Sorted by date Results 1610 - 1634 of 5553
After the tree lighting ceremony on Friday, Erin Kandoll, of Twisted Ginger Designs, revealed a collection of rosemal inspired jewelry at FireLight Gallery & Framing. During the holidays, Kandoll always notices that people around town like to don their Norwegian sweaters to keep warm as temperatures drop. To accompany the town’s holiday attire, Kandoll handmade 135 pairs of earrings, 35 necklaces, 28 rings and four cuff bracelets with rosemal designs. “I really just had fun with it this yea...
In a couple of months, Petersburg High School senior Kole Sperl has turned a pile of aluminum sheets into a skiff. He has plenty of work left to do before it's seaworthy but Sperl said in its current state, it would float. "There might be a couple leaks that I'd have to patch, but it'll definitely float," said Sperl. "All the main welding is done down by the water line." Sperl spends anywhere from one and a half hours to three hours a week working on his skiff as part of his marine fabrication...
A public works crew worked from 7 P.M. on Nov. 20 to 2 A.M. the following morning to fix a leak in an 8-inch water main on 12th St. that was spurting out 250,000 gallons of water a day. The leak was first identified when an electronic leak detector was used to determine if there were leaks in any of the pipes throughout the city. The leak detector showed a major leak in the 8-inch water main on 12th St. at Haugen Dr., so Public Works Director Chris Cotta decided to dig into the ground to...
With the two-decades old lighted Christmas street decorations in tatters, both the Chamber of Commerce and the Petersburg Borough scrambled to find replacements this month. New decorations were priced at $500 each, according to Chamber Manager Mara Lutomski, but when board member Carrie Martinsen heard of the cost, she proposed that her company Tamico, Inc. fabricate the decorations for half the price. The original 16 snowflake designed ornaments were made of painted steel and were prone to...
Kim Aulbach has become Petersburg Post Office's new postmaster after the previous postmaster, Mark Eppihimer, transferred to Anchorage. Eppihimer was promoted to labor relations specialist and relocated to Anchorage in August. Once he left, Aulbach applied for the position while she and Nels Nielsen took on postmaster duties. On Oct. 12, she was promoted to postmaster. During her five and a half years with the post office, Aulbach said she would learn new skills every chance she got to increase...
The Petersburg Medical Center saw a 26 percent increase in net operating revenue for the month of October, reported Controller Rocio Tereja at a board of directors meeting last week. PMC expected a net operating revenue of $1,391,250 for October, but instead the net operating revenue was $363,780 higher for a total of $1,755,030. Total operating expenses were at $1,545,742, over the $1,391,250 that was budgeted. Despite coming in over budget, the total operating expenses were lower than the net...
Petersburg Medical Center was approved for a $100,000 grant from the Rasmuson Foundation to help offset the costs of a new drug room, CEO Phil Hofstetter told board members at a meeting last week. PMC is remodeling the part of the hospital where the drugs for chemotherapy are prepared to become compliant with standards that regulate the handling of hazardous drugs. Currently, the drugs are prepared in a negative pressure hood. The new drug room will have a negative pressure hood, room and storag...
Local berry pickers were treated to a plentiful harvest this year as warm weather helped the berries thrive throughout Mitkof Island. "It was unbelievable," said Marilyn Menish-Meucci. "There were berries everywhere. If you found a spot where there weren't berries, then something was really wrong." The season starts with salmonberries in June and as the weeks go by, other berries begin to ripen, said Menish-Meucci. Some of the berries that ripen after salmonberries, are blueberries, red...
Brooklyn Dormer, a soprano, was selected to perform in the all-state mixed choir at the All-State Music Festival in Anchorage on Saturday. She was the only student at Petersburg High School that was chosen to participate in the festival. She submitted an online audition in late September and then spent weeks practicing six songs in preparation for the festival. PHS music instructor Matt Lenhard was also awarded the music educator of the year by the Alaska Music Educators Association at the...
Garitt Johnston, 30, was indicted by a Grand Jury on Nov. 21 for his involvement with Eric Jennings, who had received a package with heroin, methamphetamine and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) in it on Nov. 9. Johnston was indicted on one count of aiding or abetting the manufacturing or delivery of a schedule IA controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver and one count of aiding or abetting the possession with intent to manufacture or deliver any amount of a schedule IIA or IIIA...
Ashley Lohr let her artistic instincts and habits guide her in eight new compositions on display in a solo exhibit at the Clausen Memorial Museum. Lohr's pieces are abstracts that are dominated by elements of color and shapes. She held a similar exhibit last year, but this year, she decided to include circles in her art. The circles manifested through artistic instincts, the cycle of motherhood and her schedule. Two of her compositions show a cosmic influence. Lohr said she just let her...
A group of residents and property owners in Frederick Point East are trying to remove the undeveloped subdivision from service area one. The main reason the group is trying to remove Frederick Point East from service area one is that they pay a full 12.3 millage rate, but don't receive any services. The millage rate is the amount per $1,000 of a property's assessed value that is used to calculate taxes within the borough. "There has been no services provided, nor has there been an intention of...
