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The Borough Assembly will be taking public comment on whether or not the Borough should bid on three land parcels near Papke’s Landing that will go up for public auction next month by the Alaska Mental Health Trust. The Assembly wrote a letter to Mental Health in August asking them to suspend the sale of three lots at Papke’s Landing because of their importance for public access to the dock and parking area and the possible future expansion of Petersburg’s harbors. At Monday’s regular meeting... Full story
A Petersburg resident will be stepping up to statewide duties, following an October election where volunteer members of District 17 Coast Guard Auxiliary tapped Bruce Jones to take the helm. Initially, he said he had approached the volunteer group as a means to stay occupied during retirement, but quickly found himself again caught up in his work. "I've been working my way up the ranks, from the bottom to the very top," Jones said. "I served a year or so as a flotilla commander, two years as a... Full story
School board members got a brief breath of hope after the Alaska Department of Education reported that Petersburg was No. 1 on its list, as well as Nos. 9 and 33. But that all will still depend on the budget and how far down the list state appropriations would flow, as several large ticket items, including a pair of school renovations for Yukon-Koyukuk and Fairbanks that were billed at more than $10 million each. Petersburg’s first request is much more modest than the item that precedes it — for a boiler rehabilitation. $24,565 was requested wi... Full story
November 28, 1914 – Miss A. Mary Mitchell, principal of the school of Petersburg, arrived on the S.S. Jefferson Thursday afternoon on a visit to her sister, Miss Neita Mitchell, for a few days. November 24, 1939 – About fifty persons attended the Elks dinner given at the Elks club rooms Tuesday night in conjunction with the formation of the town band. In addition to Elks members, band musicians from the high school and CCC were present. A splendid roast beef dinner was served and afterward brief talks were given on the desirability of hav...
At their next meeting on Dec. 8 the Assembly will vote on a resolution proposed by Bob Lynn to dedicate local funds to proposed capital improvement projects that are headed to the Alaska State Legislature at the next legislative session. Under the resolution, the local pledge of funds would be contingent on the State Legislature’s assignment of Capital Improvement Project grant funds, meaning that funds will not remain assigned to projects that are not given funding by the state during this funding cycle. Lynn said that capital projects with l...
After discussing a draft ordinance to restrict herbicide use within Borough boundaries at Monday’s regular meeting, the Assembly decided to task a revamping of the ordinance to a sub-committee. While the Assembly was primarily concerned about the State’s potential use of herbicides within Borough boundaries, Borough Manger Steve Giesbrecht said that local concern extends beyond the State’s use and includes local residents using herbicides on their property. Several Assembly members said the draft ordinance was too restrictive for resid...
Local poet Lee Ribich's first audience was his family members who received an original poem written by Ribich as an annual Christmas tradition. Those poems and others were eventually combined and became his first published book of poetry in 2011. Ribich's pen has been busy since, with a second book, "The Lines that Connect Us," released in 2012 and "Stones in a River," his most recent work, released this October. As a retired English teacher, the written word has long been a central part of...
November 19 A live seal bomb was thrown onto the sidewalk in front of the Police Department. A hit deer was reported on Mitkof Highway. A caller requested extra patrols near Magill’s Trailer Court. Police received a request for assistance with truancy. A caller spoke with an officer about protective order requirements and unwanted contact with an individual. November 20 A caller reported a concern for an individual’s welfare. A possible drug deal was reported to police. An officer gave a verbal warning for lane travel to an individual. A cal...
November 11 Magistrate Judge Desiree Burrell issued a $250 warrant for Jack Galaktionoff who did not appear for an arraignment. November 18 Superior Court Judge William Carey presided over a Change of Plea hearing for Wesley Davis. The defendant is charged with two counts of False Statement on a Sport Application, two counts of No Non-Resident Big Game Tag and one count of False Statement on a Commercial Crew License. The defendant pled no contest to the charges and was sentenced to pay a total of $4,149 in fines as well as having his sport...
