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With discussion continuing on the amount of the rebate to be distributed to low-income seniors Ordinance #2018-16 passed assembly muster at yet another reading Monday evening. Annual rebates of $300 per senior to $600 were mentioned at the Assembly's meeting. Finance Director Jody Tow told the gathering, "I'm hearing a lot more (comments) of it's not enough." Tow added that it was difficult to give any type of number that would reflect the savings individual seniors receive each year from the...
A harbor seal and her pup haul out on the ice at LeConte Bay on Monday on a warm and sunny day....
Meeting in Wrangell this week, board members with Southeast Alaska Power Agency approved a municipal rebate and power rates for the coming year. Headquartered in Ketchikan, the organization generates and distributes power for the Gateway Borough, Wrangell and Petersburg. Board membership is split between the three member communities, meeting at regular intervals throughout the year to set rates and direct projects. Pending a successfully completed audit, member communities would split between...
June 21, 1918 Assistant District Attorney Regan visited in town while the City of Seattle was in port. He stated that he noted with pleasure the clean and orderly appearance of the town and complimented officials and citizens generally upon the fact that Petersburg furnishes the court very few cases of law violation. June 18, 1943 It was a crowd of tired, happy girls which Skipper Harry Colp brought to Petersburg on the Charles T. They were returning from a two-week camping trip at the Allens cabin in Beecher’s Pass. Weather was perfect for the...
The Borough Assembly and Mayor evaluated the manager's job performance and generally agreed he exceeded job performance standards in most categories. In his summary rating he got one vote for improvement needed, one vote for meets job standard, three votes that he exceeds job standards and one vote for outstanding performance. One vote came mid-center between meets job standards and exceeds job standards. The manager was evaluated for work performed between March 1, 2017 and Feb. 28, 2018....
In response to my annual performance appraisal, I would like to offer some commentary. First, thank you to the Assembly, the Department Heads and the Community for your ongoing faith in my ability to help the Petersburg Borough. Your support is what makes this all work. While I agree with my appraisal for the most part, I do feel some changes to the process and some commentary by me is appropriate. The current process does not allow me to see individual input from specific Assembly members. This means I only see the average scores, and...
Petersburg attorney Fred Triem intends to reply to an order from Superior Court Judge Louis Menendez to render a full accounting of the Hanson Class Trust Funds as required by a court order dated June 14. Triem told the Pilot the due date for the information for the Alaska Bar Association, Kake Tribal attorneys and the Hanson Class counsel fall on the same day — Thursday, June 21. Even though the court order said the accounting was due in five days from the date of the order, weekends are not included in the 5-day requirement, according to cour...
Icicle Seafoods, Inc. reports that Julianne Curry, a fourth-generation family fisherman and advocate for the Alaska seafood industry, has been named the company's Public Affairs Manager. "Julianne was born and raised in Petersburg, Alaska, where Icicle also has deep roots," said John Woodruff, Chief Operating Officer at Icicle Seafoods. "As a long-term resident of the area and a third generation Icicle fisherman, she is in tune with the state's fishing sector and with Icicle Seafoods and its...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly concurred with the manager's selection of James Kerr to be Petersburg's next police chief. Kerr is currently a sergeant with the department and has worked there since his hire in June 2013. Kerr replaces Kelly Swihart who is leaving his post after five years to seek a job in the Lower 48 to be closer to family. Kerr will assume the new position on July 1 at an annual salary of $96,000. At Monday's meeting, Petersburg harbor moorage rates will go up 9% and various...
June 13 — AST was notified of a deer hit by a vehicle at Blind River Rapids. June 14 — A stolen bicycle was later found to have been borrowed by a friend. Debit cards were turned into the PPD. June 15 — Officers assisted EMS with transport of a stroke victim on Haugen Dr. Officers asked two individuals with open containers to dispose of the contents. Counterfeit currency was used at a local business. An intoxicated male was removed from the Harbor Bar. June 16 — Police provided medical assistance with a reported breathing problem. Suspici...
King Salmon Additional marine waters in the Petersburg and Wrangell area are now open to the harvest of king salmon beginning June 15. In these areas the regional bag and possession limits apply: The bag and possession limit (residents and nonresidents) is one king salmon 28 inches or greater in length. For nonresidents an annual harvest limit applies: From January 1 through June 30 the annual limit is three king salmon; from July 1 through December 31 the annual limit is one king salmon. Immediately upon landing and retaining a king salmon a...
Nine year old Grace Morrison is no stranger to the spotlight. She regularly gets perfect attendance at Rae C. Stedman Elementary. At Award Assemblies she and her schoolmates are called up front in a group, she receives her certificate of acknowledgment with the rest of them and sits back down. But this time was different Morrison said, she felt "awkward" as she stepped up in front of her school, "like all eyes were on her." Taking center stage alone this time, she was presented a plaque for winn...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Parts of southeast Alaska are experiencing drought conditions following a winter and spring with lackluster snowfall and rain, according to the National Weather Service. Ketchikan received 11.2 inches (28.5 centimeters) of precipitation in October and 7.6 inches (19.3 centimeters) in November, less than half the normal amounts expected for the rainiest months of the year, the Juneau Empire reported Wednesday. “This was the most significant drought in the wet season in Southeast Alaska in 40-plus years,’’ said Aaron Jacobs,...
