Sorted by date Results 5444 - 5468 of 5574
Shoppers visiting Petersburg businesses this Saturday, May 5 will receive a 6-percent savings on their purchases. The city council granted a sales tax free day as requested by the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce on March 19. Retail sales of both goods and services purchased and received on May 5, 2012 are exempt from the city sales tax. According to information from the City of Petersburg the only taxable sales on that day will be for rentals greater than one day and sales made by the City. The city bed tax will remain at 4% on that day. Many...
The Library Building Committee plans to recommend low bidder ASRC McGraw Constructors for construction of the new library to the City Council on Monday. Of the five construction bids received, ASRC McGraw came well under the $4.5 million estimated budget and will also allow for additional features such as higher quality finishes to the building, a paved parking lot as well as sidewalks and gutters. The single story, 9,770 square-foot building was designed by MRV Architects in Juneau. The...
With a Division of Elections deadline looming, the Alaska Redistricting Board has filed an appeal to the decision of a Superior Court Judge's decision ordering the board redraw district lines. The Division of Elections has given the board a deadline of May 14, in order for the division to meet state and federal obligations for the 2012 elections. Superior Court Judge Michael McConahy issued a decision in the 2011 Redistricting Cases v. Alaska Redistricting Board case, directing the board to redraw district lines. In a petition filed on...
Existing volunteers, and anyone who is interested in volunteering, will have to go through a background check, the Petersburg Medical Center board approved on Thursday. Each volunteer will be fingerprinted, be required to undergo annual TB screenings and watch training videos on infection control, hand washing, and HIPPA regulations. The board has changed the policy for traveling physicians and other health care professionals who rent properties that are owned or leased by the Medical Center. The temporary staff members will now be required to...
Tribal Administrator Will Ware handed in a letter of resignation this weekend after two years of service at the Petersburg Indian Association. The 38-year-old father of four boys, was unavailable for comment, but he did offer an explanation to the Pilot via email. “After ten years of work within the Tribe, in a variety of different capacities, I have decided to move on to a new chapter in my life. In Tribal governments, as there is in any government, there is the element of politics that must b...
Forrest Cole, Tongass National Forest Supervisor, last week announced the decision to allow the Tonka Timber Sale on Kupreanof Island to proceed. Now an official appeals process will take place for those opposing the sale. For those in favor, a planning process will begin. According to the Forest Service the sale will provide an estimated 38 MMBF (millions of board feet of timber) of timber, and create up to 183 jobs. These jobs will include stevedoring, road construction, barging and transportation, fuel delivery and mill jobs, said...
Craig Curtiss sits a top the 100-year-old Sons of Norway Hall securing new, red roof sheeting. The roof replacement is being funded by previously unused state capital money, which was set aside specifically for this project. Several of the wooden planks in the parking lot are also being replaced....
Nolan the Colon, a 30-foot-long, 15-foot-high and 12-foot-wide inflatable colon, covered in polyps and tumors, was the star of Saturday's Health Fair. This was Nolan the Colon's first visit to Petersburg. The display was on loan by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium in Anchorage, and it travels around the state educating people about colon health. Visiting surgeon Dr. Eric Llorens Garcia was on hand to give folks tours of the inflatable colon, as well as answer questions about...
The Alaska Redistricting Board will once again appeal a Superior Court Judge's decision to redraw district lines. Alaska Redistricting Board Executive Director Taylor Bickford said an appeal will be filed on Friday. Judge Michael McConahy issued a decision last week in the 2011 Redistricting Cases v. Alaska Redistricting Board case, saying that “The Board did not comply with the directive of the Alaskan Supreme Court to draw and provide support for a Hickel [v. Southeast Conference] plan. The ...
JUNEAU (AP) — The Alaska Redistricting Board plans to appeal a judge's rejection of its second stab at redrawing the state's legislative boundaries. Executive Director Taylor Bickford says the board also plans to ask the Alaska Supreme Court to approve the new plan, though he says it’s not clear how likely that will be. As a back-up, the board authorized its attorneys to draft a petition seeking to use its first plan for this year's elections. The high court allowed for that option earlier in sending the first plan back to the board for add...
The Petersburg Rod and Gun Club did a little spring cleaning on April 14 at its shooting range. Rod and Gun Club President Chris Cotta said this is just the first event of the season. Cotta hopes cleaning up the range will inspire more members of the community to use the facility. “It was a successful range clean up,” Cotta said. “Between 20 and 25 people showed up.” The club members also did inventory of any supplies and equipment at the range. The reorganized club has seven board members...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — The fly fisherman reported missing on Saturday was found Tuesday in good condition in the Salmon Bay Lake area and returned to Ketchikan on a Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad floatplane. David Ford, 57, was found at 12:40 p.m. Tuesday after search and rescue volunteers followed a trail they initially discovered Monday night, said KVRS spokesman Chris John. Ford's footprints led off in an unexpected direction, along a stream that takes off to the north from the main creek connecting Salmon Bay Lake to the saltwater below...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Steller sea lions from Alaska's Panhandle to California's Channel Islands have reached recovery targets and should be removed from the endangered species list, according to the federal agency that oversees them. The eastern population of the marine mammal has increased from about 34,000 in 1997 to 70,000 in 2010, according to federal officials. The recommendation Wednesday from the National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, does not affect the endangered status of the...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Rocker and gun rights advocate Ted Nugent pleaded guilty to transporting a black bear he illegally killed in Alaska, saying he was sorry for unwittingly violating the law. “I would never knowingly break any game laws,” Nugent told the court on Tuesday. “I'm afraid I was blindsided by this, and I sincerely apologize to everyone for this.” With his plea, the singer and avid hunter followed through with a signed agreement he made with federal prosecutors earlier this month. Magistrate Judge Michael Thompson accepted...
