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Local attorney Fred Triem appeared before Superior Court Judge William Carey on August 22, to argue that his client Helen Lingley had given him verbal permission to reach a settlement with her former employer Alaska Airlines to resolve a wrongful termination claim Triem filed on her behalf five years ago in 2012. Lingley was terminated from her customer service position with Alaska Airlines in Juneau for removing a customer's lost ear buds from the baggage lock-up area of the terminal, for...
A Blue Heron studies its reflection in the water along the shoreline....
The Petersburg Police Department was unaware when it hired an officer in 2015 that he had allegedly been fired for sexual harassment from his last position. The officer would later have an affair with an informant in Petersburg, allegedly, then leave the department for apparent unrelated reasons, only to commit more sexual misconduct at his next post in Washington State. “We very quickly realized this is not a person we want working in this state,” said Bob Griffiths, the executive director of the Alaska Police Standards Council. “As much...
September 7, 1917 – When the period for military registration in Alaska closed, 189 men between the ages of 21 and 31 had received cards from Registrar Otness. A summarization of the cards show that of the 145 citizens and declarants who registered, 101 ask no exemption, 33 have dependent relatives, and ten, including officers of the geodetic survey, indicate occupational exemption. The remaining 44 of the total are aliens, two of whom are from enemy countries. So far as reported, all residents of Petersburg subject to registration are b...
The 2017 moose season is set to begin next week, with the monthlong harvest opening on September 15. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has already seen an increase in permits being issued as the season approaches. Last year's harvest for District 3 – encompassing Wrangell, Petersburg, and surrounding islands – had seen 110 moose taken, according to ADFG harvest records. It was the district's best on record, surpassing 109 harvested in 2009. "Everything's pretty much the same," Pet...
The Petersburg Borough is one step closer to saving thousands of dollars on gravel road upkeep in residential areas, said Chris Cotta, the assistant director at Public Works. The Borough Assembly approved a bid award to Reid Brothers Construction in a meeting on Tuesday for nearly $43,000 for asphalt waste to be crushed and later used as a replacement for gravel, Cotta said. “The thought has always been that we could crush up the material and turn it into usable recycled asphalt product,” Cotta said in a recommendation letter to the Ass...
Water droplets outline and accentuate the fragile spider web woven across deck supports of a local home....
Why do a story about a Petersburg police officer that left the department a year ago? Because the public needs to know that performance standards are being upheld and that the people that enforce the laws are doing so with integrity. Despite the far-reaching scope of the information rich digital age, it’s still possible for job applicants to present false or deceptive information to an employer. For that reason, Bob Griffiths of the Alaska Police Standards Council is at work, making a mark in the sand so good people get hired and the bad o...
To the Editor: Community Water Fluoridation(CWF) has been proven by reputable scientific sources to be effective and safe. These studies are Evidence Based Science Research, and Peer Reviewed, where all evidence and data pertaining to the subject is studied, and can be confirmed by other professionals in the field to be accurate and complete. In any research, data can be omitted to gain a desired outcome, that is how negative studies on CWF get their results. Last week, in a Letter to the Editor, the writer shared about decay rates declining...
The Borough Assembly on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution supporting the Southeast Alaska Solid Waste Authority recommendation to participate in a regional scrap metal recycling system. The approval fast tracks a financial plan that will organize a barge to come to Petersburg and pick up any scrap metal waste the community wants to dispose of, said Karl Hagerman, the Public Works director. A five-year “master plan” agreement with Waste Management and SEASWA has formed in surrounding regions and Petersburg committed to it this week. The...
Stephen Scouller, 48, was arrested on charges of theft in the 2nd degree and theft in the 3rd degree on Aug. 30. Theft in the 3rd Degree places property value at $250 to $999. Theft in the 2nd Degree places property value at $1,000 to $24,999. In a probable cause statement filed in court, contractors Thomas Greenly and Joe Aliberti both reported to police that tools and equipment were stolen from homes they were working on at Arness Heights Drive and Woodrow Wilson Drive respectively. Police...
Aug. 30 — Police made a traffic stop on S. Nordic Dr. Suspicious activity was reported along the airport access road at Hungerford Hill. Police are investigating a littering incident at an undisclosed location. A bear rummaging through garbage was reported at Skylark Park. A disturbance was reported at a N. Nordic Dr. location. Police arrested Matthew B. Boseman, 27, on a charge of Assault in the 4th Degree. Aug. 31 — A disturbance was reported at a N. 1st St. location. A bear was reported seeking garbage on S. 2nd St. Police are inv...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted three men on charges connected to illegal hunting in an Alaska national park. The indictment announced Tuesday names 44-year-old Jeffrey Harris of Poulsbo (PAWLS-boh), Washington, 72-year-old Dale Lackner, of Haines, Alaska, and 47-year-old Casey Richardson of Huson (HEW-son), Montana. Online court documents do not list their attorneys. Federal prosecutors say the hunts occurred at a lodge in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The indictment says Harris and Richardson, w...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The owner of a southeast Alaska fishing charter service has been ordered to stay out of boats in Alaska waters for one year after pleading guilty to repeat fishing violations. Alaska State Troopers say 75-year-old Stuart Merchant of Klawock pleaded guilty this week to three counts of violating halibut regulations and one count of falsifying sport fish charter logbooks. He was fined $13,000, with $8,000 suspended, plus $2,000 dollars for violating probation from a similar 2015 case. He will forfeit a 26-foot (8-meter) g...
