Sorted by date Results 2807 - 2831 of 5553
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —Alaska marijuana grower Mike Emers has been losing sleep with a vote fast approaching that he says could shutter his family’s business and financially ruin them. The statewide initiative that legalized recreational marijuana in 2014 allows local governments to ban pot businesses within their borders. And on Tuesday, voters in two of Alaska’s major marijuana-growing areas - including the Fairbanks area, where Emers operates Rosie Creek Farm - will decide whether to do so. If the proposed bans on marijuana growing, manuf...
Due to a production error, in the assembly candidate questionnaire in last week’s paper, the first and second answers by then-candidate Jeff Meucci were incorrect. Below are Mr. Meucci’s correct answers: 1) Why do you seek public office? A chance to help the community navigate a tough financial climate and to facilitate discussion within the community to find out what are important services and needs to make this a great place to live and raise a family. 2) Borough budgets are tightening. What are the first 3 budget cuts you would favor? I hav... Full story
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska weighed in on the current state of the Republican Party and President Donald Trump, saying she is concerned that the Republican Party might be becoming too exclusive and disjointed. “We seem to be more fractured within our party now than in the big-tent Ronald Reagan days,” Murkowski said. “And I worry about that; I worry about that.” Murkowski said the party used to lean less to the right and was more inclusive of differing views across the spectrum, the Ketchikan...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott has shot down a proposed ballot measure that calls for improved vetting of all projects that affect salmon streams, but supporters are trying to override his rejection. Superior Court Judge Mark Rindner will hear oral arguments in an appeal Tuesday, The Juneau Empire reported. Mallott last month ruled the measure unconstitutional, and thus invalid for the 2018 ballot. The measure is proposed by Mike Wood of the Susitna River Coalition, Gayla Hoseth of Dillingham and Brian Kraft of Anchorage. It c...
Volunteer firefighters in Petersburg received stipend hikes this week amounting to $240 each a year, a decision made unanimously by the assembly in a meeting this week. “Without these leaders in this department, we wouldn’t have a functioning unit,” said Eric Castro, an assembly member. “They should be better compensated for everything that they put forward.” The raise will apply to all volunteers besides the fire chief. There are 13 volunteers who will receive $20 more a month. This will cost...
Planning Commission: Tor Benson (3 year term) Sally Dwyer (1 year term) School Board: Janine Gibbons (3 year term) Meredith Evens (3 year term) Hospital Board: Jerod Cook (3 year term) Tim Koeneman (2 year term) Harbor Board: Scott Newman (3year term) Don Spigelmyre (3 year term)... Full story
Undaunted by pouring rain, hunters in the Wrangell and Petersburg areas have been bringing in their fill of moose for the 2017 season. As of Tuesday afternoon, Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported a total of 47 bulls have so far been shot since the season’s opener on September 15. Of these, only three have so far been confirmed as noncompliant specimens. “We’ve got a couple that we’re looking at,” ADFG wildlife biologist Rich Lowell added. The department investigates the carcass in conjunction with the State Troopers, and the two agenc...
The CEO of the Petersburg Medical Center is asking the Borough to change how all city board members can attend meetings, making legal and official business easier to conduct. Liz Woodyard, the Petersburg Medical Center CEO, wants to amend an ordinance that would allow board and assembly members to attend meetings electronically, and their attendance would still count toward a quorum. Woodyard reported last week that she is working with Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson to present the proposal to...
The debate over adding fluoride into Petersburg’s water has opponents and proponents debating the accuracy of online information, the use of junk science, addressing personal medical issues and plain old misinformation. Most interesting is the fact that hundreds of citizens, whose homes are not even connected to Petersburg’s water system, will be voting on Proposition #7 that will decide if fluoride will continue to be added to the local water supply. If fluoride added to drinking water was indeed harmful, the story would have made page one of...
The scheduled swim meet in Petersburg this weekend was cancelled after a germ from human fecal matter was suspected to be in the community center pool. "There are concerns regarding Cryptosporidium and the possibility that the pool could be infected," Elementary Principal Teri Toland said in an email addressed to families. "While there is no evidence to 100% confirm that, we are not sending students to swim for the rest of the week." Cryptosporidium is a germ found in the fecal matter of a...
At Southeast Conference last week in Haines, Alaska Marine Highway Reform Initiative presented its draft report assessing the state ferry system SEC had been tasked by the governor's office in May 2016 with organizing a statewide planning process to improve the ferry service's long-term viability. The 12-person steering committee subsequently formed to direct that effort has since moved into its second phase, preparation of a proposed organizational model which would better meet the state's tran...
Name: Mark Jensen Age: 62 Experience: 10 years experience in public office. I was the last city mayor and first Borough mayor, combined about 4.5 years. As a third-year generation Petersburg resident, I understand the background of the town and how it ticks. Why do you seek public office? : People have encouraged me to put my name in. They would rather have me as mayor than the other candidate. Borough budgets are tightening. What are the first 3 budget cuts you would favor? That would have to...
Name: Cindi Lagoudakis Age: 63 Experience: Currently mayor and have served as vice-mayor. Originally appointed to Borough Assembly since 2013, subsequently elected when original term was up. Other state and local government experience includes serving as an ex-officio member of the City and Borough of Juneau Parks and Recreation Advisory Board; appointment to an Interagency Trails Advisory Group for the City and Borough of Juneau; appointment to Mendenhall Wetlands Citizen's Advisory Group by...
