Sorted by date Results 4445 - 4469 of 5553
Petersburg schools will be testing out the idea that less is more when it comes to lighting — and not simply saving a bit on the budget, though that remains a major selling point. “What got me thinking about this was a maintenance directors’ conference I attended up in Anchorage,” Maintenance Director Dan Tate said. “It was environmental design loss prevention, and they showed, very clearly, that you can have a lot of lights on to produce a lot of glare that defeats a security officer’s nighttime vision.” Tate consulted with Petersburg Po...
The Borough Assembly will be taking public comment on whether or not the Borough should bid on three land parcels near Papke’s Landing that will go up for public auction next month by the Alaska Mental Health Trust. The Assembly wrote a letter to Mental Health in August asking them to suspend the sale of three lots at Papke’s Landing because of their importance for public access to the dock and parking area and the possible future expansion of Petersburg’s harbors. At Monday’s regular meeting... Full story
A Petersburg resident will be stepping up to statewide duties, following an October election where volunteer members of District 17 Coast Guard Auxiliary tapped Bruce Jones to take the helm. Initially, he said he had approached the volunteer group as a means to stay occupied during retirement, but quickly found himself again caught up in his work. "I've been working my way up the ranks, from the bottom to the very top," Jones said. "I served a year or so as a flotilla commander, two years as a... Full story
School board members got a brief breath of hope after the Alaska Department of Education reported that Petersburg was No. 1 on its list, as well as Nos. 9 and 33. But that all will still depend on the budget and how far down the list state appropriations would flow, as several large ticket items, including a pair of school renovations for Yukon-Koyukuk and Fairbanks that were billed at more than $10 million each. Petersburg’s first request is much more modest than the item that precedes it — for a boiler rehabilitation. $24,565 was requested wi... Full story
At their next meeting on Dec. 8 the Assembly will vote on a resolution proposed by Bob Lynn to dedicate local funds to proposed capital improvement projects that are headed to the Alaska State Legislature at the next legislative session. Under the resolution, the local pledge of funds would be contingent on the State Legislature’s assignment of Capital Improvement Project grant funds, meaning that funds will not remain assigned to projects that are not given funding by the state during this funding cycle. Lynn said that capital projects with l...
After discussing a draft ordinance to restrict herbicide use within Borough boundaries at Monday’s regular meeting, the Assembly decided to task a revamping of the ordinance to a sub-committee. While the Assembly was primarily concerned about the State’s potential use of herbicides within Borough boundaries, Borough Manger Steve Giesbrecht said that local concern extends beyond the State’s use and includes local residents using herbicides on their property. Several Assembly members said the draft ordinance was too restrictive for resid...
Local poet Lee Ribich's first audience was his family members who received an original poem written by Ribich as an annual Christmas tradition. Those poems and others were eventually combined and became his first published book of poetry in 2011. Ribich's pen has been busy since, with a second book, "The Lines that Connect Us," released in 2012 and "Stones in a River," his most recent work, released this October. As a retired English teacher, the written word has long been a central part of...
Several appointments were made at Monday’s Assembly meeting to fill vacancies on various boards. Marlene Cushing, Kris Thynes and Erin Michael expressed interest in filling the two remaining vacancies on the hospital board. After a vote by the assembly, Cushing and Thynes were appointed to serve. In her letter of interest, Cushing said she will bring her experience serving on non-profit boards and her 30 years of experience as a health care provider to the Hospital Board. Thynes wrote in her letter that the 18 months she worked in the h...
Harbors continue to be relatively free of Steller sea lions as harbor and DOT staff adapt to work within legal conservation lines to discourage the large mammals from loitering on floats about the harbors. There likely won’t ever be a time of living without them, no matter how conscientious people are about disposing of scraps. “I don’t think we’ll ever get away from having animals at our facilities, but at least we can not have them front and center so much of the time,” Harbormastor Glo Wollen said. “We have quite a few that are pretty acti...
Petersburg school board members accepted the renewal of several contracted services, with four invoices totaling $95,698.75. Most of the contracts were for services where, for a variety of reasons, it was significantly more affordable to seek outside services than develop an in-house solution, said Finance Director Karen Quitslund, responding to Board Member Jay Lister’s queries on the services of Haines-based Four Ravens Occupational Therapy, LLC. “We don’t have an occupational therapist on staff, so that’s who we’ve contracted with for stude...
The final details on the remodel of the Stedman Elementary School have officially been scratched off the contractor’s and administrator’s checklists as the school, already long open for children, received its last scrutiny from designers. Tony Yorba of Jensen Yorba & Lott, Inc., the firm that designed the school modifications, was on hand to give a final recap, and answer questions of board members. Though most had finished their lines of inquiry beforehand, Sarah Holmgrain had a few concerns about the building’s protective envelope and the p...
