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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration held a public hearing in Petersburg Monday night on their proposal to establish critical habitat areas for humpback whales in Southeast Alaska including areas from the Alaska Peninsula down the coastline to Southern California. Over 80 persons, mostly fishermen attended the standing-room-only meeting at the Assembly Chambers. NOAA's fisheries division, the National Marine Fisheries Service proposes to protect the feeding areas of three...
This action will propose the designation of critical habitat for three distinct population segments of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) pursuant to section 4 of the Endangered Species Act. The three distinct population segments of humpback whales concerned--the Mexico, Central American, and Western Pacific distinct population segments--were listed under the Endangered Species Act on September 8, 2016, thereby triggering the requirement under section 4 of the Endangered Species Act to...
While some anglers may hang up their fishing rods until Spring, don't forget about the many angling opportunities that exist throughout the winter. Remember to purchase your 2020 fishing license prior to fishing in the new calendar year. Winter King Salmon King salmon can be found year round in local marine waters although catch rates are typically much slower during the winter time. New regulations have been issued as of January 1, 2020. The current regulations for all marine waters in the...
The borough assembly approved four community projects totaling $63.7 million to be included on the priority list for 2021. The list will be forwarded to the state legislature in hopes one or more of the projects will be funded by the State of Alaska. The projects could also be funded through federal or special grant programs the improvements may qualify for. At the advice of Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht the assembly kept the list short, since lean state budgets will mean few, if any, project...
The borough assembly approved the purchase of two light duty 4x4 trucks in the amount of $85,432 at its Monday meeting. One of the vehicles replaces a truck that was totaled in a fire at the public works shop in August. A 2003 Chevy flatbed used by the Motor Pool Dept. will be replaced by a 2020 Chevy 3500 Crew Cab with a 9-foot flatbed. It is used to transport workers to job sites and seats four people. It can carry needed equipment and tools. The vehicle is still in service but requires...
January Following the shutdown of the U.S. government on Dec. 22, 2018, the U.S. Coast Guard stated it would continue offering essential services. The borough assembly approved $600,000 for a new baler. The USCG located debris from an overdue medivac aircraft that had three people onboard that was due to land in Kake several nights before. A decrease in air cargo coming into Petersburg affected the timely arrival of residents' packages after the retirement of Alaska Airlines' combi 737-400...
Along with the lights, the trees and carolers, the Salvation Army's red Christmas kettles are a very common sight during the holiday season. Standing in front of stores and on street corners, volunteers accept donations for the Salvation Army with ringing bells and the iconic red buckets. The Christmas kettles are a century-old tradition, according to the Salvation Army's website. In 1891, Salvation Army Captain Joseph McFee organized a fundraiser, where people could throw money into a large...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency Board voted against a half-cent rate increase at their meeting earlier this month, but will vote on a possible rate increase again in March. The Tyee Lake hydro project dedicates its power to Petersburg and Wrangell, and the Swan Lake hydro project produces power for Ketchikan. In the past, the Tyee Lake hydro project has always produced more power than the two communities could use, so the excess power was sold to Ketchikan. Low lake levels in Tyee Lake this ye...
The Petersburg Borough has teamed up with other members of the Alaska Municipal League to create the Alaska Remote Seller Sales Tax Commission which will oversee the collection of online sales tax. The borough assembly appointed Finance Director Jody Tow as the borough's representation on the commission at their meeting last week. The online sales tax would only apply to online vendors that have gross sales of over $100,000 in Alaska annually, or have over 100 transactions in the state, said Tow...
Jaynee Fritzinger ventured outside of her comfort zone by capturing the natural beauty above water in her paintings that were on display in her art show "Alaskan Wilderness" on Friday at FireLight Gallery & Framing. Fritzinger said she has always been painting, but in 2017, she began to take her art more seriously. After a successful show in that same year that featured fish and underwater scenes, Fritzinger was inspired to paint more, but she wanted to appeal to a wider audience. She motivated...
One of four submarine cables providing Petersburg with power from the Southeast Alaska Power Agency has been damaged and needs to either be repaired or replaced, but the SEAPA board is concerned with the success of repairing the cable and the price tag of a new one. Bob Lynn, Petersburg's voting member on the SEAPA board, said the board was updated on the condition of the submarine cable, which is located between Woronkofski and Vank islands, at their meeting earlier this month. According to...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors continued their talk about the upcoming completion of phase one of the master plan to build a new hospital at their board meeting last Thursday, which began at a joint work session with borough assembly earlier this month. Several analyses have been conducted by NAC Architecture in order to prepare the master planning documents. Dan Jardine, project manager with NAC Architecture, said at the joint meeting that the master planning would be...