Name: Richard Burke Age:38 Experience: Civil Engineer. US Navy Submarine Service Vet. 1998-2003. AAS in Civil Engineering Technology, Mount Hood Community College 2005, BS Forest Engineering, Oregon State University 2010. Lived in Petersburg for 7 years. 5 years in Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department. 2 years on Petersburg Borough Planning & Zoning with a very good attendance record. I wrote Proposition 6 on this ballot. Why do you seek public office? I love Petersburg, and I think I can make...
The 39th annual harbor conference is scheduled to begin next week at the Sons of Norway Hall in Petersburg. The Alaska Association of Harbormasters and Port Administrators will start events on Monday, October 3 and continue through Friday. Check-in will be 2:00 p.m. on Monday and a welcome reception at the Elks Club will be at 5:00. After that, the week will feature nearly 30 events sprawled across the five days. Petersburg last hosted the conference in 2003....
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The new owners of Alaska’s largest newspaper have laid off reporters, editors and other employees just days after a bankruptcy judge approved the sale of the Alaska Dispatch News. Co-Publisher Ryan Binkley wouldn’t disclose how many of the 212 employees were laid off, but described it in a story published Thursday as a significant change in the size of the newspaper. Binkley didn’t immediately return messages from The Associated Press. He said he realized a lot of employees would be hurt by layoffs, but it was necessa...
The radio station in Petersburg received more than $100,000 of individual donations in fiscal year 2017, which has reinforced the nearly 50 percent of state funding that has been slashed the last two years. From June 2016 to July 2017, Station Manager Tom Abbott said KFSK received $105,180 in donations almost exclusively from Petersburg residents. "KFSK is in the top 10 for per capita giving among all radio stations in the nation," Abbott said, "which is something that Petersburg should be...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A movement has begun to return part of Juneau’s land to those who originally inhabited it. The city and borough of Juneau’s Lands Committee will discuss a proposal to give Indian Point, also known as Auke Cape, back to the Native Alaskan Auk’w Kwaan tribe at its Oct. 23 meeting, Deputy Lands and Resources Manager Dan Bleidorn said Thursday. The committee plans to discuss the proposal by Goldbelt Heritage Foundation Executive Director Dionne Cadiente-Laiti with the intention of passing it on to the Assembly for conside...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Bill Walker’s latest proposal for closing the gap between state revenue and spending is a limited tax on payroll wages and self-employment income. Walker, an independent, is calling the proposal a modified “head tax.” The matter will be addressed at an Oct. 23 special session, the fourth this year, that Walker announced Friday. A crime bill is also on the agenda. The Republican-led Senate earlier this year rejected a House-passed income tax. The state is grappling with a multibillion-dollar deficit amid continu...
Voters in Petersburg will be asked if the Borough should spend up to $500,000 on developing a small vessel haul out and work yard at Scow Bay. The Borough assembly in July approved a resolution to be placed on the October 3 ballot that would ask whether $500,000 should be spent on developing Scow Bay. The project had been estimated to cost $7 million. The $500,000 would identify to grant foundations that Petersburg is committed to spending its own money on the project, said Glo Wollen, the harbormaster. “Therefore spending this money [would s...
The first proposition listed on the election ballot will ask voters if the City of Kupreanof should own the dock connected to its shores. As it stands, the State of Alaska owns the Kupreanof dock, but it has not maintained it in decades, Mayor Tom Reinarts said. “We have been studying that dock for a long time,” Reinarts said. “We have only done bits and pieces to keep it in reasonable shape so it is useable. It is to the point it needs a whole lot more help.” In order for the state to transfer ownership to Kupreanof, the Borough charter...
There are three tax-based ballot questions in this year’s election, with two having an impact on shopping in the Petersburg Borough and a third affecting local businesses. Proposition #2 asks if the borough should increase the sales tax exemption on high dollar purchases. Currently, sale taxes are capped if a person spends $1,200 on a single purchase. The borough is asking if it should increase that cap to $1,500, a move that would generate revenue, said Debbie Thompson, the borough clerk. “For...
The North End Ferry Authority in Prince of Wales, dogged by years of what executives call mismanagement and ill-advised spending, has restarted plans for another try at a ferry that connects Coffman Cove, Petersburg and Wrangell. The most recent ferry was called the Rainforest Islander. The Authority's inception was in 2012, and it closed indefinitely in May of last year. Before 2012 there was the Inter-Island Ferry Authority's MV Stikine with the same route. Now, Don Nicholson, a North End...
The 2017 Alaska Permanent Fund checks will be $1,100. Eligible Alaskans can expect their checks to be disbursed on October 5. Last year the checks were $1,022. Since 1982, a total amount of $38,127.41 has been distributed to each eligible Alaskan, according to the State of Alaska PFD website....
The hospital Board of Directors held a work session on Friday to further discuss its relationship with the Borough, to which it feels like the ugly stepchild. Jeigh Stanton Gregor was at the meeting to represent the Assembly and offer his input on the discussion. “Feeling triggered by the ugly step sister comment,” Stanton Gregor said, “I don’t think anyone feels that way. We want to know what you want. Tell us what you want the relationship to be like.” The board discussed adding a provision to the Petersburg Charter that would require t...
