Sorted by date Results 2242 - 2266 of 5569
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that portions of an initiative aimed at protecting salmon be stricken as unconstitutional but decided that the rest of the measure can advance to the fall ballot. In a written order, the court said the problematic parts would bar the state Fish and Game commissioner from granting a permit to a project that would cause “substantial damage” or have other impacts even if it is the judgment of the commissioner or Legislature that a project’s public benefit would outweigh its eff...
The Petersburg School Board on Tuesday approved seven changes to its policy and one change to its bylaws, which changes future board meeting times. “If we’re going to have a focus on kids and have kids at our board meetings to do presentations, I know that sometimes our board meetings can get a little late in the evening during the school year,” said school board president Mara Lutomski at a board meeting in June. “I also would prefer to be done a little bit earlier.” Board Bylaw 9320 will now have board meetings beginning at 6 P.M. on the seco...
WRANGELL - The Wrangell Cooperative Association recently received a $50,000 grant from SEARHC. According to WCA Tribal Administrator Esther Ashton, several other communities with First Nations entities also received similar grants. The "Healthy is Here" grant is meant to help promote public health within their community. "The way that it was defined was really left up to the tribal board to determine how they wanted to promote health and culture within our community," Ashton said. "So the board...
Ocean Beauty Seafoods has announced that they'll be closing their facility in Petersburg to focus on their Excursion Inlet facility. "They have been removing equipment out of the building for a few years, the can lines, the ice machine, so it's been coming." said Mayor Mark Jensen at the assembly meeting on Monday. Ocean Beauty Seafoods made the decision to close the facility after reviewing their options, according to their release. Since the facility was primarily a cannery and had limited...
The Stellar Sea Lion population at the WN buoy and the Red Can at Hungry Point has diminished after a pod of approximately 8-10 Orca whales hunted and killed as many as 7-10 sea lions on Friday morning, July 27. Groups of sea lions traditionally sit atop both buoys throughout much of the year and their barks and growls can often be heard along the beach shoreline. Katie Eddy was an eyewitness to the event, which started around 5:30 a.m. According to Eddy, the Orcas swam in circles around the buo...
The ongoing wildfire near Telegraph Creek, a small town on the Stikine River, has not yet been contained. According to Jody Lucius with the British Columbia Wildfire Service, the fire is a very powerful force of nature that will take time to put out. "We're focusing on minimizing further impact," she said. "It's going to take a significant amount of time to put out." The Telegraph Creek Fire is burning in the general direction of another wildfire occurring south of the Stikine River. Lucius...
Since the middle of June, the borough's trash baler has been up and running after weeks of repairs shut it down. The baler first stopped operating after the conveyor broke down in April, said public works director Chris Cotta. After about a week, the baler was operating again, but immediately afterwards the processor unit failed. Another five weeks was needed to address the processing unit, said Cotta. "It has been working fine ever since," said Cotta. The baler consists of several components....
Petersburg’s commingled recycling processing fees are going up 50 percent after China closed their market to most American recyclables, said Public Works Director Chris Cotta. The current rate to process commingled recyclable waste is $32.45 per ton and will increase to $49.84 per ton, said Cotta. Petersburg’s commingled recycle program got most of its funding from the revenue the recyclables generate; however, the market rate has dropped from $136 per ton in March 2017 to $21 per ton in March 2018. The borough pays $126 per ton to dispose of...
To initiate a discussion about banning disposable plastic shopping bags in Petersburg, a sample ordinance was presented to the borough assembly on Monday. "They get into the garbage and the landfill and then into the water," said John Havrilek, who requested the discussion and sample ordinance be presented to the assembly. "We need to be responsible and step up and use something that can be reused again and also be better for carrying our groceries." In the sample ordinance, which is a draft...
Petersburg will hold its annual municipal election on Oct. 2 from 8 A.M. - 8 P.M. in the activity room of the community center. Residents will be voting on 20 public office seats up for reelection and one proposition. “We are getting some interest, but we have a lot more we need,” said Borough Clerk Debra Thompson in reference to the number of individuals who have filed for candidacy. The first day that residents could apply for candidacy was July 24, and the last day to file is Aug. 2. The last day to register to vote is Sept. 2. Voter reg...
The borough assembly voted in favor of nominating assembly member Jeff Meucci for the Southeast Conference board of directors on Monday. "Jeff has entered into his role of the assembly with such a vigor," said assembly member Eric Castro. "I can see [him] carrying that with [him] to the Southeast conference board." Meucci and Mayor Mark Jensen submitted letters of interest to the assembly, which had the option to nominate both Meucci and Jensen. A motion was made to only nominate Meucci. After...
WRANGELL - U.S. Representative Don Young stopped in Wrangell the weekend of June 28 for some meet-and-greets with the locals. Stopping at the Stikine Inn, Young went from table to table to chat with people, answering questions and getting to know the people he represents. These questions ranged from topics like the environment, to derelict boats, to the timber industry. One question came from Joane Sargent, who was concerned about what would happen to many Alaskan's healthcare, with the ongoing...
The Petersburg Indian Association's Tribal Transportation Program plans on building a board walk to allow residents of Mountain View Manor to connect to the trail system. "It's nice for people to get out," said Sue Harai, director of the TTP. The raised boardwalk will be 1345 feet long and six feet wide. It will connect 13th Street to the Hungry Point Trail. Funding for the project comes from a federal highway bill called the Fast Act. It sets aside money to provide safe and adequate...
