Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 25
Alaska State Troopers continue to investigate a fatal accident that claimed the lives of four seine boat crewmembers sometime after 10 P.M. on Monday, July 27. A Ford Excursion driven by Siguard Decker drove off the roadway near the 27-mile marker of Mitkof Highway at a high rate of speed, according to Alaska State Troopers. Megan Peters, communications director with the Alaska Dept. of Public Safety said Siguard Decker, who was driving, seems to have had lost control of the vehicle and then...
Public Works Director Chris Cotta presented the assembly with a summary of the findings of a recent rate study on the borough's recycling program at their regular meeting on Monday that suggested possible rate increases to go along with four different scenarios for the program. Rate studies for the borough's water, wastewater and sanitation departments were conducted by FCS Group, based out of Washington, and cost a total of $42,000, said Cotta. The borough had been waiting for the results of...
Starting Aug. 11, non-residents entering the state of Alaska will have to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test result that was received within 72 hours prior to departure or proof that test results are pending. Pending test results that were taken within 72 hours prior to departure, will require the traveler to quarantine until receiving the results, according to Alaska's COVID-19 website. In addition to a negative or pending test result, non-residents can also pay $250 for a COVID-19 test upo...
The Petersburg Borough assembly passed a resolution at their meeting on Monday that transfers $778,000 from the borough's Coronavirus Aid, Revenue, and Economic Security Act special revenue fund to the Petersburg School District. As the school district prepares to reopen under a split in person and distance learning education schedule, the funding will go towards COVID-19 related expenditures, such as personnel costs, personal protection equipment and technology. "Implementing both the systems a...
Alaska Airlines announced on Wednesday that starting Aug. 7 all passengers ages two years and older must wear a face covering at all times while in the airport and onboard their aircraft, according to an Alaska Airlines press release. If a guest is unwilling or unable to wear a face covering while at the airport, they will not be permitted to travel, according to the press release. If a passenger on board a plane refuses to wear a face covering, that person will be suspended from future...
Petersburg Medical Center may receive a second cepheid testing unit that would increase the hospital's capacity to test for COVID-19 onsite from two tests per hour to six tests per hour, according to PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter at the PMC Board of Directors Meeting on Thursday, July 30. Because the rapid testing machine had yet to arrive at the hospital as of last week's board meeting, Hofstetter declined to go into detail about the machine or say definitively PMC would receive the machine. The...
Petersburg Medical Center ended its 2020 fiscal year with a gross operating revenue of $20,325,510, which is one percent over what the hospital had anticipated at the start of the fiscal year, according to PMC Controller Rocio Tejera at the PMC Board of Directors meeting on July 30. When deductions from revenue adjustments and allowances are made to the gross revenue, PMC still has a net operating revenue of $17,072,677 for the fiscal year. That number was two percent higher than what PMC had or...
The borough assembly agreed at their regular meeting on Monday to hold a remote town hall meeting on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 4 P.M. to inform the public on the details of the civil emergency provisions ordinance and allow members of the community to ask questions about the ordinance and suggest changes to it. The assembly was expected to pass ordinance #2020-19 at their regular meeting on Monday, July 20, which would have made the temporary civil emergency provisions a permanent part of borough...
King Salmon The entire Petersburg and Wrangell area is now open to marine king salmon fishing. King salmon bag limits were increased as of July 15th. The following regional king salmon regulations issued are in effect from now until August 15th: Alaska resident: • Daily bag and possession limit of 4 king salmon, 28 inches or greater in length. Nonresident: • Daily bag and possession limit of 2 king salmon, 28 inches or greater in length. • Annual limit of 6 king salmon. Anglers are remin...
