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The Petersburg assembly again approved restructuring leadership of two departments in the borough, introducing the ending to a contentious debate since last spring on who should head the electric utility. The assembly chambers in Petersburg on Monday was full, mostly with people in the electrical field waiting to testify against a plan to have the public works director assume leadership of the power and light department. The plan was approved 4-3 in its second reading after eight audience...
The keynote speaker at the chamber of commerce dinner last weekend is the owner of a cruise line that specializes in exclusive trips, and he announced that one of his ships based in Sitka is moving its homeport to Petersburg. Dan Blanchard, owner of UnCruise Adventures, operates a fleet of nine ships, seven of which are in Alaska. Blanchard announced at the Sons of Norway hall on Saturday that the Safari Quest would be homeporting in Petersburg starting this year, and the captain is his...
Three police officers and two citizens in Petersburg were honored at a borough assembly meeting on Monday for their rescue efforts during an apartment fire last year. On May 5, 2017 an apartment fire was reported at the Narrows Inn in Petersburg. Before responders arrived, Petersburg citizens Mandy Smida and Cecilio Escatell entered the burning apartment in search of an injured person inside. "Using brute strength," said Capt. John Hamilton, who presented the awards, "[Escatell] forced the door...
Twelve Petersburg community members were heard at an assembly meeting on Monday opposing the borough's plan to reorganize leadership of the electric utility. The plan, introduced by the borough manager in May 2017, is not to hire an electrical superintendent with experience in the field. Instead, to cut costs and focus on managing a team, the assembly voted Monday to reorganize departments. The public works director, Karl Hagerman, with 25 years as a municipal employee, would assume the role of...
The borough assembly on Monday finalized two ordinances that plan to generate revenue by charging fees on tax exemption cards and cruise ship passengers who come to Petersburg. Assembly members approved an ordinance to impose a $100 annual fee on senior citizens who qualify and apply for a tax exemption card. The fee is waived to qualified applicants who sign an affidavit claiming they have a combined household income that doesn’t exceed $20,000. Household was defined at the meeting as a tax filer, plus a spouse, plus dependents. The senior s...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The number of cruise ship visitors in Alaska is primed to make a sizeable jump in the next two years, a cruise industry expert said. John Binkley, the president of Cruise Lines International Association Alaska, said his organization has predicted that the number of cruise ship visitors will jump 19 percent between 2017 and 2019, the Juneau Empire reported Wednesday. Binkley said that would mean 200,000 more visitors in Alaska. About 1.1 million cruise visitors came to Alaska in 2017, which was the most in state history, h...
WRANGELL - With a month left before work is scheduled to resume, discussions continue on the future of a stockpile of contaminated soil excavated from the former Byford junkyard. Heading the cleanup effort that began in 2016, the Department of Environmental Conservation removed over 60 shipping containers of debris and heavily contaminated soils from the yard, which for years had been a privately-run repository for automotive and marine junk. The City of Wrangell had assumed responsibility for...
The Alaska Marine Highway System announced it has adjusted ferry service schedules for the middle of April in order to help roughly 400 students and chaperones from across Southeast travel to the Region V Music Festival in Juneau. AMHS will be rerouting the M/V LeConte to make a round-trip run through southern Southeast to pick up and return the students. With this service adjustment, students from Ketchikan, Wrangell, Metlakatla and Klawock will be able to attend the annual festival. Students from Sitka and Haines will use a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan said violence in video games and movies should be discussed as part of a larger debate on gun violence and suggested Monday that states should decide whether school teachers should be armed. Meanwhile, Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, who was in Washington, D.C. for a gathering of the nation’s governors, told The Associated Press something must be done in response to the violence. But he said he wants to speak with advisers from within his administration and possibly also hear from outside voices before tak...
The newest eatery in Petersburg was honored with the 2018 Business of the Year Award on Saturday at the annual chamber of commerce dinner. The Salty Pantry opened for business in early April 2017. Its owner, Mindy Anderson, spent a year on the business plan. She attended a baking institute in San Francisco in 2016 where she learned the science of yeasted breads, croissants and pastry doughs and desserts, Angela Christensen said as she introduced Anderson on Saturday. "The place might be small...
In the months before Kelly Swihart announced he would retire as police chief in mid-2018, the department he leads was besieged by three separate internal investigations. Two looked into possible policy breaches and crimes by current and former employees, and the third scoured bullying allegations against him. Two of the investigations have closed since he announced his retirement in early January: a more than three-month administrative investigation into who leaked confidential information from the police department, and the bullying investigat...
The Mitkof Middle School wrestling team traveled to a regional tournament last weekend in Juneau, a trip coming after the team raised nearly $3,000 to help make travel costs more affordable for parents. Petersburg 6th, 7th and 8th graders wrestled in the Southeast Alaska Middle School Regional Tournament in Juneau last weekend, placing fourth overall. But the price tag for travel expenses was more than planned. Petersburg had to cancel its trip to Ketchikan in January after the local ferry was...
School administrators in Petersburg are using recent student incidents to spark conversations and learn, while confronting the conversations with young students about active shooter scenarios. There were two students charged in early February with fish and game violations after one 17 year old allegedly hit two deer consecutavly with a truck and the other filmed it from its passenger seat. There appears to be laughter as the deer were hit. One of those teens, Jasmine Ohmer, 17, issued a statement on Monday, in which she sought forgiveness and...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Doctors confirmed the presence of mumps in Juneau for the first time in more than two decades. There has been one confirmed case of the disease in Juneau as of Thursday, and three other possible cases, Juneau Public Health Center nurse manager Alison Gaines said. The first case was diagnosed in January, with the most recent suspected case appearing this past week, Gaines said. This is the first confirmed case of mumps in Juneau since 1997, Alaska Division of Public Health Epidemiologist Amanda Tiffany said. Mumps is a cont...
