Sorted by date Results 626 - 650 of 6716
Proposed ballot measures would raise Alaska minimum wage, add mandatory paid sick leave, as well as limit campaign contributions and state spending on party candidate nominations. The Alaska Division of Elections received the proposals last week. One proposed ballot measure would make a series of changes to state labor laws. It would raise the hourly minimum wage — currently $10.85 — to $13 in July 2025, $14 in July 2026 and $15 in July 2027, and annually according to inflation after that. It would require employers with 15 or more employees to... Full story
The spendable portion of the Alaska Permanent Fund is dwindling and could be exhausted entirely within three years, fund leaders were told during a regular quarterly meeting on Wednesday, July 12, in Anchorage. Deven Mitchell, CEO of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., presented the results of limited modeling that estimates the fund’s performance over the next three years. Under the “low” scenario, the fund would be unable to pay for state services or dividends by summer 2026. The “mid” scenario calls for the spendable portion of the fund to b... Full story
After the past few years when resignations and retirements far outpaced new hires, the Alaska Marine Highway System was able to hire as many new onboard crew as it lost in the first six months of this year. It showed a net gain of two workers, adding 47 and losing 45, though most of the new hires were in entry-level jobs and not the critical experienced positions that remain vacant. The lack of enough crew to fully staff the state ferries has been a problem, keeping the Kennicott tied up this summer and creating spot shortages the past couple...
The Haines Borough is challenging the U.S. government’s official count of its population, saying the Census Bureau undercounted the town’s population by about 20%. The money threatens millions of dollars of federal funding over the next decade. The 2020 Census reported Haines’ population as 2080, down from 2,508 10 years earlier. That immediately raised red flags for borough officials. “If we had lost almost 500 people, you would feel it in our town,” said Haines Borough clerk Alekka Fullerton. “You would see it in empty houses, in schools, an...
Supporters of Alaska’s ranked choice voting system are again alleging that opponents of the system are violating state campaign law. On Monday, Alaskans for Better Elections filed a complaint against former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka, a nonprofit that she operates, and Alaskans for Honest Elections, which is campaigning to repeal ranked choice voting in Alaska. The complaint alleges that Tshibaka and her nonprofit, Preserve Democracy, have been lobbying and campaigning without registering with the commission or s... Full story
The St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church caught fire last Thursday, leaving much of the building in ruins and covering Petersburg in smoke. According to a statement from Fire Marshal Ryan Welde, the fire has been ruled accidental in nature and was a result of maintenance work. The fire originated at ground level on the exterior of the building facing Dolphin Street. It then traveled up the wall via rigid foam insulation located behind the vinyl siding and continued to spread into the eaves... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved a bid award for a project that would replace approximately 200 feet of sewer lines beneath the Community Center during its July 3 meeting. The project will close half of the Community Center while the floor is ripped up and the main sewer line and lateral lines are replaced. The Community Center has been experiencing sewer problems for the last couple of years, such as toilets not flushing and water fountains draining onto the floor,...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Backers of an effort to repeal Alaska’s ranked choice voting system violated campaign finance rules and obscured the source of their funding, including forming a church that could have allowed donors to gain tax advantages for their contributions while skirting disclosure mandates, a complaint alleges. The complaint was filed by Alaskans for Better Elections, which was behind the successful 2020 ballot measure that replaced party primaries with open primaries and instituted ranked choice voting for general ele...
Mountain View Food Services will begin holding in-person meals at Mountain View Manor's dining room this Monday, bringing the elderly dining program one step closer to its pre-COVID state. Since March 2020, the program has exclusively functioned as a meal delivery service due to COVID-19 concerns, but after a board decision on Tuesday, the dining hall will open its doors to the program once again. "Prior COVID, all the meals were to be eaten in the dining room unless someone was considered to...
A potential Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) wholesale rate increase has been deferred by at least a year due to record high power sales in Ketchikan, Petersburg, and Wrangell this spring, according to Vice Mayor Bob Lynn. “It’s a record, I mean it’s about 5% above any previous sales that we did this past winter, which is pretty significant,” Lynn said during his July 3 report to the Petersburg Borough Assembly about the latest SEAPA Board meeting The SEAPA Board last approved a wholesale rate increase in December 2022, raising the pri...
A private dump truck hit a guy-wire supporting a power pole on the dump hill Wednesday, cutting power to the baler facility and water treatment plant, according to Utility Director Karl Hagerman. The outage also affected Sandy Beach Road, North Nordic Drive, Wrangell Avenue, Petersburg High School, OBI, and Petersburg IGA. Petersburg Municipal Power and Light was alerted to the incident near Reservoir Road around 10:10 a.m. and responded. According to Hagerman, the guy-pole that was attached to...
Ness family members from across the country gathered at Ness Point in Petersburg last Saturday to dedicate a bench to relatives Erick, Ragna, Leo, and Carl Ness. Crafted by local artist Josef Quitslund, the bench depicts an early 20th century view of Ness Point-the current location of Eagle's Roost Park-where three houses and a large garden built by Petersburg pioneer Erick Ness previously stood. "[The point] is everything. Even to talk about it brings emotions for me," said Erick Ness'...
