Sorted by date Results 2411 - 2435 of 5587
Employees of the Petersburg Municipal Employee’s Association complained of “bullying,” and a, “big lack of professionalism,” taking place at the negotiating table, according to comments made at Monday’s special assembly meeting on Monday. Joe Bertagnoli, who has led the PMEA negotiations in the past said, “It’s not pretty.” It’s like when we negotiated with former city manager Scott Hahn. When items are placed on the table, negotiator John Hoag says, “Hell no.” “We’re not asking for the moon,” Bertagnoli added. Blake Buotte continued by say...
An April tentative agreement for a three year contract between the Borough and the IBEW was rejected following a vote of the 10 employees, according to manager Steve Giesbrecht. IBEW represents the employees of Petersburg Municipal Power and Light Department. Both sides thought they had a deal, according to Giesbrecht, “but it didn’t happen that way.” “We’re going back to the table with them,” the manager explained. There is one issue with one employee. The framework of the contract was solid, said Giesbrecht. He did not know the break-out o...
The Petersburg Marine Mammal Center (PMMC) celebrated its 20th anniversary during a special event last Wednesday at the Petersburg Borough Chambers. Board members hosted an open house to share information about PMMC's education, outreach, and marine mammal stranding response programs. New members were recruited, and funds were raised through a silent auction and donations. Formed in 1998, PMMC was initially conceived as a resource for researchers studying the area's abundant marine mammals and...
The tax assessment certification story in last week’s paper indicated the mill rate as if it had been approved by the assembly. The mill rate is based on the budgeted property tax levy in the Proposed FY2019 Budget. The Assembly hasn’t approved the budget and should changes happen during the course of the three readings, the property tax levy could also change. This would then change the mill rate. The mill rate will be approved by resolution after the Borough budget has been approved....
The borough assembly discussed how and when they would refine and implement public comments about how the Borough could reduce expenses and increase revenues to address budget issues facing the community. The discussions took place at a special meeting on Mon., May 14. Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht prepared a 16-page summary of the ideas and comments for review by the Assembly. Three public meetings were held in January to gather comments. Emails were also accepted. Despite Assembly member Meucci’s suggestion that the body deal with the t...
Charter boat captains and local agency personnel met Thursday with David Levin, a National Weather Service forecaster from the Juneau office, to share information about which NWS products they use and how they use them. Participants provided suggestions for new tools or how the existing ones can be improved. The graphical forecasts are a popular source for marine weather, although users identified challenges finding them on the existing webpage. Station observations are also highly used. While some agency personnel have strict go/no-go limits...
Richard Peterson, Central Council Tlingit and Haida President gave an analogy Monday night that all Alaska Natives should be in the same canoe, and if they aren't, they are working against one another. Since Petersburg Indian Association made the final drop from the compact of Tlingit and Haida three years ago and became a self-determining tribal government, their relationship with T&H has been bumpy. The dinner along with a meeting earlier in the day with the PIA Board was one of the steps in s...
Anchorage, AK – Rasmuson Foundation has named 35 artists in 12 Alaska communities as Individual Artist Award recipients for 2018. This is Rasmuson Foundation’s 15th year of supporting working artists with direct grants. Ten individuals will receive $18,000 Fellowships and 25 artists will receive Project Awards of $7,500. Recipients were selected from a pool of almost 400 applicants. The artists represent all career stages. Their work spans cultures and disciplines, sustaining and expanding on traditional art forms and employing new tec...
By a 4-3 vote the Borough Assembly upheld Mayor Jensen’s appointment of Joel Randrup to the Ports and Harbor Advisory Board. He will serve until the October 2018 borough election. Randrup is a commercial fisherman. Two former harbor employees and two commercial boat owners applied for the position. Jim Stromdahl and Jacob Slaven are former employees of the harbor department and Eric Grundberg owns both a commercial and sport boat. Randrup fills the seat occupied by Mike Bangs who passed away in February of this year....
WRANGELL — A series of meetings between Southeast Alaska Rural Health Consortium and the City and Borough of Wrangell are planned for early next week. The regional health group is entertaining making an offer to assume control of Wrangell Medical Center, a municipally-run critical access hospital which has in recent years fallen into financial difficulties. Starting Sunday afternoon and lasting through Tuesday, SEARHC will hold a series of meetings with city staff, hospital transition steering committee members and the wider community, in o...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — For the Alaska Legislature this was the session of compromise. The tone was notable after three years of bitter fights, drawn-out special sessions and gridlock over how to address the state’s budget deficit. Legislators, who’ve gotten an earful from frustrated Alaskans, decided to trust one another and work together “in order for us to get out of here in an orderly manner,” House Speaker Bryce Edgmon said. Political differences in the House factored in, too. “A lot of the tone has been, `Where can the House get 21 vote...
WRANGELL - Designating this May as Older Americans Month in Alaska, Gov. Bill Walker recognized Wrangell's oldest resident along with other centenarians across the state. In a special luncheon at the Wrangell Senior Center, Lawrence Bahovec was presented with a personalized commendation as a distinguished citizen. At 101 years old, Bahovec is one of 83 Alaskans who have reached the milestone, and was among the 21 other residents of the state so honored with this month's commendations....
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska lawmakers ended the extended legislative session early Sunday after passing state spending plans and a flurry of other bills in the waning hours. Despite running long, the session lacked the drama of the past several years, which were marked by drawn-out special sessions and bitter fights over the budget and taxes. House Speaker Bryce Edgmon said legislators in both chambers decided they would have to trust one another, work together and compromise “in order for us to get out of here in an orderly manner.” The S...
