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This week we distribute the Petersburg Pilot to all post office boxholders. If you’re not a regular reader of this publication, it’s your opportunity to look it over and consider purchasing a discounted subscription as a new subscriber. We do this on a regular basis, as it has proven successful in attracting new readers. We increased our single copy price this month, and a subscription is one way to save several dollars annually as opposed to paying the higher newsstand rate. In addition to local news stories, we also publish special sec...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — Thousands of small earthquakes have been recorded in the Kodiak area since a magnitude 7.9 temblor in January hit about 175 miles (281 kilometers) southeast of the city. Nearly 3,000 aftershock quakes of 2.5 or above have hit since the major earthquake on Jan. 23. The vast majority have hit southeast of the island in the same area as the major quake, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Thursday. Only 20 were recorded last year over the same time period. Natalia Ruppert, a seismologist at the University of Alaska, said a...
KENAI, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska public health nurse says the state’s recent outbreak of chlamydia and gonorrhea is likely to place it in the top tier of national rankings for the two sexually transmitted diseases. The Peninsula Clarion reports that Susan Jones, manager of the state HIV/STD program, said Alaska will likely place in the first- or second-place spot for both of the diseases, which continues the state’s trend of leading the nation in outbreaks. Jones said that in 2017, preliminary numbers show that there were more than 2,000 cases...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Karl Ward is long dead, but some say the once-revered school superintendent in a small Alaska fishing town was not the benevolent educator worthy of having the high school gym named in his honor. A cellphone video made by a man before he died by suicide last month has given voice to at least five other men, all of whom say they were sexually abused decades ago by Ward, confirming publicly whispers that had long quietly existed. Rick Martin graphically explained on the video what he said Ward had done to him, and now his w...
WRANGELL — Wrangell’s annual birding festival is gearing up for a week of activities late next week. This year’s Stikine River Birding Festival will be the 21st, put on cooperatively each year by Wrangell’s Convention and Visitor Bureau and the United States Forest Service. Highlighting birding opportunities on the Stikine River, the event also encourages wildlife conservation and is an opportunity to hone new skills. “This year we’ve brought back more of the art and photo aspects of the festival,” said Corree Delabrue, an interpreter w...
WRANGELL - Wrangell's emergency services were the recipients of the first-ever grant from the Walker Foundation, a benevolent fund established after the acquisition of Alaska Island Community Services last year by Southeast Alaska Rural Health Consortium. Governed by an appointed board, the Foundation supports activities that promote health and the welfare of the Wrangell community. "It's on a project by project basis. We currently have about $3.75M," explained Mark Walker, formerly CEO for...
For now, the Petersburg Borough won’t choose any state land it’s entitled to, coming after a string of emails that suggest a stunning miscommunication with the DNR. Gov. Bill Walker signed Senate Bill 28 in Petersburg in November, which entitles the borough to 14,666 acres of land. The apparent miscommunication started when Cabrera sent an email in March to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, saying various maps and legal descriptions that were provided to facilitate the land selection process might have been incorrect. She said cer...
A 23-year-old artist from Wrangell had her first solo show in Petersburg on Friday, where she was stunned by the turn out and support. The artist, Jaynee Fritzinger, was nervous for her first show at Firelight Gallery and Framing in Petersburg. For two weeks before, she had been waking up before 5 a.m., painting about 10 hours a day. "I was nervous that I wouldn't have enough pieces," Fritzinger said, "or nervous that people wouldn't show up, or nervous that maybe my art wasn't good enough."...
SITKA, Alaska (AP) — This season’s salmon harvest in Bristol Bay is looking to be a sizable one. Alaska officials project the sockeye salmon run to be 51.3 million fish, not far off from last season’s return of 56.5 million. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game expects 37.6 million fish to be potentially available for commercial harvest when the bay’s salmon season begins on June 1, the Daily Sitka Sentinel reported Thursday. The bay’s harvest of sockeye salmon last season was 37.7 million. In 2016, the catch was lower with 37.3 million and r...
KENAI, Alaska (AP) — Attorneys presented arguments in Alaska Superior Court on the legality of a Kenai Peninsula Borough policy that allows only members of established religious groups to pray at the beginning of assembly meetings. Attorneys for the borough defended the policy before Judge Andrew Peterson in Anchorage on Wednesday, saying the invocations are open to any religion as long as it’s an association with a local presence, the Peninsula Clarion reported. The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska filed a lawsuit in late 2016 after th...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska House has passed legislation restricting access to records showing past convictions for simple marijuana possession. The measure is sponsored by Democratic Rep. Harriet Drummond. She says Alaskans should not be passed up for jobs or promotions for possessing something that is now legal. Alaska voters in 2014 approved recreational use of marijuana by those 21 and older. The bill pertains to convictions for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, committed when an individual was at least 21. Defendants w...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The Alaska Legislature won’t finish its work by Sunday, but legislative leaders don’t think they will be in Juneau much longer – at least compared to the last several years. Sunday marks the end of the voter-approved 90-day session. Lawmakers have blown past that limit in recent years amid debate over how to address the state’s budget deficit. Even the constitutional regular session limit, of up to 121 days, hasn’t always been enough. But Senate President Pete Kelly and House Speaker Bryce Edgmon said Friday that this s...
