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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...
WRANGELL — At a public presentation at the Nolan Center on Monday, staff with the Department of Environmental Conservation and its contractors updated Wrangell on the status of a proposed monofill site on the island. A designated monofill to house around 18,500 cubic yards of contaminated earth from the former Byford junkyard is planned to be sited at a state-owned rock pit. Accessible by Forest Service roads along Pats Creek, the project’s nearness to the popular fishing stream has been a point of contention for some residents. Wrangell Coo...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Legislature on Tuesday approved a key piece of a plan to address the state’s persistent budget deficit — and one of the last unresolved pieces of the extended legislative session. The bill, which advanced from a conference committee earlier in the day, calls for limited withdrawals from Alaska Permanent Fund earnings. Money taken out would help pay for state government costs and be used to pay the annual checks residents receive from the oil-wealth fund. The bill does not say how the money would be divid...
KENAI, Alaska (AP) — Part of a bill introduced in the Alaska Legislative session would increase the price municipalities pay for their license plates. The bill, sponsored by a House committee, would remove an exemption for municipalities that currently has them paying $10 per vehicle. That price would increase to the standard rate of $100 per vehicle, the Peninsula Clarion reported Sunday. The bill includes a number of other adjustments for the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles, including a $5 fee for driver knowledge tests, repealing p...
The remodel of the Petersburg Municipal Power and Light building is complete and on Wednesday employees and Billikin Transfer were moving furniture and equipment into the building. The sweeping remodel of the building was completed on schedule. Rainforest Contracting Inc. executed the remodel contract. Karl Hagerman, the utility director, said Wednesday that he hopes the move will be completed by the end of the week. He added that the utility remains open for business during the move. The...
Alaska Humanities Forum's (AHF) second cohort of Alaska Salmon Fellows convened in Petersburg at the Holy Cross House for 5-days beginning with a reception at the Sons of Norway Hall last Friday. According to Fellow Kris Norosz, this was the first time the cohort of 16-fellows had met in person. The Alaska Salmon Fellows work to facilitate conversations about salmon issues and identify innovative opportunities to strengthen the resource for future generations. A contingent of about 28 people,...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A veteran Alaska state trooper was charged with attempted sexual abuse of a minor. Investigators said Trooper Vance Peronto met a 16-year-old girl on a traffic stop, contacted her through social media and arranged to meet her Sunday at a hotel in Anchorage, where he was arrested. Online court documents Monday did not list Peronto’s attorney. The Alaska Department of Public Safety announced the arrest Monday. “This case and investigation have been handled in the same manner as any other, and we are informing the publi...
The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Dept. responded to a single vehicle rollover accident in the 800 block of Sandy Beach Road at about 4:40 a.m. Friday. The vehicle was headed toward Sandy Beach Park and apparently flipped and rolled in such a way that the car was headed in the opposite direction. A roadside fire hydrant was struck and broken off during the incident. Fire Dept. spokesman Dave Berg said the driver was ejected through the driver side window, landed in the upper edge of the ditch and...
The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game has mapped 32 nautical miles of herring spawn through April 27, including 1.0 nmi of active spawn in Salisbury Sound. Spawn deposition surveys were conducted on April 7-11 and on April 24-25. Final results from this year's stock assessment will not be available until November 2018. However, some general information can be derived from the data collected to date. Nearly all spawning this year occurred along shorelines of Kruzof Island, Hayward Strait, and the...