Several appointments were made at Monday’s Assembly meeting to fill vacancies on various boards. Marlene Cushing, Kris Thynes and Erin Michael expressed interest in filling the two remaining vacancies on the hospital board. After a vote by the assembly, Cushing and Thynes were appointed to serve. In her letter of interest, Cushing said she will bring her experience serving on non-profit boards and her 30 years of experience as a health care provider to the Hospital Board. Thynes wrote in her letter that the 18 months she worked in the h...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht gave the following report to the Assembly at Monday's regular meeting: The library landscaping request for proposals is planned for mid-December through January. The North Harbor project letter of completion was received on Oct. 29 and a final payment was made. Last week the abutment was poured and Tamico is currently securing the last girders on the Drive Down Facility Approach Dock. Rock-N-Road Construction has trenched the uplands and is working with...
Harbors continue to be relatively free of Steller sea lions as harbor and DOT staff adapt to work within legal conservation lines to discourage the large mammals from loitering on floats about the harbors. There likely won’t ever be a time of living without them, no matter how conscientious people are about disposing of scraps. “I don’t think we’ll ever get away from having animals at our facilities, but at least we can not have them front and center so much of the time,” Harbormastor Glo Wollen said. “We have quite a few that are pretty acti...
Petersburg school board members accepted the renewal of several contracted services, with four invoices totaling $95,698.75. Most of the contracts were for services where, for a variety of reasons, it was significantly more affordable to seek outside services than develop an in-house solution, said Finance Director Karen Quitslund, responding to Board Member Jay Lister’s queries on the services of Haines-based Four Ravens Occupational Therapy, LLC. “We don’t have an occupational therapist on staff, so that’s who we’ve contracted with for stude...
The final details on the remodel of the Stedman Elementary School have officially been scratched off the contractor’s and administrator’s checklists as the school, already long open for children, received its last scrutiny from designers. Tony Yorba of Jensen Yorba & Lott, Inc., the firm that designed the school modifications, was on hand to give a final recap, and answer questions of board members. Though most had finished their lines of inquiry beforehand, Sarah Holmgrain had a few concerns about the building’s protective envelope and the p...
Alaska is poised for some big fish stories next year based on predictions trickling in from state and federal managers. For the state’s (and nation’s) largest fishery - Alaska pollock - the Eastern Bering Sea stock has more than doubled its ten year average to top nine million tons, or 20 billion pounds. And the stock is healthy and growing, according to annual surveys. “It is one of the most stunning fisheries management successes on the planet,” exclaimed global market expert John Sackton when the pollock numbers were released by the (Seattl...
Sitka — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced the preliminary guideline harvest level (GHL) for the 2015 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery is 8,712 tons based on a 19.7% harvest rate of a forecast mature biomass of 44,237 tons. The department mapped 50 nautical miles of herring spawn in the Sitka Sound area during the spring of 2014, compared to the recent 10-year average of 60 nautical miles. The estimated post-fishery spawning biomass in 2014 was 51,321 tons and the total sac roe harvest was 16,957 tons. An additional 121 tons w...
Esther Geneva Evans, 98, passed away peacefully in her sleep on November 22, 2014 in Gresham, Or. Esther was born on a farm near Dallas, SD. She was the daughter of James and Hattie Evans. She earned her teaching degree from Northern Teachers College in Aberdeen. After teaching in various country schools and at a high school in Rosco, SD, she moved to Petersburg, Alaska, in the fall of 1943 to teach business courses at the high school. She later obtained a Master of Arts degree from the... Full story
The Ragnarök Rollers, Petersburg's roller derby team, bouted against Wrangell's Garnet Grit Betties Saturday evening at the Fall Brawl in Wrangell as some 260 spectators cheered on the skaters. "We didn't win but it was closer this time so that was good," Coach Rebecca "Midlife Tigress" Anderson said. This was the third time the two teams have dueled it out since the Petersburg team was formed in late 2012. The Betties started out strongly, picking up an early lead and building from there. By...
Have Americans lost hope? The trust-deficit between them and their policymakers is distressingly large, with only 19 percent, according to an October Pew poll, who say that they have faith that the government will do what is right just about always or most of the time. Thankfully, not all is lost. Americans still have faith in some institutions, generally for those that truly protect freedoms and preserve livelihoods, like the military and small businesses. In fact, when it comes to job creation and the economy, Americans value the opinions of...