Subscribers, click link below to access a downloadable PDF file of this Holiday Shopper 2014.................................................................................................................................................................................. http://www.petersburgpilot.com/2014HolidayShopper.pdf...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) board members met in Petersburg Nov. 13-14 to discuss the results of their annual audit and other business. Independent auditing company BDO performed this year’s audit, which followed both generally acceptable auditing standards as well as government auditing standards, required because SEAPA received some $5.99 million in state grants of which $1.11 million counted as state expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 2014. BDO’s Assurance Director Joy Merriner was present via teleconference for the... Full story
A recent news release from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) outlines an estimated 2015 pink salmon harvest of 58 million fish. “An actual harvest of 58 million pink salmon would be well above the recent 10-year average of 41 million pink salmon and a harvest of that magnitude would be in the top ten harvests since 1960,” according to the release. The release states that the annual forecast was produce in two steps, “1) a forecast of the trend in the harvest, and 2) the forecast trend adjusted using 2014 juvenile pink salmon abund... Full story
Petro Marine Services is proposing to trade property they purchased from the former Union Oil Company for borough owned property they currently lease on which a warehouse and the Southeast Island Fuel gas station is situated. On their end of the deal, there would be no changes, said Bob Volk, plant manager for the company, who brought the idea before the harbor advisory board first, looking to garner some support for the prospective deal. The property to possibly be exchanged is the old Union... Full story
A coordinated effort between the harbor security boat and Good Samaritan vessels helped to get local crabbing vessel F/V Moana back to town after running aground north of town near the Sukoi Islands on the evening of Nov. 5. After talking with Coast Guard Sector Juneau and crew from other vessels on the scene, Harbormaster Glo Wollen learned that one of the four individuals on the scene was injured and the boat’s location prohibited assistance from the other vessels present. “The people that were on scene couldn’t get to the shore, so we figure...
Twelve-year-old Luc Diaz didn't waste any time getting his Alaska Mountain Mutts dog treat business up and running after moving to Petersburg from Girdwood, Alaska in April. Many around town already associate the industrious youngster with the homemade treats from events like Mayfest, The Market and Oktoberfest Art Share where he's become a staple vendor. The quick start to the Petersburg chapter of his business was made possible by his prior years of experience. The 7th grade homeschooler...
Petersburg students came out on top in a practice bout for the seasonal academic Tsunami Bowl, as regional teams begin warming up to compete for the right to represent the state in the National Ocean Science Bowl (NOSB.) The event pits teams' at-hand knowledge of the ocean against competitors, fingers on buzzers to be first to the answer. The team is led by Educator Joni Johnson and Co-Coach Sunny Rice of Alaska SeaGrant, composed of four students representing the school. "In southeast, we like...
Petersburg pulled in 123 million pounds of fish in 2013, making it the 17th top U.S. port for commercial fishery landings last year, according to the annual NOAA fisheries report. A record-breaking salmon year, 2013 landings were more than double those of 2012 when fishermen brought in 52 million pounds of fish. This reflected a national trend: “The report shows that while national total of fish and shellfish landings remained about the same, total landings of wild salmon topped one billion pounds setting a new record, up 68 percent from 2...
The definitions of Alaska's political landscape are soon to be settled following the 2014 midterm elections on Nov. 4. As the last votes are counted, concessions have begun coming in. Since Election Day, Alaska's Division of Elections officials in 441 precincts across the state have been tallying around 48,000 absentee, early and questioned votes in the hope of determining the winners of the Nov. 4 general election. With three measures on the ballot, the governorship and a senator's seat in...
There’s a wealth of options when it comes to scholarships for Petersburg students, provided they get up early enough in their academic careers to make themselves suitable. Oftentimes that’s nothing more than maintaining their grades, test scores and keeping with what they’re already doing — local youth remain very active in extracurricular events — but it’s still well worth the trouble for students to do their research or having a good talk with Rachel Etcher, counselor for the high school. For students dedicated to making the most of the mone...
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities announced Friday it will be delaying the implementation of its upcoming unaccompanied minor policy for Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) services. The new policy would no longer allow children under the age of 18 to travel unaccompanied on the ferry system. Currently, travelers aged 12 to 15 can show a note from their parents or legal guardians allowing them to travel alone, and no restrictions are in place for those aged 16 and older. Exemptions to the new policy include...
Petersburg schools had, overall, a clean audit on a good fiscal year, which ended June 30. The school was able to set aside a healthy amount, budgeting for future maintenance around a law that capped reserve limits at 10 percent of schools’ expenses. “In our opinion, the financial statements are fairly stated in all material respects,” said Eric Campbell, a partner in the international services firm BDO, which completed the school’s audit. “That’s a clean or unmodified opinion. That’s what you want. (Finance Director Karen Quitslund) does a gre...
Interim CFO Doran Hammett told the Petersburg Medical Center board at a special meeting Monday that a draft cost report revealed some $928,000 was due to Medicare. Though PMC still has $380,000 on hand from a mid-year overpayment by Medicare to pay the bill, the amount due was unexpectedly high and prompted further investigation by Hammett and the consultant who prepares the reports, Martin Michiels of Health Care Consulting Services, LLC. Hammett told the Pilot on Wednesday that after recalculations by Michiels, the hospital now expects to... Full story
As Christmas draws ever closer, people are shopping for friends, families and strangers as another season of Operation Christmas Child closes, set to send shoeboxes of sundries across the world. The program, operated under the international auspices of Samaritan’s Purse, a non-denominational evangelical Christian organization, has been running since 1993, aiming to deliver boxes of toys and essentials to children of impoverished nations around the globe — since its inception, the group has reported more than 113 million shoeboxes sent to famili... Full story
