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When Intergalactic Nemesis' creator and producer Jason Neulander was tasked with performing his radio play in front of much larger than usual audiences at a much larger than usual venue, he decided to add another element, creating a performance experience unlike any other. "I got invited to bring the project in that format (radio drama) into this huge theater and felt like the venue was too big for watching a radio play and came up with the idea of projecting comic book art work...in order to...
After nearly three months of training at the FBI National Academy (NA) in Quantico, Va., Petersburg Police Chief Kelly Swihart has returned to full-time work at the department, bringing new contacts and knowledge with him. Swihart said one of the biggest benefits of the training was having the opportunity to get perspectives from police officials in departments around the U.S. and the world. "One of the leadership projects we did, we had...a major from Georgia, a deputy chief from Arlington, Tex...
Twenty-year-old Christafur Morrell pleaded guilty to an amended charge of Attempted Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the 2nd Degree at a change of plea hearing in Ketchikan Superior Court before Judge William Carey. The original charges he faced – Possession of Heroin with Intent to Distribute and Possession of Heroin – were dismissed. Morrell was indicted by a grand jury last July following an incident where local police seized around $75,000 worth of heroin. Morrell is not a resident of Petersburg but was staying at the Sca...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The Coast Guard says a lifejacket likely saved the life of a woman who fell into the frigid waters of Tongass Narrows in Ketchikan. KTUU-TV reports the 26-year-old Metlakatla woman was canoeing Sunday along south Pennock Island and heading for Annette Bay when she fell out of the canoe and had to swim to shore. Coast Guard spokeswoman Diana Honings says the woman was able to call the Ketchikan Police Department, which relayed the information to the Coast Guard The call came in at 3 p.m. and Coast Guard rescuers in a 25-foot r...
JUNEAU (AP) — A 57-year-old Ketchikan man with a history of violence will spend four years in a federal prison for attacking a member of the Coast Guard. Jon William Munhoven was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Juneau. He also must serve three years of probation. Munhoven was arrested on Sept. 2, 2013, when a 25-foot Coast Guard boat from Ketchikan responded to a call for help from a vessel where a man said Munhoven had bloodied his nose. The Coast Guard crew placed Munhoven in handcuffs and he kicked a member of the crew in the face d...
KETCHIKAN (AP) — The supervisor of the Tongass National Forest will retire his year. The Ketchikan Daily News reports Forrest Cole has set his retirement for April. Cole has been forest supervisor since 2003. A Forest Service announcement says he held positions in the Petersburg, Juneau and Yakutat ranger districts and the Stikine Administrative Area. The Tongass is also losing its deputy forest supervisor. Tricia O'Connor in February is transferring to the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. She has been in Alaska for more than 10 yea...
JUNEAU (AP) — Juneau is putting the brakes on marijuana businesses. The Juneau Empire reports the Juneau Assembly voted Monday to not consider issuing any land use permits for marijuana farms or documentation related to pot businesses until Oct. 19, or six months after the legislative session ends. The Legislature is expected to write regulations for marijuana businesses this session following voter approval of the recreational use of marijuana. The assembly's action doesn't have much of an effect on the general public. Marijuana still bec...
The Petersburg Advisory Committee met last week to discuss proposals and potential changes to fishing regulations that will eventually head to the Board of Fisheries for ultimate approval. “Every three years anybody and everybody can put in a proposal to the board of fisheries to change existing regulations, add new regulations or delete regulations,” Alaska Department of Fish and Game Petersburg Area Management Biologist Troy Thynes said. “They can’t deal with state statutes but these are just the codified regulations.” The committee...
Long time Petersburg resident Megan O’Neil, 26, is the newest Petersburg Vessel Owner’s (PVOA) Association Executive Director. O’Neil, who grew up in the fishing community since she was a kid, came back to town in 2010 after graduating from Northern Arizona University earning a degree in accounting and finance. O’Neil said she’s always been interested in fishing and the new job allows her to be more involved. “I came back after college to keep fishing and this gave me an opportunity to be a bigger part of the industry,” O’Neil said. “My job i...
Petersburg School District Superintendent Lisa Stroh submitted a letter of resignation to the Petersburg School Board December 31 citing family medical issues as her reason for resignation. Stroh requested administrative leave from December 16 through January 5, which the school board granted. "She felt a need to get down to Montana quickly," said school board member Sarah Holmgrain. "She asked for a leave of absence and while down there determined that she needed to stay." The board hired... Full story
Elections for five positions on the Petersburg Indian Association’s (PIA) Tribal Council will be held Monday at the ANB/ANS hall from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eligible tribal members who are interested in declaring their candidacy or nominating a candidate must do so by 3:30 p.m. today at the PIA offices. “This time we have three 1-year terms, we also have one 2-year term and every year the board chair’s open so there’s a one year board person chair open,” said Tribal Resource Director Marco Banda. Banda said that so far five individuals have decl... Full story
Volunteer bell ringers from the Rotary Club collected the largest kettle donations on record for Petersburg, nearly $6,000, as part of the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign that ended Dec. 24. In all the campaign raised $16,292 this year. The Petersburg Vessel Owners Association racked in the second largest donations through their ringing efforts and First Bank garnered third place. In all about 20 individuals and groups manned kettles over the one month span of the campaign. The Red K...
