Sorted by date Results 5519 - 5543 of 5574
If all goes as planned, the Romiad Building will soon be moved about 600 feet, and face a different direction. The Petersburg Economic Development Council recommended, and Petersburg City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved, a loan of $210,000, at 5 percent interest, to local businessman Pete Litsheim. Litsheim plans to move the 29-year-old building from its current location near the corner of 2nd and Haugen to across the street, down and over a block to an empty lot next to Scandia House on...
After years of planning and negotiating, the Raven's Roost trail will soon have a new trail head. The Petersburg City Council on Tuesday voted to approve of an easement to connect the U.S. Forest Service’s Raven’s Roost Trail with a location near Sandy Beach Park. The proposed access to the trail will be located behind the dog shelter. The new trail head will not interfere with the dog shelter. “This has been going on for years,” said Planning Director Leo Luczak. But the U.S. Forest Service has secured the funds from the state and Alaska...
KETCHIKAN (AP) — Welding accidently caused a recent fire on the Alaska state ferry Malaspina, according to an investigation report by the Ketchikan Fire Department. The Feb. 7 fire caused an estimated $750,000 of damage, according to the report obtained by the Ketchikan Daily News (http://bit.ly/zuwDQd ). Alaska Marine Highway spokesman Jeremy Woodrow said the ferry system has not calculated the exact amount of damage, but cleanup costs are estimated at about $300,000. No one was injured when the fire broke out while the 372-foot ferry was i...
A claim for unemployment insurance benefits made pages of Petersburg Indian Association emails and financial statements public last week, and reveals reasons why two employees and four board of director members resigned last October. Susan Harai was the director of the Indian Reservation Roads (IRR) program for the PIA and claimed there was a $300,000 to $360,000 deficit and discrepancy involving the IRR grant monies, according to the report of the State Employment Security Division’s f... Full story
PIA Tribal Administrator Will Ware on Wednesday rebutted information made public when former employee Susan Harai appeared at a public hearing for unemployment benefits on Feb. 9. “I was perplexed and surprised,” at the accusations made against me at the hearing, Ware said. “It was character assassination.” The allegations of missing Indian Reservation Roads (IRR) grant money being used for other PIA projects was based upon, “misinterpretations and mislabeling of accounts,” according t... Full story
Two Petersburg Indian Association tribal council members presented testimony at the unemployment benefit hearing on Feb. 9 for employee Susan Harai showing their determination to resolve the financial crisis reported to them by Roads Director Susan Harai and bookkeeper Nicole Dean. Ultimately, distrust of tribal leadership along with failure to secure a new, outside auditor to look at the tribal books resulted in their resignations from the tribal council. Jeanette Ness, former council...
Call it added security, or call it Big Brother, the Petersburg Harbor has six new high-definition security cameras affixed to various locations. Two “fixed,” or hard-wired cameras, and four wireless cameras, have been installed in the North, Middle and South harbors. The cameras also capture activity in 3.5 miles of area including: the fueling station, parking lots, garbage dumpsters, and commercial cruise line routes. The recordings feed back to the Harbormaster's office. “The system is up, a...
The North Harbor community will soon say goodbye to the 99-year-old, red and white, floating machine shop that has serviced thousands of boat engines over the decades. Piston & Rudder Service is relocating the 1,040 square-foot former barge next to the old Petersburg Shipwrights, which is now owned and operated by Piston & Rudder. The company employs 17 workers and services more than 300 boat engines per year, said Piston & Rudder Service majority owner Mike Luhr. “We deal with boats on the h...
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) denied Cascade Creek LLC, a private company seeking to develop hydropower in Thomas Bay near Petersburg, a pre-development permit. Cascade Creek previously had a preliminary permit to develop the Cascade Creek Hydroelectric Project. But now, it could be up to local entities to keep the project alive. The fate of the project is in the hands of Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) to decide. SEAPA, along with Petersburg Municipal Power & Light (PMPL) and Ketchikan Public Utilities have all shown...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — A man who sat on the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council and violated fishing regulations while a member was sentenced Friday to five months in federal prison. Arne Fuglvog was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge H. Russel Holland, who said the real crime committed was not monetary but to the reputation of the agency responsible for regulating fishing. In addition, Fuglvog will have to pay a $50,000 fine and pay $100,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which will be used to improve fish habitat in the G...
JUNEAU (AP) — The Alaska Redistricting Board must redraw three Fairbanks-area House districts and another in the Aleutian chain, a state court judge ruled Friday. Judge Michael P. McConahy, in a lengthy ruling, determined that House Districts 1, 2, 37 and 38 are not in harmony with the state Constitution. House Districts 1, 2 and 38 are in the Fairbanks area, with 1 and 2 urban districts and 38 parts urban and rural. House District 37 splits the Aleutian chain. The redistricting board has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday to discuss the d...
Plans to dredge and rebuild Petersburg's historic North Harbor are closer than they ever have been before, said Harbormaster Glorianne Wollen. Funding is available for the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the harbor. With the assistance of U.S. Senator Mark Begich, more than $3.4 million is earmarked for the project that is expected to get underway in September. “The harbor was built pre-statehood, so it's the Corps’ responsibility to do the dredging,” Wollen said. If all goes as plann...
