Sorted by date Results 1720 - 1744 of 5553
MV Columbia was traveling through the Wrangell Narrows Sunday when its wake caused a nearby skiff to capsize. "All indications support that this was a random freak thing," said United States Coast Guard Public Affairs Specialist Melissa McKenzie. "There was no specific cause for it." There were three people onboard the 16-foot skiff when it capsized near Blind Point. All three of the passengers went into the water, but were rescued by good Samaritans, said McKenzie. No injuries were reported....
The Petersburg Indian Association will begin offering a paratransit service to all seniors and those with disabilities to fill a need in the community starting this fall. "I'm excited because Petersburg doesn't have this kind of service," said Tribal Council President Cris Morrison. "This will be new and open for everybody." The details of the paratransit service are still in the preliminary stage, but the free door-to-door program is expected to start off with a service area spanning between...
Two adventurers were dropped off in Thomas Bay with their gear, two kayaks and a pack raft, which they carried through the terminal moraine to the terminal lake of Baird Glacier. From the glacier, their journey to climb Devil's Thumb began. It would take Patrick Fowler and Alex Jahn just about a week to reach the 9,078-foot summit once they left Thomas Bay on Sunday, July 28. "Every day there was some sort of challenge that we had to overcome," said Fowler. "It all came together. The weather...
PETERSBURG - The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced that the summer season for the commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Registration Area A (Southeast) will close by regulation at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, August 15, 2019, consistent with 5 AAC 32.110. Reporting of lost pots, or pots left in a closed area in fishing condition, should be directed to Alaska Wildlife Troopers (AWT) offices in Juneau or Ketchikan....
A call was placed to the Petersburg Fire Department at 7:40 P.M. Monday night after residents reported seeing dark, black smoke coming from the Public Works Department lot on 2nd St. Flames were coming from a shed that was filled with large, spare tires for the borough’s vehicles. Nearby residents stated they also heard loud popping noises. The fire was contained by about 8 P.M., but firefighters didn’t leave until around 9:30 P.M, said Assistant Fire Chief Dave Berg. The cause of the fire is... Full story
There was tension in the room Friday afternoon, August 2 as around 20 Petersburg Parks and Recreation (P&R) users and parents met with Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht, newly hired Facilities Supervisor Stephanie Payne and Parks and Rec. Director Chandra Thornburg regarding some of the proposed changes to the P&R operating rules. The meeting came about after Kellii Schurb Wood posted online about the changes P&R is thinking of adopting at the start of the new school year. The number one concern...
As the dry weather persists though the summer, Tyee Lake water levels continue to be below the normal levels for early August. As part of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, Tyee Lake dedicates its power to Petersburg and Wrangell, while Swan Lake produces power for Ketchikan. Water in Tyee Lake reached 1,313 feet Monday morning. The water level is lower than the norm for Tyee Lake this time of year, but it is higher than the water level this time last year, said Utility Director Karl Hagerman....
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration held an online press conference last Friday, Aug. 2, to announce the release of their annual report to Congress on the state of the country's fisheries. This report, for the year 2018, looks at 479 federally managed fish stocks across the United States. Alan Risenhoover, director of the office of sustainable fisheries, said that the report was designed to give Congressmen and the wider public more insight into the state of American fish stocks....
This week, nine Mitkof Middle School students are participating in a summer science camp through the Petersburg Marine Mammal Center that introduces them to science related jobs in the community, while getting them to experience the outdoors. Monday began with an introduction to the camp and safety procedures. Bjorn Stolpe with Petersburg Search and Rescue spoke to the students on how to prevent getting lost in the forest and what to do if they should get lost. A wildlife biologist with the...
With approximately 400 members of the Inlandboatmen's Union going on strike last Wednesday, July 24, operations of the Alaska Marine Highway System have come to a halt. Without ferry services, many people across the state, especially in Southeast Alaska, found themselves stranded. In the communities of Wrangell and Petersburg, many people are facing disruptions to their schedules, families, and work. WRANGELL: Several of Wrangell's children and adults attending a church camp in Juneau were...
On July 12, the cruise ship Safari Quest discharged their wastewater into Petersburg Harbor due to a malfunctioning fan. The fan impeded the normal processing of wastewater and a small amount of poorly processed material was released into the harbor before the mistake was noticed and the valve was shut off, according to Dan Blanchard, CEO of UnCruise Adventures, in a prepared statement. "We sincerely regret the incident and want to assure the community this is not our usual practice," said...
Last week, Petersburg Medical Center Controller Rocio Tereja presented the board of directors with a review of the hospitals financial standing at the end of the 2019 fiscal year that ended on June 30. PMC was ahead in operating revenue and total operating expenses by five and seven percent respectively, and has seven more days of operating cash on hand than at the start of the 2019 fiscal year. Additionally, PMC's total cash increased to $8,047,677 from $6,992,066 since the start of the year....
