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Though many of the thirty individuals who showed up at the public meeting held last Wednesday to discuss the Kake-Petersburg Intertie (KPI) expressed their support for the project, a spirited discussion also ensued about the various components included in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) released by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the environmental review process. The review process is required under NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) for any projects that will have a...
Max Worhatch IV is this year’s Chamber of Commerce Rain Game winner with a guess of 115.75 inches. The total reported precipitation by NOAA for 2014 was 115.87 inches, meaning Petersburg saw higher than average precipitation this year. According to NOAA, annual precipitation for the area is 109.95 inches. Chamber Director Cindi Lagoudakis said the winner came down to the numbers beyond the decimal as 13 contestants guessed the rainfall at 115 inches. A total of 248 entries were received for this year’s contest. The lowest and most opt...
The Petersburg School Board approved a new search proposal with the Alaska Association of School Boards (AASB) to conduct a search for a new PSD Superintendent after the Board accepted previous Petersburg School District Dr. Lisa Stroh’s resignation and settlement release agreement, which grants her administrative leave with pay and benefits through June 30, 2015—the same benefits outlined in a paragraph of her hiring contract provided to Stroh should she be fired without cause. Questions have been raised as to whether or not the board fir...
Jasmine Ieremia will be spending the 2015-16 school year abroad in Thailand. The Petersburg High School freshman learned the location of her studies abroad after attending a winter orientation for Rotary Youth Exchange students last weekend in Anchorage. "It (the orientation) was really for the outbounds to learn what country they were going to and just to learn some tools to use on their exchange dealing with people and dealing with being away from home," Ieremia said. She said that spending a...
The Petersburg School Board unanimously approved Tuesday night a $69,350 bid to replace a boiler in the middle school. Ketchikan Mechanical Incorporated submitted the second lowest bid to the district and will replace the current leaky boiler that was originally installed in 1984. The boiler will likely be replaced by the end of March. Harri Plumbing was the high bidder at $143,600. Schmolck Mechanical Contractors bid second highest at $141,637. Superior Plumbing and Heating bid the job at $89,740 and Raincountry Contractors was the lowest bidd...
After some discussion about the jurisdiction of two new sections of a municipal code governing parking regulations, the Borough Assembly voted unanimously to pass the ordinance on its second reading. The ordinance was tabled in early October pending Police Chief Kelly Swihart’s return from an 11-week training in Virginia. The ordinance will transfer two new sections to Title 11 of the former-City of Petersburg’s traffic ordinances into Borough Code. Assembly member Bob Lynn said he’d like to see the ordinance apply only to Service Area 1 rathe...
According to Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht’s report to the Assembly, the ad hoc committee formed to investigate possible local action regarding state herbicide use is working with State House representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins’ office to pursue legislative action on the issue after efforts to meet with officials from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) dead ended. “His office is in the process of checking with the State’s legal representation to get a ruling on the ability of local municipalities to restrict actions...
The Price Comparison chart on page 16 of last week’s paper referred to Petro and reflected pricing offered by Petro Express for gasoline and diesel fuels. Heating oil prices for Petersburg are labeled as Petro and reflects prices listed by Petro Marine. The Pilot regrets the error....
Richard Patteson was selected to serve as the Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla Commander for Petersburg for the next two years at the Change of Watch ceremony held Jan. 14. Ken Hamilton will serve as the vice commander. Patteson has been volunteering with the auxiliary for about five years including a recent two-year term as vice commander under the outgoing Flotilla Commander Rod Herbrandson. The Petersburg chapter of the auxiliary currently has 14 members and Patteson said part of his duties as commander will involve recruiting new members....
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) _ Alaska State Troopers are continuing to investigate the death of a man who was struck in November by a vehicle in a small southeast Alaska village. The Juneau Empire reports 61-year-old Barton Rose was struck and seriously injured in an apparent hit-and-run on Nov. 7 in Kake (kayk). He was flown to Anchorage for treatment. He died seven weeks later on Dec. 24. A trooper from Juneau traveled to Kake to investigate the incident. Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters says no arrest has been made in the case. Kake is 90 miles...
KETCHIKAN (AP) — Jurors in Alaska have found a commercial fisherman guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of a Kansas diver who died while harvesting sea cucumbers. The jury on Friday found Joshua Wodyga (woh-DY’-gah) not guilty of manslaughter. Prosecutors argued that Wodyga’s negligence in maintaining an air compressor and air filter led to the death of Levi Adams, 32, of Leawood, Kansas. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning and drowning while he and Wodyga were diving in 2013 in waters off Mountain Point. Mark Osterman, Wodyg...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — An autopsy has been ordered for a 20-year-old Wrangell man who died of injuries suffered in a Ketchikan jail. Alaska State Troopers say Brendon Sample on Thursday attempted to hang himself with a bed sheet while alone in a cell at Ketchikan Correctional Center. Corrections staff found him unresponsive. He was taken to Peace Health Ketchikan Medical. He stayed in the intensive care unit until 1 a.m. Friday, when he was flown to Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage. Sample was pronounced dead Saturday in Anchorage. O...
Local Trident Seafood’s infrastructure is undergoing a small remodel over the coming months. Trident Southeast Manager John Webby said the mess hall, which was originally constructed in the 1920s, needs several repairs and freezing capacity in the plant is being expanded. “We’re adding a little more ice making capacity and we’re streamlining, upgrading and remodeling the plant inside to slightly modernize it a little bit,” Webby said. Trident staff is doing most of the work and the company is bringing in a contractor from down south to work o...