WRANGELL — A work session on the Byford monofill between the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and City and Borough of Wrangell has been scheduled for next week. Around 18,500 cubic yards of treated, lead-contaminated soil is slated to be interred in a designated monofill as the second stage of site reclamation for a former privately-run junkyard along Zimovia Highway. The former Byford yard had passed to the City of Wrangell through foreclosure in 2009. Already on the Environmental Protection Agency’s radar as a contaminated site...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Voters in Alaska’s largest city are on track to becoming the first in the U.S. to defeat a so-called bathroom bill in a referendum that asked them to require people using public bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender at birth. The initiative asked Anchorage’s voters to repeal an ordinance passed in 2015 that prevented discrimination based on sexual orientation and added a clause that would have prevented transgender people from using bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding to their gender ident...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Legislature already is cutting into the amount of the yearly oil-wealth fund check given to residents to help pay for state government. Now, lawmakers are looking at other ways for residents to spend more of their check — to help pay for state government. One proposal would set up a raffle to benefit schools, with a minimum buy-in of $100 from a resident’s Alaska Permanent Fund dividend. Twenty-five percent of entry dollars would go toward the prize fund. So, if residents spend $400,000 of their oil checks on en...
Alice Neidiffer, the student body president at Petersburg High School, recently spent a half week in Juneau, researching bills and passing notes in hearings, all while observing those who might not be as balanced and fair as she strives to be. Neidiffer worked as a staff member on State Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins' roughly six-person team for four days in late March, living with her mom and commuting from the valley to the Capitol building. "Alice definitely has poise, period,"...
March in Petersburg was the fourth driest on record, and meteorologists are predicting the summer could be more of the same. There were 2.74 inches of rainfall in March, including snow water, which is 78 percent less than what is normal in Petersburg and enough for a moderate drought to be in effect along the Southeast panhandle. The snow levels were at 7.1 inches, while 16.9 is normal, according to Sharon Sullivan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau. Snowpack, in the meantime, has been on a gradual decline, with...
The state Department of Fish and Game has announced its 2018 preseason estimates for Chinook salmon, and its all-gear harvest limit for Southeast Alaska under provisions of the Pacific Salmon Treaty. In its release last week, the department set the year’s limit at 130,000 “treaty fish,” nearly 80,000 fish lower than the preseason limit available in 2017. This also includes a 10-percent reduction in response to conservation needs for the king salmon stocks in Southeast, northern British Columbia, and their transboundary rivers. The annual all-g...
A police sergeant in Petersburg was notified on Wednesday that he has been accepted into the FBI National Academy, a program that roughly one percent of officers in the United States are selected for. Sgt. Randy Holmgrain is looking forward to being one of two Alaskan law enforcement officers at the 2019 FBI National Academy. He's going to be networking and learning from about 240 officers from around the globe. "I was going to apply because I wanted the experience for the application with the...
Currently the Petersburg Police Department is recognizing its dispatchers for National Telecommunicator Appreciation Week. Kelly Swihart, chief of police, said Petersburg dispatchers are a devoted group that often go unnoticed. "It's one of those things," Swihart said, "they never get the recognition. I mean, they're sitting behind the wall." The department in Petersburg has five dispatchers on staff and one supervisor. The team is relatively new -- average time employed about a year -- and each...
A Petersburg man is facing controlled substance charges after police intercepted a package shipped to him that contained about an ounce of heroin. Kelsey McCay, 25, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, according to the Petersburg Police Department. McCay was the subject of an investigation after police developed information that heroin was being shipped to him. A search warrant of the package was granted and police discovered just...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The Alaska Legislature is in its final week of a scheduled 90-day session, with budgets to complete and questions over what it will take for lawmakers to consider their job finished for the year. Senate President Pete Kelly said lawmakers possibly could finish “in proximity” to the 90-day mark, which is Sunday, but declined to speculate further. Voters approved a 90-day session limit but the state constitution permits sessions of up to 121 days. He told reporters Monday that the House and Senate aren’t in the “full-o...
The Petersburg School District recently purchased a less invasive way than a breathalyzer to test for alcohol, coming after a few students were hospitalized amid the homecoming dance in February. The Passive Alcohol Sensor appears to be a black flashlight. On the side, though, is a sensor that reads alcohol levels. Petersburg school staff members can administer the alcohol sensor simply by asking a student to say his or her name into the small hole on the side, said Richard Dormer, the middle...
WRANGELL - The Wrangell Public School District announced the selection of Debbe Lancaster for the Superintendent position on Wednesday. She begins work on July 1. The board arrived at its decision after a series of interviews and consultation with a selection committee. That committee, representing district staff, a parent and student, also had the opportunity to meet and interview the candidates. Lancaster has reportedly accepted the district's offer, agreeing to a three-year salary which...
The Petersburg High School track team is gearing up for the season and hoping to offset losing six seniors by using speed, relay races and young additions. More than 30 kids are rostered on the Petersburg Track and Field Team, consisting mostly of younger classmen, coach Brad Taylor said this week. “It’s going to be fun to see what these kids can do,” said Taylor, who’s entering his 36th year of coaching. “There’s some talent there, and they’re just going to have to bring it out.” Losing track members who graduated in 2017, including four-time...