Juneau District Attorney David Brower told The Pilot this week he will not attend the town meeting set for February 21 in Petersburg, but that Deputy Attorney General Richard Svobodny would attend. In a phone interview, Brower said, “he would like to be there,” but would be on leave at the time of the scheduled meeting. He added that he did write Police Chief Jim Agner a letter regarding the 38% case dismissal rate. Agner confirmed receipt of the five page letter on Wednesday and said he had not had time to read it. When asked if a sol... Full story
In 1945, the Alaska state legislature signed the Anti-Discrimination Act into law, and began an era of improved racial relations in the state. Civil rights leader Elizabeth Peratrovich was instrumental in this bill’s passage and her work is celebrated across the state on February 16, Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, the anniversary of the signing of the Anti-Discrimination Act. Festivities in Petersburg on February 16 will include a parade through downtown at 4 pm and an event at the Seaside House f... Full story
Despite the difficulty of leaving Juneau in the middle of the legislative session, Deputy Attorney General Richard Svobodny plans to attend Petersburg’s Town Hall Meeting on February 21. “Whether case dismissals are good or bad is very difficult to tell,” said Svobodny. In general, dismissals can indicate problems with policing, problems with the District Attorney’s office or problems with the court. “Case dismissals are not always bad. Sometimes cases should be dismissed,” according to Svobodny. Just the term, “sufficient evidence,” ca...
After approving the report of Jensen, Yorba, Lott, Inc. the city council agreed Wednesday night to have councilor Sue Flint, Mayor Dwyer and the city manager lobby for design funds for the city police station when they are in Juneau next week. The council agreed it was important not to jeopardize the city’s drive-down dock funds while seeking project funds for the design of the new police station. During discussion it was noted that the state funds allocated to build the new fire hall were designated by the legislature for public safety b...
Judge Carey sentenced Tammi L. Avenson, 49, to serve six-months in jail when she was sentenced on Jan. 23 for conviction of felony theft in the 2nd degree and attempted falsification of business records. Avenson worked as a bookkeeper for Rock-n-Road Construction during the time of the thefts and is believed to have taken over $65,000 according to court testimony. Richard Burrell, owner of the company, told the court: “I’m pretty disappointed. I hope she doesn’t get a light sentence.” He also told the court he had stopped looking when the sto...
The city is exploring new options for the recreational vehicle staging area and dump/water station services now located in the parking lot adjacent to the Romaid Building. The new library will be constructed on that site beginning this summer. The city manager advised the city council at its Wednesday meeting that he asked Chris Cotta to look into alternatives for continuing the RV services after the existing dump/water stations are removed. Among the alternatives suggested by the manager: —Locate the dump and water stations at the w...
Christine J. Ware, 37, appeared before Judge William Carey for felony sentencing under terms of a plea agreement with prosecutors in which she pleads to one felony charge of 2nd degree theft and one misdemeanor charge of attempted falsifying business records. Ware was given a suspended imposition of sentence for five years on the condition she serve 60 days in jail, complete 300 hours of community work service, provide restitution to the Petersburg Children’s Center board of directors, obtain a behavioral evaluation within 30 days of her r...
Judge Kevin Miller ruled in December that Frank Townsend, former owner of Petersburg Shipwrights was not liable for payment to his ex-wife Barbara S. Sinclair for a line of credit that was taken out for her commercial fishing business and for their joint travel. The couple was married in 2008, according to court testimony. Sinclair’s small claims case against Townsend was heard on Dec. 5, 2011. In a written order the court stated, “Neither party will recover from the other. I find that Mr. Townsend promised to help Ms. Sinclair pay the lin...
After over a year of back and forth debate, the city council and the harbor advisory board have agreed to drop pollution insurance requirements for persons using and, or leasing city land and requiring best management practices which are specified in the lease documents. Furthermore, the city would use two standard lease agreements — one for short-term leases at Scow Bay Turnaround that addresses specific Best Management Practices that must be followed at that location, and another for long term leases. The leases address issues such as c...
Once again the city is attempting to resolve longstanding issues with the District Attorney’s office by calling a town hall meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21 and inviting representatives of the Governor’s office to attend. Kim Kilkenny of Petersburg Mental Health Services, said she would work to get citizens to attend the meeting by getting copies of the mayor’s letter to as many people as possible. According to a draft letter in the council packet for the Feb. 1 meeting, the mayor cited lack of support by the D.A., related to, “the dismissal of a hi...
As of Thursday night, the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department began responding to emergencies from their new fire hall. Trucks and emergency vehicles, with lights flashing, drove to the new Haugen Drive location and started the process of moving-in. During the Thursday night move-in over 40 volunteers from all branches of the department (EMS, fire, search and rescue) were present. Locker assignments and bunker gear storage were assigned to each member based upon tenure with the department....
PETERSBURG — Slightly less than six pounds of marijuana was seized Sunday, Jan. 22 from a shipping tote at Alaska Marine Lines. Police Chief Jim Agner said Tuesday the entire shipment was destined for Kake. He added that a Kake resident is a suspect in the case. The value of the seized marijuana was in excess of $64,000 according to Agner. An average street value for the drug is $25/gram. Depending upon who you are, users will pay $20 to $30/gram while high school kids pay as much as $35/gram, a...
ANCHORAGE – Generous Alaskans from across the state are opting to give a portion of their 2012 Permanent Fund dividend to nonprofit causes at rates that exceed the first three years of the program. Participation rates of 4.5 percent and an average $87 per donor thus far translate into $1,003,775 in pledged gifts this year, according to data provided by the Permanent Fund Dividend Division. The million dollar figure represents the halfway point to this year’s campaign goal. “These $25, $50, and $100 gifts add up quickly,” said Deborah Bitney,...
