Sorted by date Results 1976 - 2000 of 5553
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday proposed paying qualified residents $3,678 over three years to make up for years that oil-wealth fund checks were capped. The money would be paid on top of whatever the annual dividend otherwise would be for this year, 2020 and 2021. Under Dunleavy’s proposal, the money would come from Alaska Permanent Fund earnings. Most Alaskans receive an annual check with payouts that reached as high as $2,072 in 2015. The following year, amid gridlock over how to address a state budget def...
WRANGELL - Moose meat was an important topic of discussion at the Wrangell Fish and Game Advisory Committee meeting on Mon., Jan. 7. The process by which meat from a forfeited moose is distributed through town is somewhat disorganized, said Committee Chair Chris Guggenbickler. The committee, and others around Wrangell, is interested in seeing a better system of distribution set up, one with more local control. As many Alaskans know, there are some tight restrictions on moose hunting. Alaska...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency board of directors approved an $800,000 rebate at their meeting in Petersburg last month to be distributed among the communities of Ketchikan, Petersburg and Wrangell; however, it may be the last rebate the borough could receive, according to Bob Lynn, Petersburg’s voting member on the SEAPA board. As some of the SEAPA facilities enter their 20-25 year life span, the board will be looking at all opportunities to save and borrow money and look for grant opportunities to replace the aging facilities, said Lynn a...
The sixth-grade students in the Mitkof Middle School's robotics club competed in an online tournament on Saturday against 10 other schools in Alaska and took first place. In the Lego Into Orbit Tournament, the team completed missions with a robot they programmed themselves. The missions took place on a large table that was filmed and broadcast to the other schools. Made out of Legos and featuring a small computer, the robot rolled across the table and completed such tasks as turning a mechanism...
Engel Entertainment may start filming its cop reality TV show based in Petersburg during the first week of February, but Police Chief Jim Kerr said he doesn’t expect filming to begin since the original start date kept being postponed. At a borough assembly meeting in August, Engel Entertainment vice president Kara Smith stated that the production company had hoped to start filming in the fall. Kerr said the start date kept being pushed back each month until there was a halt in communication with the production company. Engel Entertainment c...
January 17, 1919 The fishing season is again on and during the past week eight of the Petersburg fleet have outfitted and left for the fishing banks. Five of these boats are after halibut and the others are out for fish of other kind. Several of the fishing fleet are preparing to leave port within the next few days, and the next two weeks will probably see every fishing boat in port working to reap its share of the finny harvest of the deep. Among those about ready to leave are the Myra, Dependent, and Hazel. January 21, 1944 Word of much...
Effective January 15, 2019, Island Air Express will discontinue its scheduled service to Petersburg and Juneau. After operating its new 900 series flight schedule to both cities for approximately nine months it has been determined that there is unfortunately just not enough passenger demand to sustain daily scheduled air service to and from both communities. The owners and crew of Island Air Express would like to thank the Petersburg community for graciously welcoming us in during our inaugural service. We really enjoyed meeting all the...
Over the course of five days this past week, The Alaska Board of Game held five meetings where they heard public testimony and held deliberations for over 50 proposals for changes to hunting regulations in Southeast Alaska. The Alaska Board of Game, a division of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, is a regulatory board that has an open public process where anyone can submit proposals to change hunting regulations. Once every three years, the board members, which are all appointed by the governor, vote on whether or not to adopt submitted...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska’s population has declined for a second consecutive year, dropping by 1,608 people to a total of 736,239, according to a state report. A report released Thursday by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development shows 7,577 residents left as Alaska gained 5,969 people from July 2017 to July 2018, the Juneau Empire reported. Some residents left to pursue job opportunities outside the state as unemployment rates in the state have consistently topped 6 percent in the last two years. Alaska has the highest une...
As the United States Government shutdown continues into its fourth week, employees of local federal government agencies such as the United States Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Transportation Security Administration are carrying on without pay, while others have been furloughed. On Tuesday, the United States Coast Guard reached its first pay period where personnel did not receive a paycheck. After the shut down began on Dec. 22, those in the USCG that were still working and had not been furloughed received a...
JUNEAU — The Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) is making a vessel route change with the goals of saving money and utilizing the new Alaska Class Ferries (ACF) as soon as possible. AMHS will move the ACF Tazlina to Lynn Canal to replace service by the F/V Fairweather, starting in May 2019. The ACF Hubbard will move to Prince William Sound to replace service provided by the Aurora in 2020. “I commend AMHS for taking a hard look at the system and recognizing opportunities to save money,” said DOT&PF Commissioner John MacKinnon. “By putting...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP)— A rural southeast Alaska man suspected of carrying methamphetamine was arrested at the Ketchikan airport. Alaska State Troopers say 50-year-old Stanley Lynch of Hollis was carrying 159 grams of meth when he was arrested at about 5 p.m. Friday. Hollis is a village on the east side of Prince of Wales Island. Troopers say the street value in Ketchikan of the seized methamphetamine is about $50,000. Troopers contacted Lynch with the assistance of a drug dog. Troopers say Lynch tried to discard the drugs when he was c...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The two objects were unmistakable from the Egan Drive traffic. Large kites, similar in appearance to the ones used by paragliders in the summer, sailed gently above Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge on a rainy December afternoon. Below the flying instruments were two black dots, kiteboarders, grasping a small bar to steer themselves across the watery landscape. As the kites cruised across the top of the channel, so too did the drysuit-clad bodies some 60 feet below. “Did you see my air?!’’ Rob Cadmus said to his kit...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A state agency plans to swap land in southeast Alaska for federal land that can be developed for timber sales. The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority board on Thursday approved a land exchange with the U.S. Forest Service that will trade 18,000 acres (7,284 hectares) of trust lands for 20,000 acres (8,094 hectares) of federal land, the Juneau Empire reported. The trust lands are scattered throughout southeast Alaska and the exact amount to be traded must be worked out. Wyn Menefee, director of the trust authority land o...
