Sorted by date Results 2083 - 2107 of 5574
The borough assembly vote unanimously not to pass an ordinance that would clarify language in the Marine Passenger Fee at an assembly meeting on Monday. "At this point, I'd like to just kind of see it go away," said assembly member Jeff Meucci. "Right now we have a sales tax ordinance in place, we have the Marine Passenger Fee in place. The Marine Passenger Fee goes into effect in 2019. It just seems like at one time or another we just get caught up in the minute details of this ordinance that...
The Petersburg Medical Center board of directors passed its strategic plan for the 2019-2023 fiscal years at a board meeting on Tuesday after the document failed to pass at last month's meeting due to clarity issues. The strategic plan had been updated since the previous meeting to reflect the concerns with more clarity, but issues were still found with the current version. "It needs some work," said board member Jim Roberts to PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter. "You made changes, but there's places where...
On Thursday, the Petersburg Medical Center held the first in a series of “community cafes” to inform residents on trends affecting the hospital with residents giving feedback on what they expect from PMC. At the beginning of the forum, PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter made it clear that the day’s meeting was to receive feedback from the community and not talk about the idea of a new facility or remodel of the current one, which is something Hofstetter has been working towards since his arrival over the summer. “It’s very easy to go down rabbit ho...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska netted $28.1 million from its oil and gas lease sales in the North Slope and Beaufort Sea. The Alaska Journal of Commerce reports the state received bids on 133 tracts in the North Slope covering about 350 square miles (906 square kilometers). State Division of Oil and Gas Director Chantal Walsh says the winning bids Thursday for the North Slope accounted for about $27.3 million, the third highest amount since 1998. Winning bidders paid about $848,000 for the eight near shore tracts covering about 32 square m...
The University of Alaska Southeast has called for all residents of Southeast Alaska to submit their creative talents to this year’s edition of “Tidal Echoes,” the college’s literary and art journal. The journal seeks to showcase and support the diverse creative talents of Southeast Alaskans, according to the UAS website. A portion of the journal has been reserved for UAS students, but anybody in the region with literary or artistic talent is invited to submit their work. Emily Wall, faculty advisor with UAS, said that “Tidal Echoes” h...
WRANGELL - Students at Evergreen Elementary School have spent the past few days making Christmas ornaments. Some students drew pictures of Alaskan wildlife, others made miniature wreaths, and another class made poinsettias. All these ornaments are not only fun projects for students to work on. They will be travelling up to Juneau in the coming weeks to hang on the governor's Christmas tree. Tory Houser, with the Forest Service, said that the Wrangell district of the Tongass National Forest has...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announces that the season for the commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Registration Area A (Southeast) will close in most areas by regulation at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, November 30, 2018, consistent with 5 AAC 32.110. Districts 1 and 2, and Section 13-B outside of the Sitka Sound Special Use Area [5 AAC 32.150(10)] will remain open until February 28, 2019. For those areas that close at 11:59 p.m. on November 30, all Dungeness pots must be removed from the water except that pots may be stored on the grounds...
It was clear to Sam Bunge that he was going to Vietnam after he graduated from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1967. He participated in the university's Reserve Officer Training Corps in preparation because he didn't want to join the United States Army as a private. "I wanted to have a little bit of control of what happened," said Bunge. His first year in the army was spent training. He completed his basic training in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. Since he was entering the army as...
The Petersburg Police Department received a report on Nov. 10 at 8 a.m. of a deceased male onboard a sailboat anchored in Ideal Cove, approximately 12 miles southeast of Petersburg. Ronald Rose, age 68 of Petersburg, was found deceased onboard his sailboat, the Tehonini. There was no sign of foul play and the State Medical Examiner did not request an autopsy of the body. Rose’s next of kin was notified....
The Petersburg Elks Lodge hosted their annual Veterans Day dinner, which has been held for over 40 years, for veterans and their spouses, widows of veterans, active duty military and the National Guard. Veterans Day, once known as Armistice Day, is celebrated yearly to mark the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918. "This evening allows us to come together and pay tribute to all those men and women who have worn the uniform of the United States Armed Forces," said exalted ruler David Israelson who...
The Petersburg School Board approved the acceptance of grant awards for the 2019 fiscal year totaling $513,613. The grants make up about six percent of the district’s funding, with the other 94 percent, or $8,432,563, coming from the general fund. Three of the largest grants received by the district came from Title VI-B at $141,677, ESSA Title I-A at $121,119 and ESSA Title I-C at $118,402. The three grants make up about 75 percent of the district’s grants. “There’s a whole team of us that put these grants together,” said finance director...
WRANGELL — Early on the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 14, a boat accident occurred off of Heritage Harbor. Greg Meissner, with the harbor department, said that one boat was leaving the harbor and sailing westward, towards Zarembo Island. Another boat, with Alaska Crossings, was heading in a southern direction. Both boats collided out in open water. According to Bruce Smith, with the Wrangell Police Department, there were four people involved in the accident. Three people were injured and hospitalized. Smith could not speak to the extent of t...
On Nov. 1, Aleria Jensen, a supervising biologist in the Protected Resources Division of NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region, held a lecture in the assembly chambers describing the harm plastics and marine debris in the oceans can have on marine life. “Now, we’re all so connected and none of us are free from this issue,” said Jensen. In her presentation, Jensen gave an overview of plastic and marine debris on a global scale, marine debris in Alaska and conservation efforts being taken by NOAA, or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin...