WRANGELL - Last week, four people died in a car wreck in Petersburg. Among them were two Wrangellites, Siguard and Helen Decker, 21-years-old and 19-years-old. Their deaths shook the community, which has come together in a variety of ways to express their grief and support for the Decker family. A GoFundMe page was put together by the United Fishermen of Alaska, to raise money in their memory. As of Tuesday morning, Aug. 4, $161,273 has been raised. "The initial $10,000 in funds raised will go...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An outside group focused on defeating President Donald Trump in November and “Trumpism” is running an ad in Alaska in support of independent Al Gross in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race. Gross is seeking to challenge first-term Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. The ad, sponsored by The Lincoln Project and shared on its website, doesn’t mention Sullivan but an accompanying press release does. The release refers to Sullivan as “no longer a Republican nor a conservative” but a “Trumpist.” Trump carried Alaska with 51% of the vote in 20...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The area encompassing Alaska’s capital city is on track to break summer rainfall records, a state weather expert said. National Weather Service Meteorologist Cody Moore said that Juneau had already reached its summer rain average of 13 inches (33 centimeters) by July 26, The Juneau Empire reported Tuesday. The last summer to break records was 2014, when Juneau had 14 inches (35.5 centimeters) of rainfall, Moore said. Juneau is likely to break that high mark if the current weather pattern continues, Moore predicted. Ove...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - An infamous bus appears headed to a new home at a museum in Fairbanks after being removed from Alaska's backcountry to deter people from making dangerous, sometimes deadly treks to visit the site where a young man documented his demise in 1992. The state Department of Natural Resources said Thursday that it intends to negotiate with the University of Alaska's Museum of the North to display the bus, which was popularized by the book "Into the Wild" and a movie of the...
It got little attention from the mainstream media but seafood netted some historic firsts in the nation’s new dietary guidelines. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee submitted a report in July to the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services that recommends what Americans should include in their diets from 2020 through 2025, a task it has undertaken every five years since 1980. “This is by far the strongest they’ve come out for seafood in all of the U.S. dietary guidelines history, and at virtually every point in the lifecy...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Critics and proponents are debating the merits of changes to federal environmental policy, including the effects on management of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. The largest U.S. national forest will probably be impacted by the Trump administration’s recent revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported Wednesday. Supporters have said the changes streamline a regulatory process that hampers development on federal lands. Natalie Dawson, executive director of Audubon Alaska, said the upd...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Wildfire smoke from Siberia has moved into Southcentral Alaska and left a haze lingering over the region that the National Weather Service said could remain for weeks. The agency said smoke from the fires began spreading over Alaska in early July, The Anchorage Daily News reported Wednesday. Until the fires in Russia stop, the haze will likely continue, although the duration is difficult to predict, said Patrick Doll of the National Weather Service’s Anchorage office. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it continued well into t...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska health officials reported that there were 159 new COVID-19 cases in the state Sunday, including 111 within the Municipality of Anchorage. The new cases included 145 Alaska residents and 14 non-residents, The Anchorage Daily News reported. Data from the state Department of Health and Social Services showed there was one new hospitalization reported, while there were no additional deaths on Sunday. The health department reported that 27 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized as of Sunday and 12 people were h...
A line crew works to reroute the feed to and from the substation at the power plant to eliminate the span across Hammer Slough, said Utility Director Karl Hagerman. The previous feed was held over Hammer Slough by two rotten poles. By rerouting the electrical feed, Petersburg Power and Light will clean up the look of the historic Hammer Slough and Birch St. areas while getting rid of the liability that was posed by the rotten poles, according to Hagerman....
Rick Fish was already in line shortly after 1 P.M. on Monday waiting for the Petersburg Post Office to open its front window at 2 P.M....
Lightning could be seen over Petersburg during the thunderstorm over the weekend....
Doris Ann Baldwin stands with the 265 pound halibut she caught on Saturday. The halibut measured in at 79 inches long....
The waters in the Wrangell Narrows were calm Sunday morning after Friday night's storm....
Sun shines through the trees just south of Papke's Landing last Wednesday morning....
We’ve had phone calls from a handful of people about our use of the photo and page one coverage of last week’s fatal Mitkof Highway crash. It saddens us to have to report on such a tragedy that impacts the lives of so many in both Wrangell and Petersburg. We don’t take pleasure in covering such stories. It wasn’t covered to sell newspapers. We covered the story because it is our job to provide information about a tragic event that struck close to home. We placed it on page one because it was the most important story of the week. The acciden...
July 29 — Extra patrols were requested near the one mile mark of Mitkof Highway and in the downtown area. Suspicious activity was observed at a location on S. Nordic Dr. July 30 — A dangerous driver on Mitkof Highway was reported to authorities. Suspicious activity was reported on Noseuum St. and Lumber St. July 31 — A disturbance was reported at a location on N. Nordic Dr. Authorities responded to a domestic dispute at a location on 3rd St. A report of child abandonment at a location on Fram St. brought a police response. August 1 — A dangero...