On Jan. 7, former Petersburg School District Maintenance Director Tye Petersen was sentenced to 12 years in jail, followed by 25 years of supervised release for Distribution, Receipt and Possession of Child Pornography. U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess presided over the sentencing hearing in the U.S. District Court in Anchorage where Petersen has been in custody of the U.S. Marshal Service since his arrest in October 2013. Petersen, 46, was arrested after federal investigators and local police conducted a search warrant of his home and... Full story
The Petersburg School Board accepted Petersburg School District Dr. Lisa Stroh's resignation and settlement release agreement last week, which grants her administrative leave with pay and benefits through June 30, 2015. Stroh cited family medical issues last December for requesting temporary administrative leave, but submitted her resignation December 31. During the special meeting, Petersburg Borough Assembly member John Havrilek questioned the board's decision to grant Stroh pay while not... Full story
When Intergalactic Nemesis' creator and producer Jason Neulander was tasked with performing his radio play in front of much larger than usual audiences at a much larger than usual venue, he decided to add another element, creating a performance experience unlike any other. "I got invited to bring the project in that format (radio drama) into this huge theater and felt like the venue was too big for watching a radio play and came up with the idea of projecting comic book art work...in order to...
After nearly three months of training at the FBI National Academy (NA) in Quantico, Va., Petersburg Police Chief Kelly Swihart has returned to full-time work at the department, bringing new contacts and knowledge with him. Swihart said one of the biggest benefits of the training was having the opportunity to get perspectives from police officials in departments around the U.S. and the world. "One of the leadership projects we did, we had...a major from Georgia, a deputy chief from Arlington, Tex...
Twenty-year-old Christafur Morrell pleaded guilty to an amended charge of Attempted Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the 2nd Degree at a change of plea hearing in Ketchikan Superior Court before Judge William Carey. The original charges he faced – Possession of Heroin with Intent to Distribute and Possession of Heroin – were dismissed. Morrell was indicted by a grand jury last July following an incident where local police seized around $75,000 worth of heroin. Morrell is not a resident of Petersburg but was staying at the Sca...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The Coast Guard says a lifejacket likely saved the life of a woman who fell into the frigid waters of Tongass Narrows in Ketchikan. KTUU-TV reports the 26-year-old Metlakatla woman was canoeing Sunday along south Pennock Island and heading for Annette Bay when she fell out of the canoe and had to swim to shore. Coast Guard spokeswoman Diana Honings says the woman was able to call the Ketchikan Police Department, which relayed the information to the Coast Guard The call came in at 3 p.m. and Coast Guard rescuers in a 25-foot r...
JUNEAU (AP) — A 57-year-old Ketchikan man with a history of violence will spend four years in a federal prison for attacking a member of the Coast Guard. Jon William Munhoven was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Juneau. He also must serve three years of probation. Munhoven was arrested on Sept. 2, 2013, when a 25-foot Coast Guard boat from Ketchikan responded to a call for help from a vessel where a man said Munhoven had bloodied his nose. The Coast Guard crew placed Munhoven in handcuffs and he kicked a member of the crew in the face d...
KETCHIKAN (AP) — The supervisor of the Tongass National Forest will retire his year. The Ketchikan Daily News reports Forrest Cole has set his retirement for April. Cole has been forest supervisor since 2003. A Forest Service announcement says he held positions in the Petersburg, Juneau and Yakutat ranger districts and the Stikine Administrative Area. The Tongass is also losing its deputy forest supervisor. Tricia O'Connor in February is transferring to the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. She has been in Alaska for more than 10 yea...
JUNEAU (AP) — Juneau is putting the brakes on marijuana businesses. The Juneau Empire reports the Juneau Assembly voted Monday to not consider issuing any land use permits for marijuana farms or documentation related to pot businesses until Oct. 19, or six months after the legislative session ends. The Legislature is expected to write regulations for marijuana businesses this session following voter approval of the recreational use of marijuana. The assembly's action doesn't have much of an effect on the general public. Marijuana still bec...
The Petersburg Advisory Committee met last week to discuss proposals and potential changes to fishing regulations that will eventually head to the Board of Fisheries for ultimate approval. “Every three years anybody and everybody can put in a proposal to the board of fisheries to change existing regulations, add new regulations or delete regulations,” Alaska Department of Fish and Game Petersburg Area Management Biologist Troy Thynes said. “They can’t deal with state statutes but these are just the codified regulations.” The committee...
Long time Petersburg resident Megan O’Neil, 26, is the newest Petersburg Vessel Owner’s (PVOA) Association Executive Director. O’Neil, who grew up in the fishing community since she was a kid, came back to town in 2010 after graduating from Northern Arizona University earning a degree in accounting and finance. O’Neil said she’s always been interested in fishing and the new job allows her to be more involved. “I came back after college to keep fishing and this gave me an opportunity to be a bigger part of the industry,” O’Neil said. “My job i...
Petersburg School District Superintendent Lisa Stroh submitted a letter of resignation to the Petersburg School Board December 31 citing family medical issues as her reason for resignation. Stroh requested administrative leave from December 16 through January 5, which the school board granted. "She felt a need to get down to Montana quickly," said school board member Sarah Holmgrain. "She asked for a leave of absence and while down there determined that she needed to stay." The board hired... Full story
