Sorted by date Results 2782 - 2806 of 5587
Six choir members and one band member from Peterburg were selected to participate in the annual Southeast Honor Music Festival in Klawock last weekend. "It's an all-star band and an all-star choir," said Matt Lenhard, the Petersburg band director who traveled to Klawock with the group. "Klawock were great hosts." The students from Peterburg who were selected included Joseph Giesbrecht, the first chair clarinet and only band member. The other six were choir members: Alex Worhatch, sophomore;...
This year open enrollment in the state’s health insurance marketplace has been shortened to six weeks, beginning yesterday and running through December 15. Enabled through the Affordable Care Act, Americans meeting certain criteria can apply for government subsidies for participating insurance plans. Before the start of each calendar year, they are required to prepare submissions for new or renewed coverage through the HealthCare.gov website during this open enrollment period. As previously announced last month, Southeast Alaska Regional H...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Nearly 160,000 pounds of salmon from a failed Alaska fishing operation have reached an Anchorage landfill after testing declared it unfit for consumption. The Bristol Bay salmon came off of the fishing vessel Akutan last month, and its stakeholders are pointing at each other as responsible for the fish contamination, Alaska's Energy Desk reported . The Akutan was planned to be a floating custom processor that could handle up to 100,000 pounds of salmon a day for a small fleet of fishermen under Bristol Bay Seafoods L...
The Muskeg Maleriers are sponsoring the 41st Oktoberfest Art Share in Petersburg on Saturday, and a borough official said businesses have to charge a sales tax. The Oktoberfest craft fair Saturday at the community center is set to feature nearly 60 vendors including food booths with sushi, Thai food, frozen cookie dough and tamales, among others. Local artists will also be there, and nonprofit organizations will be selling memberships, said Sally Dwyer with the Maleriers. If a registered...
Karen Hofstad, an independent traveler from Petersburg, recently spent a month on a cruise that sailed through the Northwest Passage. Aboard the Crystal Serenity, Hofstad started a month-long expedition from Seward, Alaska, to New York. Being a history buff, Hofstad was less concerned with the landscapes -- majestic, as advertised by Crystal Cruises -- and more prepared to learn from the experts onboard and local villagers along the way. She was surprised by the Northwest Passage. It looked...
Pastors Lloyd and Yvonne Thynes were recognized for 30 years of partnership with the Faith Christian Fellowship church at a recent conference in Tucson, Arizona. Lloyd and Yvonne have pastored the Bethesda Fellowship in Petersburg since 1985. They became ordained in 1987, and for 30 years remained a partner with the Faith Christian Fellowship, one of the last in Alaska, Mr. Thynes said. "We were fortunate to be ordained through their church, but it wasn't that we came here to promote a...
Preliminary harvest and value figures for the 2017 commercial salmon fishery indicate the season was a step up above the previous year's disastrous harvest. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported a 66.7-percent increase in exvessel value between the two years, with 224.6 million wild salmon worth around $678.8 million brought in by the state's fishing fleet. Chum salmon saw the biggest boon of the year, breaking records with 25.2 million fish, worth about $128.3 million. The haul...
The Petersburg Christmas Tree will be located outside the municipal building this year instead of next to the Scandia House hotel. The tree had for years been on Pete and Theresa Litsheims’ lot. The borough decided to change its location to the municipal building as to not inconvenience downtown parking. “We’ve relied upon the incredible generosity of Pete and Theresa Litsheim to stage the community tree,” said Karl Hagerman, the Borough Public Works Director. “The change is borne out of a desire to lessen the seasonal impact to their bus...
It's not easy to create a five-star dish using beets, anchovies, chili powder, Cheetos and gummy bears. But that's just what the 16 chefs in this year's Chilkat Chef Competition in Haines had to accomplish recently. More than 140 people attended a cooking competition in Harriet Hall where six teams had 50 minutes to incorporate those five mystery ingredients, revealed after the timer started, with a Chilkat coho salmon. The chefs had to prepare four plates for each judge and a fifth plate to...
A trial for William Christopher Allen scheduled for trial in November has been rescheduled to July 30, 2018. The trial is scheduled to last 10 days according to court records. Allen was the driver of a Parks and Recreation Dept. vehicle that crashed after he experienced a seizure along S. Nordic Drive on July 4, 2016. Allen is charged with two counts of Second Degree Murder, two counts of Manslaughter, Assault in the 1st Degree and Unsworn Falsification. Killed in the accident were Molly Parks, 18 and Marie Giesbrecht, 19. Superior Court Judge...
Eric Olsen, 60, ferried into Petersburg on Monday and will begin as pastor at the Lutheran Church this week. Olsen moved with his wife, Carol, from central Idaho where he was the director of a bible camp for 30 years. Before that, he was pastoring in Montana for three years. "I was in the process of looking for a congregation to serve and interviewed for a position in Montana and Petersburg," Olsen said. "And I was here in May for a few days and feel that the spirit was leading me to take a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Owners of Juneau's condemned Bergmann Hotel have put the historic building up for sale, days after its former manager was arrested on suspicion of distributing methamphetamine. Breffni Place Properties announced on Sunday it will attempt to sell the hotel as well as two other nearby houses that have been the subject of police raids, the Juneau Empire reported . Dave D'amato, who has power of attorney for the Barrett family, which owns the hotel, said the low-income residents of the hotel were causing problems in the s...
