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The state legislature has finally reached a budget agreement, drawing a “collective sigh of relief from Alaska,” as Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (D-Sitka) put it. The $5 billion budget will include funds pulled from the Constitutional Budget Reserve to balance it. The state still faces a nearly $4 billion budget hole in fiscal year 2017. This year’s legislative session went over seven weeks as legislators couldn’t reach a compromise. It sparked the possibility of a partial government shutdown on July 1 that had Governor Bill Walker sending... Full story
Dungeness crab season is now open, and fishermen are flocking to the sea earlier. This time last year, there were 151 permits registered, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Petersburg Shellfish Biologist Joe Stratman said. The 2014-15 season ended with 192 permit holders. This year, there are already 193 permits registered, he added. "We have an increase in effort this year," Stratman said. And the results of last year's season may be a contributor, he added. The 2014-15 season was a good one... Full story
The Public Safety Advisory Board is forwarding a proposed increase in ambulance rates to the Borough Assembly. The proposed increases range in cost from just over $300 to $827, depending on the level of service needed. The most emergent, Advanced Life Support (ALS) Level 2, would be the highest as the most care is needed. “We currently are $300 flat rate. It doesn’t matter what type of call it is,” said Sandy Dixson, Emergency Medical Services and Fire Director, during Wednesday’s meeting. Any adjustments would reflect Medicare rates, she add... Full story
June 19, 1915 – The cannery pile-driver has completed trap work and was towed in Thursday. There are already some fish coming into the traps, and canning is expected to start next week. H. S. Finch, who has been buying fish for the Packing Company on the Stikine, returned home Thursday. He reports the run of kings at the river as practically over. June 21, 1940 – Cornelius Vanderbreggen Jr., writer and lecturer of Norwood, Pennsylvania, will present an illustrated lecture, THIS IS HOLLAND, with slides and movies, in the Sons of Norway Hal...
Two borough committees are searching for new members while another is welcoming one. The Borough Assembly approved Dr. Monica Gross as the Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors’ newest member during its meeting Monday evening. She’s filling a vacancy left behind by Steven Samuelson, who resigned in April. Samuelson had served on the board since February 2014 and tendered his resignation because he wouldn’t be in town for meetings. During a hospital board meeting last month, Medical Records Director Janet Kvernvik clarified that Gross...
Dan Vick caught the $5,000 tagged fish from the 2015 Chamber of Commerce King Salmon Derby, according to Ron Loesch, chair of the derby committee. "Vick brought the green tag to us on Wednesday morning," Loesch said. Vick said the fish was caught in his gillnet on Tuesday June 16, while he was fishing near Station Island aboard the F/V Heather Lee. "The tag was wrapped up in the gillnet," explained Vick. "It took me a half-hour to untangle the tag from the net," he added. The fish however was...
Alaska trawl bycatch halibut To the Editor: Our North Pacific Fisheries Management Council just met in Sitka, Alaska. Trawl bycatch (non-targeted species) of juvenile halibut in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands was on the agenda. Around 130 people gave public comment on this topic in addition to 3 inches of paper letters in a spiral binder compiling written public comments. The overwhelming majority urging the council for a 50 percent reduction in halibut waste. A reduction of roughly 20 percent allowable trawl bycatch of halibut was...
Father’s Day is on Sunday. Children across the country will honor their dads at family gatherings with gifts, cards and special meals. On this occasion, we encourage dads to consider the creation of a special gift for their children. It is a time consuming project that will reap personal rewards well worth the effort put forth. Why not write a family history and distribute it to your children next year, or two years from now? Other dads have done this, including my father, who wrapped up his 64-page compilation just months before his death a...
Sentencing has been delayed for former Petersburg resident Mark Weaver, 59, who pled guilty to a felony charge regarding an incident in which he set off an explosive device in July last year. Weaver was originally supposed to be sentenced on Tuesday in Juneau, but had his court date pushed back to July 20, according to court documents. In February, Weaver pled guilty to one of two felony charges he faced following the explosion in the rock quarry behind the Petersburg James A. Johnson Airport. He had faced two counts of Possession of...
June 11 An officer gave a warning for inoperable headlights. Callers reported multiple near accidents as vehicles rolled through the stop signs of a detour route and drove too fast on Sixth Street. An officer responded to multiple stop sign violations on Sing Lee Alley. Police were called about a shoplifting in progress. The individual had not left with anything and was trespassed from the property on North First Street. A break in was reported on Mitkof Highway. Callers reported a one vehicle accident. EMS and the Fire Department were...
