submit final five year proof in support of his homestead, located on Mitkof Island, Scow Bay, Wrangell Narrows. Proof will be submitted along with the following witnesses: Ole Benjaminson, J.M. Bjorge, I.M. Hofstad and P.M. Bjorge all of Scow Bay. April 21, 1944 Under the direction of Mae Stephenson, district home demonstration agent, 4-H Club work in Petersburg got off to a good start this week. A...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency, representing the communities of Wrangell, Petersburg, and Ketchikan, decided to postpone a reimbursement plan to its two northern communities in their last meeting. Petersburg and Wrangell took on additional costs to keep the lights on in their towns over the past months, which they felt SEAPA should compensate them for. In a brief summary of recent events, Wrangell and Petersburg both receive hydropower from Tyee Lake. Due to dry weather last year, however,...
Elizabeth Roberts, center, teaches Mrs. Brock's first grade class about the harmful effects of plastic getting into the ocean. She brought a box filled with pieces of plastic that she found littered around beaches to give the kids a visual aid of just how much everyday plastic items get into the ocean. Roberts said 80 percent of that litter comes from the land and finds its way to the water whether the wind blows it or rain washed it into the ocean. "If you guys pick stuff up you find on the...
Redirect $32 million to "legitimate" transportation need To the Editor: Only 15 seconds into my April 12, one minute public testimony for the state operating budget, my microphone was abruptly muted by finance committee co-chair Senator Stedman. His justification explained afterward was, "We are talking about the operating budget." If freeing up $32 million dollars to put toward genuine transportation needs is an invalid suggestion toward relieving our state's fiscal crisis, then Alaska resident...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — A former high school teacher and pastor in southeast Alaska will be going to prison for sexually abusing a teenage girl at a school, a church and his home. Douglas Edwards, 60, was sentenced last week to 18 years in prison with 12 years suspended after pleading guilty in February to one count of sexual abuse of a minor, the Ketchikan Daily News reported. The former Ketchikan High School teacher placed his hand inside the victim’s “shirt, underneath her bra, and rubbed or touched her bare breast” multiple times between...
The Petersburg School Board held a work session on Thursday with district staff in which board members heard presentations on three new classes coming to Petersburg High School. Beginning in the fall, the Petersburg School District will be offering a food science class, a computer science principles class and a class that prepares high school students for a career in teaching; however, if enough students don't register for the classes, they won't be offered. Students will get the opportunity to...
Parks and Rec groundkeeper Jesse O'Connor dumps a load of rock underneath a newly built kiosk at Sandy Beach on Wednesday. The kiosk was designed by the United States Forest Service, paid for by the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department Association and constructed by volunteer firefighter Logan Canton and about a dozen other volunteer firefighters, with help from Parks and Rec, according to assistant fire chief Dave Berg. The kiosk will feature information on the Raven Trail from the USFS, Sandy...
April 17 — A power outage occurred at a location on Mitkof Highway. A bear was reported going through trash at a location on S. 6th St. Bear tracks were also seen. A single gunshot was reported at a location on Rory Ln. April 18 — A phone scam was reported involving an individual claiming to be from the Social Security Administration wanting to contact a resident over a legal complaint. Thomas Stein, 21, was issued a speeding citation. April 19 — Ryan Dawson, 31, was remanded to custody for violating conditions of release. April 20 — Suspicious...
At a school board meeting last week, Petersburg School District Director of Activities Jaime Cabral said that a recent research project revealed that school districts within Southeast Alaska spent $1.9 million in one year traveling with Alaska Airlines. The figure only takes into account the amount of money the region spends on travel for activities, like basketball games at other schools or regional and state competitions. Cabral said that Alaska Airlines is looking at possible solutions to...
Despite competing against 4A schools in their first meet of the season over the weekend in Ketchikan, the Petersburg High School track and field team held their own and scored well in the events they competed in. The Vikings competed alongside students from Ketchikan, Juneau and Thunder Mountain. All three schools are categorized as 4A schools, meaning they have more students, while Petersburg is a 2A school. Since Ketchikan, Juneau and Thunder Mountain have larger school sizes, they have more...
The Petersburg High School baseball team traveled to Ketchikan over the weekend to play their first three games of the season, but ended up losing each game to Ketchikan High School. For a month, the Vikings have been practicing at the ballfield and in the gym in preparation for the start of the baseball season. Until now, head coach Jim Engell said he didn't know what the team needed to focus on, but after Friday's and Saturday's games, he knows what to zero in on with the team during...
SITKA, Alaska (AP) — A city government in Alaska has approved agreements allowing a regional health consortium to take over operation of its community hospital, officials said. The City and Borough of Sitka Assembly voted 5-2 Monday to approve asset purchase and facilities lease agreements so Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium can operate Sitka Community Hospital, The Daily Sitka Sentinel reported Tuesday. The consortium’s board will consider approval of the agreements April 26, with a likely June 30 closing date, the newspaper rep...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The biggest issues heading into this year’s legislative session remain unresolved in the session’s final weeks, with Gov. Mike Dunleavy facing resistance to pieces of his agenda. Lawmakers have yet to finalize a budget. The size of the check residents will get this year from the state’s oil-wealth fund, the Alaska Permanent Fund, is unsettled, as is the debate over the program’s future. The Republican governor wants lawmakers to pass his package of bills related to crime and act on proposed constitutional amendment...
Nearly all Alaska salmon permits have gone up in value since last fall and buying/selling/trading action is brisk. “We’re as busy as we’ve ever been in the last 20 years,” said Doug Bowen of Alaska Boats and Permits in Homer. “Boat sales are doing well and between IFQs and permit sales, we’ve got a busy year going.” The salmon permit interest is fueled by a forecast this year of over 213 million fish, an 85 percent increase over 2018. Also, salmon prices are expected to be higher. For the bellwether drift permit at Bristol Bay, the value has in...
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska city is facing a shortage of police officers that is raising concerns about the department’s operations. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Sunday that the Fairbanks Police Department has seven unfilled positions, a deficit expected to grow this spring and summer following scheduled retirements. The department says four of its 46 officers plan to retire in the coming months. Officials say four of the expected 11 vacancies will remain unfunded through at least 2019 under the terms of a three-year con...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A former Alaska bank employee who stole $4.3 million in cash and fled to Mexico is set to be sentenced. Gerardo Cazarez Valenzuela, 33, pleaded guilty to theft of bank funds after he was extradited to the U.S. last year, Alaska Public Media reported Thursday. The former cash vault services manager loaded boxes of cash onto a cart and wheeled them out of a KeyBank in Anchorage in 2011, according to court documents. He had organized an ice cream social for that day, giving him the opportunity to stay late to access the v...
Bushes and water didn't stop Gunner Washke from hunting down Easter eggs on Sunday....
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Health and wildlife officials are taking steps to prepare for potentially dangerous parasites that could gain a foothold because of Alaska’s warming climate. Non-native ticks represent a threat to wildlife and people because they can carry and transmit pathogens, said Micah Hahn, an assistant professor of environmental health with the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies at the University of Alaska Anchorage. “Things are changing really rapidly in Alaska,” she said. “It’s really important for us to establish a...
Our little community of Petersburg is so amazing! Dan and I were born and raised here, on this island, as were our parents, as were our children, and most of our grandchildren. We have always known this town was special. In these last 4 ½ months I fully realized how wonderful this community is, how generous, how caring and giving. The food. I didn’t realize we have so many fabulous cooks in this town. The gifts of food, flowers, gifts of kind gestures, is crazy. I couldn’t even begin to explain to an outsider what living here with all of you in... Full story
