Sorted by date Results 1681 - 1705 of 5574
Rotary District Governor André Layral was in town this week meeting with the Petersburg Rotary Club to discuss how he can support their ongoing projects and members. Layral has been district governor since July 1 and will serve for one year. For the two and a half years before he became district governor, Layral was undergoing training to better understand the volunteer position. Layral said most of his work is done behind the scenes, doing administrative work to keep the district operating,...
Petersburg was without power Sunday after a tree touching a power line at the 4.7 mile mark of Mitkof Highway acted as a conductor, causing Southeast Alaska Power Agency's protective relays on their transmission lines to trip. Before the power went out at approximately 11:30 A.M., the tree that was touching the power line caught on fire, but it eventually put itself out, according to Utility Director Karl Hagerman. The responding power and light line crew was able to restore power within the...
Mark Roberts was on the second hole of the Sea Mountain Golf Course in Sitka last month, and the only one on the green, when the golf ball he just swung at hit a bald eagle while it was flying about 10 yards in front of him. The eagle was still alive as Roberts approached it, but it died while he was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher. "I could not believe what just happened," said Roberts. "Did I panic? Did I cry? Did I get shook up? Yes, I did. Very much so." Roberts said the 911 dispatcher...
Total ballots cast - 1,134 Mayor - one 3-year term Mark Jensen - 591 Jeff Meucci - 530 Assembly - two 3-year terms Aaron R. Hankins - 354 Marc Martinsen - 476 Jeigh Stanton Gregor - 649 Chelsea Tremblay - 539 School board - two 3-year terms Sarah P. Holmgrain - 929 Mara E. Lutomski - 815 Hospital board - three 3-year terms George S. Doyle - 651 Cynthia Lagoudakis - 598 Lisa Nilsen - 263 Joe Stratman - 544 Stacey Thorsen - 456 Jackie Tyson - 266 Planning Commission - two 3-year terms No...
The borough assembly tallied the final votes of the municipal election and certified their results at their regular meeting on Monday. Seven questioned and pending absentee ballots were added to the unofficial results that were released on election night last week, bringing the total amount of ballots cast to 1,134. The seven ballots weren't enough to change any of the outcomes in the election. Mark Jensen received one additional vote and Jeff Meucci received six votes in the mayoral race....
The numbers from the Petersburg Medical Center Foundation two-month long fundraiser are in and, beginning with the Paddle Battle in July through an Alaska Airlines raffle in September, the foundation raised approximately $11,800 for staff education. About 27 participants signed up for the seventh annual Paddle Battle in the Narrows fundraiser, which began at Papke's Landing and ended at Sandy Beach Park with an opportunity to take a break at Scow Bay. Troy Larson was the first to reach Sandy Bea...
The borough assembly accepted a grant totaling $295,000 from the fiscal year 2019 State Homeland Security Program to assist with the purchase and installation of a new E911 system and a joint training exercise between local EMS and law enforcement personnel. In a memo to Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht, Petersburg Police Department Captain Randal Holmgrain said $285,000 from the grant would go specifically towards the new E911 system. Holmgrain said the overall cost of the project is estimated...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency Board approved $97,750 to replace the backup battery bank at the Tyee Lake hydro facility at a regular board meeting last Thursday. Early last month, Petersburg and Wrangell were providing their own power for about a week while the Tyee Lake Hydro facility was offline for annual maintenance. During the maintenance period, SEAPA conducted a battery capacity discharge test of the hydro project's nickel-cadmium batteries. Three hours into the test, one of the...
Unofficial poll numbers show Mark Jensen returning for another three year term as mayor and incumbent Jeigh Stanton Gregor and Chelsea Tremblay elected to the borough assembly in the municipal election on Tuesday. Jensen had 590 votes and Jeff Meucci, who also sought the mayor’s seat, had 524 votes, according to unofficial results. Stanton Gregor and Tremblay beat Aaron Hankins and Marc Martinsen for the two seats on the assembly. The seats had belonged to Stanton Gregor and Kurt Wohlhueter. W...
The borough's diesel generators began providing power to Petersburg Sunday afternoon after a failure in a Southeast Alaska Power Agency transmission line left the community without electricity for two and a half hours. The power outage occurred around 2 p.m., but it took Petersburg Municipal Power & Light some time to bring the power back on. SEAPA had thought they cleared the problem and instructed Petersburg to close its breakers at the substation in anticipation of restoring power, but the...
This year's moose harvest looks to be above the five- year average with the moose count at 64 just 17 days into the season. Between 2014 and 2018, the average moose count for this time of the season was 58. There was a dip in the moose harvest this time last year, with only 42 being taken. Fish and Game Area Biologist Frank Robbins said the warm weather last fall may have been a factor in the low number of moose being taken. In 2017 and 2016, the moose harvest was 64 about 17 days into the seaso...
The Petersburg Medical Center's Joy Janssen Clinic was awarded the 2019 Golden Stethoscope Award for its medication assisted treatment program for substance abuse by the Alaska State Hospital & Nursing Home Association. "It's just a nice pat on the back," said PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter. "It's a nice acknowledgment amongst all the different facilities in the state. I think it's worthwhile." The yearly award was given to PMC at an ASHNHA conference last week. A team of PMC staff wrote up a...