It took police officers less than 10 minutes to locate two vehicles that were allegedly stolen on consecutive days by the same Petersburg man. Ron Wallen Sr., 59, allegedly stole a vehicle on Feb. 9 from 14 Harbor Way. Police received a report at 5:01 a.m. that morning, saying a green pickup truck had been stolen. Derek Thorsen, police officer on the case, located the vehicle by 5:03 a.m., said Kelly Swihart, the police chief. The investigation was over in about 55 minutes, and Wallen was arrested and charged with vehicle theft in the first...
A prosecutor last week dismissed sexual assault charges against a Petersburg man who was accused last spring of raping a woman. On May 11, 2017 a grand jury indicted Kenneth L. Birch, 36, on two counts of sexual assault, one in the first degree and one in the second degree. Birch pleaded not guilty to the charges. The trial in this case was scheduled to start next week. Assistant District Attorney Amanda Browning dismissed the charges on Feb. 14. On Wednesday, a representative from Browning’s office said the district attorney was not a...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency governing board earlier this month approved moving forward with a remote inspection of the tunnels underlying the Tyee Lake hydroelectric plant. In his report to the board on February 8, SEAPA power systems specialist Ed Schofield explained a remotely operated vehicle would be needed to perform an inspection of the facility’s water conveyance structures. Unlike the dam at Swan Lake, Tyee is a natural lake which is tapped for the facility. Water is conducted to the powerhouse through an intake in the lake i...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- A study of bears and berries has determined that the big animals are the main dispersers of fruit seeds in southeast Alaska. The study by Oregon State University researchers says it’s the first instance of a temperate plant being primarily dispersed by mammals through their excrement rather than by birds. Researcher Taal Levi says seed dispersal is a key component in the understanding of any ecosystem. He says brown and black bears thrive on Alaska’s Panhandle because of abundant salmon but both feed on berries whi...
The Petersburg borough attorney hired a consultant last year to conduct an investigation into allegations of workplace bullying within the police department. The borough attorney paid Russell Consulting LLC, a company based in Soldotna, $7,200 to conduct a four-day investigation into allegations of workplace bullying coming from the police chief. Steve Giesbrecht, the borough manager, said Police Chief Kelly Swihart would not be embarrassed by the outcome of the investigation. “Accusations were not substantiated, I can say that,” Gie...
Alaska Wildlife Troopers filed charges against two Petersburg teens who allegedly hit multiple deer with a truck last week, filmed it, and then uploaded it to social media. The teens, 17-year-old Sebastian R. Davis and 17-year-old Jasmine C. Ohmer, were charged on Monday with harassing game, a class A misdemeanor, according to court documents. Davis was charged with reckless driving as well, which is a special class misdemeanor. The charges stem from a video that emerged last week on Snapchat, a social media app. The video allegedly shows a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Juneau officials have decided to review ordinances on anchoring boats in an attempt to stop vessels from being left to waste in city waters. The Assembly has taken up the issue in response to a notorious tug boat that’s been anchored near a downtown harbor for years, KTOO Public Media of Juneau reported Saturday. There is currently no time limit for anchoring in city waters of the Gastineau Channel, which falls between federal, state and local jurisdictions. Juneau Harbormaster Dave Borg said that’s a problem becau...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Juneau officials have decided to review ordinances on anchoring boats in an attempt to stop vessels from being left to waste in city waters. The Assembly has taken up the issue in response to a notorious tug boat that’s been anchored near a downtown harbor for years, KTOO Public Media of Juneau reported Saturday. There is currently no time limit for anchoring in city waters of the Gastineau Channel, which falls between federal, state and local jurisdictions. Juneau Harbormaster Dave Borg said that’s a problem becau...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The synthetic opioid fentanyl is an escalating problem in Alaska, and it’s leading to a significant increase in deaths, state authorities said Tuesday. “It is a scary problem,” Alaska State Trooper Capt. Michael Duxbury said at a press briefing on the state’s opioid crisis. “Fentanyl is by far the biggest concern.” Jay Butler, the state’s chief medical officer, said 2017 statistics have not been finalized, but there were at least two dozen fentanyl-related deaths, compared with five or six such deaths the previous year....
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. reported strong returns and a total value of $64 billion in the first half of the 2018 fiscal year. The fund corporation announced the numbers on Monday, highlighting returns of 8.45 percent, the Alaska Journal of Commerce reported . The report was released as domestic markets continued to be down for the second consecutive trading day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Monday at 24,345, down more than 7 percent from Friday. The public equities portion of the fund’s investments pro...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Senate leaders on Tuesday urged Gov. Bill Walker to go back to the drawing board in seeking nominees for a vacant Senate seat if he could not support a candidate from the initial slate of finalists. Walker on Friday appointed Randall Kowalke to fill the seat vacated by former Sen. Mike Dunleavy of Wasilla. Dunleavy resigned last month to run for governor. Kowalke, a member of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly, was among 11 applicants for the seat but he was not on the list of three finalists Republicans in t...
