Sorted by date Results 5469 - 5493 of 5574
Police Chief Jim Agner warned the Petersburg Rotary Club members on Wednesday that a jump in heroin use in town is likely to cause property crimes to increase. “We have a heroin problem in town and it’s epidemic in Alaska,” Agner said. He estimated that Petersburg is consuming as much as $750,000 a year of heroin. “With that level of heroin use, we’re going to have a huge increase in property crimes. The money has to come from somewhere. If you have a $300 a day habit, you’ve gotta come up with $300 a day,” the Chief stated. He added that ho...
Negotiations have fallen flat regarding funding for the relocation of the 29-year-old Romiad building, and the two-story building will now most likely be torn down as soon as next week. Talks between the Petersburg Economic Development Council (PEDC) and local business-owner Pete Litsheim, who had asked for a loan of $210,000 to move the building from its current location near the corner of 2nd and Haugen to an empty lot next to Scandia House on N. Nordic Drive, have stalled do to a disagreement over collateral and other contractual obligations...
Schools students and public officials participated in a statewide Choose Respect event – with a march downtown and a rally at the Sons of Norway hall. Choose Respect is a campaign sponsored by Governor Sean Parnell to raise awareness of domestic violence, sexual assault, child sexual assault and bullying. The students marched on Nordic downtown and then gathered for snacks and to share thoughts and comments on what 'Choose Respect' means to them. “Sometimes we're a little too polite when we see...
Petersburg will be ready once again to go to court against the Alaska Redistricting Board in order to stay in the district with Sitka, the City Council decided during a regular meeting Monday. The council opposes the plan because they say it reduces, disproportionately the representation of Petersburg voters in the House and Senate District. Also, the district Petersburg would be in with Juneau under the new plan is not compact enough to be lawful under the state constitution. The city last...
WRANGELL Eight recall petition applications to remove all but one member of the Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) Board of Directors have been filed with the City and Borough of Wrangell. WMC Board members included in the petitions are WMC Board Chair Mark Robinson, Vice Chair Jim Nelson and Linda Bjorge, Sylvia Ettafaugh, Jake Harris, Lurine McGee, Dee Norman, and LeAnn Rinehart. The sole WMC Board member not included in the petitions is Dorothy Hunt-Sweat. Wrangell resident Gary Allen, Sr. is the main sponsor of the petitions, and Michael V....
City Manager Steve Giesbrecht reported to the City Council on Monday that several city projects are right on schedule. • Municipal Power & Light has completed “Witness testing” a new stand-by diesel generator, the city is purchasing from ASCR McGraw Constructors in Phoenix. The unit will be shipped to Seattle and then on to Petersburg. • There was a pre-bid teleconference on March 29 regarding the new library project. The deadline for bids is April 12. • The downtown road improvement bids have a deadline set for May. The good news for busin...
Participants in Petersburg triathlons and 5-K runs will soon have the quickest, most-accurate race results than any other area in Southeast Alaska. With a financial gift from the Chamber of Commerce, the Petersburg Parks and Recreation has purchased a Jaguar Cubby Race Timing System from Innovative Timing Systems. The system, which costs about $4,000, uses radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to transmit data from a chip on each of the runners to a computer that tabulates race results. The RFID chips are worn usually on clothing or in...
City official’s pleas for better communication and fewer reduced and dismissed cases from the District Attorneys may see some improvements in the near future. Although the City Manager and Police Chief fear it will not be enough. In a town hall meeting on Feb. 21, the City Council, Police Chief Jim Agner, and community members asked Deputy Attorney General Richard Svobodny why about 40 percent of cases filed with the District Attorney's office are dismissed and a significant number are plea-bargained or reduced. Agner expressed frustration a...
Pending public approval of the plans, the Blaquiere Point boat launch rebuild will be a reality soon. According to U.S. Forest Ranger Jason Anderson, plans for the proposed extension of the Blaquiere Point boat launch, are one step further along in the approval process. “We should be going out with a preliminary design that the Forest Service has cooked up,” Anderson said. Blaquiere Point is located at the intersection of Sumner and Dry Straits on the southeast corner of Mitkof Island, abo...
Schools students and public officials will take to the streets today at 4 p.m. as part of a statewide Choose Respect campaign - bringing awareness to issues such as domestic violence, sexual assault, child sexual assault and bullying. “[This is] about problems in Alaska, as well as making people think about what respect means to them,” said event coordinator Jo Ann Day. A march will go from Trading Union to Wells Fargo followed by a gathering at the Sons of Norway Hall. The event will include several speakers including Police Chief Jim Agn...
A complaint of a minor who had been tattooed has led police to investigate not only the alleged tattoo artists, but also several other crimes including the theft of $7,000 in flooring. Police served a search warrant at 306 Hungerford Hill #7, where they seized a large amount of tattooing equipment including 13 tattoo machines, a printer, sterilization equipment and ink, said Captain John Hamilton. It is illegal, in the state of Alaska, to tattoo anyone under the age of 18. Police suspect the tattoo equipment could be the property of the late...
Blood will flow this week at the Petersburg Medical Center, but it's for a good reason as health care professionals and community members prepare for the upcoming Health and Safety Fair. A blood draw and registration for the fair began this week. Participants can print out a registration form at http://www.pmc-health.com/healthfair.html. Last names beginning with the letter A through J, have drop-in times this week from 7 to 9 a.m. for the blood draw. Last names beginning with K through R can have their blood drawn April 3, 4 and 5 from 7 to 9...
