Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 182
JUNEAU - A fire in the engine room of a small cruise ship in Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve prompted the evacuation of dozens of passengers and crew on Monday. No injuries were reported, and the fire was extinguished, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The fire on board the Wilderness Discoverer was reported to the Coast Guard around 7:30 a.m. UnCruise Adventures, which operates the ship, said 78 passengers and crew members were on board at the time. All 51 passengers and most crew...
May 18, 1923 – Assistant Forester E.A. Sherman has presented seventy-one volumes as a nucleus for a marine library to the Forest Service boats operating in this district, according to word received by C.H. Flory. The library will be known as the Sherman Marine Library. The books are now on the way to Alaska. They include works of high class fiction, travel, exploration and history. Following the plan suggested for the library, the headquarters will be on the Ranger Tahn and from that boat will be distributed throughout the Forest Service f...
April 27, 1923 – That a large party of capitalists and others interested in the development of the water power at Thomas Bay and the erection of the ten million dollar paper mill there will visit the power site this summer is indicated by the following article printed in the Seattle Times of recent date. “Indicative of the spreading fame of vacation attractions offered by Alaska, is a letter received by the Chamber of Commerce from F.C. Dougherty, a San Francisco business man asking the chamber’s assistance in finding a sumptuously appointed st...
After 42 years of leading Viking Travel, Dave and Nancy Berg are ready to hang up their hats while a familiar young couple takes over the helm. The travel business has changed dramatically since 1981 when Dave and Nancy started their business-from spending hours on the phone with Alaska Airlines and building relationships with the cruise ships to navigating the new world of the internet and persevering through the pandemic. The pair met when Dave made a stop in Ellamar, Alaska while sailing up...
AP KETCHIKAN — A police chief in Alaska pleaded not guilty on Dec. 29 to charges that he assaulted an intoxicated man while he was off-duty at a resort restaurant, including allegedly shoving the man head-first into a wall and putting him in a chokehold. A grand jury returned an indictment Thursday for Ketchikan Police Chief Jeffrey Harrison Walls for felony third-degree assault. He is also charged with three counts of fourth-degree assault and two counts of reckless endangerment, which are misdemeanors. During an arraignment Friday, defense a...
September 29, 1922 – “Theoretically and scientifically and in accordance with official lore, the run of sockeyes up the Chilkat closed on the 15th of August and at that date the stream watchmen were withdrawn. The truth of the matter is that the run of sockeyes was only beginning when the watchmen were withdrawn and the result was that within three days after the watchmen were withdrawn, no less than twenty-seven purse seines, the first ever used off the Chilkat River, were fishing there most industriously and with marvelous success, with thr...
(AP) - A landslide triggered by record rainfall significantly damaged three homes, prompted the evacuation of about a dozen residents and caused power outages in downtown Juneau, Alaska's capital city. Geological assessment teams determined Tuesday that favorable weather has returned the threat level to pre-slide levels. The city's public works department was preparing to begin removing debris, city spokesperson Meredith Thatcher said. Of the three homes, one was completely destroyed as it came...
August 25, 1922 Interest in the Southeastern Alaska County Fair has grown with surprising force during the last two weeks. The expression of good will toward the movement whose aim is to create local interest in home grown farm products and other articles of an Alaskan manufacture isn’t confined to any particular section or community, but is distributed over the greater part of Southeastern Alaska. Men who are engaged in almost every line of business have expressed their approval of holding an exhibit of this kind and offered to render the F...
See Something, Say Something To the Editor: To all boaters on the water, whether for commercial or recreation: if you see cruise ship discharge of any kind, please report it to the agency below. Summer 2022, the cruise industry is bigger than ever. They are offering incredible deals for tourists to visit for that once-in-a-lifetime Alaskan adventure, and who can blame them? However, the cruise industry has decades of violations and fines for illegal behavior. It is up to us to be aware and hold them accountable for illegal discharge polluting...
If elected, would you work to improve access to affordable child care? Kenny Skaflestad: This is a priority. And this is a priority again from the smallest village to our more prominent communities. The need for addressing the child care challenge in each community is a major topic. It's one that I'd be glad to champion as far as the Alaska State House has to do and I think that could be a great deal depending on the energies put towards it. I'm glad to have seen some of my predecessors in the H...
A ship named for one of Norway's most famed explorers has been visiting Petersburg for the first time this summer. The MS Roald Amundsen operated by Hurtigruten is the world's first hybrid powered expedition ship and is currently traversing through Alaska, offering passengers a chance to participate in experiments and research among the state's natural environments. Though unable to mark the Amundsen's very first visit to Petersburg in May, representatives from the community including Sally Dwye...
After 56 years of service in the Alaska Marine Highway System fleet and almost three years tied up at a Ketchikan dock, unused and in need of costly repairs, the Malaspina is headed to another career as a privately owned floating museum and employee housing. Plans also call for using the ship as a classroom for maritime industry jobs. The state last week accepted $128,250 for the 408-foot-long passenger and vehicle ferry from the recently formed Ketchikan company M/V Malaspina. The company is a subsidiary of Ward Cove Dock Group, owned by John...
