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With approximately 400 members of the Inlandboatmen's Union going on strike last Wednesday, July 24, operations of the Alaska Marine Highway System have come to a halt. Without ferry services, many people across the state, especially in Southeast Alaska, found themselves stranded. In the communities of Wrangell and Petersburg, many people are facing disruptions to their schedules, families, and work. WRANGELL: Several of Wrangell's children and adults attending a church camp in Juneau were...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The first strike by Alaska ferry workers in over 40 years has snarled travel plans for thousands of people during the busy tourist and fishing season, leaving some stranded and catching the attention of a Democratic presidential candidate. Members of the Inlandboatmen's Union of the Pacific went on strike Wednesday after failing to reach agreement with the state on contract terms, bringing Alaska's ferry system to a halt. State transportation Commissioner John MacKinnon...
August 1, 1919 Petersburg is receiving a coating of red paint. That is, that part of the town owned by the Petersburg Packing Corporation is being painted. A new mechanical process, which does away with the old hand and brush method is being used. A gas engine and compressor are mounted on an old auto frame. The paint is sprayed through a double nozzle effect, the air and paint being delivered under a 70 pound pressure. It will accomplish the work of ten men, and 2 coats applied are equal to three coats under the old method. July 28, 1944 Work...
On July 12, the cruise ship Safari Quest discharged their wastewater into Petersburg Harbor due to a malfunctioning fan. The fan impeded the normal processing of wastewater and a small amount of poorly processed material was released into the harbor before the mistake was noticed and the valve was shut off, according to Dan Blanchard, CEO of UnCruise Adventures, in a prepared statement. "We sincerely regret the incident and want to assure the community this is not our usual practice," said...
Last week, Petersburg Medical Center Controller Rocio Tereja presented the board of directors with a review of the hospitals financial standing at the end of the 2019 fiscal year that ended on June 30. PMC was ahead in operating revenue and total operating expenses by five and seven percent respectively, and has seven more days of operating cash on hand than at the start of the 2019 fiscal year. Additionally, PMC's total cash increased to $8,047,677 from $6,992,066 since the start of the year....
A group of about 10 individuals have banded together to secure funding for an outdoor covered deck at Mountain View Manor so its residents have a place to sit outside in the sun. While there is a deck on the backside of the manor, that area can get too cold for the residents since the sun doesn't shine there during the day. Residents have begun sitting in front of the building by one of the entrances in an effort to enjoy some fresh air in the sunlight, but there is not a designated sitting...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors approved the hospital's 2020 fiscal year capital budget for a total of $769,785 last week. The most expensive capital item in the budget is a $387,000 new drug room for the pharmacy, followed by $139,980 in upgrades in the information technology department. The rest of the departments have a combined total of $142,805 in capital items. When the budget was first presented to the board of directors in June, PMC Controller Rocio Tereja said the...
Adam Pack, a professor and marine mammal scientist with the University of Hawaii Hilo, gave a presentation at the Petersburg Library on Tuesday on the data he has collected on humpback whales this summer and over the course of his research. Humpback whales are season breeders with separate feeding and breeding grounds. The humpback whales that can be seen throughout Southeast Alaska during the summer are feeding in the region before returning back to their breeding grounds in Hawaii, near Maui....
WRANGELL - A bear safety workshop was held at the gun range on Spur Road last Wednesday, July 24, as one of the first events scheduled for Wrangell's annual Bearfest. Wrangell resident Robert Johnson led the workshop. He has had a lot of experiences with bears over the years, he said, and told everyone early in the workshop that having respect for bears was an important part of staying safe around them. "You just have to be in awe of these animals and show them the utmost respect," he said. "As...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Legislature on Monday approved a roughly $1,600 oil-wealth fund dividend to residents this year as part of a measure that also seeks to reverse many of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s operating budget vetoes. The legislation now goes to Dunleavy, who called it “a dark day for the PFD and for Alaskans who support the PFD and for those that are looking at a sustainable budget. These add-backs take us in the other direction.” PFD refers to the Permanent Fund dividend, which is traditionally paid annually with earnings of the...
Frustration is mounting at both the police and fire department over funding for a police sergeant position and an EMS coordinator. The 2020 borough budget includes line items of $127,224 to fill a vacant sergeant position and $96,147 to fill the EMS coordinator post. Repeatedly the police chief and fire department volunteers have spoken to the need for filling the two vacancies The topic has been thoroughly covered both during the borough's annual budget deliberations and at many regular...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has withdrawn proposed Obama-era restrictions on mining activity in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, angering opponents of the Pebble Mine project. EPA says the proposed restrictions were based on hypothetical scenarios and are outdated now that the Pebble Limited Partnership has submitted project plans. The agency says other processes are better suited for working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the corps seeks to finalize an environmental review of the project. A reg...
