Sorted by date Results 2074 - 2098 of 5553
On Nov. 1, Aleria Jensen, a supervising biologist in the Protected Resources Division of NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region, held a lecture in the assembly chambers describing the harm plastics and marine debris in the oceans can have on marine life. “Now, we’re all so connected and none of us are free from this issue,” said Jensen. In her presentation, Jensen gave an overview of plastic and marine debris on a global scale, marine debris in Alaska and conservation efforts being taken by NOAA, or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin...
After 11.5 years with Alaska Airlines and four years in Petersburg, 55-year-old David Booker, customer service manager with Alaska Airlines, is retiring from the industry. "I feel like I had a really charmed career in Alaska," said Booker who originally came to Alaska from southern California. "To be there and be able to work my entire career in the state and do the things that I had the opportunity to do, the places I've gotten to go. Most importantly, the incredible people I've gotten to work...
The Petersburg Swim Club hosted a home meet over the weekend that saw over 80 swimmers from Craig, Wrangell, Ketchikan and Petersburg participate. "Petersburg did really good," said head coach Andy Carlisle. "We had a couple kids that did great." The swim club operates a little differently from the high school swim team. They have more events and have swimmers from all ages, from kindergarteners to high school seniors. There are about 456 kids in this year's swim club. The season follows the sch...
Juliette Low, the founder of Girl Scouting once said. "Scouting rises within you and inspires you to put forth your best." That quote was especially fitting on Sat., Nov. 11 as the local Petersburg Girl Scouts gathered to mark their founder's birthday, which is Oct. 31 and to celebrate one of their own, Gold Award recipient Avery Herman-Sakamoto. The Gold Award in Girl Scouting is equivalent to the Eagle Scout Award in Boy Scouts. You must be dedicated, motivated and inspired to achieve it and...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska salmon boat skipper who killed endangered Steller sea lions with a shotgun and hindered an investigation has been fined $20,000 in federal court. Jon Nichols, 31, of Cordova, was sentenced Tuesday to five years' probation, three months of home confinement and 400 hours of community service. U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Smith also ordered Nichols to publicly apologize in a national commercial fishing magazine. One of Nichols' crewmen, Theodore ``Teddy'' Turgeon, 21, of Wasilla, also shot the endangered a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska's marijuana industry is continuing to grow, according to the latest tax figures from the Alaska Department of Revenue. Some 119 taxpayers paid $1.5 million to the state in September, the department said in its monthly update. The state's first sales of recreational marijuana to the general public were on Oct. 29, 2016, in Valdez. (A Fairbanks store had a soft opening the night before.) Each month since October 2016, the state has reported more taxpayers than the month before, even if tax collections rise and f...
At the suggestion of Public Works director Chris Cotta, the borough assembly voted in favor of moving forward with a full replacement of the borough’s saolid waste baler. Several of the major working parts in the baler are deteriorating, including the belt conveyor, control system and wear surfaces on the rams, hopper and baler chamber, according to a statement given to the assembly by Cotta at a borough assembly meeting on Monday. He gave the assembly three options for moving forward with the aging baler: Replacing components as they fail; a...
On Saturday, the Let Me Run after school program finished their fall season by hosting a community 5k run. The Let Me Run program is a national program that helps boys learn skills for managing and expressing their emotions and learn physical fitness, team work and responsibility, according to Rikki McKay, who helped coordinate the event and is a prevention coordinator with Working Against Violence for Everyone or WAVE. "The boys were amazing," said McKay. "We were very proud of them. They...
Unofficial results in Tuesday's general election show incumbent Don Young(R) remains Alaska's United States representative, Mike J. Dunleavy(R) becomes governor of Alaska, House District Incumbent Jonathan S. Kreiss-Tomkins(D) remains for a fourth term and ballot measure no.1 fails to become law, according to the Alaska Division of Elections. As of Nov. 7 at 1:35 A.M. 433 precincts in Alaska have been reported out of 442. There was a 41.44 percent voter turnout in the state with 236.972 voting...
The Petersburg Borough’s in-kind portion of a feasibility study to determine if the United States Army Corps of Engineers will dredge South Harbor and allow smoother egress increased by $50,000, and was approved by the assembly on Monday. “The money stays with us,” said harbormaster Glow Wollen at the assembly meeting on Monday. “We only use it if we spend it for this project. The borough’s in-kind contributions have increased to $100,000, from $50,000, which the borough has paid $32,349.11 of to date, according to a letter from Amber C....
The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce hosted a public meeting on Tuesday to discuss and receive community feedback on the possibility of larger cruise ships coming to Petersburg. In August, Viking Cruises met with representatives from Petersburg while looking for possible new ports in Southeast Alaska for 2020. The ships can hold approximately 900 passengers and 140 crew members. "If you think about this as a win-win situation, some of these ships they provide a visitor base, not only for visitors...
On Friday, the Petersburg Public Library and the Clausen Museum hosted an opening reception for the De-colonizing Alaska art exhibit. The exhibit seeks to de-colonize Alaska art, which has had representations of colonization and repression, by pulling away from stereotypical depictions of Alaska such as dogsleds, Eskimos and igloos, according to the curator of the exhibit Asia Freeman. The 31 artists featured in the exhibit move towards ideas that challenge historic definitions of Alaskan Art....
The borough assembly passed ordinance #2018-18, which will provide a new development code for the borough, in its second reading at an assembly meeting on Monday. “There’s nothing final about this in case we realize a piece of it doesn’t work,” said vice mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor. The updated code seeks to streamline and update the current code. There are some meetings that are required in the approval process that don’t need to be there, said community and economic director Liz Cabrera on Monday. Outdated zoning districts have weak standards...