Qualified Alaskans have less than a week to apply for the 2012 Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) before the annual 11:59 p.m. March 31 filing deadline. Filers this week also have an opportunity to be part of something bigger – exceeding the $2 million goal for donations to nonprofits via the PFD Charitable Contributions Program Pick. Click. Give. (PCG) “Alaskans who have already filed for their dividend can still go back and make donations to Pick. Click. Give. causes across the entire state. It’s as simple as visiting the PFD Division websi...
Retailers are already voicing concern for the upcoming Nordic Drive road improvement project, a project that will replace not just the concrete road, but the sidewalks as well. The project, which is scheduled to begin in September and be completed by the end of October 2013, will disrupt business as usual downtown. According to Greg Lockwood project manager for Alaska's Department of Transportation, reconstruction of the the road, sidewalk replacements and accessibility upgrades, as well as stor...
Despite the possibility of losing out on thousands in sales tax revenue May 5, 2012 has been declared Tax Free Day by the Petersburg City Council. The resolution had been discussed, and delayed during the Monday, March 5 council meeting, and it was very close to being delayed again, but was later passed by the City Council. The resolution's intent is to stimulate commerce by allowing consumers to purchase goods and services, while avoiding the 6 percent local sales tax. Jody Tow, City Finance Director, voiced concern saying that the finance...
Petersburg High School Senior Julia Buschmann cracked a few eggs before nabbing several awards at the Southeast Alaska Regional Science Fair in Juneau, held March 9 and 10. A student in Joni Johnson's AP biology class, Buschmann, 17, was inspired to enter her project at the science fair as a first-time competitor. “I was always interested in organic food versus modified food,” Buschmann said. So, which came first the idea or the egg? “When [Johnson] introduced the project to me at the begin...
Alaska Wildlife Troopers arrested Jay Thomassen, of Seward, on Saturday, March 17, for multiple alleged violations pertaining to the Commercial Golden King Crab fishery in Registration Area A. According to Trooper Cody Litster, Thomassen was charged with commercial fishing in closed waters, having undersized king crab, possession of illegal crab, and providing false statements on a logbook. The catch, estimated to be worth $88,622 was seized by troopers. An arraignment is scheduled for April 18, in District Court in Petersburg. “This is the l...
Petersburg City Manager Steve Giesbrecht said that letters are being sent out to local business operators who advertise on Facebook's “It's My Business” page, without a business license filed with the City and without filing sales tax returns. “It's just kind of a reminder letter to let people know that if you are going to run a business you need to have a business license, that doesn't cost you anything. But you do need to file your sales tax,” he told the City Council on Monday. “We've had some people do that, and some people pretty up...
The Petersburg City Council on Monday voted in favor of supporting the Alaska Marine Highway (AMHS) Bellingham run, and the replacement of current ferries. According to the resolution, AMHS has been serving Alaska's coastal communities with vehicle, freight and passenger transportation for about 50 years. As in the hard-link road and rail system throughout the interior of Alaska, the ferry system relies on State and Federal funding. But also similar to the roadway, it will never be...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The owners of a Juneau restaurant have agreed to pay a penalty for buying subsistence-harvested halibut. The Juneau Empire says the owners of the Zen Restaurant will pay a civil penalty of $18,000 over the next 12 months for purchasing halibut they knew was subsistence-caught. Residents living in rural areas are only eligible for subsistence hunting rights on federal land. The Northern Pacific Halibut Act prohibits the sale, offer for sale, trade or barter of subsistence-harvested halibut. It was not immediately known i...
The Local Boundary Commission (LBC) extended the deadline to receive comments on the proposed Petersburg Borough boundary lines by two days, from March 28 to March 30. “This actually benefits us,” said City Manager Steve Giesbrecht. “Juneau had some delays getting their petition turned into the LBC staff, and we wanted to be able to see their report before we finalized our comments to the LBC staff preliminary report. This two day extension actually was a slight help.” The LBC issued, on Feb. 27, a report giving recommendations regardi...
It's spring break for Petersburg students, but maintenance workers and other facilitators have been busy during this student-free week. Tye Petersen, facility maintenance director for the Petersburg School District reported to the School Board on Tuesday that the he and his staff have been working on several projects at the three schools. As part of keeping up the grounds Petersen and his team of five workers are doing some concrete repairs between the Voc. Ed. building and the High School, and making other safety improvements to school...
Alaska Congressman Don Young spoke about a program to revitalize Southeast schools, local businesses and sea otter pelt market possibilities during a brief stop in Petersburg on Tuesday. Young met with the Economic Redevelopment Council on Tuesday in City Council chambers. The hour-long round-table invited members of the council and the community to speak their minds. Young first spoke about the importance of the fishing industry in Southeast Alaska: “You can't just build up a work-force over ni...
Petersburg Police are investigating the alleged home invasion, assault, robbery and possible sexual assault in three separate, but related cases, said Police Chief Jim Agner. According to probable cause reports filed in district court on Wednesday, George D. Marlow III, 24, and Taylor Homer, 23, kicked down the door of Ivan Jouiko's trailer and then proceeded to punch and kick Jouiko. Homer reportedly asked Jouiko: “What did you do to my girlfriend?” Officers Alice Williams and Joe Boggs reported that there was blood on the floor of the liv...
A long-time Petersburg doctor is now living and working in Antarctica. Dr. John Bergren, 50, is currently serving as the Lead Physician at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Bergren is one of only 160 residents who will stay in McMurdo over the winter months, which runs from early February thru mid-October. Bergren arrived at the beginning of winter, when the population was about 1,000, he said. “There were some exciting moments for the medical staff about two weeks prior to our arrival,” Ber...