WRANGELL — In a press release last Friday, Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium announced it will officially move forward with formalizing an affiliation with the City and Borough of Wrangell regarding the future of its municipal hospital. The decision follows one reached unanimously by the Wrangell Assembly on June 12, and sets into motion a transfer of operations of Wrangell Medical Center to SEARHC. Initially, the regional provider will acquire the local hospital and assume its ope...
The Kerr brothers both shot black bears on Mitkof Island last month. Kaleb's bear scored 16-14/16" skull and was 5'9" from nose to tail. He made the shot from 147 yards with a .308 rifle. The eight year old shot his bear on May 26. Nathan, 9, took his bear at 80 yards with a .308 rifle. His bear scored a 19-2/16" skull and was 6'8" from nose to tail. Nathan took his bear at night on May 4. It was the first big game animal taken by each hunter...
A view of the Sukoi Islands and the Coastal Mountain range as viewed from the Raven's Roost Trail....
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —Gov. Bill Walker has signed into law state spending bills, rejecting funding for a south-central Alaska bridge project and a Vitamin D deficiency study. Walker vetoed $2.5 million for the dormant Knik Arm crossing project. He ordered a halt on new spending on that project years ago. He also axed a roughly $500,000 study aimed at determining the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiencies in pregnant women and babies. Walker said a similar study is ongoing. Walker signed legislation calling for limited, structured draws from A...
Kevin Nicholas Volk passed away at Petersburg Medical Center on June 15 2018, from complications due to gastric cancer. His wife and children were holding his hands during the last beat of his heart. Kevin was born July 16, 1955 to Edward Valentine Volk and Rose Magdalena (Axtman) Volk in Rolla, ND, he was the seventh of twelve children. Kevin grew up on the family farm and graduated from Mt. Pleasant High School in 1973. In order to get as far away from farm work as possible, he joined the US... Full story
A kayaker makes his way through bergie bits at LeConte Glacier last week....
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska official floated the idea of taxing the state's legal marijuana industry based on the ingredient that produces a high at a meeting Wednesday with industry representatives and regulators. Erika McConnell, director of the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, mentioned the idea of a tax based on THC content, saying she had heard about the concept at a conference and asked members of the Marijuana Control Board for their thoughts. Board member Brandon Emmett, who works in the pot industry, said he had not e...
With the legislative season wrapping up in May, candidates for Alaska's primaries and general elections have begun preparing themselves for voters' consideration in the coming months. This year House District 35 can expect to see a competitive race for its Republican Party primary in August, with Democratic incumbent Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins running unopposed in his party's primary. District 35 encompasses much of Central Southeast, including the communities of Petersburg, Sitka, Hoonah and...
Shockwaves rocked the Alaska seafood industry when China announced on Friday that it will add an additional 25 percent tariff on seafood imports starting July 6 in retaliation to Trump’s trade war. “The 25 percent will be added to the current base tariffs which typically range from 5 to 15 percent,” said Garrett Evridge, a fishery analyst with the McDowell Group. The list of seafood products includes all Alaska salmon, pollock, cod, herring, flatfish, Dungeness crab, snow crab, Atka mackerel, sablefish, geoduck clams and more. “This is devasta...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A Juneau man could face criminal charges after one of his wolf traps mortally wounded a black bear cub, Alaska State Troopers said. A group of hikers found the cub severely injured near the Ready Bouillon Creek in late May after it stepped into the trap which was illegally left out on Douglas Island, the Juneau Empire reported . The snare caught the cub around both hind legs and cut the bear almost all the way to the bone, said Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game determined that the c...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Officials with the state and with Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage, hope to avoid any confusion about voting in this year’s primary and general elections. Anchorage has moved to a vote-by-mail system for its local elections. However, the state has not gone that route and will conduct the Aug. 21 primary and Nov. 6 general elections as normal. That typically means voting in person. However, a voter also can request an absentee ballot, which can be returned in the mail one of the options the state offers for casting ballots....
Filmmaker Kelly Bakos of Petersburg, Alaska has won four prestigious Awards of Excellence from The Accolade Global Film Competition. The awards were given for her feature length documentary film, A HERD OF ORPHANS, in four categories: Award of Excellence: Nature/Environment/Wildlife; Award of Excellence: Viewer Impact: Content/Message Delivery; Award of Excellence: Contemporary Issues/Awareness Raising; Award of Excellence: Women Filmmakers. Bakos says this about winning the awards, "I am...
