Sorted by date Results 226 - 250 of 269
The Petersburg has one confirmed case of Pertussis or whooping cough, according to a notice sent out by Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter on Tuesday afternoon. “We have been working with the Medical Center and Public Health Nurse to determine the best course of action for sharing accurate and helpful information with staff, parents, and community members,” Kludt-Painter wrote. “This is not a public health emergency, but we need to be cautious and aware.” The email described the case as being found in a small child, but did not specify if it w...
WRANGELL – Wrangell Cooperative Association added its voice to the chorus of people concerned about Canadian mining concerns developing upstream of shared rivers. The forum was a hearing held by the Alaska House Fisheries Special Committee in Juneau on October 12. Testimony was collected from around the state, with speakers calling in even from as far away as Arizona. The issue at hand is a collection of large scale mines either operating or in development, located in the watersheds of the Stikine, Unuk and Taku rivers. For Wrangell, the Red C...
Samuel Hudson Cornthwaite passed away suddenly after falling ill to acute pancreatitis on September 6th, in a Beijing China hospital, with his sister Hannah by his side. Sam grew up in Petersburg, Alaska and in 2001 he made the move with his parents to Montana, attending Petersburg Elementary school and then Shields Valley Schools where he graduated in 2008. As you look back on his short 26 yrs of life, he always had an interest in people and fishing. At a very young age he was known be able to... Full story
WRANGELL – Costs for the transition of operations at the Tyee Lake hydroelectric facility may be higher than first expected. Board members for Southeast Alaska Power Agency learned at their September 8 meeting that the unfunded pensions liability for Wrangell employees at the plant were more than double what was estimated when it assumed operations. SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson explained consultants had put the city"s liabilities to the state Public Employees" Retirement System at $648,206, which i... Full story
A state outreach program designed to shake some sense into Alaskans, with the help of a mobile earthquake simulator worth over $100,000, stopped by Petersburg last week. Each year the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) sends out a mobile trailer unit to different communities in an effort to raise awareness of earthquake risks. However, this year is the first for the simulator traveling around Southeast Alaska, according to Jeremy Zidek, public information...
The weather might have forced a couple participants to drop out of the postponed 3rd Annual Paddle Battle, but the number of paddlers undertaking the activity continues to increase. Last weekend, 28 paddlers participated in the event, a fundraiser hosted by the Petersburg Medical Center Foundation, beginning at Papke's Landing and ending at Sandy Beach. "We ended up losing five people just because of the date change," said Sarah Holmgrain, community education assistant for PMC. "But I really... Full story
Petersburg Police are charging a man with multiple counts of burglary and theft after a Christmas Eve break in left a family without a vehicle, tools and firearms. According to charging documents, police charged Neil Ray Hacker, 37, with 12 felony counts after a confession to police where he admitted to stealing nine firearms, including rifles and shotguns, along with a 2012 Toyota pickup truck, vehicle parts and tools from a warehouse on Hungerford Hill owned by Albert Hofstad. The charging... Full story
Caught by Alaskans for Alaskans is a business concept that bested 170 others in a global fisheries business competition last month at Stanford University in California. The contest, sponsored by Fish 2.0, awards creative approaches that build demand for sustainable seafood, reduce waste and support fishing towns. The Alaska Community Seafood Hub model, presented by Kelly Harrell of Anchorage, won $5,000 in cash and is in the running for more money to be awarded this month. Fish 2.0 builds the knowledge and connections needed to increase...
The results of the 2015 School Climate and Connectedness Survey Report are in and have given the Petersburg School District a gauge of how the district is perceived to be operating. It was a survey taken last spring by students and staff. They answered a different set of questions based on multiple categories like peer climate and school safety. Funding for the survey went through the district’s healthy living grant, and was administered by the Alaska Association of School Boards. “The initial reaction is good,” says Principal Rich Dorme...
The Petersburg School Board delayed a vote on its new memorial policy so board members can receive more feedback from the public. The policy would, in part, limit the display of student memorials to a two-week period. The memorial policy has sparked a variety of reactions from community members, some of whom expressing frustration because previous Petersburg High School student Jake Madsen’s memorial would be taken down should the School Board approve the policy. Madsen passed away after a hunting accident in 2008 and his friends and basketball... Full story
WRANGELL — The Alaska Marine Highway System has been taking public comment for its ferry schedule for the coming summer. From Bellingham, Wash., to Skagway, concerned user groups of the regional transportation network participated in a teleconference, hosted in Ketchikan Nov. 4. A draft schedule has been available for review, and patterns in the draft have been based on an assumed funding level for the 2017 fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2016. Reductions in service to some communities over the previous year’s schedule reflect $25 mil...
WRANGELL — On Sunday Alaska Native and Canadian First Nations groups will mark the first anniversary of the Mount Polley tailings dam collapse in a ceremony on the Stikine River. On Aug. 4, 2014, a rupture in the tailings dam servicing the British Columbia mine released billions of gallons of metals-tainted effluent into waters that fed into the salmon-rich Fraser River system. Earlier this month the mine’s owner, Imperial Metals, received a restricted permit from the provincial government allowing it to reopen Mt. Polley, using an alt...