After years of filming, Jeff Mittelstadt was able to offer a private screening to about 140 people in Petersburg, the town which supported the making of his whirlwind documentary, "Staring Down Fate." Mittelstadt had an idea in 2011 to put together a series of short films on the red wolf conflict in North Carolina. He would make an interactive online documentary with graphics to illuminate the science and economics of the red wolf, while telling the stories of people on all sides of the issue....
Forest Service System Road 43501 on the Tonka road system is closed to motor vehicles at milepost 0.513 due to an unsafe bridge. The road will be reopened when the structure is replaced according to a USFS release dated Sept. 6. "Engineers doing routine maintenance checks discovered the log stringers are failing," said Petersburg District Ranger Dave Zimmerman. "The road currently has road closure signage and boulders placed across road." A star on the accompanying map shows the location of the...
WRANGELL — Later this month the region’s economic development organization will be meeting in Haines to discuss new trends, problems and opportunities it will face in the coming year. Representing many of the area’s municipalities, federally-recognized tribes, businesses, government agencies and organizations, Southeast Conference holds two major forums each year, in the spring and in the fall. Its autumn meeting is its biggest, in past years drawing hundreds to hear about and discuss concerns unique to the region, from transportation and u...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The state of Alaska is exploring options for conducting elections after 2018, as it is faced with an aging voting system and financial pressures amid an ongoing state budget deficit. A bipartisan working group established by Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott is examining the issue. Josie Bahnke, director of the state Division of Elections, said one option that has gotten attention is a hybrid system would include allowing for early, in-person voting and voting by mail. But she said discussions are preliminary and more research m...
(JUNEAU, Alaska) – Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) Commissioner Marc Luiken has named Lance Mearig as the Southcoast Region Director. "Lance is precisely the leader we need in Southcoast Region," said Commissioner Luiken. "His professional passion is Alaska's coastal transportation infrastructure and he has long standing relationships in the communities he will be serving." Mearig has over 35 years of experience in transportation. He has most recently s...
A 13-mile race on Labor Day is often not the first activity that comes to mind on a day that celebrates hard work, yet more than a dozen Petersburg folks laced-up to run or walk a half-marathon on Monday morning. About 15 people participated in the 2017 Rain Forest Run with donations to the event going to the Petersburg Cross Country team. Joe Viechnicki organized the race before running in it, despite a dogged knee and slim expectations. "I'm a little sore," Viechnicki said the next day. "I...
WRANGELL - A Wrangell café is raising funds for disaster relief, following the hurricane and deadly floods affecting Texas last month. Zak's Cafe owners James George and Katherine George-Byrd plan to send all earnings from their Tuesday and Wednesday sales this week to a response fund benefitting Hurricane Harvey victims. On August 24 the storm system became the first category 4 hurricane to make landfall in the United States in over a decade, and the biggest in Texas since Hurricane Carla in...
WRANGELL — Last week, Alaska’s lawmakers received word from the governor’s office another session may be called for October. On August 31 emails were sent to members of the Alaska Legislature, letting them know a special session – the fourth of the year – will likely be called to discuss revenue. During the second special session in July an operating budget was passed, with a capital budget approved the following month in another session. The spending bills came with cuts and an overhaul of the state’s oil tax credit system, but without new...
A Bald Eagle makes use of a waterfront foundation to scout for a meal along Wrangell Narrows earlier this week....
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — The rainfall this summer in one Alaska city is getting close to shattering a 50-year record. Ketchikan is on track to have its wettest summer since 1967, according to the National Weather Service in Juneau. National Weather Service Meteorologist Edward Liske said the city is 1.28 inches (3.3 centimeters) away from having the rainiest summer in recorded history. Ketchikan’s total rainfall since June 21 is 42.88 inches (109 centimeters). To put that into perspective, Seattle’s total average rainfall is 37.49 inches (95.2...
Alaska sea cucumber divers could be helping to cure cancer! Sea cucumber meat and skins have long been considered a delicacy in Asian cuisines; they also are hailed for having healing properties that soothe sore joints and arthritis. Most recently the soft, tubular bottom dwellers are being added to the list of foods acclaimed to kill cancer cells. Dried sea cucumber or extract is anti-viral; anti-bacterial, and an anti-inflammatory, said Ty Bollinger, a leading cancer expert and author of Cancer: Step Outside the Box. “Sea cucumbers are v...