The heavy rainfall this month has been pushing precipitation levels closer to the normal 109.23 inches of rain that normally falls in Petersburg each year, according to Wes Adkins, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau. The total amount of rainfall this year in Petersburg is at 82.30 inches, as of Nov. 15. Over the weekend, precipitation levels surpassed the normal 12.22 inches for the month of November. The Climate Prediction Center forecasts a tilt towards higher than...
A Grand Jury indicted Eric Jennings, 39, on three of the five counts set before them on Nov. 14. Jennings was indicted on misconduct involving a controlled substance in the fourth degree, tampering with physical evidence and criminal mischief in the third degree. The two other counts, misconduct involving a controlled substance in the second degree and misconduct involving a controlled substance in the third degree, were withdrawn. On Nov. 7, Kevin Home, a United States postal inspector,...
Jim Floyd, 52, assumes the general manager position at Hammer and Wikan this week. Most recently Floyd managed the Fred Meyer store in Juneau. He was there from 2015 until October of this year and took the store through a remodel during his first year. Later, he navigated the store through a 25% increase in business after Walmart closed their store. While in Medford, Oregon to move his mother-in-law into a retirement community, he heard about the Hammer and Wikan opportunity. Floyd said the...
A resolution supporting alternative one of the draft environmental impact statement for the exemption of the Roadless Rule in the Tongass National Forest will go before the borough assembly at their first meeting in December after the assembly pushed the vote back by two weeks at their meeting on Monday. The United State Forest Service released the findings of its draft environmental impact statement earlier this month that showed the United States Department of Agriculture supported...
The borough assembly approved an ordinance to transfer $194,695 from the wastewater fund to the Scow Bay Pump Station One project in its third reading and awarded the bid for the project to Rock N Road Construction. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation originally approved a loan of $550,000 to the borough to fund the pump station project, but that wasn't enough to cover costs. The $194,695 transferred from the wastewater fund will cover the rest of the costs associated with the...
Engel Entertainment, a production company that filmed a reality TV show in Petersburg this past spring that focuses on law enforcement, has announced "Alaska PD" will premiere on Jan. 1. on A&E. "Alaska PD' brings viewers to America's Last Frontier, where the line between civilization and lawlessness can be razor thin," wrote Elizabeth Schimdt, of Engel Entertainment, in a prepared statement. The series follows law enforcement in Fairbanks, Kodiak, Kotzebue and Petersburg. The name of the...
The Petersburg School Board approved a board policy in its first reading regarding restrictions on sex offenders on campus. 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 full board in case there were any concerns. School Board Vice President Sarah Holmgrain said there hasn't been an incident in the district. The school board is adding a policy restricting sex...
One of Alaska's oldest retailers is proposing bold changes in its quest to provide Petersburg customers with what they need. Barry Morrison, general manager of The Trading Union, Inc. said the hardware store inventory will be liquidated and its space will be filled with specialty foods and Costco products. "The biggest complaint I get is the cost of food and requests for specialty foods," Morrison said. The town needs greater access to specialty foods, Morrison added. Products offered in the...
Since spring of this year, Barry Morrison, General Manager at The Trading Union, Inc., has been managing the SOS Value Mart in Kake and hopes to purchase the retail business and its real estate by next year. "It's going pretty well," Morrison said. "We've expanded the variety of offerings and cut costs to allow us to lower prices." Morrison said for example that with some cost cutting on freight they have lowered milk prices from over $8/gallon into the $6 range. Freight costs to Kake are...
The Petersburg Medical Center held its fourth Community Cafe last week, which focused on healthcare for the aging population and the concept of "Aging in Place." Ken Helander, associate state director of advocacy with AARP, spoke on caregiving and other topics to consider to help aging citizens transition from an independent lifestyle to one that requires assistance. A combined total of 89 residents attended the afternoon and evening Community Cafes on Nov. 12. Hospital staff was also available...
Four career and technical education students gave an overview of their presentation at a conference in October before the Petersburg School Board last week. People were lined up out the door to hear Thomas Durkin, Maddy Gilpin, Jaden Perry and Zephrie Whitethorn speak about their accomplishments in wood and metal shop classes at PHS during the Alaska Career and Technical Education Conference in Anchorage, according to Industrial Arts Teacher Dave Owens. Whitethorn spoke about how working...
The water level at Tyee Lake was at 1,380.6 feet as of Monday, which will allow the hydro plant to produce power for over seven months should all inflows to the lake stop. As part of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, Tyee Lake dedicates its power to Petersburg and Wrangell, while Swan Lake produces power for Ketchikan. The 1,380.6 foot water level is about even with normal water levels for this time of the year, and is above the approximately 1,300 foot water level in November 2018, according t...
The borough assembly requested Dec. 6 at 3 P.M. as the date for a public hearing with the National Marine Fisheries Service on the humpback whale critical habitat proposed rule. NMFS recently published a proposed rule to designate critical habitat for Mexico, Central America and Western North Pacific district population segments of humpback whales under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, according to Angela Somma, of NMFS's Endangered Species Division. If the proposed rule passes, actions that...
