Sorted by date Results 3974 - 3998 of 5553
Hunters shot seven illegal moose during the first week of this year’s hunting season, more than twice that of last year’s first week. In a press release, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Area Wildlife Biologist Rich Lowell reported the number of checked-in moose that don’t comply with antler restrictions is disconcerting. “In a typical season, the harvest of six and nine sublegal moose (or about 10 percent of the overall harvest) would represent the take of illegal moose during the course of the entire season,” Lowell wrote. “With thr... Full story
SECON construction has a couple weeks of work left in Petersburg before they shut down for the season and winterize their ongoing project. Alaska Department of Transportation (ADOT) will maintain the project until SECON returns in the spring. SECON's project manager Ralph Vigilante says the company's major priority prior to leaving town is to finish paving on Haugen Drive. The abrupt edges on lower Haugen Drive, starting at Nordic Drive and heading up the hill to 8th St., will have flush and finished asphalt soon. “We anticipated on having i... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly heard from lead consultant Chris Beck, hired to update the borough’s comprehensive plan—a document that attempts to guide long-term community planning and growth over the next two decades. Beck spoke to the assembly last Thursday to update members on the “main themes” and “concerns and questions” he and his staff have heard from community members. “One is the whole issue of land use and extending land use authority outside service area one,” Beck said, referring to land outside of previous Petersburg City...
If you have traveled past Farragut Bay during the past couple of years, you have probably noticed the white, almost ghostly looking trees heavily peppered among what was once healthy forest. Those are dead yellow cedar, and the remarkable thing about the dead trees-also known as snags-is they can remain standing for up to 100 years. The decline in yellow cedar came on the radar of the US Forest Service (USFS) in the 1980's, but USFS research plant pathologist Paul Hennon says the problem was...
Two Petersburg entrepreneurs attended a business boot camp in Juneau September 18-20 as part the Path to Prosperity entrepreneur competition that aims to promote local business and sustainability across Southeast Alaskan communities. The Salty Pantry Market and Deli owner Mindy Anderson and Petersburg Indian Association Tribal Resources Director Mark Banda were two of 12 participants selected to attend the Boot Camp Weekend where they participated workshops covering topics such as business plan creation, sustainable business practices and...
The first week of moose season resulted in similar harvest numbers as the record breaking 2009 season, with one exception. As of Sept. 21, hunters in the Petersburg, Wrangell and Kake areas killed 35 moose, matching the record year, but seven illegal bulls were also harvested. On average six to nine illegal bulls have been killed over the entirety of a season since the local regulations changed in 2009, and if this trend continues, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) may have to consider altering season closure dates. “If people comply w... Full story
The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has actively been collecting water samples from Sandy Beach and testing them for quality since mid-July, after spillage of waste occurred months earlier. Late last week, a DEC press release was issued alerting recreational beach users to be aware of elevated levels of fecal coliform bacteria in marine water near the beach. The testing process included collecting weekly samples of marine water, and sending them to a Juneau lab. Since time can decrease bacterial counts in a matter of six to... Full story
This year's Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) will be $2,072. That's the highest on record not adjusting for inflation, though qualified residents received a $2,069 PFD in 2008 alongside a $1,200 resource rebate. Qualified residents who applied for direct deposit of the funds and were in eligible status by Sept. 18, 2015 will receive their PFD on Oct. 1. Checks will be mailed out the same day. Last year over $1.1 billion was paid out to almost 599,000 Alaskans. If there's a similar number of PFD... Full story
KETCHIKAN (AP) — A tour boat company based in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, is considering running a weekly ferry service to Ketchikan next summer. Owners of West Coast Launch and its subsidiary, Prince Rupert Adventure Tours, Debbie and Doug Davis said they are interested in making trips to Alaska next year, especially as the Alaska Marine Highway Service reduces service, The Ketchikan Daily News reports. Debbie Davis said at the Southeast Conference on Wednesday that as the Alaska Ferry system drops from twice-a-week service in the s...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The owners of two marijuana delivery services and the owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club in Anchorage have been charged with drug crimes for the delivery and possession of marijuana. Undercover officers made multiple marijuana purchases from each business before charging them with misconduct involving a controlled substance in the fourth-degree, a felony, and in the fifth-degree, a misdemeanor, according to the Alaska Dispatch News. “We wanted there to be a clear message that for the marijuana industry, you need to follow the...
The local Rotary Club had a special guest at their weekly lunch meeting last Wednesday when District Governor Brad Gamble stopped by. Among the chief responsibilities for Gamble as district governor is to oversee all of Alaska and Yukon territories, and pay a visit to each club in the district during his year in the position. Gamble has been a part of Rotary for 10 years, and all club members, including leadership positions are unpaid volunteers. He says Rotary International and district funds financially help support his travel expenses, but...
Following their annual meeting last week in Prince Rupert, the Southeast Conference (SEC) will be going back to their transportation lobbying roots. The organization was formed in 1958 to lobby for a regional transportation system—now known as the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS)—and members are coming together once again to address needed changes to that system. A resolution was passed at last week’s meeting to restore the Transportation Board of the SEC, which will push during the upcoming legislative session to change the Marine Trans...
Subscribers, click link below to access a downloadable PDF file of this week's full print edition of the Pilot.................................................................................................................................................................................. http://www.petersburgpilot.com/homeedition2015.pdf...