The water level at Tyee Lake was at 1,344.9 feet on Monday, which is roughly 60 feet higher than it was this time last year. As part of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, Tyee Lake dedicates its power to Petersburg and Wrangell, while Swan Lake produces power for Ketchikan. While the 1,345 foot water level is lower than the norm for Tyee Lake, it is still higher than the 1,285 foot water level in September 2018, said Utility Director Karl Hagerman. If water were to stop flowing into Tyee Lake...
Despite being the second wettest month out of the year for Petersburg, September was slightly below the normal 13.65 inch rainfall amount at 12.21 inches, according to Dan Hartsock, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service forecast office in Juneau. Petersburg is also below the normal amount of rainfall for the first nine months of the year. There were 59.87 inches of rainfall reported in Petersburg in 2019 so far, but by this time of the year, the city typically has 70.74 inches of...
The Petersburg municipal election is next week, and only one proposition, which would authorize long-term indebtedness for utility capital projects, will be on the ballot. The loans will be through the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and will be paid back over a 20-year period at 1.5 percent interest. The responsibility of the repayment of the loans would fall on water and wastewater rate payers. The wastewater department has five projects planned for a total of $2.6 million,...
Beginning this week, Public Works will not be picking up commingled recyclables for a minimum of six weeks, while the borough's new baler is being installed. The current baler has already been removed from the baler facility, and staff is prepping the floor for the new baler that is set to arrive next week. Commingled recyclables need to be dry and baled before being shipping to the recycling facility, so the borough can't store the material in the baler facility while construction is ongoing;...
Food service staff can now work with ease in full-size commercial kitchens now that construction on the new elementary school and high school cafeterias has been completed. Work on the elementary school cafeteria was finished on Sept. 16. Previously, food was prepared in a corner of the cafeteria that wasn't separated from the rest of the room, but the classroom next to the cafeteria became a kitchen area after the remodel. The Viking Cafe at the high school only had a salad bar and food was...
Mayoral candidates Jeff Meucci General Information Age: 64 Experience: I served on the Petersburg Park & Recreation advisory board, the Petersburg City council and served two terms as the Petersburg mayor from 1995 thru 1999. I was appointed to my current Borough Assembly seat and was elected to my Assembly seat two years ago. During my time as the Petersburg Mayor I traveled extensively as the number one advocate for the City of Petersburg. Why do you seek public office? I am seeking public...
Six candidates running for the three seats up for election on the Petersburg Medical Center's Board of Directors answered questions from representatives from KFSK and the Petersburg Pilot during a forum on Tuesday. Incumbent George Doyle, Incumbent Cindi Lagoudakis, Lisa Nilsen, Joe Stratman, Stacey Thorsen and Jackie Tyson each had two minutes to answer each question. Each candidate was asked the same question, and the order of the candidates changed with each question. The candidates each...
The Department of Transportation responded to a landslide near the 18 mile marker of Mitkof Highway on Saturday. The landslide was first reported to DOT at 2:30 A.M. Saturday morning by the Petersburg Police Department, according to Meadow Bailey, a spokesperson with DOT. Staff was able to reach the landslide, which had blocked the entire street, with equipment by 4:30 A.M. Mud and debris covered the road for about 300 feet and was approximately three feet deep. "[The landslide] was extensive...
A forum was held on Thursday to give representatives from KFSK, the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and the Petersburg Pilot the chance to ask the two mayoral candidates questions on local issues. Mayor Mark Jensen and Assembly Member Jeff Meucci were given two minutes to answer each question. Both candidates were asked the same question and the order of the candidates changed with each question. After giving their opening statements, each candidate began answering questions. Some of the...
The borough assembly signed on to a Salmon Beyond Borders letter on Monday to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to act against Canada's inadequate mining regulations in British Columbia. Watershed from Canada's abandoned, proposed, developing and operating large-scale mines in B.C. impact or pose a great risk to American interests as the watershed from the mines flow into the United States, according to the letter. Salmon Beyond Borders asks that the U.S. Department of State work with Global...
Over six emergency flares were fired into the sky just before 8 P.M. on Sunday in the area of Farragut River, but the United States Coast Guard determined that individuals at one of the cabins were just disposing of expired flares. Dennis Rogers and his family were anchored in Francis Anchorage of Farragut Bay when they saw a red parachute flare slowly descending from the Farragut River area, Rogers said in a written statement to the Pilot. Rogers immediately called the Coast Guard Sector Juneau...
A portion of Haugen Dr. near the Petersburg Public Library was blocked off on Monday while crews repaired a bad water valve. While trying to track a potable water leak at the Presbyterian Church property on Friday, Public Works staff closed off a valve in the Haugen Dr. and 2nd St. intersection, according to Public Works Director Chris Cotta. The valve then began to leak. Because work to repair the valve would take place next to a state street, the borough spent Friday coordinating with the stat...
On September 11, Hunt Parr, Sr., 63, of Petersburg was issued a summons by Alaska State Troopers for commercial fishing the closed waters of District 6A. Parr is the permit holder aboard the F/V Somerset, a gillnet vessel based out of Petersburg. Arraignment is set for October 8 in the Petersburg District Court. On Sept. 11, Christopher Haerling, 28, of Petersburg was issued a summons for violating Landing Requirements in the 2019 commercial Dungeness Fishery. Haerling, the permit holder aboard...