WRANGELL - Early on Thursday morning, several members of the U.S. Forest Service left Wrangell with some guests for a trip to the Anan Wildlife Observatory. Present on the trip were Michael Saxton and Leslie Skora with the Katmai National Park. They were visiting Anan for an "information swap," they explained. They wanted to learn about some of the best practices in wildlife observation they could take from Anan, and also provide some tips to the Forest Service in the Wrangell district. Acting...
WRANGELL - The coho salmon derby kicks off this weekend, and runs every weekend until September . Anyone with a fishing rod is welcome to take part in the coho derby. According to Alicia Holder, with the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce, the city has done coho salmon fishing derbies in the past, but this is the first one in a long time. They were common in the 1970s, she said, but the last derby dedicated to coho salmon was sometime in the '80s. The common salmon to fish for in Wrangell in recent...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska collected more than $11 million in marijuana tax revenue during the state’s 2018 fiscal year, exceeding projections by nearly $2 million. The Alaska Department of Revenue released numbers Wednesday for the fiscal year that ended in June, indicating a continued rise in revenue collection, KTUU-TV reported . The state collected about $1.7 million during the previous fiscal year. “We absolutely are exceeding our predictions and additionally we are seeing a very steady increase in tax revenue collection each month...
The Office of Child Services works across Alaska to support and protect children across the state. According to their website, the main goals of OCS are to give children a “healthy start, to provide them with safe and permanent homes, to maintain cultural connections and to help them realize their potential.” This can be a hard job, according to Alaska State Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. He said that the state has a problem with cases of child abuse and neglect. “It’s been a chronic issue, unfortunately,” he said. The issue is compou...
There is a planned power outage Fri. Aug. 10, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Customers from Scow Bay to 6 Mile Mitkof Highway will experience a momentary outage at 9:00 am and at 2:00 pm. Customers from 6 Mile Mitkof Highway to the hatchery will experience the full outage from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Customers north of Scow Bay should not experience any outages. PMPL staff has found a broken service cutout and burned cross arm at approximately 6.5 Mile Mitkof Highway. These components are still providing service, but failure is imminent. PMPL will need to...
Updated Island Air Service now allows for Petersburg residents to enjoy day trips to Juneau, instead of requiring an overnight when coming to Juneau. The changes also allow for day trip visitors from Ketchikan and Klawock to Petersburg. “When we started service between Petersburg to Juneau & Ketchikan, we wanted to provide new options to the community. Since the service began, our customers asked for an evening return flight from Juneau to allow single-day trips, whether it be for medical appointments, shopping, work, or just visiting f...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Permanent Fund grew by $6.3 billion during the state’s 2018 fiscal year, reaching a value of nearly $65 billion. Strong market returns have bolstered the fund in recent years, giving it gains of more than 12 percent in 2017 and nearly 11 percent during the fiscal year that ended in June, the Alaska Journal of Commerce reported Wednesday. The fund ended the fiscal year with $46.1 billion in principal and $16.4 billion of net income in its Earnings Reserve Account, which also held $2.4 billion in unr...
On July 25 at 9:20 P.M., the United States Coast Guard suspended their search for John Phillips, 59, who went missing when the vessel he was on capsized in Nushagak Bay, according to a release from the USCG. A Jayhawk crew searched more than 25 square nautical miles and 23 miles of coastline for approximately six hours, according to the release. "Ending a search is never easy, especially when working alongside so many people dedicated to finding the missing person,” said Lt. Stephen Nolan, District 17 Command duty officer, in a release. ...
In early July, the United States Postal Service sent out a nationwide letter asking customers with a No-Fee (Group E) post office box to complete an annual verification of their PO box. In the letter, the USPS asks customers to submit an attached form within 10 days of receiving the notice in order to verify the PO box. According to Dawn Peppinger, marketing manager with the USPS, the verification needs be completed sometime before the PO box's annual renewal date. If the owner of a No-Fee...
Through a variety of methods, including a fundraiser July 27, First Bank has raised a total of $18,030 recently for the Petersburg Medical Center Foundation (PMCF). Attendees at the Friday evening fundraising event contributed $7,000. Due to that show of generous community support, First Bank President Bill Moran announced that he would increase the bank’s match of those donations from $2,500 to $5,000. Included in the $18,030 total was a $5,000 community development grant. Accepting the grant funds were Sue Paulsen, PMCF Board President and B...
As the first month of the fiscal year ended, Petersburg Medical Center's board of trustees approved the hospital's capital budget for the 2019 fiscal year on Thursday. CFO Doran Hammett also gave the board an overview of the hospital's financial standing. "We ended the year on a positive note," said Hammett. In a board meeting on June 28, the board failed to approve the capital budget of $972,913 due to a call for more information on requested capital items. The board approved a capital budget o...
On Thursday, Petersburg Medical Center CEO Philip Hofstetter addressed the hospital’s board of trustees and gave an executive summary detailing what his priorities were for his first month at the hospital. Hofstetter spoke about the feasibility of a new facility, access to care, staff and physician recruitment and his public relations efforts. “In this first month I have had over 101 meetings to get up to speed with the top priorities and to move initiatives forward,” said Hofstetter in his report. Hofstetter suggested setting a board retreat d...