After a meeting last Tuesday, National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions is allowing passengers and crew from their ships to go ashore and inside business in Petersburg according to Dave Berg, president of Viking Travel and a ships agent for Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska. Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht, PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter, Dr. Mark Tuccillo, who serves as the borough’s public health officer, and Berg met with representatives from Lindblad to discuss the company’s policy COVID-19 policies and work toward allowing people to visit town. Acc...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously to appoint 11 people to the Early Childhood Education Task Force during Monday’s meeting. The task force will be made up of Jessica Doril, Hannah Flor, Denise Gubernick, Katie Holmlund, Sharlay Mamoe, Jeff Meucci, Stephanie Payne, Chelsea Tremblay, Becky Turland, Glo Wollen, and Chad Wright. The assembly also voted unanimously to appoint Tremblay as the chair of the task force. The task force was created following multiple public meetings and work sessions which identified problems with r...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for a 40-year-old woman who fell overboard off a cruise ship in Alaska’s Inside Passage. The Coast Guard ended the effort Tuesday after searching for the woman for about nine hours, Coast Guard Petty Office Ali Blackburn said. The search was conducted by boat and a helicopter in the waters near Eldred Rock in Lynn Canal, which is about 20 miles (30 kilometers) west of the state capital, Juneau. The captain of the cruise ship Celebrity Solstice reported the missing woman at 3 a...
April 28, 1922 The Totem Pole is now open. Miss Mary Allen and Miss Blanch O’Dell opened “The Totem Pole” ice cream parlor in the Ohmer post office building. The new place is a credit to the town being furnished in the mission style, with old rose hangings, curtains and shades. The service is excellent. A cozy corner alcove with piano and settees is included and music is one of the evening attractions. A soda fountain has been installed and all the fixings are in order. April 25, 1947 The annual Junior Prom was held Saturday evening April...
Petersburg is expecting a 35% increase in passenger berths from last year as the cruise ship industry rebounds from two summers hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. This summer has the potential of seeing 11,000 cruise ship passengers across 107 port calls according to Dave Berg, president of Viking Travel and a ships agent for Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska. Some of the cruise lines that will visit Petersburg this year include Alaska Dream Cruises, American Cruise Lines, National Geographic, and...
Keep the Ocean Rangers program: Together we can have a voice To the Editor: Whether you are a commercial fisherman or just an Alaskan who enjoys recreating in Southeast Alaska’s waters fishing for salmon, halibut, crab, shrimp, digging for clams or collecting seaweed, you should be deeply concerned about SB 180 which will eliminate the Ocean Ranger program that was put into law by voters in 2006. In mid-summer of 2019 Governor Dunleavy vetoed funding for the Ocean Ranger program just after Carnival Corporation was fined $20 million for i...
The state has started negotiations to sell the Malaspina to a company owned by a business that operates a new multimillion-dollar cruise ship terminal at Ward Cove in Ketchikan. M/V Malaspina LLC and the Alaska Department of Transportation “have agreed to negotiate in good faith on the sale of the 59-year-old vessel,” the state announced Monday. “MVM’s letter of interest outlines a plan to use the Malaspina to showcase Alaska’s maritime history and support a Ketchikan-based tourism business,” the state said. “Among other uses, they propose...
To the Editor: If you are a commercial fisherman, like we are, or just an Alaskan who enjoys being on the water for sport or subsistence, you assume we all care about protecting our beautiful state and its resources for generations to come. Right now, the Governor has proposed SB 180 and HB 303 with complicated wording but with the goal of getting rid of the Ocean Ranger program. If these bills pass, this globally praised program will be off the books and most likely never to be returned. The Ocean Ranger Program was approved by voters in 2006...
Almost three years after pulling pollution monitors - called Ocean Rangers - from large cruise ships, Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed legislation to replace the onboard state personnel with regular inspections by shoreside staff while ships are in port and underway. The Ocean Rangers program was written into state law when voters approved a citizen's initiative in 2006 to step up oversight of the cruise ship industry. However, start-of-season and random inspections during the summer "are a more...
During the Petersburg Borough Assembly's meeting on Monday, Mayor Mark Jensen reported that he and Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht recently took part in a conversation with two representatives from the U.S. Postal Service about the ongoing problems at the post office. The assembly has previously discussed staffing issues and the resulting long wait times at the post office which culminated in the passage of a resolution requesting a formal discussion with the USPS about solutions and...
On the mask mandate To The Editor: I wanted to take a minute to share my thoughts on the proposed emergency mask mandate. I believe at this point, two years into this pandemic, that we are doing more harm than good by trying to universally mandate the public’s actions. I believe that no one intentionally is trying to infect others with Covid and beyond that we are all capable of making decisions to protect ourselves and our families if we are feeling vulnerable. Taking away personal choice, and creating situations that promote division and d...
WRANGELL - It's one thing to experience Alaska's waterways from a ferry, cruise ship or even a fishing boat, but what about a Jet Ski, sitting atop a couple hundred horsepower of a thousand-pound jet pump with handlebars? One company is doing just that, guiding tours via personal watercraft, from Seattle to Juneau with stops in Wrangell and other Southeast communities. Dangerous Waters Adventures was founded in 2018 by Steven Moll, offering thrill seekers a chance to experience the Alaska and...
Breakthrough COVID-19 cases found in Alaska April 30 Between Feb. 1 and March 31, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services identified 152 positive cases of COVID-19 among people in the state who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a report from DHSS. About 74 percent of the vaccine breakthrough cases, or 112 individuals, were among people who had received the Pfizer vaccine, according to the report. Thirty-eight percent of the breakthrough cases had received the Moderna... Full story