A warehouse on a piece of land that the borough would receive from Petro 49, Inc. in a land exchange could be utilized by the Port and Harbor Department by upgrading the facility for approximately $18,000 to $20,000, according to harbormaster Glo Wollen. "I think it's a great opportunity for the harbor," said Wollen. "The location is good. It's a decent facility. It's not a Taj Mahal Hall by any means, but it's something that is a good skookum building that doesn't need a lot of maintenance to...
Although negotiations between the Petersburg Borough and Petro 49, Inc. over a possible land swap haven’t begun, borough manager Stephen Giesbrecht anticipates Petro 49, Inc.’s 22-year lease of borough land to be one of the main talking points of the negotiations. In the land trade, the borough would receive Petro 49, Inc. owned land that includes a warehouse, in exchange for borough owned land that is leased by Petro 49, Inc. The borough assembly gave Giesbrecht permission to conduct negotiations in early December. According to borough finance...
Alaska joined the Union as the 49th state 60 years ago this month. The front page of the Petersburg Press proclaimed the event in a bold block headline reading, "State of Alaska enters Union tomorrow," in its January 2, 1959 edition. Alaska was a possession of the United States for 91 years. William A. Egan assumed the governorship shortly after President Eisenhower signed the Statehood proclamation in Washington, D.C. on January 3....
In its second reading, the borough assembly approved ordinance 2018-21 at an assembly meeting on Monday, which allocates $400,000 from the sanitation fund and $200,000 from the Motor Pool to replace the borough’s baler. Last month, the assembly voted to completely replace the baler after public works director Chris Cotta suggested it be replaced because of deteriorating parts that included the belt conveyor, control system and wear surfaces on the rams, hopper and baler chamber. Mayor Mark Jensen was hesitant in voting for the ordinance last m...
Borough manager Stephen Giesbrecht submitted a list of potential budget discussion items to the borough assembly on Monday that outlines possible cuts in funding to services as the assembly begins talks on the 2020 fiscal year budget. “The direction that I’ve heard from the assembly prior to today via informal conversations and various meetings is not that we don’t want to consider cuts if the budget’s balanced. What I was hearing from the assembly is we need to reduce the size of the borough government,” said Giesbrecht. One suggestio...
WRANGELL — In an 8 ½ hour meeting Tuesday, Jan. 8, the Wrangell School Board upheld the firing of first year art teacher Shanna Mall. Starting at 4 p.m., the school board held a public hearing on the potential termination of a high school art teacher well past midnight. Shanna Mall, was hired by the Wrangell school district this school year. However, she was put on paid administrative leave and received a termination notice last November, before the end of her first semester teaching. According to Allen Clendaniel, a lawyer representing the sc...
The Petersburg School District school board accepted the resignation of Rae C. Stedman Elementary School principal Teri Toland on Tuesday. She will be retiring at the end of the school year in June. "I'm appreciative of the opportunity to serve the students and families of Petersburg," said Toland. "I am just really grateful for that. It has been a wonderful experience for me." Toland, 59, first arrived in Petersburg 13 years ago with her husband Kim Toland who had just retired from the...
Flight 64 was expected to land in Petersburg on Saturday at 2:43 P.M., but was rerouted to Wrangell, because the 737-700 jet was experiencing problems with its auxiliary power unit, according to Alaska Airlines spokesperson Ray Lane. Additionally, the air cart at the Petersburg James A. Johnson Airport was not operating correctly. The flight was rerouted to Wrangell where the air cart was operational and the jet could connect to a power source. There was not a safety issue, according to Lane. The aircraft was taken out of service for...
The borough assembly approved an amended version of the capital projects list for the 2020 fiscal year on Monday that lists the replacement of the E911 system as the borough’s first priority. On the list are capital projects from every department in the borough and how much each project costs. Those projects that were approved by the borough will be put on its capsis list, which is a list that goes to the state legislators. When oil prices were high and the state had plenty of money to fund capital projects, an online system called capsis w...
January The borough assembly received a proposed update to its zoning code that would introduce a new form of affordable housing, an expansion of the historical and industrial districts and the end of a requirement for businesses to include parking downtown. The borough assembly held a work session to discuss a plan to impose restrictions on the senior tax exemption. A possible annual fee to sales tax exemption card holders was agreed upon ranging between $50 and $60. Police Chief Kelly Swihart...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An additional $30 million in public money is needed to install crew quarters on Alaska’s two new ferries, the Alaska Marine Highway System said. Adding crew quarters will allow the ferries Tazlina and Hubbard to be used on longer routes than originally planned, the Anchorage Daily News reported this week. The new ferries were designed for specific roles, but cuts to ferry service means the ships will need to enter general service. With the state’s budget constraints, two older ferries will likely be taken offline as th...