Grant coordinator Ginger Evens updated the school board on recent initiatives of the Healthy Living Grant including recent staff training related to mindfulness based stress reduction techniques and dealing with childhood trauma. The Petersburg School district was one of eight Alaska school districts that were awarded the grant from the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services beginning last fiscal year. The district receives $150,000 annually, amounting to about $600,000 total during the grant’s four year duration. Recently, staff h...
About 30 seniors who previously received a sales tax exemption card from the Borough were not issued a new card after Borough staff reviewed eligibility following two ordinances that went into effect Jan. 1. The two eligibility changes require seniors – individuals age 65 and older – to be borough residents and to have resided in the borough for at least a year with intent to remain indefinitely and make a home here. Following similar requirements to receive a Permanent Fund Dividend from the...
The Wrangell and Petersburg Assemblies will soon vote on an ordinance that will turn the Thomas Bay Power Commission (TBPC) into a member appointed advisory committee, activated only at the behest of both assemblies. The TBPC oversaw the Tyee Hydroelectric Plant until operations and management of the plant were transferred to the Southeast Alaska Power Authority (SEAPA) last summer. Since then, TBPC members, in conjunction with both municipalities’ assemblies, have been trying to figure out t...
JUNEAU (AP) — Isolated in the rainforest of Southeast Alaska, residents in Kake are thinking of alternative energy. In that, they're not unlike the inhabitants of any other rural Alaska community. What makes Kake special is the way it's approaching the topic. After exploring wind energy options in partnership with the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council in 2010, the Organized Village of Kake and five other Alaska Native communities received a U.S. Department of Energy grant for a different approach: solar power. Kake installed 24 solar p...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — There's an extra moose alive in southcentral Alaska thanks to three snowmobilers who freed it from an avalanche. Marty Mobley, Rob Uphus and Avery Vucinich, residents of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, on Sunday went riding on the west side of Hatcher Pass about 55 miles northeast of Anchorage, Alaska Dispatch News reported. With Alaska's unseasonably warm weather, they were wary of avalanches, Mobley said. The came upon a hillside that had both moose tracks and ski tracks. The latter stood out because they don't see many s...
SITKA (AP) — The CEO of Sitka's community hospital said he missed a meeting last week because he was assaulted. Jeff Comer said he could no longer stay in Sitka and planned to leave over the weekend. Comer was scheduled to appear at a meeting with the Sitka Assembly on Friday. But he instead sent the hospital board president to read a statement from him. Comer said he was willing to help the city and hospital as needed, from Arizona, KCAW reported. Sitka police Chief Sheldon Schmitt confirmed to the radio station that Comer called dispatch F...
The initial stages to repair a dock structure in Middle Harbor that was damaged in early September by the M/V Safari Explorer are underway after the Assembly approved a contract with PND Engineers at Monday's regular meeting. "Basically it was one of our small cruise ships and they hammered that float pretty good," Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said. "We had PND do an analysis of it and there's some pretty severe damage." The damage incurred by the 127-foot long vessel owned by Un-Cruise...
January More than 600 Petersburg residents signed up for the borough's recycling program. The Petersburg Land Selection Committee requested the borough pursue legislative action regarding the State's calculation of land entitlement for the Petersburg Borough after the committee's determination that the State's selection of land was inadequate. The Petersburg School Board approved a $2.3 million exterior wall renovation project for the Rae C. Stedman Elementary School. Petersburg School District... Full story
Locally falling oil prices and fewer State funds have arisen alongside every budget discussion, especially as local officials wait to see if any State monies will be allocated for capital projects. Though falling oil prices are a detriment to the State's financial affairs, they also translate to lower prices at the pump, an effect being felt more nationwide than in Southeast. "Recent retail prices have been trending downward due to high domestic inventory levels of crude oil coupled with soft... Full story
Shortly after ringing in the new year, the Borough will start contending with a new law passed by voters in November’s State election that allows possession, use, sale and transport of set amounts of marijuana. The law goes into effect near the end of February, and Mayor Mark Jensen requested to include a discussion of its local implementation at a January Assembly meeting. Statewide the law legalizes marijuana use for individuals 21 years and older but bans public use of the substance – violators are subject to a $100 fine – two compo... Full story
Christine Wallace's third and fourth graders and David Owen's third graders recently published newspapers and their eager reporters are already brainstorming stories to fill the papers of future publications. Students from Christine Wallace's third and fourth grade split classroom put out The Weekly Wallace just after the Thanksgiving holiday. The project began as an idea between three of Wallace's third grade students: Logan Haley, Zander Jones and Myah Enriquez. Interest grew from there, and...
The Friends of the Library will begin holding monthly used book sales at the Public Library beginning Jan. 3. The mini book sales will be held the first Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will provide readers with more opportunities to purchase used books throughout the year, while also offering more opportunities for folks to donate salable books year-round. Sue Paulsen, the event’s organizer, said that the monthly sale will be in addition to, rather than in replacement of, the popular annual two-day used book sale organized by...
The U.S. Forest Service will soon be accepting comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Kake-Petersburg Intertie, a proposed electrical transmission line that would connect Kake to a SEAPA substation in Petersburg. The proposed project would bring cheaper power to Kake whose 550 residents are currently using costly diesel to power their homes and businesses. "In 2011, the full retail cost of power in Kake was 62 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), more than five times the... Full story