Kupreanof Island – 48 Stikine River – 25 Mitkof Island – 13 Thomas Bay – 8 Farragut Bay – 8 Wrangell Island – 4 Kuiu Island – 4 Zarembo Island – 3 Wrangell mainland – 2 Petersburg mainland – 2 Woewodski Island – 1 Total – 117 Note: 12 of the bulls checked in this year failed to comply with local antler restrictions, following a typical rate of noncompliance seen in other years. Antler configuration percentages 2x2 brow tines – 45 bulls (38% of harvest) Spike fork – 45 (38%) Three or more brow tines – 14 (12%) Spread 50 inches or greater ...
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — A test pilot from Norway has begun working with the F-35A fighter jet at Eielson Air Force Base. Norwegian Air Force pilot Eskil Amdal on Tuesday tested the jet’s ability to taxi, turn and stop on a frozen, slippery runway, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. Norway is one of many U.S. allies purchasing the F-35A. “You can’t really compare it to anything else,” Amdal said. “It’s easy to fly and the integrated systems are truly amazing.” Six cameras are attached to the outside of the jet. Those cameras feed di...
A statewide assessment of grade schoolers taken this spring has suggested education has some room for improvement. The Performance Evaluation for Alaska’s Schools (PEAKS) exam was administered for the first time to students between third and 10th grade, testing for proficiency in mathematics, English language arts and science. Mirroring standards used in the widely-used National Assessment of Educational Progress, PEAKS provides a snapshot of student performance in relation to grade-level standards. Overall, schools across the state did not a...
WRANGELL — Cash flow problems have again been ailing Wrangell Medical Center, with the public hospital putting forward a request for $250,000 to the city on Tuesday. At its own board meeting on October 18, WMC’s chief financial officer, Doran Hammett, explained the situation. Cash on hand had by the end of September dropped to $311,069, down from $838,604 at the start of the fiscal year on July 1. It costs around $28,000 a day to operate the hospital, meaning WMC had only around 11 days’ worth available for its payroll and other expendi...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Members of the Alaska Senate do not plan to spend all their time in Juneau when the fourth special session this year convenes in the capital city next week. Senate President Pete Kelly told The Associated Press that after starting the session Oct. 23 in Juneau, the Senate plans to hold hearings in Anchorage on budget and tax issues. The Senate will return to Juneau when there’s something to act on, he said. House Speaker Bryce Edgmon said the House plans to conduct its work in Juneau. Edgmon said the Capitol has the inf...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The state of Alaska is challenging the constitutionality of a proposed ballot initiative aimed at protecting salmon habitat. The state says it is appealing a court decision that called for allowing backers of the measure to begin gathering signatures. The matter went to court after Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott last month refused to certify it, citing a Department of Law opinion. The department maintained that the measure would limit the Legislature’s ability to decide how to allocate anadromous streams among competing uses and...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — A commercial rocket is expected to launch early next year at a state-owned aerospace company’s facility on Kodiak Island. Alaska Aerospace Corp. has secured three launch contracts and has a fourth in the works, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Monday. Ad Astra, a Texas-based aerospace company specializing in advanced plasma rocket propulsion technology, is scheduled for the first launch. Vector Space Systems is expected to launch from the facility in late 2018 and the company will also support a second Rocket Lab lau...
The Petersburg borough manager on Monday was cleared to start recruiting for an electrical superintendent, requiring that he find an applicant with knowledge of mechanical operations and a supervisor’s background. At a meeting Monday evening, there were four assembly members in favor and three against, enough to approve a job description for the Power & Light top position. The requirements include, among other qualifications, five to seven years of supervision experience, along with knowledge of hydro and utility power distribution systems. ...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht received high marks from both department heads and assembly members following his performance evaluation for borough work performed between March 1, 2016 and Feb. 28, 2017. “I wholeheartedly support the veracity of this evaluation,” Nancy Strand, an assembly member, said at a meeting on Monday. “I think we should approve and, in addition, repay Steve for following his suggestions.” In its summary, six evaluators said the manager met job standards; eight said his work exceeded job standards and four rated t...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht's request that the assembly give him a 5-year contract renewal along with a salary increase to $121,000 annually was granted Monday night. "His highest marks were in fiscal responsibility," said Assembly Member Jeigh Stanton Gregor, commenting on Giesbrecht's recent annual performance evaluation. "He's earned those marks because that's his top priority. We've given him a mandate: Save this community money and be efficient." In a memo to the Borough Assembly,...
The assembly on Monday approved a bid award to the Power & Light department for a project that would make restoring power during an outage quicker and safer. In a memo to the borough manager, Public Works Director Karl Hagerman requested about $48,000 for the Retaining Wall Project, which would add a switch to Circuit 63. This would make turning the power back on, or energizing, easier. Also it would isolate Icicle Seafoods and the Trading Union, which are among the borough’s biggest energy users. “Load separation allows the utility to bri...
Sally Dwyer was appointed on Tuesday to represent the Planning Commission on the historic committee in Petersburg, coming after the borough had advertised the seat for at least two years. In her first meeting as a board member on the commission, the 3rd generation Dwyer was asked to become a representative of the Historic Preservation Committee. She accepted the nomination and was appointed to a one-year term after a swift motion, ending years without a representative from the commission. Dwyer...
Mitkof Island is no longer without a pumpkin patch. Bennett McGrath was tired of buying pumpkins at a grocery store, so she orchestrated a patch, and it opened last weekend. Last year McGrath took her children along with some friends to Wrangell just to visit the pumpkin patch there. They made a vacation out of it – visited the bowling alley, got a hotel, explored more of downtown – but the premise was pumpkins. McGrath spent a few hundred dollars on boating and lodging just to get there. "I...