A free pop-up art show and event called Salmon Shadows will use art and writing created by Alaskans from around the state to prompt conversations about equity and sustainability in Alaska’s salmon system. The event will be Wed., May 23 at 6 PM at the Fleet in downtown Petersburg. It will feature reproductions of visual art, light projections, and poetry. “Alaska has much to celebrate when it comes to salmon,” says project organizer, Anjuli Grantham, “but there are legitimate concerns when we are speaking about the long-term viability of salm...
Members of the Petersburg Police Department may be featured on a reality television show if the Borough Assembly consents to full participation in the film project to be carried out by Engel Entertainment. At present, the assembly voted 4-0 at their Monday meeting, to allow only limited filming in Petersburg. A company spokesperson said the company wishes to film in Petersburg for 1-2 days in the next month or so, to learn what Petersburg is like and what it's like to be an officer of the...
New charges were filed against Jasmine Ohmer and Sebastian Davis who were charged in February of this year for allegedly hitting two deer with a pick-up truck. The incident was allegedly filmed by Ohmer and uploaded to a social media site. On April 23, Jasmine Ohmer entered a not guilty plea to new charges of two counts of taking game from a motorized land vehicle and failure to notify Troopers of a vehicle collision with game. Sebastian Davis entered not guilty pleas to the same charges, plus a charge of using a vehicle to harass game....
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — The operator of a remote Alaska lodge that was the site of a serious oil spill says he had Coast Guard permission to store petroleum in a bladder within a building suspended over a beach. The Coast Guard denies it gave Mark Krall permission to store oil in the bladder kept in a building on pilings on Shuyak Island, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported . The lodge is 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of the city of Kodiak. A storm Feb. 23 with winds to 80 mph (130 kph) collapsed the building. The bladder broke, spilling nearly...
In a media release posted this week, the Alaska School Nutrition Association named Carlee Rae Johnson as its Director of the Year. The nutrition director for the Petersburg School District since 2011, Johnson has put much effort into widening its local lunch program's menu options. "She does all these amazing things with this limited equipment," said Erica Kludt-Painter, PSD superintendent. "Our facilities are very minimal," Johnson explained. "We have basically only a double convection oven....
Wrangell — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game on Wednesday released the following information concerning personal use salmon fishing in the Anita Bay Terminal Harvest Area (THA) for 2018. Anita Bay THA consists of those waters of Anita Bay south and west of a line from the tip of Anita Point at 5 6°13.68 ′ N. latitude, 1 3 2°22. 48 ′ W. longitude to a point on the northern shore at 56°14.26′ N. latitude, 132°23.93 ′ W. longitude. The Anita Bay THA will open to the personal use harvest of salmon at 12:01 a.m., Tuesday, May 15, 2018. Beginni...
Michael Renfro, the contract assessor for the Petersburg Borough certified the 2018 Real Property Tax Roll for the Borough. Land was assessed at $143,503,178. Improvements were valued at $232,541,400 for a total assessed value of $376,044,578. The valuation was reduced by allowed exemptions, such as the senior home, veteran and nonprofit exemptions of $53,263,995. Total taxable assessed value was set at $322,780,583. Taxpayers will pay 11.38 mills on properties in Service Area 1 based upon the proposed budget presented for approval to the... Full story
On May 3, Ian Hamilton, 25, appeared before Judge Magistrate Burrell on a Felony 1st Degree appearance hearing on a charge of Assault in the 3rd Degree. In the complaint, officers wrote that Hamilton threatened Austin Strickland after intentionally crashing his truck into a vehicle owned by Sebastian Fisher while parked in the Municipal Building parking lot on May 2. Strickland was a passenger in Fisher’s vehicle. Officer Waechter and Investigator Popp had to detain Hamilton at the scene, “for safety reasons.” Hamilton made death threats again...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht presented the following report at the Assembly meeting on May 7. The Library is getting ready for the Storyteller Pole unveiling on Thurs., May 17 at 4pm. PIA's JOM Dance Group will perform and Nicole Hallingstad will be guest speaker. City Creek Spillway Rehabilitation pre-construction meeting has been held. Reid Brothers to mobilize to the site and start work on May 7. Their proposed schedule has them finishing up all work by mid-July. Marty Susort has been hired as the Borough’s inspector on the Spillway w...
WRANGELL - Wrangell's water situation seems stable heading into the summer, with both reservoirs "overflowing" according to the latest update from Public Works. A combination of factors led to the enforcement of conservation measures through the month of March, including low precipitation, a lengthy winter and high demand. During the winter, demand by the first week of February had spiked to 1,151,000 gallons per day, which for the previous year was second only to a summertime high the first...
WRANGELL — A regional nonprofit will be conducting a survey of Wrangell’s watersheds this summer in an attempt to encourage wetlands conservation. Angie Flickinger is the Wrangell area coordinator for Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition, a regional consortium of community organizations interested in managing watersheds and resources. What the group would like to do is inspect streams, culverts and other aquatic habitats and identify opportunities for their improvement or restoration. Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, wetlands and wat...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —Authorities say a man died after a medical emergency at an Alaska city pool. The Juneau Empire reports medical personnel responded Friday to a call that a man was unconscious at Dimond Park Aquatic Center in Juneau. Capital City Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief Ed Quinto says the man suffered a medical condition and that an ambulance was called. Quinto was unable to divulge more information Saturday night, saying he was barred by Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulations. Juneau Police Sergeant Sean P...
