Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 31
The Assembly voted 5-1 to bid on land at Papke’s Landing in the winter auction of the Mental Health Trust Land Office. Assembly member Nancy Strand was the sole vote against the resolution. “I can’t support the Borough getting involved in anything at Papke’s Landing until Papke’s Landing is in a Service Area,” Strand said. “We shouldn’t have asked ‘should we acquire these three lots?’ I think we should have asked ‘how much do you want your taxes to go up so we can acquire these three lots?’” Mayor Mark Jensen said he had some concerns about t... Full story
Paine & Partners of San Francisco has announced the sale of Icicle Seafoods according to multiple news sources including Undercurrent.com and other seafood industry news sites. According to Laine Welch of the Fish Factor, Pacific Seafoods is seen as a frontrunner for buying Icicle. Other sources theorize that Icicle is a “mini-conglomerate” that would make the company attractive to multiple buyers if broken up. The Oregon-based Pacific Seafood Group is a family owned operation that has operations spanning the west coast from Mexico to Ala... Full story
On Jan. 16, Superior Court Judge Philip M. Pallenberg issued his decision affirming the Borough’s determination that a Wrangell Ave. home owned by Karen Ellingstad and Fred Triem is a “dangerous building” according to municipal code. The ruling comes after more than two years of back-and-forth about the structure’s fate between the owners and the Borough culminating in the homeowner’s filing a notice of appeal in Superior Court on Jan. 2, 2014. The appeal was in response to a non-compliance hearing held Dec. 2, 2013 in which the Borough A... Full story
Though many of the thirty individuals who showed up at the public meeting held last Wednesday to discuss the Kake-Petersburg Intertie (KPI) expressed their support for the project, a spirited discussion also ensued about the various components included in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) released by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the environmental review process. The review process is required under NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) for any projects that will have a...
January 23, 1915 – An entirely new system of railroads in Alaska will have to be built, on the assumption that the pioneer builders who constructed the Alaska Northern and the Copper River & Northwestern overlooked tonnage possibilities; that they did not build on the best routes – or else by assumption that by government edict another route can be made just as good, says a northern exchange. Mr. Morgan plainly told the secretary of the interior that the Alaska syndicate is not in love with the railroad business in Alaska. It operates a rai...
Max Worhatch IV is this year’s Chamber of Commerce Rain Game winner with a guess of 115.75 inches. The total reported precipitation by NOAA for 2014 was 115.87 inches, meaning Petersburg saw higher than average precipitation this year. According to NOAA, annual precipitation for the area is 109.95 inches. Chamber Director Cindi Lagoudakis said the winner came down to the numbers beyond the decimal as 13 contestants guessed the rainfall at 115 inches. A total of 248 entries were received for this year’s contest. The lowest and most opt...
Superintendent groundhog day To the Editor: On Thursday, Jan. 8 I attended the Petersburg School Board meeting. The school board decided, along with their attorney, to pay the now ex-superintendent Lisa Stroh through the end of June full salary and benefits and she doesn’t have to work a day for it. In the 20 plus years I have lived in Petersburg and the 30 years I have worked in education I have only had the pleasure of working with one superintendent that was an educational, innovative leader in the a district and that lasted for only 2 y...
January 14 An officer responded to a report of an individual yelling for help. The officer found the individual was ok. A caller reported an individual yelling and howling. An officer was notified and the individual was found to be okay with no crime involved. A driver received a warning for speed requirements in a school zone. Stolen items from a vehicle on N. Nordic Dr. were reported by an individual. An officer responded to a report of loud music causing a noise disturbance. January 15 An individual attempting to sell drugs was reported to...
The Petersburg School Board approved a new search proposal with the Alaska Association of School Boards (AASB) to conduct a search for a new PSD Superintendent after the Board accepted previous Petersburg School District Dr. Lisa Stroh’s resignation and settlement release agreement, which grants her administrative leave with pay and benefits through June 30, 2015—the same benefits outlined in a paragraph of her hiring contract provided to Stroh should she be fired without cause. Questions have been raised as to whether or not the board fir...
The Petersburg Indian Association held elections Jan. 12 to elect five Tribal Council positions. Barry Morrison was elected to serve as board president, a one-year term. Barbara King beat out Brenda Louise to serve a two-year term on the board. King served on the board last year after being appointed to a one-year term. New to the board is Brandi Heppe who will serve a one-year term alongside Rita Byrer who was re-elected to the position. The council will appoint someone to fill a vacant one-year term which saw no candidate...
January 20 Brian Newman appeared before Magistrate Judge Desiree Burrell for an arraignment. The defendant is charged with Unlawful Storage of Commercial Dungeness Crab Gear. The defendant pled not guilty to the charge and a trial was tentatively scheduled for March. Magistrate Judge Desiree Burrell presided over an arraignment for Marc Martinsen charged with Unlawful Storage of Commercial Crab Pots. The defendant pled not guilty to the charge and a representation hearing was set for Feb. 10. Dustin Caples appeared before Magistrate Judge...