Pilot staff members Orin Pierson, Ron Loesch and Keith Chaplain earned six awards at last weekend's Alaska Press Club conference in Anchorage. The awards were for work done in 2011 and were entered in the small newspaper category. Pierson took second and third place for page one layouts published on May 5 and 12 and second for best picture story entitled Jewels and Cowboys published on May 12. Loesch received first place honors for best scenic photo for “Layers of Solitude” published on Jul...
Petersburg City Council on Monday unanimously approved ASCR McGraw Constructors of Sitka, the bid of $1,395,800 for phase 3 of the Water Treatment Plant upgrade project. ASCR McGraw Constructors edged-out Dawson Construction, of Ketchikan, which entered a bid of a little more than $1.5 million. The council also authorized a contract for $288,000 to GV Jones and Associates administration and inspection services for the project. The project requires specialists for mechanical, electrical and structural inspections, Mayor Al Dwyer. The contract...
A dozen proposed capital budget projects were promised funding at the close of the 27th Alaska Legislature, but only one is wrapped in controversy. Petersburg projects on the fiscal year 2013 Capital Budget include a commercial dock drive down for $5.6 million, the North Harbor rebuild for $3.5 million, crane dock upgrade for $800,000, dry (unheated) storage building replacement for $400,000, new police station planning and design development for $350,000, hospital roof replacement for $275,000, Sons of Norway Hall upgrades for $250,000, Sandy...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced April 12 that the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery closed for the remainder of the 2012 season. The total harvest is approximately 13,534 tons or 47% of this season’s guideline harvest level of 28,829 tons. The decision to close the fishery was based on the completion of major spawning in Sitka Sound, and vessel and aerial surveys conducted over the last several days have not identified a biomass of pre-spawning herring in the Sitka Sound area at this time. The preliminary harvest by o...
Rock-N-Road started to remove the Romiad building on Monday to make way for construction of the new City library....
Petersburg's attorney on Monday filed a response in Superior Court regarding the city's inclusion into the newly formed House District 32. “Today, we filed our request that the court take another look at District 32 and reverse the decision it made last year,” City Attorney Thomas F. Klinker told the City Council via phone. The 25-page brief, which names Counselors Mark Jensen and Nancy Strand as plaintiffs, claims the Alaska Redistricting Board “failed to take the required 'hard look' regarding what districting of Southeast Alaska best met t...
City Manager Steve Giesbrecht focused on the many downtown and harbor construction projects that are underway this spring and summer in his report to the City Council on Monday. Giesbrecht led off his report with an update of the North Harbor project. “We are continuing working with the Army Corps of Engineers on coordinating the North Harbor dredging as well as the construction project,” Giesbrecht said. “Public notices have gone out announcing upcoming Federal projects and final bid documents are forth-coming,” he added. Giesbrecht spoke w...
Second Street and cross roads are closed to through traffic due to a large-scale project. According to Public Works Director Karl Hagerman, the Water and Sewer Reconstruction Project will replace old water and sewer mains on Second Street, as well as Noseeum Street, Gauffin Street and Odin Street. The contract, for $1,050,000, was secured through loans from Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC). The ADEC Division of Water secures grants and loans for municipal water and sewer...
A mound of mud has been making its way down Hammer Slough since a mudslide near the Public Works office last fall. On Saturday, at an extreme low tide of -3.6, the silt lifted a privately-owned float and at least one boat right out of the water. “Our best guess is that it's 600 to 1,000 cubic yards.” said Harbormaster Glorianne Wollen. The problem with the mud is that when the tide is extremely low, property that should be afloat, sits on mud instead. City Councilman Rick Braun also took a loo...
OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA (AP) — A U.S. Coast Guard cutter poured cannon fire into a Japanese ghost ship that had been drifting since last year's tsunami, sinking the vessel in the Gulf of Alaska and eliminating the hazard it posed to shipping and the coastline. The cutter's guns tore holes in the 110-foot Ryou-Un Maru on Thursday, ending the abandoned vessel's long, lonely journey across the Pacific. As the crew pummeled the ship, it burst into flames and began taking on water, offic...
Police Chief Jim Agner described an incident that occurred on Saturday afternoon as something you would see in an action movie. Police were called to investigate a robbery and the theft of a truck on Harbor Way. The alleged robbery victim is someone known to police who comes to town periodically to buy drugs, Agner said. The man had reportedly approached a group of young people on Harbor Way to buy drugs. Instead of selling the man drugs, Agner said, they robbed him of about $125 and ran. The man was able to keep up with them, so the suspects...