A group of about 10 individuals have banded together to secure funding for an outdoor covered deck at Mountain View Manor so its residents have a place to sit outside in the sun. While there is a deck on the backside of the manor, that area can get too cold for the residents since the sun doesn't shine there during the day. Residents have begun sitting in front of the building by one of the entrances in an effort to enjoy some fresh air in the sunlight, but there is not a designated sitting...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors approved the hospital's 2020 fiscal year capital budget for a total of $769,785 last week. The most expensive capital item in the budget is a $387,000 new drug room for the pharmacy, followed by $139,980 in upgrades in the information technology department. The rest of the departments have a combined total of $142,805 in capital items. When the budget was first presented to the board of directors in June, PMC Controller Rocio Tereja said the...
Adam Pack, a professor and marine mammal scientist with the University of Hawaii Hilo, gave a presentation at the Petersburg Library on Tuesday on the data he has collected on humpback whales this summer and over the course of his research. Humpback whales are season breeders with separate feeding and breeding grounds. The humpback whales that can be seen throughout Southeast Alaska during the summer are feeding in the region before returning back to their breeding grounds in Hawaii, near Maui....
The State and the Inland Boatmens Union have reached a tentative agreement. AMHS is resuming service, to see the new schedule click link below: https://www.dot.state.ak.us/oars/reservations/CalendarFM.amhsf?selectMonth=August+2019&selectPort=Petersburg&selectVessel=All+Vessels&action=Get+Schedule Call 1-800-642-0066 with questions. Due to the high volume of calls, it may take time to connect with a customer service representative. AMHS staff will never request credit card information from... Full story
An investigation by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation revealed that the Le Soléal did not dump sewage into Frederick Sound near Le Conte Bay earlier this month after a report of "brown sludge" being seen near the cruise ship's anchorage. The DEC conducted an onboard inspection, reviewed the electronic monitoring records for the ship's pumps, observed samples taken of the ship's treated water and talked to crew members of the Le Soléal, said Ed White of the commercial p...
The borough assembly denied Police Chief Jim Kerr's request to advertise and fill a vacant police sergeant position at an assembly meeting last week. While the borough's 2020 operating budget does allocate funds for the position, assembly members decided not to fill the position, citing uncertainty in the ability to continue funding the $127,224 position in the future. The assembly increased the millage rate in service area one to 12.3 mills earlier this month as a response to Gov. Mike...
The borough assembly voted against filling a vacant EMS coordinator position last week that would free up Fire/EMS Director Sandy Dixson's time to apply for grants, while designating an individual that could train more EMS volunteers. "If people don't think that this is a big deal, you will come this winter or some late night when something is going haywire out at your house or there's a car accident and you don't have enough people, then people are going to get really upset at why we don't have...
From Oct. 31, 2018 through July 6, the United States Coast Guard Cutter ELDERBERRY, home ported in Petersburg, was dry docked in Ketchikan for routine maintenance. Coast Guard civilian employees performed most of the work, which included a complete overhaul the ship's engines and the replacement of the fire main piping and potable water piping, according to Andrew Tetrault, executive petty officer of the ELDERBERRY. A large portion of the ship's steel and deck was also replaced. The ELDERBERRY...
Southeast Alaska is currently going through its second year of increased hemlock sawfly activity, but an entomologist with the United States Forest Service said the trees that the insects feed off of should make a full recovery after the ecosystem regulates itself. "We have experienced these kinds of outbreaks in the past," said Elizabeth Graham, an entomologist with the State & Private Forestry, which is a branch of the USFS that focuses on forest health protection. "Usually we have a big...
Sea otters are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, a federal law that prohibits the harvesting of marine mammals. However, this law does allow for some exceptions. Under section 101 of the act, on page 16, it reads that "... the provisions of this Act shall not apply with respect to the taking of any marine mammal by any Indian, Aleut, or Eskimo who resides in Alaska and who dwells on the coast of the North Pacific Ocean or the Arctic Ocean if such taking-(1) is for subsistence...
The borough assembly approved an ordinance last week in its first reading that would give voters the opportunity to decide whether or not to allow the water and wastewater departments to take out loans not to exceed a total of $8 million for capital improvement projects. The responsibility of the repayment of the loans would fall on water and wastewater rate payers. The loans will be through the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and will be paid back over a 20-year period at 1.5...
A fisherman reported raw sewage had been dumped into Frederick Sound near Le Conte Bay on the morning of July 10, but the cruise ship Le Soléal's captain, Erwan Le Rouzic, said any sewage found in the bay could not have been from them. "This cannot be us," wrote Le Rouzic in a statement to Dave Berg of Viking Travel. "It is impossible. We are strictly following the most stringent rules in Alaska waters." Berg first contacted Le Rouzic after some fishermen noticed a presence of "long brown...
Sea otters are considered by many people to be an adorable animal, an important part of the ecosystem, and also a nuisance that is threatening other marine life populations in Southeast Alaska. In Wrangell, many people have talked about the need for better population control when it comes to otters. The Wrangell Borough Assembly talked about loosening restrictions on hunting the creatures last September with Sebastian O'Kelly, a federal lobbyist. Back in May, fifth-grade student Brody Knecht...
