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WRANGELL - Early on Thursday morning, several members of the U.S. Forest Service left Wrangell with some guests for a trip to the Anan Wildlife Observatory. Present on the trip were Michael Saxton and Leslie Skora with the Katmai National Park. They were visiting Anan for an "information swap," they explained. They wanted to learn about some of the best practices in wildlife observation they could take from Anan, and also provide some tips to the Forest Service in the Wrangell district. Acting...
WRANGELL - The coho salmon derby kicks off this weekend, and runs every weekend until September . Anyone with a fishing rod is welcome to take part in the coho derby. According to Alicia Holder, with the Wrangell Chamber of Commerce, the city has done coho salmon fishing derbies in the past, but this is the first one in a long time. They were common in the 1970s, she said, but the last derby dedicated to coho salmon was sometime in the '80s. The common salmon to fish for in Wrangell in recent...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska collected more than $11 million in marijuana tax revenue during the state’s 2018 fiscal year, exceeding projections by nearly $2 million. The Alaska Department of Revenue released numbers Wednesday for the fiscal year that ended in June, indicating a continued rise in revenue collection, KTUU-TV reported . The state collected about $1.7 million during the previous fiscal year. “We absolutely are exceeding our predictions and additionally we are seeing a very steady increase in tax revenue collection each month...
The Office of Child Services works across Alaska to support and protect children across the state. According to their website, the main goals of OCS are to give children a “healthy start, to provide them with safe and permanent homes, to maintain cultural connections and to help them realize their potential.” This can be a hard job, according to Alaska State Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. He said that the state has a problem with cases of child abuse and neglect. “It’s been a chronic issue, unfortunately,” he said. The issue is compou...
There is a planned power outage Fri. Aug. 10, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Customers from Scow Bay to 6 Mile Mitkof Highway will experience a momentary outage at 9:00 am and at 2:00 pm. Customers from 6 Mile Mitkof Highway to the hatchery will experience the full outage from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Customers north of Scow Bay should not experience any outages. PMPL staff has found a broken service cutout and burned cross arm at approximately 6.5 Mile Mitkof Highway. These components are still providing service, but failure is imminent. PMPL will need to...
Updated Island Air Service now allows for Petersburg residents to enjoy day trips to Juneau, instead of requiring an overnight when coming to Juneau. The changes also allow for day trip visitors from Ketchikan and Klawock to Petersburg. “When we started service between Petersburg to Juneau & Ketchikan, we wanted to provide new options to the community. Since the service began, our customers asked for an evening return flight from Juneau to allow single-day trips, whether it be for medical appointments, shopping, work, or just visiting f...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Permanent Fund grew by $6.3 billion during the state’s 2018 fiscal year, reaching a value of nearly $65 billion. Strong market returns have bolstered the fund in recent years, giving it gains of more than 12 percent in 2017 and nearly 11 percent during the fiscal year that ended in June, the Alaska Journal of Commerce reported Wednesday. The fund ended the fiscal year with $46.1 billion in principal and $16.4 billion of net income in its Earnings Reserve Account, which also held $2.4 billion in unr...
On July 25 at 9:20 P.M., the United States Coast Guard suspended their search for John Phillips, 59, who went missing when the vessel he was on capsized in Nushagak Bay, according to a release from the USCG. A Jayhawk crew searched more than 25 square nautical miles and 23 miles of coastline for approximately six hours, according to the release. "Ending a search is never easy, especially when working alongside so many people dedicated to finding the missing person,” said Lt. Stephen Nolan, District 17 Command duty officer, in a release. ...
In early July, the United States Postal Service sent out a nationwide letter asking customers with a No-Fee (Group E) post office box to complete an annual verification of their PO box. In the letter, the USPS asks customers to submit an attached form within 10 days of receiving the notice in order to verify the PO box. According to Dawn Peppinger, marketing manager with the USPS, the verification needs be completed sometime before the PO box's annual renewal date. If the owner of a No-Fee...
Through a variety of methods, including a fundraiser July 27, First Bank has raised a total of $18,030 recently for the Petersburg Medical Center Foundation (PMCF). Attendees at the Friday evening fundraising event contributed $7,000. Due to that show of generous community support, First Bank President Bill Moran announced that he would increase the bank’s match of those donations from $2,500 to $5,000. Included in the $18,030 total was a $5,000 community development grant. Accepting the grant funds were Sue Paulsen, PMCF Board President and B...
As the first month of the fiscal year ended, Petersburg Medical Center's board of trustees approved the hospital's capital budget for the 2019 fiscal year on Thursday. CFO Doran Hammett also gave the board an overview of the hospital's financial standing. "We ended the year on a positive note," said Hammett. In a board meeting on June 28, the board failed to approve the capital budget of $972,913 due to a call for more information on requested capital items. The board approved a capital budget o...
On Thursday, Petersburg Medical Center CEO Philip Hofstetter addressed the hospital’s board of trustees and gave an executive summary detailing what his priorities were for his first month at the hospital. Hofstetter spoke about the feasibility of a new facility, access to care, staff and physician recruitment and his public relations efforts. “In this first month I have had over 101 meetings to get up to speed with the top priorities and to move initiatives forward,” said Hofstetter in his report. Hofstetter suggested setting a board retreat d...
