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The borough assembly approved an ordinance that would increase assisted living rental and service rates in its first reading at their meeting Tuesday to be in line with Medicaid and other assisted living facility rates throughout the state. The basic level of services, which covers apartment maintenance, meals and rent, would be raised from $4,700 to $4,880 per month if ordinance #2020-01 is passed in three readings. Level one services, which includes the basic level of services along with...
It wasn't her bad knees, a fear of heights, a limp or hundreds of miles of hiking that prevented Hillary Hunter from completing the last 295.5 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail. It was the earliest snowfall in Washington in over 100 years that forced her off the trail. On April 17, 2019, Hunter first started her expedition on the 2,226 trail that begins at the border of California and Mexico and runs north just over the Canadian border. While teaching English in Madagascar with the Peace Corps...
The cities of Wrangell and Petersburg both briefly lost power on Friday morning, Jan. 10. The power outage occurred a little before 11 a.m. and lasted about an hour. Both cities typically receive their electricity from a hydro plant at Tyee Lake, near Bradfield Canal. Rod Rhoades, light and power director for Wrangell, said that there was a "phase to phase fault" in the power line between the lake and the two cities. He speculated that this could mean something like a tree branch fell on the...
Beginning last weekend, Petersburg has been experiencing a cold front with temperatures hovering just above zero degrees, but Wes Adkins, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau, said there hasn't been any record breaking low temperatures so far this month. "We got close, but records are there for a reason," said Adkins. At the beginning of January, temperatures were falling within the average temperature range of 37 and 27 degrees for the month, according to data from the...
Twenty-one tribal voters elected four incumbents in the Petersburg Indian Association Tribal Council election on Jan. 6, but one 1-year term remains vacant. Incumbent Cristina Morrison was reelected as council president for another 1-year term. Heather Conn, Kayla Perry and Mary Ann Rainey were reelected to serve 2-year terms on the tribal council. All four incumbents ran unopposed. According to Tribal Administrator Tracy Welch, Morrison took over as council president last year after she had...
The Petersburg School Board approved an updated math curriculum for the district and the purchase of related materials totaling approximately $42,000 at the board's meeting on Tuesday. A whole new math curriculum is being adopted at Rae C. Stedman Elementary School that was constructed last year by second grade teachers Becky Martin and Mary Midkiff, according to Elementary Principal Heather Conn. The curriculum teaches math to students in a spiral manner. "We will see the same information...
The Petersburg Fire Department has filled its vacant EMS coordinator position about two months after the borough assembly authorized the department to hire a third staff member following uncertainty in the borough's budget. Josh Rathmann began his first day with the department on Thursday, Jan. 16. He was stationed in Petersburg for just under three years when serving in the United States Coast Guard. During that time, he was a volunteer firefighter with the Petersburg Fire Department, but his...
The community lap pool is closed this week due to an above average amount of water being pumped into the pool to maintain regular water levels. Parks and Recreation Facilities Supervisor Stephanie Payne said the cause of the phenomenon is unknown at this time. A pool dye kit has been ordered that may help staff determine what has been causing the pool to need extra water to keep it at capacity. Payne said she first noticed the problem late last week. Parks and Recreation made the decision to...
After a rigorous 11-week program that pushed the limits of his physical and academic abilities, Captain Randal Holmgrain of the Petersburg Police Department graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy in Virginia on Dec. 20. Holmgrain first applied to the academy in December 2017, which is offered to law enforcement officers throughout the country and world. As part of the extensive application process, Holmgrain had to submit his resume and explain what he could contribute to...
A patchwork of logging roads already exists, and the project would connect those roads to make a 35-mile, single-lane road between Kake and 12-mile Creek north of the city of Kupreanof. The money was allocated in 2012 by State Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, as part of a program called "Roads to Resources" meant to help access to natural resources. "We need to have a transportation system in Southeast," Stedman said in a phone interview. "This road is part of a bigger drive to help stabilize and exp...
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...
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