After 11.5 years with Alaska Airlines and four years in Petersburg, 55-year-old David Booker, customer service manager with Alaska Airlines, is retiring from the industry. "I feel like I had a really charmed career in Alaska," said Booker who originally came to Alaska from southern California. "To be there and be able to work my entire career in the state and do the things that I had the opportunity to do, the places I've gotten to go. Most importantly, the incredible people I've gotten to work...
The Petersburg Swim Club hosted a home meet over the weekend that saw over 80 swimmers from Craig, Wrangell, Ketchikan and Petersburg participate. "Petersburg did really good," said head coach Andy Carlisle. "We had a couple kids that did great." The swim club operates a little differently from the high school swim team. They have more events and have swimmers from all ages, from kindergarteners to high school seniors. There are about 456 kids in this year's swim club. The season follows the sch...
Juliette Low, the founder of Girl Scouting once said. "Scouting rises within you and inspires you to put forth your best." That quote was especially fitting on Sat., Nov. 11 as the local Petersburg Girl Scouts gathered to mark their founder's birthday, which is Oct. 31 and to celebrate one of their own, Gold Award recipient Avery Herman-Sakamoto. The Gold Award in Girl Scouting is equivalent to the Eagle Scout Award in Boy Scouts. You must be dedicated, motivated and inspired to achieve it and...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska salmon boat skipper who killed endangered Steller sea lions with a shotgun and hindered an investigation has been fined $20,000 in federal court. Jon Nichols, 31, of Cordova, was sentenced Tuesday to five years' probation, three months of home confinement and 400 hours of community service. U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Smith also ordered Nichols to publicly apologize in a national commercial fishing magazine. One of Nichols' crewmen, Theodore ``Teddy'' Turgeon, 21, of Wasilla, also shot the endangered a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska's marijuana industry is continuing to grow, according to the latest tax figures from the Alaska Department of Revenue. Some 119 taxpayers paid $1.5 million to the state in September, the department said in its monthly update. The state's first sales of recreational marijuana to the general public were on Oct. 29, 2016, in Valdez. (A Fairbanks store had a soft opening the night before.) Each month since October 2016, the state has reported more taxpayers than the month before, even if tax collections rise and f...
At the suggestion of Public Works director Chris Cotta, the borough assembly voted in favor of moving forward with a full replacement of the borough’s saolid waste baler. Several of the major working parts in the baler are deteriorating, including the belt conveyor, control system and wear surfaces on the rams, hopper and baler chamber, according to a statement given to the assembly by Cotta at a borough assembly meeting on Monday. He gave the assembly three options for moving forward with the aging baler: Replacing components as they fail; a...
On Saturday, the Let Me Run after school program finished their fall season by hosting a community 5k run. The Let Me Run program is a national program that helps boys learn skills for managing and expressing their emotions and learn physical fitness, team work and responsibility, according to Rikki McKay, who helped coordinate the event and is a prevention coordinator with Working Against Violence for Everyone or WAVE. "The boys were amazing," said McKay. "We were very proud of them. They...
Unofficial results in Tuesday's general election show incumbent Don Young(R) remains Alaska's United States representative, Mike J. Dunleavy(R) becomes governor of Alaska, House District Incumbent Jonathan S. Kreiss-Tomkins(D) remains for a fourth term and ballot measure no.1 fails to become law, according to the Alaska Division of Elections. As of Nov. 7 at 1:35 A.M. 433 precincts in Alaska have been reported out of 442. There was a 41.44 percent voter turnout in the state with 236.972 voting...
The Petersburg Borough’s in-kind portion of a feasibility study to determine if the United States Army Corps of Engineers will dredge South Harbor and allow smoother egress increased by $50,000, and was approved by the assembly on Monday. “The money stays with us,” said harbormaster Glow Wollen at the assembly meeting on Monday. “We only use it if we spend it for this project. The borough’s in-kind contributions have increased to $100,000, from $50,000, which the borough has paid $32,349.11 of to date, according to a letter from Amber C....
The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce hosted a public meeting on Tuesday to discuss and receive community feedback on the possibility of larger cruise ships coming to Petersburg. In August, Viking Cruises met with representatives from Petersburg while looking for possible new ports in Southeast Alaska for 2020. The ships can hold approximately 900 passengers and 140 crew members. "If you think about this as a win-win situation, some of these ships they provide a visitor base, not only for visitors...
On Friday, the Petersburg Public Library and the Clausen Museum hosted an opening reception for the De-colonizing Alaska art exhibit. The exhibit seeks to de-colonize Alaska art, which has had representations of colonization and repression, by pulling away from stereotypical depictions of Alaska such as dogsleds, Eskimos and igloos, according to the curator of the exhibit Asia Freeman. The 31 artists featured in the exhibit move towards ideas that challenge historic definitions of Alaskan Art....
The borough assembly passed ordinance #2018-18, which will provide a new development code for the borough, in its second reading at an assembly meeting on Monday. “There’s nothing final about this in case we realize a piece of it doesn’t work,” said vice mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor. The updated code seeks to streamline and update the current code. There are some meetings that are required in the approval process that don’t need to be there, said community and economic director Liz Cabrera on Monday. Outdated zoning districts have weak standards...
