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Angela Davis and Wes Davis and ten other sponsors may be asking for your signature on a petition for a resolution to retain the blue bag recycling program for at least two more years. The Davis’s—owners of Ruger’s Trucking, the current recycling contractor–filed an application for an initiative petition with the Borough clerk on Tuesday, and it is currently under review by Borough attorney Jim Brennan. If approved by the attorney, the Davis’s would have a limited time to collect 255 signatures, which would then bring their proposed resolutio... Full story
With budget and tax seasons upon us, money is on the minds of many in Petersburg. Locally, the economy saw about a 6 percent growth in sales across all categories of business from 2013 to 2014. Petersburg businesses reported almost $122 million in sales for 2014, which brought in $3 million in sales tax revenue to the Borough. Retail sales mirrored the overall trend, seeing about a 6 percent increase from $5.17 million in 2013 to $5.5 million in 2014. Several downtown retailers said 2014 kept pace with 2013, not a particularly busy or slow... Full story
April 3, 1915 – Seventy-five members of congress are to come to the Pacific coast during the spring and summer, according to a Washington press dispatch. They will, so it is stated, all visit San Francisco, and the majority of them intend to come north to the Sound. Now if a big party of these Statesmen could be persuaded to devote a few weeks to an Alaska trip, they would hereafter be in position to legislate more intelligently for the Northland than has been customary in the past, with their information as to conditions and needs of the t...
Petersburg High School students arrived home with new knowledge and a national competitor in Ian Fleming after this weekend's Alaska High School Statewide Science Symposium. Fleming, who placed second overall, will be heading to the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, sponsored by the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force, in Maryland on April 29. "I'm excited to go," he said; to meet fellow science students from around the country, listen to speakers and make a stop at the nation's... Full story
The Petersburg School Board met in a special meeting Friday morning, approving the search for a new multi function school activity bus (MFSAB) and a bid for new gym lights. The board gave Director of Maintenance Dan Tate the authority to purchase the newest MFSAB he could find up to $40,000. That money will come out of the vehicle fund. Due to federal safety standards, the district has been looking for a 14 passenger or 12 passenger with wheelchair bus to replace a 2003 passenger van used for extracurricular activities. Any replacement...
WRANGELL — The high school is getting ready to sponsor a bit of culture, as it comes Wrangell’s turn to host this year’s Southeast Alaska Regional Artfest next week. Sixty students and 15 teachers from schools around the region will be represented, coming from Klawock, Skagway, Petersburg, Craig, Sitka, Mount Edgecumbe and Juneau. “We’re honored to host the continuation of the Southeast Alaska Artfest,” said Wrangell High School’s art teacher, Anne Luetkemeyer. Fifteen different classes will be offered to students next Wednesday afternoon thr...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors approved the hospital’s 2016 budget on Thursday, March 26, and will be sending it on to the Petersburg Borough Assembly the first of April for review. “The budget is really straight forward,” said Interim Chief Financial Officer Dornan Hammett. Petersburg Medical Center is looking at a total revenue of $13.9 million with operating and non-operating revenues, and a total expense of $13.8 million. There’ll be a $580,000 operating revenue loss, but a net gain of $71,000 with the non-ope...
To the Editor: I have been lucky enough to not have had any pesky animals mess with my bags, but I did notice one household in town that puts their blue bag inside a round plastic garbage can brightly painted “Recycling”. They were able to work a kink out. Myself, and many others would be more than willing to purchase our own bags through Amazon, and would consider that helping to work out a kink. If this system was so flawed, with so many kinks that seemed unworkable, why would so many citizens speak in favor of it in front of the ass...
March 25 A caller reported a theft at a business. Police arrested Darian W. Bliss, 22, on a charge of Theft in the 4th Degree. Unattended children in a vehicle were reported to police. A caller reported receiving threatening texts. An office made contact with a passenger in a vehicle who was reported to be playing with a gun and placing it under their seat. Missing bikes were reported from a residence on S. 2nd St. March 26 After receiving a report of a domestic disturbance, an officer arrested Kurt M. Roelfs, 42, on a charge of Domestic...
March 26 Kurt M. Roelfs appeared for an arraignment before Magistrate Judge Desiree Burrell. The defendant pled not guilty to a charge of Assault in the 4th Degree, and a public defender agency was appointed. A $250 cash performance bond was issued and the defendant must abide by the following conditions of release: have no contact with alleged victim, do not drink alcohol or be on premises where it is the primary item for sale, obtain an alcohol assessment and other conditions. March 27 Magistrate Judge Desiree Burrell presided over an...
