Sorted by date Results 4652 - 4676 of 5574
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed restrictions Friday that would essentially block development of a planned massive gold-and-copper mine near the headwaters of a world premier salmon fishery in Alaska. The announcement came as the EPA was being sued by Pebble Limited Partnership, the group behind the proposed Pebble Mine, and the state of Alaska for allegedly exceeding its authority. The state and Pebble Partnership, which was created to design, permit and run the mine, argue the EPA should not be able t...
Canadian officials are airlifting Chinook and sockeye salmon over a landslide that caused a barrier to salmon passage in the Tahltan River, a tributary of the Stikine. Steve Gotch, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) director for the Yukon and Northwestern British Columbia, said the landslide occurred about a half mile up the Tahltan on May 20. The river is roughly 120 miles upstream of the Stikine, but the salmon that swim up it provide harvests for Southeast Alaskan and Canadian commercial and...
The South Nordic Drive construction project that had been planned to kick off this fall likely won’t begin until spring 2015. Alaska Department of Transportation (ADOT) project manager Keith Karpstein said the delay came after securing nearly 100 required right of way easements from property owners along the affected roadway. “If there’s an impact to the adjacent property owners we have to work with them to get the necessary rights to work on the property even on a temporary basis,” Karpstein said. “Most of these impacts were temporary... Full story
A 59-year-old Petersburg man was injured Sunday afternoon in the borough rock quarry after handling what explosive experts have identified as Tovex - a commercial grade explosive typically used for blasting in quarries, mines and road construction. An individual called 911 around 1 p.m. reporting the injured man lying outside of the Petersburg Medical Center Emergency Room and informed dispatchers he could have been injured by dynamite, a Petersburg Police press release states. "The injured pers... Full story
Monthly Enhanced 911 (E911) surcharges will increase to $2 a month for Petersburg Borough cellphone users if the Borough Assembly approves the rate increase as an ordinance during the next assembly meeting. The funds will help finance maintenance on the E911 Emergency Communications Fund, an anticipated cost of $500,000 during the next several years. Every municipality across Alaska sets a similar charge, which helps install and maintain emergency communication systems. In Petersburg, there is only $29,700 currently available in the fund due... Full story
Petersburg Indian Association is accepting E-waste through August 30 in an effort to prevent harmful elements that exist in electronics, such lead and mercury, from entering the environment. "This is our first E-waste program through the Indian General Assistance Program, the environmental program here at PIA," said Jason Wilson, PIA tribal resource director. "If you can plug it in we'll take it." Electronic waste can be deposited in the yellow totes outside at the baler facility until the...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Southeast Alaska's watersheds are changing quickly, and researchers are working to figure out how, why, and what those changes mean. Sanjay Pyare, Assistant Professor of Geographic Information Systems and Landscape Ecology, Sonia Nagorski, Research Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences, Brian Buma, Assistant Professor of Forest Ecosystem Ecology, and other researchers affiliated with the University of Alaska and the Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center _ including graduate and undergraduate students _ on a recent F...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Sunday is the deadline to register to vote, update voter information or change party affiliation ahead of next month's primary. Regional offices of the Division of Elections, in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Nome and Wasilla, will be open for voter registration from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. The division says it also accepts voter registration applications submitted by mail, fax or email. Division Director Gail Fenumiai said in a news release that changes made after Sunday will not be e...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A new fiscal year means layoffs for Juneau, where the combined city and borough was dealing with a $6 million deficit. Juneau has cut the equivalent of 12 fulltime employees as of Tuesday. KTOO reports other employees have had their hours cut, and it could translate to reduced services for residents. Among other cuts to meet the budget will be reduced hours at the downtown library and the city museum, the elimination of the city's bear awareness program and slower snow plowing in the winter. Officials also cut the adult b...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Water crept up on homes and closed roads and popular hiking trails Friday, as residents braced for possible record flooding after the release of water from a glacially dammed lake. The old record of 11.18 feet on Mendenhall Lake, set in 1995, was broken by Friday afternoon, as the lake water level reached 11.8 feet, then began to drop slightly, the National Weather Service said. Authorities have been monitoring the lake and Mendenhall River to see when they would crest f...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A new attraction on Alaska's Kodiak Island features exotic dancers who entertain fishermen on a converted Bering Sea crabbing boat dubbed the “Wild Alaskan” — and it's already encountered choppy regulatory seas. Barely open for business, the floating bar and grill was briefly shut down by the Coast Guard after someone reported that a water taxi was overloaded as it transported patrons to the 120-foot vessel. Wild Alaskan owner Darren Byler said he is “100 percent sure” that whoever notified authorities doesn't lik...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Federal law enforcement officials are investigating after a 48-foot female whale well-known in the waters of southeast Alaska was killed in a collision with a boat. A tour-boat operator found the whale, which had been seen in the waters of southeast Alaska for nearly 40 years, near Funter Bay on July 1. The carcass was hauled to a nearby beach, where a necropsy was performed July 3, officials said Friday. “The left mandible was fractured and the right mandible was traumatically dislocated from the cranium,” Dr. Kathy...