June 4 Brittany Martin appeared before Superior Court Judge William Carey for a bail hearing. A third party person request was denied. Martin faces a Class B felony charge of burglary and has a trial set to begin July 21. June 8 Magistrate Judge Desiree Burrell presided over the arraignment of Zebadiah Sipper on a felony charge of DUI. Sipper allegedly had a BAC of .244 in a work zone. He entered a not guilty plea. He received a $1,000 cash only performance bond and must appear at all hearings, do daily check-ins at the Petersburg Police...
The new Rainforest Islands Ferry Service, providing travel between Petersburg, Wrangell and Coffman Cove, has been delayed again. Set to begin June 14, service is now expected to start June 28 instead. Heather Hedges, who does advertising and marketing for Rainforest Islands Ferry, said the delay is due to a wait on Coast Guard certification. The ferry, a 65-foot landing craft called the Rainforest Islander, will provide service four days a week year round: Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday....
It's a frustrating plant when out fishing, but the prickly devil's club won Petersburg's Sunny Rice second in a statewide Salmon Haiku Contest. Sponsored by The Salmon Project, a group focused on exploring the deep relationship Alaskans have with wild salmon, the second annual Salmon Haiku Contest ran from May 1 to May 15 and encouraged participants to express their understanding of salmon habitat through poetry. This year, over 1,000 entries submitted across Alaska were judged, said Emily...
JUNEAU (AP) — It's a wrap for Alaska's film tax credit program. Gov. Bill Walker on Monday signed into law legislation repealing the program, established in 2008 as a way to encourage the growth of the film industry in Alaska. More than $50 million in credits have been paid out since 2009, when the program took off, and an estimated $30 million in preapproved credits are pending that the state has said it is committed to honoring, the former executive director of the Alaska Film Office, Kelly Mazzei, said Tuesday. Before lawmakers approved t...
The Petersburg Port and Harbor is seeking improvements through a couple of different projects. The Borough Assembly approved to award the Middle Harbor repair project to local company Tamico, Inc. for an amount not to exceed $172,300 during its meeting Monday evening. Authorization was also given to amend a professional services contract with PND Engineers, Inc. out of Juneau for a Bulkhead Loading Dock design. The Middle Harbor work is the result of an accident that occurred in September 2014. “A tour ship hit the end of one of the floats a...
A one handed clap best describes the reaction to the 43,000 signature drop off by anti-salmon setnet advocates at the Division of Elections last week. It means enough signatures were gathered to include the question on the 2016 primary election ballot, and let Alaska voters decide whether to ban setnets at Cook Inlet, Mat-Su, Anchorage, Juneau, Valdez, Ketchikan, and any communities designated as “urban” and “non-subsistence” in the future. The ban is being pushed one-handed by the Alaska Fisheries Conservation Alliance (AFCA), whose board o...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht gave the following report at Monday’s assembly meeting: The Middle Harbor waterline is back on. Crew from Rock N Road assisted the Harbor maintenance crew over the last week as the line was lengthened and laid completely outside of the problem area. EMS Marine Survey performed a condition survey on the Homeland Security boat as required by insurance every third year. All looked fine and no maintenance exceptions were noted. The Drive Down Facility is busy with 157 annual permits sold thus far. Mark Morris c...
Gonzaga University Carolyn Kvernvik and David Marifern were named to the President's List at Gonzaga University for spring semester 2015. University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Natural Science and Mathematics has named Sam Volk to the Chancellor's List....
Jace Benjamin Appleman, born January 2, 2015, treasured son of Cole Appleman and Rachel Lucas was suddenly and unexpectedly taken from us on May 31, 2015. Jace is survived by his brother Jared and sister Kendyl. He was the grandson of Benjamin (deceased) and Wynn Lucas, and Keith and Kathy Appleman, the nephew of Tessa Appleman, Jody McKenzie, Nicole Dean, Amy Perov (Tim), Laurie Lucas and numerous cousins. A Celebration of Life was held on Sat., June 6, at the Stillaguamish Tribal Community... Full story
Despite dimming income over the past fiscal year, board members for Southeast Alaska Power Agency were informed the future is still a bright one. At its June 18 meeting in Ketchikan, CEO Trey Acteson reported SEAPA remains financially strong and well-positioned leading into the next fiscal year. Sales revenues through last month were $1.3 million below budget, or about 12 percent. While weather volatility has played a hand in the shortfall, a consistent drop from anticipated power consumption by Ketchikan through the 2015 fiscal year has also...