Moose season is now open and hunters are afield trying to fill their freezers. Hunters will continue to operate under the same regulations, as hunting areas and antler restrictions remain unchanged from 2014. The season opens with high hopes for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) and hunters alike. Last fall, 106 moose were taken locally, the second highest total on record for the RMO-38 moose hunt. The total was just a couple shy of the 109 recorded moose killed in 2009. “That’s very good, because it wasn’t that long ago that we we... Full story
About 15 Petersburg and Kupreanof residents attended a meeting last Thursday night to hear about and voice their opinions on recent developments on the Kake Access road project. Meeting attendees listened to presentations by ADOT's Andy Hughes, Seth English-Young from the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) and two consultants working on the project who explained developments with the project's purpose and need statement and a screening process developed to evaluate 21 transportation... Full story
Sue Erickson of Petersburg-Wrangell Insurance gave an overview of the Borough’s liability insurance coverage at Thursday’s regular Assembly meeting. The Borough’s insurance has been provided by Alaska Public Entities Insurance for over a decade. There’s a $240,000 premium for its liability coverage, 11 percent of which goes to cover workers’ compensation. The premium has only increased $11,000 in the past six years, which Erickson characterized as “fantastic” and attributed to both claims handling and safety efforts by the Borough. Eric... Full story
Born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil-the largest city in the Americas with a population of almost 12 million-Carolina Macluf is settling into life in small town Alaska as this year's in-bound Rotary exchange student. Macluf chose Petersburg as the location for her one-year exchange because she wanted to practice English and see somewhere different. "I just think I want a different place," she said, adding that several other out-bound exchange students from her area chose to study in one of...
Three concerned Petersburg and Kupreanof residents spoke out against a resolution being considered as part of last Thursday’s Borough Assembly agenda. Though three Assembly members—Mayor Mark Jensen, Bob Lynn, Nancy Strand—voted in fav or of the resolution, four votes were needed for it to pass. The resolution would have called for the governor to petition for an appeal of the Ninth Circuit court’s late July ruling which overturned the Tongass National Forest’s exemption to the Roadless Rule. The Wrangell Borough and Ketchikan Gateway B...
For its September regular board meeting, Southeast Alaska Power Authority (SEAPA) board members met in Petersburg earlier this week. The board heard updates concerning the company's ongoing efforts to catalog hydro sites in Southeast. This summer, a consultant flight crew moved personnel and equipment to remote areas, including lakes that have never had bathymetric studies conducted on them. The process reveals underwater topography while recording the depth of the lakes. Falls Lake and Scenery Lake were both mapped and recorded. Similar survey...
The abundance of outdoor opportunities in Southeast creates a haven for those willing to explore the almost unlimited potentials. Often times that exploration can lead to personal growth and finding new hobbies that quickly become passions. For Bev Siercks, picking wild berries means wine making, and relaxing amongst the trees and assorted berry patches. Growing up in North Dakota, Siercks occasionally picked berries, but since moving to Petersburg it's become a lifestyle. Especially this year,...
The Borough Assembly voted unanimously to approve new columbarium fees and increases to other cemetery fees as part of an ordinance passed on its first reading last Thursday. The ordinance includes language changes to reflect Borough incorporation and to establish fees to place an urn in one of the 320 burials niches of a new columbarium erected at the cemetery last month. The new proposed fee for urn placement is $175, with an additional $75 charge for placements occurring on weekends or holidays. The proposed fee for burials—opening and c...
Icicle Seafoods owner Paine & Partners announced Sept. 4 that the sale of the company to buyers Dominion Catchers, LLC and Convergence Holdings, Inc. has been cancelled. The sale was anticipated to close in August and was announced in late June. Company representatives declined to comment further on the reasons for the cancellation. Some online industry sources have speculated that a provision in the American Fisheries Act which requires U.S. citizens to have 75 percent ownership and control of commercial fishing vessels 100 feet or greater in... Full story
The Petersburg School Board held its first meeting of the 2015 school year. At the meeting, the board unanimously approved spending $18,510 for the much needed addition of an exhaust hood in the cafeteria kitchen. “We have received a health code violation because we do not have an exhaust hood over our stove and steam kettle,” said Daniel Tate, maintenance/facilities director. “The school never was designed with a cafeteria, it was essentially put into a multipurpose room.” Tate believes the cafeteria was originally called a gymnasium on the... Full story
In a special meeting on July 7, board members of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) met to discuss two items. The board voted to award a bid not to exceed $396,080 for the Swan Lake Powerhouse Roof Membrane Project to the Sitka-based company CBC Construction. The company was one of four that submitted bids, which ranged from $336,569 to $566,258. Petersburg Power and Light Superintendent Joe Nelson was the sole dissenting vote. He said he had reservations about the large spread of bid amounts and the design of the roof. “I think we s... Full story
Petersburg Medical Center (PMC) recently added digital mammography to its list of services offered. The new machine is two years old, but the capability of its technology is proving less harmful and possibly life changing for patients. "We're exposing the patient to at least half of the radiation they were being exposed to before," says Liz Bacom, PMC Laboratory/Imaging Director. The superior image quality of the Phillips MicroDose uses revolutionary photon counting detector technology. Bacom...