The borough assembly received a letter on Oct. 29 from Petro 49, Inc.'s CFO Jason Werner expressing the company's desire to exchange land with the borough. "That's just a letter I thought we should all be aware of," said Mayor Mark Jensen at an assembly meeting on Monday where the letter was presented. According to the letter, Petro 49, Inc. owns borough land at 703 S. Nordic Dr. which includes a small warehouse and covered loading dock and office. Petro 49, Inc. leases borough land at 100 Dock...
The Petersburg Public Health Center is hosting a Point of Dispensing or POD exercise on Fri., Nov. 9 from 2:30 – 5:30 p.m. at the Parks and Recreation gym. This will help Petersburg’s emergency responders practice giving medications or vaccines to a large group while actually giving participants this year’s flu vaccine at no cost. Even if you’ve already received this year’s flu shot, come to the POD to be counted, or to help out. Volunteers are needed. Even when influenza doesn’t reach the pandemic level, it’s still important to remember that...
Ocean Beauty Seafoods has put its Petersburg cannery and bunkhouse up for sale with an asking price of $3,390,000, according to a real estate agent with the Carlton Smith Company, which is a commercial real estate agency based in Juneau. The facility has been on the market for about 10 days, according to an agent. He declined to comment on whether or not any offers have been made. The Ocean Beauty Seafood properties include a production area, storage space, a machine shop and bunkhouse for a total of 65,678 square feet, according to the...
At a hospital board meeting on Oct. 24, board members motioned to approve Petersburg Medical Center’s strategic plan for the fiscal years 2019 through 2023. “I’d like to get the document approved, so we can operationalize some of the priorities,” said PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter at the board meeting. The motion was later withdrawn after issues with the strategic plan’s clarity were brought up. One issue was that the strategic plan seemed to make the hospital separate from the borough. PMC CFO Doran Hammett said that the hospital is a component...
The results of an audit conducted on the Petersburg Medical Center were presented at a board meeting last week showing that a high standard of internal control of financial reporting and compliance to laws and regulations were being kept. “That’s really a testament to everyone in the hospital,” said PMC CFO Doran Hammett at a hospital board meeting on Oct. 24. “There’s nobody in the hospital that doesn't affect the finance in some way. Either you’re in the revenue generating department or you’re in the department that spends money. There...
The Petersburg Medical Center has invested just under $1.5 million in three United States Treasury Bills with a yield rate of over 2 percent after board approval was given at last month’s hospital board meeting. The treasury bills will each mature throughout 2019 and reach $500,000 each. Those with a later mature date cost the hospital less, said PMC CFO Doran Hammett at the hospital board meeting on Oct. 24. All of the hospitals investments have a combined total annual interest of $51,853.21, which Hammett said could cover most of the cost o...
Sealaska and Petersburg Indian Association are holding a sea otter skin sewing class from Oct. 31 through Nov. 3 to give native Alaskans the opportunity to become closer to their roots. "Alaskan natives have been working with marine mammal fur since time immemorial," said Marcus Gho, a contractor with Sealaska who will be teaching the class. "It's a good opportunity to learn a little more and strengthen our identity." Participants in the class will work with the pelts to sew items like hats and...
Petersburg, and the rest of House District 35, which encompasses central Southeast Alaska, will be voting on candidates for United States representatives, State Representatives, governor and one ballot measure in Alaska’s general election on Nov. 6. Alyse S. Galvin (U) is running for Alaska’s United State representative as the Alaska Democratic Party nominee even though she has not declared an affiliation with a political party and is running undeclared. Running against her as the Alaska Republic Party nominee is incumbent Don Young (R). For...
(Sitka) – Due to concerns about low elk numbers, from 2008-2012 the elk hunting season on Zarembo Island was closed by emergency order. In 2013, following several consecutive years of emergency closures, the board took similar regulatory action, closing Zarembo Island to elk hunting. In a related action, and due to concerns about hunters "bootlegging" elk off of Zarembo and claiming to have harvested them elsewhere in Unit 3 during the General Season elk hunt (Aug. 1−Dec. 31, one elk), the boa...
WRANGELL — The Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors met on Oct. 17 for their last meeting before the long-planned transition of authority to SEARHC. This comes after the successful passing of a ballot measure on Oct. 2 allowing SEARHC to take charge of the medical center. Senior Executive Vice President of SEARHC Dan Neumeister attended the meeting to give the board an update on the transition, which is scheduled to officially take place in early November. The Wrangell Medical Center will keep the same name after SEARHC takes over operati...
WRANGELL — The cruise ship season closed in Wrangell earlier this month. The Oceania Regatta was the last cruise ship that pulled into the city dock in 2018. According to a draft schedule from the chamber of commerce, the season will reopen in May of 2019. For Wrangell, and Southeast Alaska in general, tourism is an important aspect of life. Stephanie Cook, with the chamber of commerce, said that 75 cruise ships visited Wrangell in the 2018 season, ranging from small size to large ships with about 1,500 passengers. This influx of people is v...
During the summer months of June through September, the Petersburg area experienced below normal accumulated rainfall for each month and temperatures above the normal temperature range, according to the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Warm days will continue into the winter, but above average rainfall is expected, according to NOAA. June began with a normal temperature range of 60 and 44 degrees, according to NOAA. The month ended with a normal t...