A project to improve storage capacity at Southeast Alaska Power Agency’s (SEAPA) Swan Lake hydropower facility continues along with efforts to finance it with up to $11.36 million in bond sales. Over the past month, SEAPA’s executive director Trey Acteson and general counsel presented updates on the planned expansion of the facility located northeast of Ketchikan on Revillagigedo Island. Each of SEAPA’s three member utilities—Wrangell, Petersburg and Ketchikan— heard presentations on the expansion and the associated bonds. The project w...
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has cancelled a preliminary permit issued to Hydro Development, LLC in August 2013 to study the feasibility of a hydroelectric power project at Swan Lake and Cascade Creek, located 15 miles northeast of Petersburg near Thomas Bay. FERC issued the order to cancel on March 17 after the Bellingham-based company failed to submit a progress report. The preliminary permit granted by FERC gave Hydro Development, LLC priority to submit a license application for the project. Their 2012 application for the...
The Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery closed last week after a quiet, steady week of fishing. The guideline harvest of 8,712 tons was reached by 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25. The fishery first opened for a few hours on March 18 at 3 p.m., after being put on a two-hour notice at 10 a.m. “It was pretty much open daily until the following Wednesday,” Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Dave Gordon said. The 48 permit holders voted to fish cooperatively this year with a poor sac roe herring market. Gordon said there were around 25 sei...
Environmental organization Earthjustice announced last Friday groups it is representing in a trio of lawsuits opposed to U.S. Forest Service’s Big Thorne timber sale have filed two notices of appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, following the dismissal of their suits by a federal judge in a March 20 ruling. The Big Thorne sale involves the harvest of around 6,200 acres of forest on Prince of Wales Island and includes the clearcut of old-growth rainforest. Klawock-based mill Viking Lumber was awarded a contract last September to h...
WRANGELL — Wrangell residents and other Alaskans from around the state were given more opportunity to voice concerns over impending cuts to state programming during a public hearing held Monday evening for the draft of next year’s budget being considered by the Senate Finance Committee. Six Wrangellites came to their local Legislative Information Office to provide testimony via telephone, along with residents of Petersburg and Ketchikan. “I am speaking in opposition to the cuts to the Alaska Marine Highway System,” borough manager Jeff Jabusch...
Volunteers are needed to help craft new safety rules that are being written for older boats – which includes the bulk of Alaska’s fishing vessels. Called the Alternate Compliance Safety Program (ACSP), it is part of the 2010 US Coast Guard Authorization Act and is aimed atvessels that will be 25 years old by 2020, are greater than 50 feet in length, and operate beyond three nautical miles. The program will include most of Alaska’s fishing fleet — a 2014 maritime study by the Juneau-based McDowell Group shows that the majority of Alaska...
Laura Nan Johnston, 82, died on January 19, 2015. Born to Wendell and June Abell on February 26, 1932, in Chama, N.M., Laura's mother taught for The Bureau of Indian Affairs moving them to Sitka, Alaska, where she lived through high school. She attended Oregon State University (OSU) as a Delta Zeta and with a major in science she became a medical technician. There she met Norman Dale Johnston whose major was fisheries biology, and they both graduated in 1955. They were married in 1956, and by... Full story
Dave Kensinger of Chelan Produce has a 38-year-long business history with the ferry system. “I’ve probably ridden the ferry more than anybody else,” he said. He uses the barge to ship produce (and has for a long while), but utilizes the ferry to travel back and forth between Sitka, where he also sells produce. With a Senate Finance Subcommittee proposing a $12.3 million cut to the ferry system, reducing service to Petersburg and other Southeast communities, Kensinger said he and his wife are looking to fly back and forth to Sitka now, a more ex...
The Senate Finance Subcommittee voted Thursday, March 25, to eliminate all funding to public radio and television. “To be clear: this level of a cut would end KFSK’s local service,” General Manager Tom Abbott said in an email attached to a parent legislative update from Petersburg schools. KFSK has a total budget of $480,000 in revenue: $137,000 in state funds, $125,000 in federal funds and $218,000 in local revenue, Abbott wrote. Governor Bill Walker proposed an 18 percent cut to public broadcasting, then a 59 percent one was proposed in th...
