Articles from the September 26, 2024 edition


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  • PFD plus energy rebate confirmed at $1,702, direct deposits on Oct. 3

    James Brooks, Alaska Beacon|Sep 26, 2024

    This year's Permanent Fund dividend, plus a one-time energy rebate bonus, will be a combined $1,702 per recipient, the Alaska Department of Revenue announced Thursday. The amount is slightly higher than previous estimates from the spring, in part because the number of recipients is lower than expected. The payments will be direct-deposited into Alaskans' bank accounts starting Oct. 3. Paper checks, for those Alaskans who requested them, will be mailed later in October. This year's combined... Full story

  • State grant provides three years of funding for Cedar Social Club, and new certification allows those under a Medicaid waiver to participate

    Olivia Rose|Sep 26, 2024

    Cedar Social Club, the adult day service program at PMC, soft-launched nearly a year ago. And thanks to new funding avenues from the state, the program continues to grow. The State Health Department has awarded PMC's Home Health Department an Adult Day Services grant to support staffing and participant scholarships for Cedar Social Club. Home Health is also newly state certified to provide support for participants who are under a Medicaid waiver. "It's exciting, because I feel like we're...

  • Proposition 4 necessary to address unavoidable wastewater treatment plant disinfection upgrades

    Olivia Rose|Sep 26, 2024

    Facing unavoidable costs for water and wastewater upgrades, borough authorities stress the need for voters to pass Proposition 4 in the municipal election next week. Passing Prop 4 will authorize the borough to borrow up to $19.3 million from the state to fund 12 water and wastewater projects slated for the next six years in Petersburg. The loans would not be borrowed all at once. On a project-by-project basis, each would need to be approved by the assembly before the borough could pursue the... Full story

  • Learning new moves

    Sep 26, 2024

    Julie and Sheldon Walker were among the swing dance students who have been learning to lindy hop in the lead up to Petersburg Arts Council's concert and swing dance fundraiser taking place this Saturday evening upstairs at the Elks....

  • Commercial sea cucumber season to start Oct. 7

    ANNA LAFFREY, Ketchikan Daily News|Sep 26, 2024

    The commercial dive fishery for sea cucumbers will kick off across Southeast Alaska on Monday, Oct. 7, and divers this season can harvest up to 1.76 million pounds of sea cucumbers across the region, up from last season's "guideline harvest level" of 1.67 million pounds, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced on Aug. 28. Commercial sea cucumber fishery openings will be announced on a weekly basis with different fishery areas open during different time windows until each individual area's specific guidelines harvest level has been...

  • Yesterday's News: News from 25-50-75-100 years ago

    Sep 26, 2024

    September 26, 1924 – Monday evening next, September 29th, at the School building will be held a meeting of all those who are interested in a Night School. Mr. Boselly plans to start a night school that will run all winter, and furnish an opportunity for education to those who are now unable to take the work in the regular school because of their age or inability to get away from work. Under Territorial laws, those eligible to enter a Night School are those who are American born who did not have opportunity to secure adequate education in t...

  • Two Kodiak trawlers caught 2,000 king salmon. Now, a whole fishery is closed.

    Nathaniel Herz, Northern Journal|Sep 26, 2024

    Federal managers shut down a major Alaska fishery Wednesday after two Kodiak-based boats targeting whitefish caught some 2,000 king salmon — an unintentional harvest that drew near-instant condemnation from advocates who want better protections for the struggling species. The Kodiak-based trawl fleet has caught just over one-fourth of its seasonal quota of pollock — a whitefish that’s typically processed into items like fish sticks, fish pies and surimi, the paste used to make fake crab. But about 20 boats will now be forced to end their season...

  • To the Editor

    Sep 26, 2024

    Your vote matters To the Editor: As you may remember, I won a seat on the Borough Assembly last October by 1 vote… the very last vote to be counted from absentee ballots. Nearly a year later I am still grateful and humbled by that outcome. After the election, people shared stories of: driving through the Yukon to mail their ballots, voting via email from Europe, voting from college, and even a few stories of nearly forgetting to vote after dinner on election day. To be Captain Obvious, if any of those folks did not vote, the outcome of the e...