JUNEAU (AP) — The state health department has hired a consultant to help recommend next steps as Gov. Bill Walker's administration plans to implement Medicaid expansion and looks to make further changes to the existing Medicaid program. The contract with Agnew::Beck Consulting LLC calls for a final report in January recommending alternative models of Medicaid expansion and options to help contain costs within the Medicaid program. The report will serve as a briefing document for the Legislature on reform opportunities and allow for the departme...
Early birds and night owls may have noticed a lack of power during the early morning hours Monday, after service for Wrangell, Petersburg and Ketchikan went down for several hours. The grid went down at 2:48 a.m. after a mature bald eagle ran afoul of a section of line near Ketchikan’s Herring Cove. “We’re very apologetic, especially when we cause problems in our neighboring communities,” said Andy Donato, manager of Ketchikan Public Utilities’ electric division. By 5:32 a.m., Tyee Lake Hydroelectric was back online and most of Ketchikan...
An investigation conducted by a British Columbia commission found that the provincial government had not violated public disclosure laws by withholding information on Mount Polley mine prior to its tailings impoundment dam breach last summer. The report was put together by Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham and addresses complaints that the province had violated Canada’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. On Aug. 4, 2014, the mine’s tailings pond wall ruptured and released 13.8 million cubic yards of met...
Part of its strategic plan for 2014-2020, WAVE (Working Against Violence for Everyone) has increased advocate interest, moving from five to 13 potential advocates, seven of which are taking calls. But the group is always looking for more. The non-profit organization discussed growing membership, among other topics, during its annual meeting Monday evening at the Petersburg Medical Center. WAVE provides advocacy for victims of both domestic violence and sexual assault. One discussion revolved around the possible formation of new support groups....
Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) CEO Trey Acteson spoke before the Petersburg Borough Assembly last week and the Wrangell Assembly this week to update the communities on the progress of the Swan Lake expansion project and apprise them of their role in upcoming refinancing efforts. The current dam at Swan Lake is 174 feet tall and 430 feet wide with a spillway slot that is 15 feet high and 100 feet wide. "Essentially the project is to fill that spillway slot, be able to raise the reservoir...
A new phytoplankton monitoring program being done by Petersburg Indian Association (PIA) will help alert recreational and subsistence shellfishers to harmful algal blooms in the area more quickly. "There are types of phytoplankton that, in the spring or summertime or when the water starts to warm up, they start to come out of hibernation. And in some cases so much so that they form a bloom," said PIA Tribal Resource Director Marco Banda who heads the monitoring program and administers the...
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...
Two issues related to public services and service areas surfaced at Monday’s regular assembly meeting. Assembly member Bob Lynn introduced a motion to table an ordinance, on its second reading, to transfer traffic codes from the former City of Petersburg into official Borough code. Lynn’s request to table the motion stems from a murky understanding of the role of police in enforcing the code. If adopted as is, the traffic code would bring the previous regulations pertaining to the then-City (now Service Area 1) borough-wide. “This parti...
Borough Manager Steve Geisbrecht presented the following report to the assembly at Monday’s regular meeting: Medicaid recertification for the Mountain View Manor is approved. We’re good for two more years. Final touches are being put on the ten recently installed windows at Elderly Housing. Liz Cabrera met with Bob Weinstein from Senator Begich’s office on federal issues of interest and arranged for a tour of the Police Department. There was some progress on the dismantling of the Ellingstad/Triem house at 1011 Wrangell Avenue. The roof and a...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved a motion to send a letter to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) urging them to elevate the federal assessment for the KSM (Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell) mine project to the panel review level at their meeting Aug. 18. The assembly's move to send the letter urging the more stringent review process for the mine is one of many in a string of local and state governments calling for similar action. The KSM mine is currently in the environmental assessment pre-application process....
The Crystal Lake Hatchery reconstruction project has one less hurdle to jump through after Kim Rice, Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities deputy commissioner, delegated authority to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) in order to expedite project completion. “(DOT&PF) generally oversees state facility projects such as the Crystal Lake Hatchery,” Rice wrote in a letter to Petersburg Mayor Mark Jensen. “However, because DOT&PF is aware of the critical nature of this facility to the community of Petersburg, my staff... Full story
Sales Tax Ordinance Committee Member Sue Flint is scheduled to speak before the assembly May 19 where she will again recommend a tax on tobacco. At the tail end of last winter, the committee first recommended the tax to the borough assembly. The recommendation came, in part, after Petersburg Medical Center CEO Elizabeth Woodyard requested that such a tax be implemented and that the revenues go towards PMC capital projects. PMC Lab and Imaging Manager Liz Bacom also spoke on behalf of a tobacco tax and reported 153 smoking related diagnoses at... Full story
A borough committee may organize to further investigate the merits of instituting an excise tax on tobacco after it was brought up for discussion during several sales tax ordinance committee meetings. While an excise tax on tobacco doesn’t fall under the purview of the sales tax committee’s mission—which is to review and recommend changes to the sales tax code so the borough can generate an equal or greater amount of revenue—it did unofficially make a recommendation to the borough assembly that it consider a tax on tobacco. Committee member... Full story