Jasmine Ieremia will be spending the 2015-16 school year abroad in Thailand. The Petersburg High School freshman learned the location of her studies abroad after attending a winter orientation for Rotary Youth Exchange students last weekend in Anchorage. "It (the orientation) was really for the outbounds to learn what country they were going to and just to learn some tools to use on their exchange dealing with people and dealing with being away from home," Ieremia said. She said that spending a...
The Petersburg School Board unanimously approved Tuesday night a $69,350 bid to replace a boiler in the middle school. Ketchikan Mechanical Incorporated submitted the second lowest bid to the district and will replace the current leaky boiler that was originally installed in 1984. The boiler will likely be replaced by the end of March. Harri Plumbing was the high bidder at $143,600. Schmolck Mechanical Contractors bid second highest at $141,637. Superior Plumbing and Heating bid the job at $89,740 and Raincountry Contractors was the lowest bidd...
The Petersburg Vikings fell to the Sitka Wolves last weekend after two tough games that both went into overtime. The Vikings started out with a solid lead during Friday night's competition, ahead 14-7 at the end of the first quarter and extended its lead to 27-17 at the half. Things took a turn for Petersburg midway through the third quarter however as Sitka took advantage of Viking turnovers. By the end of the third quarter Sitka fought back to within six points. "In the fourth we had two many...
After some discussion about the jurisdiction of two new sections of a municipal code governing parking regulations, the Borough Assembly voted unanimously to pass the ordinance on its second reading. The ordinance was tabled in early October pending Police Chief Kelly Swihart’s return from an 11-week training in Virginia. The ordinance will transfer two new sections to Title 11 of the former-City of Petersburg’s traffic ordinances into Borough Code. Assembly member Bob Lynn said he’d like to see the ordinance apply only to Service Area 1 rathe...
According to Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht’s report to the Assembly, the ad hoc committee formed to investigate possible local action regarding state herbicide use is working with State House representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins’ office to pursue legislative action on the issue after efforts to meet with officials from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) dead ended. “His office is in the process of checking with the State’s legal representation to get a ruling on the ability of local municipalities to restrict actions...
The Price Comparison chart on page 16 of last week’s paper referred to Petro and reflected pricing offered by Petro Express for gasoline and diesel fuels. Heating oil prices for Petersburg are labeled as Petro and reflects prices listed by Petro Marine. The Pilot regrets the error....
Richard Patteson was selected to serve as the Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla Commander for Petersburg for the next two years at the Change of Watch ceremony held Jan. 14. Ken Hamilton will serve as the vice commander. Patteson has been volunteering with the auxiliary for about five years including a recent two-year term as vice commander under the outgoing Flotilla Commander Rod Herbrandson. The Petersburg chapter of the auxiliary currently has 14 members and Patteson said part of his duties as commander will involve recruiting new members....
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) _ Alaska State Troopers are continuing to investigate the death of a man who was struck in November by a vehicle in a small southeast Alaska village. The Juneau Empire reports 61-year-old Barton Rose was struck and seriously injured in an apparent hit-and-run on Nov. 7 in Kake (kayk). He was flown to Anchorage for treatment. He died seven weeks later on Dec. 24. A trooper from Juneau traveled to Kake to investigate the incident. Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters says no arrest has been made in the case. Kake is 90 miles...
KETCHIKAN (AP) — Jurors in Alaska have found a commercial fisherman guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a Kansas diver who died while harvesting sea cucumbers. The jury on Friday found Joshua Wodyga (woh-DY’-gah) not guilty of manslaughter. Prosecutors argued that Wodyga’s negligence in maintaining an air compressor and air filter led to the death of Levi Adams, 32, of Leawood, Kansas. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning and drowning while he and Wodyga were diving in 2013 in waters off Mountain Point. Mark Osterman, Wodyg...
Liam Demko arranges copies of the first issue of "3010 Znne," a locally made zine produced by teens whose visual art, poetry and comics fill its pages. Zinesters meet at the Public Library on the second Tuesday of each month from 6:30-8 p.m. Prospective participants are welcome to join....
Alaska seafood marketers are ramping up promotions and bankrolling a global $1 million media blitz to counteract a tough sockeye salmon market. Sockeyes are by far the most valuable salmon catch, often worth two-thirds of the value of Alaska’s entire salmon fishery, but last summer’s unexpected surge of reds left lots of inventory in freezers, and record US imports of competing farmed salmon from Chile and Norway combined with the prospect of another big run at Bristol Bay make for a sockeye sales squeeze. Alaska’s approach will be patte...