  • Police report

    Sep 26, 2024

    September 18 – An officer responded to a report of a bear accessing a property on Scow Bay Loop Road. An officer responded to a report of suspicious activity on North Harbor Way and determined it was unfounded. A deer was struck by a vehicle on Mitkof Highway and its meat was salvaged. An officer responded to a welfare check request on South 3rd Street but the individual of concern had left the area. The Petersburg Police Department (PPD) received a report of lost property. PPD received a report of theft on South Nordic Drive. PPD notified P...

  • Night darkens due to Blue Heron

    Olivia Rose|Sep 26, 2024

    Like Icarus flying too close to the sun, a blue heron got too close to a power source near South Harbor last Friday morning - causing a power outage in the darkest hours of the night. The encounter with the power lines around 1:20 a.m. cost the waterfowl its life and part of Petersburg its power until PMPL crew brought the lights back on by 3:00 a.m. "Unfortunately, in the middle of the night ... a large blue heron made contact with our primary power in the area of South Harbor and ... put the...

  • Muddy cross country squad shows grit at Capital Invite

    Aiden Luhr|Sep 26, 2024

    The PHS Cross Country team continued to build momentum toward regionals with strong performances from the men's and women's teams at the Capital Invite on Saturday, Sept. 21., in Juneau. A mid-season break didn't slow the Vikings as they race towards regionals. "The kids had a real strong week of training – and with this race, I was more excited about the overall experience and the kids pushing through a tough, gritty course," Head Coach Casey Gates said. "It was really wet, it was really m...

  • PHS Swimmers post strong results at Ketchikan meet

    Aiden Luhr|Sep 26, 2024

    The PHS Swim team continued their 2024 season with strong results on Sept. 20 to 21, in a meet that included Juneau-Douglas, Ketchikan, Sitka, Craig and Wrangell, at the Ketchikan Invite. Head Coach Andy Carlisle was pleased with his team’s progress since their first meet in Petersburg. “We had a pretty good meet,” Carlisle said. Junior swimmer Logan Tow was one of the swimmers who posted strong results throughout the two-day meet. On Friday, Tow finished second out of 11 swimmers in the Men’s 100 Yard Freestyle, with a time of 50 seconds and t...

  • Alaska's life-expectancy drop was biggest among all states in pandemic year of 2021, CDC says

    Yereth Rosen|Sep 26, 2024

    Alaska had the biggest decline in average life expectancy of all U.S. states in 2021, a year when health outcomes were heavily influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent national report. Alaska’s life expectancy in 2021 was 74.5 years, down from the average of 76.6 years in 2020, according to the report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overall, U.S. life expectancy declined by 0.6 years in that time, mostly because of the COVID-19 pandemic and increases in drug overdose deaths and other unintentional i...

  • Wrangell Borough opts for Chicago over Seattle Boat Show next year

    Sam Pausman|Sep 26, 2024

    Wrangell is trading in the stormy skies of Seattle and heading east, hoping for favorable tourism trade winds in Chicago. For the first time in two decades the borough will not send any representatives to the Seattle Boat Show. Instead, the Economic Development Department has elected to attend the Travel and Adventure Show in Chicago. The two-day event kicks off on Feb. 1 of next year. Economic Development Director Kate Thomas said she expects an audience as large as 19,000 travel enthusiasts and an additional 2,000 to 3,000 attendees who work...

  • Seaweed industry highlighted as Ketchikan hosts international Seagriculture conference

    ANNA LAFFREY|Sep 26, 2024

    A handful of Alaska seaweed farmers and oyster growers hung up their bibs this week to mingle with droves of professors, tech industry representatives, state and federal government staff, bankers and consultants who converged in Ketchikan's Ted Ferry Civic Center for the third-ever international Seagriculture USA conference, the first such conference in Alaska. All eyes of the 190-some conference participants were on the promise of developing a profitable seaweed industry in Southeast Alaska, with people traveling to Ketchikan from California,...

  • Original Peter Pan Seafood investor wins auction for troubled company's assets

    Nathaniel Herz|Sep 26, 2024

    One of the original investors in a troubled Alaska seafood company has narrowly outbid competitor Silver Bay Seafoods in an auction for the firm’s assets — including a major processing plant in the Alaska Peninsula village of King Cove. Rodger May, an entrepreneur and fish trader, bid $37.3 million for the assets of Peter Pan Seafood, including two other processing plants — one in the Bristol Bay hub town of Dillingham and another in a remote part of the Alaska Peninsula called Port Moller. May’s bid was $257,000 higher than the bid offered... Full story