July 25 — A resident at a location on S. Mitkof Highway reported an automated phone scam claiming to be from the Charles Schwab Company. July 26 — Authorities responded to a report of multiple items falling off a moving vehicle. The driver picked up the items and received a warning to better secure the load. July 27 — A patrol was requested on S. Nordic Dr. Authorities responded to a disturbance at a location on Surf St. An automated caller claiming to be from the Social Security Administration was reported at a location on Haugen Dr. The r...
Anthony Dale Owens, 53, died of a heart attack on July 3, 2019. He was born December 19, 1965 to Gene Fredrick Owens and Joyce Nadine Owens (Adams) in Clinton, Kentucky. He and his family moved the family to Fortine, Montana then several years later, the family moved to Petersburg, Alaska. In grade school Anthony got involved in baseball, and he went on to become the best 12-year-old pitcher in SE Alaska. The family moved to Estacada, Oregon where he graduated from Estacada High School in 1982... Full story
Frank Morris Harrow paintings in collection On May 5, 1981 the Clausen Memorial Museum received a donation of seven oil paintings created by Frank Morris Harrow, several of which were more than six feet long. These paintings came from the Cornelius Building when the Houge Estate was settled. Harrow was creating art in Southeast Alaska in the 1930s. Stop by the museum to see his larger landscape paintings....
As Alaska lawmakers continue their struggle to keep the state afloat, commercial fisheries dodged a bullet that would have removed millions of dollars from its budget. An obscure procedural action within the capital budget called a 'reverse sweep' prevents dozens of program-specific pots of money from being automatically drained into the budget reserve, as Governor Dunleavy aimed to do. "The sweep is money that is not spent in a single year. In this case, it comes from certain sources, such as...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The University of Alaska has taken its first steps toward consolidating its three accredited campuses into a single entity. Facing severe budget cuts as a result of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto pen, the UA Board of Regents voted Tuesday to authorize President Jim Johnsen to immediately reduce administrative costs and prepare a plan for a transition to a single institution. Johnsen painted a dire financial picture for the university and said delaying a decision would compound the size of the cuts to be made later this yea...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) —Alaska’s Head Start early childhood education program is preparing to close pre-K classrooms and cut jobs after budget vetoes, officials said. The program lost its $6.8 million in state funding, which is used to unlock federal funds, when Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy last month vetoed line items equaling $444 million in cuts to the state operating budget, The Anchorage Daily News reported Friday. The federal program is Alaska’s largest provider of early childhood services, offering free pre-K, meals, medical care and o...
For the third summer in a row, John and Margaret Grogan continue to work on their brand new home on Gjoa St., but construction is anticipated to be complete next summer. "We're in the home stretch," said Margaret. "We're getting there." For 18 years the Grogans have lived in Petersburg. John ran Grogan Aviation Maintenance and Margaret taught art at the Petersburg School District. The couple moved to Juneau in 1996, but John was soon transferred to Boise by the United States Forest Service....
Jim and Sonja Whitethorn's newly built 4,000 square foot, two-story house has a main floor where the couple lives overlooking the Wrangell Narrows off Mitkof Highway, but below is an equally impressive shop that takes up about half of the square footage of the building. "It's a pretty big man cave," said Sonja. Before construction could begin about a year and a half ago, Jim had to clear a piece of property that was filled with 100-foot-tall trees, old growth timber and giant boulders sitting...
From June through early July, visitors to Jean and Clyde Curry's house at 209 Sandy Beach Rd. are greeted by a garden in full bloom and a treasure trove of items that have washed ashore. In the front yard are planters built by the Curry's when they purchased the home in 1974. They line the front of the house and are filled with mostly perennial flowers or flowers that survive for multiple seasons. Jean has planted phlox, clematis, old-fashioned bleeding hearts, lilies and stargazers. Tucked in a...
The State and the Inland Boatmens Union have reached a tentative agreement. AMHS is resuming service, to see the new schedule click link below: https://www.dot.state.ak.us/oars/reservations/CalendarFM.amhsf?selectMonth=August+2019&selectPort=Petersburg&selectVessel=All+Vessels&action=Get+Schedule Call 1-800-642-0066 with questions. Due to the high volume of calls, it may take time to connect with a customer service representative. AMHS staff will never request credit card information from... Full story
