Sorted by date Results 4785 - 4809 of 5587
The Petersburg Police Department may petition the federal government to become designated as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). A coalition of law enforcement agencies can petition to become a HIDTA region, however, according to the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), no agencies in Southeast have applied. In a report to the assembly several months ago, Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht announced that Petersburg was being considered for the HIDTA designation. Police Chief Kelly Swihart said that in N... Full story
Petersburg’s Beat the Odds Committee is allocating $22,500 to various organizations that provide for cancer treatment travel, training, support and equipment in the community. The bulk of those donations come from Beat the Odds, A Race Against Cancer—an annual 5K put on during Breast Cancer Awareness month in October where local businesses and individuals can donate. Last fall’s race was Petersburg’s 14th event. “For some people it’s a way to remember someone they’ve lost from cancer and it’s also a way to honor survivors,” committee co-chai...
WRANGELL — The future of the Thomas Bay Power Authority and the commission governing it took center stage at Tuesday’s borough assembly meeting. The heart of the matter focused on the role the Thomas Bay Power Commission will play in future negotiations about the future of the Tyee Lake electric plant. James Stough, the sitting president of the Thomas Bay Power Commission issued the cease-and-decist letter April 4 on TBPA letterhead in his authority as TBPC president without notifying other members of the commission of the letter in adv...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved a letter requesting the Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) to consider reducing its wholesale power rate to member communities in lieu of issuing annual rebates. According to a letter written by Vice Mayor Cindi Lagoudakis, “While we appreciate the annual wholesale power rebates from SEAPA, it is increasingly difficult to factor them into the budgeting process.” The letter goes on to state that SEAPA has taken no action despite community delegate requests that the rate be lowered. The letter sta... Full story
Petersburg hosted 117 participants in this year's Southeast Region EMS Symposium. EMS Director Sandy Dixon said this is the first year Petersburg has hosted the symposium and that the community support along with a good weekend of weather ensured a smooth event. "I told everybody I sent Mother Nature a limo," Dixon joked. "The weather helped. It was pretty tremendous." Medical workers from emergency medical technicians to physicians attended the symposium where various classes and lectures were... Full story
The Petersburg School Board is seeking to appoint two new school board members to serve until the October elections after board members Dawn Ware and John Bringhurst resigned. Both Bringhurst and Ware are moving away from Petersburg. Bringhurst said he couldn’t think of any profession that has more impact on society than that of a teacher. “For me it’s been a pleasure and a great experience being on the team that helps oversee this effort and work with all of those who stand in support of and in back of and in leadership of those wonde... Full story
Petersburg School District Finance Director Karen Quitslund presented a bare bones draft budget in front of the school board Tuesday evening. Quitslund said next year’s school budget is the most challenging budget she’s worked on in her three years as finance director. Staff had to plan the budget while dealing with several financial unknowns due to changes in education funding in the State legislature. Declining enrollment, which influences a state funding formula known as ‘foundation funding’, in Petersburg school’s also presented a challen...
Petersburg High School graduate Tessa Hasbrouck received the highest undergraduate research award given by the University of Wisconsin's College of Natural Resources (CNR). Hasbrouck received the Clive A. David Memorial Research Scholarship Award for her research accomplishments during her four years at UW. Professor of Wildlife Ecology Eric Anderson said her balance of academic achievement, research ability, service to student organizations and personal integrity solidified her spot as the...
The Petersburg Police Department filed additional charges against Terry Slafter, 56, who fired multiple rounds off his boat the Lady Lou in the Middle Harbor last week. Two counts of Misconduct Involving Weapons in the 4th degree have been filed against Slafter in addition to the one count of Reckless Endangerment already filed against him. Slafter was apprehended last Wednesday morning after police responded to numerous reports of gunshots in the middle harbor. Officers cordoned off the area and found Slafter in his boat. No shots were...
Petersburg AT&T subscribers might be paying too much for their monthly Enhanced 911 surcharges and the money might be going to the wrong place. Ideally, each month when Petersburg cell phone subscribers receive their bill a surcharge of $1 automatically goes into the community’s Enhanced 911 (E911) service fund. Every municipality across Alaska and the nation sets a similar charge, which was designed to pay for the installment, maintenance and any other costs associated with the system. Alaska state law requires the surcharge to be collected b...
Petersburg High School's concert band, jazz band and choir traveled to Ketchikan last weekend to perform in the Southeast Alaska Music Festival. Twelve schools from across Southeast performed in Ketchikan and Music Director Mathew Lenhard said Petersburg students excelled over the weekend. "Our groups had an outstanding performance," Lenhard said. "Two of our groups were singled out as superior performances, kind of the best you can get." The students performed in front of judges as well as...
The Petersburg Community Foundation is doling out funds to Petersburg non-profits and is waiting for more organizations to apply. “We have $10,000 to give away to local non-profits, so we’re encouraging people to apply,” Petersburg Economic Development Director Liz Cabrera said. “It’s an online fairly simple application and we’ll be awarding those in the middle of May.” Those interested in receiving grant funding can visit petersburgcf.org. The PCF relies on private donations and gifts, has an endowment of more than $425,000 and is managed by t...
The Scow Bay ramp will likely remain open while undergoing repairs this summer. Petersburg Economic Development Director Liz Cabrera said the ramp is wide enough for construction to take place in two phases. “We could work on half of it and close half of it,” Cabrera said. “People could still use one side and once that concrete cures we would open that new side and close the other side.” The local resource advisory committee (RAC) secured funding through the Secure Rural Schools Act, which, in part, distributes federal funding to enhance projec...