In Alaska, only a third of children meet the state’s goals to be ready for kindergarten. But the state’s share of funding for Head Start, a mostly federally funded child care and health program that promotes school readiness specifically for low-income families, is lower than it was a decade ago. This year, the Legislature earmarked $5 million for an increase so the state’s Head Start programs could match federal contributions, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed most of it, slashing the increase to $1.5 million. It’s left program directors like Ma... Full story
Alaskans are having a harder time accessing child care now than they were five years ago, an expert told a new task force charged by Gov. Mike Dunleavy with developing a plan to make child care in the state more available and affordable. The task force, which Dunleavy formed in April, had its first public meeting on June 28 via Zoom with about 60 people, including the dozen task force members, in attendance. The group has until the end of December to deliver an initial plan to address the state’s child care challenges. At stake is the w... Full story
They say 'To dare is to do,' and Scott May, 59, did just that when he successfully completed the first known open-water swim across Frederick Sound. May, aided by his wife Bridget Wittstock and Tom Thompson in a boat alongside him, completed the 4-mile swim on Wednesday in about four hours, starting from Horn Cliffs on the mainland and making landfall at Frederick Point. "I didn't think I'd really actually do it and I really didn't tell anybody, but when I said it to a few people then I was...
WRANGELL – From a "beary" pie contest to a cub-o-war, art workshops, live music and a usually sold-out dinner, BearFest is returning for its 14th year. The activities start July 26. The popular educational and cultural event celebrates bears and the surrounding environment. Along with the activities, educational opportunities and symposiums and a bear safety session are planned. One of the more popular features of BearFest is the dinner and fundraising auction held at the Stikine Inn and Restaurant, which will begin at 6 p.m. July 28. T...
Following an executive session during Monday’s Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting, the assembly voted 6-0, with Mayor Mark Jensen excused, to approve the new collective bargaining agreement between the borough and the Petersburg Municipal Employees Association. The new CBA will run from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026. The biggest change from their last agreement is the introduction of a new wage matrix, which eliminates step increases and replaces them with a longevity pay system. According to the agreement, employees will receive a p...
The National Weather Service in Juneau issued a special weather statement on Wednesday warning of near record high temperatures across Southeast Alaska this week. According to the statement, the high temperatures are expected to occur starting Thursday and continuing through Sunday. Communities in the southern Southeast and those located farther from coastal waters are expected to see the warmest temperatures. The NWS in Juneau is forecasting sunny weather in Petersburg with temperatures rising...
Petersburg will go without any southbound ferry service in alternating weeks from Oct. 1 to mid-November under the Alaska Marine Highway System's draft fall/winter schedule. The town is on the schedule for its usual weekly northbound stop during that period. The rest of the winter schedule shows once-a-week service to town in each direction, with the bonus of two stops in each direction the second week of each month from mid-November through February when the Kennicott will shorten its...
Culvert repairs at 10.8 Mile Mitkof Highway in Petersburg are planned to come to a close this Saturday. Rock-N-Road Construction—the project’s primary contractor—started the project during the last week of May, completely replacing the five-foot culvert which had been damaged by age, erosion, and corrosion. “We went in and replaced it with a seven-foot aluminum culvert, where the previous one was galvanized steel,” said project superintendent Roger Hammer. “[Galvanized steel] tends to have a c...
Millions of people across the United States spend the Fourth of July visiting family and friends, but few who make a holiday homecoming can say they landed at an airport named after them. Jim Johnson, an Alaskan aviation legend who grew up in Petersburg, returned home on Alaska Airlines Flight 64 on Monday. He was greeted at the gate by his family along with a banner from Alaska Airlines. "We came over for the Fourth of July parade and to see all our friends and we're looking forward to it,"...
The St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church caught fire Thursday afternoon, leaving much of the building in ruins and covering Petersburg in smoke. There were no serious injuries reported and the fire did not spread to the surrounding buildings, however smoke from the blaze caused the Petersburg Medical Center and multiple businesses downtown to close. According to Fr. Jose Thomas, the parish priest at St. Catherine of Siena, a few people were attending a prayer service in the chapel when they... Full story
Petersburg's Crystal Lake Hatchery is set to receive $2.6 million in funding as part of the appropriations made in the State of Alaska's FY24 operating budget, which was approved by Gov. Mike Dunleavy on June 19. The appropriation will fund much needed repairs and upgrades for the hatchery's salmon raceways, a set of concrete canals which house hundreds of thousands of growing salmon and serve as their final home before being released. But before the hatchery staff can fill the raceways with...
The U.S. Coast Guard held a Change of Command Ceremony for the new officer in charge of the USCGC Pike at the Sons of Norway Hall Monday morning. Command of the Pike was transferred from Lt. Jak Loewenstein to Master Chief Boatswain's Mate Kay Jones in a formal reading of orders in front of the crew and Capt. Darwin Jensen, the Commander of Sector Juneau. The ceremony was attended by the crew of the Pike, their families, Coast Guard personnel, Petersburg Borough staff, representatives of Sens....
The family of Yenka Faith Ferreira are celebrating her quinceañera this Saturday, and as far as they can recall it will be the first quinceañera celebration ever to take place in Petersburg. "My mom has never seen one in Petersburg...so this will be the first one or definitely the first one to be public like this," says Yenka's mother, Yulett Ferreira. A girl on her fifteenth birthday is known a quinceañera, and her formal ceremony-typically celebrated in Mexico and other Latin American countrie...