Petersburg Medical Center had an operating loss of $205,855 for the month of November, according to the hospital's financial report. PMC's net operating revenue came in above the budgeted $1,313,250, at $1,493,828. Year-to-date, PMC is above its net operating revenue by $928,060 with a budgeted $6,956,250 and a total of $7,884,310 for the first five months of the fiscal year. The year-to-date net operating revenue is just enough to make up for the year-to-date total operating expense of $7,873,6...
The borough assembly failed to pass an ordinance in its first reading that would allow off-highway vehicles on borough roads, citing a 2017 public vote against a similar ordinance and concerns of overriding the public's will. The ordinance would have allowed residents to operate their OHVs on borough owned and maintained streets under the conditions that the operator has a valid driver's license, the OHV is registered with the borough and the OHV is insured. Richard Burke spearheaded the effort...
With months of preparation under their belts, the 164 student Mitkof Dance Troupe took to the stage this weekend to perform "Game Night," a variety of dance routines centered around well-known board games and activities. The performance was split over four nights. Last Thursday, tots and kinders performed six dances, including Go Fish, Mouse Trap and Twister. On Friday and Saturday, first graders and up performed a combined total of 21 dances. Their performances interpreted such classic games,...
The borough assembly failed to pass a letter to the Secretary of Agriculture and the United States Forest Service at an assembly meeting Monday expressing discontent with the process of reviewing the Roadless Rule in the Tongass National Forest. The letter, which was drafted by Assembly Member Chelsea Tremblay, notes that when the Forest Service presented their six alternatives to the Roadless Rule at a public meeting in November, it seemed as if the decision to go with the alternative six,...
With the increasing presence of cell phones in the district, the Petersburg School Board held a discussion on the district's cell phone policy at a school board meeting last week. At Rae C. Stedman Elementary School, cell phones are not allowed to be seen during school hours, and must be kept in students' backpacks. Principal Heather Conn said she hasn't seen any cell phones this year so far, though she has seen them in past years. When a student is caught with their cell phone out, they must dr...
Eleven birders spent their Saturday identifying 58 species of birds and counting over 8,000 birds total for this year's Christmas Bird Count in Petersburg. Every year, thousands of volunteers from the United States, Canada and other countries in the Western Hemisphere count birds within a 24-hour period to document numbers and species of birds for the National Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count, according to Brad Hunter, the organizer for Petersburg's bird count. The data from the bird count...
Inside Passage Electric Cooperative is building a hydro electric project that will utilize Gunnuk Creek and supply Kake with 55 percent of its annual energy usage. The Gunnuk Creek Hydro Electric Project has an installed capacity of 500 kW, according to Service Operations Manager Brandon Shaw. It's estimated to produce 1,600 MWhs annually, which is around 55 percent of Kake's energy usage. Over the course of 50 years, the hydro project will save approximately 6.2 million gallons of diesel fuel....
The United States Army Corps of Engineers went over the status of the project to dredge South Boat Harbor, along with associated costs to be covered by the borough and the next steps in the project at a public meeting on Dec. 3. In 2017, the Petersburg Borough and the USACE entered into a feasibility cost share agreement wherein both entities agreed to split the costs of a feasibility study to determine a solution to the compromised egress in South Boat Harbor. The borough and the USACE equally...
The Petersburg School Board approved a board policy in its second and final reading regarding restrictions on sex offenders on campus. "We are not putting this policy into place because we are currently dealing with a situation," said School Board President Mara Lutomski. "There is no crisis going on within the school." Board Policy 3515.5 was on the agenda at the October school board meeting, but school board members present wanted to receive clarification on the policy and vote on it with a...
Fish and Game Area Biologist Frank Robbins and Forest Service Regional Biologist Dan Eacker held a lecture on deer and moose harvests and deer density on Mitkof Island last Thursday. Robbins started off the lecture by comparing deer harvests in Unit 1B and Unit 3 from 2011 to 2018. In Unit 1B, the area east of Mitkof Island on the mainland, the average number of deer harvested was 100. In the past five years, the deer harvest in Unit 1B averaged 115. In Unit 3, which includes the Petersburg and...
Nate Hepp, 30, is the new station manager at the Alaska Airline Petersburg terminal. Six years ago he started out as a ramp agent with Horizon Air in Portland and for the past four years has held supervisory positions in Portland, Los Angeles and Anchorage for Alaska Airlines. Hepp describes his job as being, "a go-to person for his customer service agents. I give them the tools they need to do their jobs." He will also be working to strengthen and maintain ongoing relationships with the...
Assembly Member Bob Lynn and Robert Larson were appointed as voting members on the Southeast Alaska Power Agency Board by Mayor Mark Jensen at an assembly meeting last week, with Utility Director Karl Hagerman and Planning and Zoning Commissioner Tor Benson serving as alternate voting members. Each year, Petersburg and Wrangell appoint one voting member and one alternate member to serve on the SEAPA board. Ketchikan appoints two voting members and two alternates each year. However, there is one...
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