A doctor of chiropractic position has been created at the Petersburg Medical Center to offer a wider range of holistic treatments. “You want to make sure you’re allowing other options for your patients,” said PMC CEO Philip Hofstetter. Previous hospital CEO Liz Woodyard stated that Rodney Anderson was in the process of being hired for the position after a hospital board meeting in May. Anderson operated his own practice until health issues forced him to close his office last year. In accordance with fair hire and labor laws, the hospital must...
WRANGELL - The hospital's charitable foundation is planning a big weekend August 11 and 12 for its annual golf tournament, hoping to boost its cancer care travel fund. The Wrangell Medical Center Foundation was established in 2007 with three goals in mind, among them supporting equipment needs at the hospital and providing health career scholarships to prospective students. It also has over the past decade distributed $97,000 in grants to individuals undergoing treatment for various iterations...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A new project will examine ticks found in Alaska to see if they carry the pathogens that cause Lyme disease, tularemia or other illnesses. This is the first time researchers will go out looking for ticks in Alaska parks and examine whether those ticks carry diseases, the Anchorage Daily News reported . “As the climate changes and ticks are moving north, we need a baseline,” said Kimberlee Beckmen, a wildlife veterinarian with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Fairbanks. “It’s important to have the baseline...
WRANGELL - Chief Shakes Tribal House was filled with curious visitors looking to learn about the Tlingits, a Native Alaskan people indigenous to Southeast Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Wrangell is home to many people of Tlingit descent, some of whom came together Saturday afternoon to share stories and pieces of their culture. John Martin, who organized the event, said that he and several other participants wanted to share part of their native heritage. Tlingit culture is filled with stories, some of which can be found in people's names. Ma...
WRANGELL — A symposium was held Wednesday night at the Nolan Center to discuss the effects of mining on Southeast Alaska’s bear population. Lance Craighead, a bear biologist, said that mining has the potential to have a very negative impact on bears. Most mining, Craighead said, occurs in nearby British Columbia but anything happening there would literally flow downstream to Alaska. “In general, Canada has some of the laxest mining regulations in the world next to China,” he said. “For that reason they’re about one of the few countries t...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A wildfire burning in remote eastern Alaska has grown to nearly 19 square miles (49 sq. kilometers). Hot, dry and windy weather helped expand the fire burning 38 miles (61 kilometers) southeast of Tok (tohk) and 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) southwest of Northway. The fire began Monday and by Tuesday was estimated at 7.3 square miles (19 sq. kilometers). It’s burning through an area where black spruce is the main fuel. A helicopter Wednesday shuttled crews to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cabin 6 miles (9.6 kil...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is proceeding with an environmental review of a proposed copper and gold mine located near a major salmon fishery in Alaska, despite a request from the state’s governor that the review be halted. Gov. Bill Walker, in a letter co-signed by Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott last month, said the company behind the proposed Pebble Mine had yet to show that the project is feasible or realistic. They argued that, at a minimum, a preliminary economic assessment should be conducted to help inform the cor...
The ongoing wildfire near Telegraph Creek, a small town on the Stikine River, has not yet been contained. According to Jody Lucius with the British Columbia Wildfire Service, the fire is a very powerful force of nature that will take time to put out. "We're focusing on minimizing further impact," she said. "It's going to take a significant amount of time to put out." The Telegraph Creek Fire is burning in the general direction of another wildfire occurring south of the Stikine River. Lucius... Full story
By this weekend, the Alaska Department of Transportation will complete the chip sealing of Mitkof Highway from Papke's Landing until the end of the highway to preserve the road, said Marcus Zimmerman, maintenance and operations specialist with ADOT. The last four miles of the road was a gravel road and additional work was required to make it a hard surface, including ejecting oil into the base, said Zimmerman. "We're here to provide a good product for the community and for the state and try to...
Right before 8 A.M. on Wednesday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard received a call from a good Samaritan stating that a capsized vessel was seen in Nushagak Bay near Dillingham, according to USCG Petty Officer 2nd Class Meredith Manning. The capsized vessel is the F/V Pacific Knight homeported in Petersburg. Another good Samaritan rescued two of three passengers and pulled them aboard the Amanda C. One was 31-year-old Jeb Phillips of Petersburg and a teenage male, according to a press release from the Alaska State Troopers. The two individuals did...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska ballot initiative that aims to strengthen state law protecting salmon habitat could be costly and delay infrastructure projects, state officials said. The officials noted the possible negative effects during the Senate State Affairs Committee meeting last week in Anchorage. The initiative would increase the number of streams that officials must assume have salmon, likely resulting in more state checks on the streams, said Ben White, the environmental program manager for the state Department of T...
Members of the Wrangell andPetersburg police departments collaborated on some active shooter training on July 19 and 20. About four members of the Petersburg police department joined five members of the Wrangell police for the training which was lead by Jeff Hall. Hall has about 35 years of martial arts and law enforcement experience, also having previously worked with the Alaska State Troopers. Most of the training on July 19 was on the theory of stopping a shooting. Hall said that the goal is...
Skagway Borough Manager Scott Hahn will be leaving his borough manager position in Skagway to take a city manager position in Rifle, Colo. Hahn served as Petersburg’s city manager from Jan. 2010 to July 2011. Most recently he worked in Skagway for four-years, and also held a city manager position in Cordova. Hahn has been seeking a position in the Lower 48 to be closer to his son, who is currently in high school. “He’s the most important reason for me to get down there,” Hahn told the Skagway News. Before coming to Alaska Hahn had previou...