The Thomas Bay Power Authority (TBPA) Commission terminated TBPA General Manager Michael Nicholls' contract with three months of severance pay alleging months of lack of communication from him to the commission. TBPA, the organization responsible for operation and maintenance of the Tyee Hydroelectric Plant that provides power to Petersburg and Wrangell, is undergoing negotiations to transfer its operations to Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA). Commission members hadn't been receiving... Full story
Pending ongoing Petersburg Borough Assembly approval, six of the seven ballot measures on this October’s ballot would increase sales tax revenues for the Petersburg Borough and change the municipal sales tax code, all of which require voter approval. Four of the measures involve the senior sales tax exemption, which exempts individuals 65 years and older from paying the borough’s six percent sales tax. One measure would establish a sunset date, December 31, 2019, when the exemption card would no longer be issued. However, those who already rec... Full story
New Petersburg School District Superintendent Lisa Stroh has been in town for just more than a week and is busy picking up where previous PSD Superintendent Rob Thomason left off. "I talked with Dr. Thomason ahead of time so the transition is really smooth," Stroh said. "He left me with a list of unfinished things to do. The main things we need to do to move forward is the state mandated teacher evaluation system and curriculum alignment." District officials can choose from three evaluation... Full story
Two Petersburg businesses are semi-finalists in a contest amongst Southeast Alaska entrepreneurs competing for $40,000 in consulting funds to grow and expand their business. Path to Prosperity (P2P), a partnership between the Haa Aani Community Development and The Nature Conservatory, was developed to support entrepreneurs and increase economic development and sustainability in Southeast communities. Local businesses Tonka Seafoods and Petersburg Indian Association’s SeaLife Compost were selected as semi-finalists from 27 applicants. Ten o...
A grand jury indicted Christafur Morrell, 19, for two out of the three charges Petersburg Police filed against him related to heroin distribution last week. Police seized around $75,000 worth of heroin last Thursday after arresting Morrell, of Des Moines, Wash., on multiple felony charges. The grand jury indicted Morrell with Possession of Heroin with Intent to Distribute and Possession of Heroin. The prosecuting attorney dropped the third charge: Maintaining a Dwelling Used for Distribution of a Controlled Substance. Police Chief Kelly...
The City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) filed a stay with the Alaska Superior Court decision affirming the Local Boundary Commission’s decision approving the newly formed Petersburg Borough’s northern boundary line, which Juneau had earlier sought to annex. According the CBJ’s June 27 motion for a stay, it “would prevent harm to Petersburg which has intimated expenditures of resources in the disputed land area…” “One of our arguments we made to the Superior Court was that it would be wrong to rule in Juneau’s favor because Petersburg has...
This October’s municipal ballot is the largest Petersburg voters have seen for many years, according to Petersburg Borough Clerk Kathy O’Rear. Thirty-six elected positions and seven ballot propositions, pending assembly approval, are on the ballot. In a report to the Borough Assembly, O’Rear wrote in regard to the need for election workers. “A push to recruit new workers in 2009 to train for future elections failed,” O’Rear wrote. “The numerous letters and notices we have recently placed seeking new election workers have largely gone unanswer...
Petersburg resident and little league umpire Ted Sandhoffer is heading to San Bernardino, Calif. in August to umpire the Western Regional Little League Tournament. Sandhoffer has been a volunteer umpire for more than ten years. He has participated in a Southeast District tournament and two state Little League tournaments in Anchorage-requirements for umpiring in the Little League regional tournaments. Little League District Administrator and Petersburg resident Duane Bell nominated Sandhoffer...
Local, regional and federal law enforcement officers seized around $75,000 worth of heroin last Thursday after arresting Christafur Morrell, 19, of Des Moines, Wash. on multiple felony charges. Petersburg Police, Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs and the FBI arrested Morrell last Thursday in a local motel. Officers also seized around $6,000. Police charged Morrell with Possession of Heroin with intent to distribute, Possession of Heroin and Maintaining a Dwelling used for the distribution... Full story
The Petersburg Medical Center's Physical Therapy Department is holding the Paddle Battle in the Narrows fundraiser on July 12 to raise money for new parallel bars. The Paddle Battle consists of two courses that run along the Wrangell Narrows where kayakers, paddle boarders, rowers or whatever flotation craft one prefers can find community members to sponsor each mile of their trip. A long course, from Woodpecker Cove to Middle Harbor, is planned for those looking for more of a challenge. Fundrai... Full story
Two men died Sunday evening after their 18-foot skiff capsized near Level Island 22 miles south of Petersburg According to an Alaska State Troopers press release, a United States Coast Guard (USCG) helicopter found Jonathan Comfort, 45, and Kenneth Rupprecht, 58, dead around 10 p.m. in the water and without life jackets near Douglas Bay on the south end of Kupreanof Island. Comfort called 911 around 5:30 p.m. and told Petersburg Police dispatch their boat had capsized and they were swimming toward Level Island. Petersburg Police notified the... Full story
Last week Lutheran Church pastor Mike Schwarte called a meeting of community leaders to address a perceived increase in the local homeless population. "It seems like the frequency and intensity is increasing about the transient and the homeless situation in town," Schwarte said. "There seems to be two classifications. There's the people who live here and the people who are passing through town working for the summer." The evidence of an increased homeless population is anecdotal at this point....
The Thomas Bay Power Authority has become an outright embarrassment for the founding communities of Wrangell and Petersburg. From name-calling on the streets of Wrangell in September of last year, to this week's closure of the office after Manager Mick Nicholls and Administrative Clerk Rhonda Christian were placed on paid leave and asked to leave the office. Interestingly, both incidents were related to disagreements between the TBPA office employee duties and their right to be involved with decision making by the commissioners. When SEAPA CEO...