Community members packed the assembly chambers last Monday to support continued local education funding for the Petersburg School District. District staff and parents responded to across the board budget cuts proposed last week by several assembly members. Sue Paulsen said while she understands difficult discussions will need to take place at some point, now is not the time for generalized budget reductions. “I bow to you,” Paulsen said. “You will be having these discussions. It’s not going to be easy. But a general reduction in services right... Full story
Borough wide property assessment appeals have ended after the Petersburg Borough Assembly acted as a Board of Equalization (BOE)—the board that addressed and finalized the remaining 22 appeals that weren’t settled privately with assessor Mike Renfro. The BOE accepted the assessors adjusted value to each property that came before it. There were around 200 appeals overall, the majority of which were settled outside the BOE. Renfro works for Appraisal Company of Alaska—the company the borough hired to appraise outlying areas. He said his staff... Full story
Eight Petersburg Police officers and a State Trooper responded to several reports of a man firing rounds in the Middle Harbor around 6:20 a.m. Wednesday morning. Petersburg Police Chief Kelly Swihart said the department received several calls identifying the shooter as Terry Slafter, 56, who lives on his boat the Lady Lou. Two officers positioned themselves on the Ocean Beauty Dock-one was armed with a scoped rifle-as a number of other officers approached the Lady Lou. Swihart said they secured... Full story
Petersburg residents will have an opportunity to shop without paying sales tax after the Borough Assembly unanimously approved May 3 as a sales tax-free day. Savann Guthrie, member of the retail committee of the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce, said the committee chose May 3 to target Petersburg residents only. Two fisheries will have ended and tourism won’t pick up until later in the month. “So it’s a time that we can encourage our community members to get out and shop,” Guthrie said. “They hopefully have a little extra money to do so and we...
A front-page story index stated: “Petersen pleads guilty” in reference to a story appearing on page 5. Petersen in fact intends to enter a guilty plea as a part of a plea agreement that has to be accepted by the court this summer. The story and headline are accurate as they appear on the inside page. The Pilot regrets the error....
The City and Borough of Juneau filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of a Superior Court Judge’s decision ruling in favor of the newly formed Petersburg Borough’s northern boundary line, which Juneau had earlier sought to annex. After several hearings in 2012 where Juneau and Petersburg petitioners were heard, a Local Boundary Commission approved the Petersburg Borough’s northern boundary request that extends to Juneau’s southern boundary with the exception of the Tracy Arm and Whiting River watersheds. Juneau appealed the commiss...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly last Monday voted against rezoning two residential lots to commercial in the Olsen Subdivision. Richard Burrell and Aaron Miller and Katrina Miller applied for the rezoning through the Petersburg Planning and Zoning Commission last year. The body approved the property owners' request 7-0 and passed its recommendation to the Borough Assembly for final approval. Commercial two zoning allows offices, warehouse and storage, transportation facilities, manufacturing of...
More than 50 cruise ships will stop in Petersburg this spring and summer—slightly up from last year. The vessel Safari Legacy stopped in Petersburg twice last year but is making nine stops this year. Cruise ships visiting Petersburg typically carry between 60 to 80 passengers and remain in port between four to seven hours. Viking Travel owner Dave Berg said visitors are offered a shuttle into town as well as several guided tours and a chance to watch traditional Norwegian dancing at the Sons of Norway Hall. “It’s nice to have the ships comin...
This weekend, the Petersburg Fire Department will be hosting the SE Region Emergency Medical Services Council’s 30th Annual Emergency Medical Services Symposium in Petersburg. This will be the first time in SEREMS’ history that the 4-day educational event will be held here. Approximately 100 speakers, vendors and attendees will descend on Petersburg for the educational offerings, social events and the opportunity to experience the community of Petersburg. According to Bobbi Leichty, Executive Director of SEREMS, “It will be the ‘safe...
Eleven Petersburg High School students headed to Fairbanks two weeks ago to participate in the State Science Symposium. Junior Summer Morton and sophomore Ellerie Freisinger placed in the top 10 of the finals. Morton and Friesinger researched topics related to ecology and diversity-one of four topics students could choose to research. Morton, who placed first in her category and sixth overall in the finals, studied whether moose are reproductively isolated in each island in Southeast Alaska....
ANCHORAGE (AP) — An online competitor announced plans Tuesday to buy Alaska's largest daily newspaper. Alaska Dispatch Publishing LLC, the parent company of the online newspaper the Alaska Dispatch, will purchase the Anchorage Daily News from The McClatchy Co. for $34 million. The sale is expected to close in May. “This is a chance for us to get even more reporters on the ground and do more journalism,” said Tony Hopfinger, Alaska Dispatch's co-founder, executive editor and president. The Anchorage Daily News will continue to be printed seven...
WRANGELL — The president of the Thomas Bay Power Commission sent a letter this week to the chairman of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency ordering an end to negotiations for SEAPA to take over operations at the Tyee Lake Hydroelectric Project. The letter claims those negotiations – borough manager Jeff Jabusch characterized them as discussions – are being conducted in violation of section 3.40.50 of Wrangell code and a “substantially identical ordinance of Petersburg,” according to the letter from TBPA president James Stough to SEAPA board cha...
