Sorted by date Results 2606 - 2630 of 5625
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Senate was supposed to consider a measure Wednesday saying the federal government's new enforcement policy on marijuana is an affront to Alaska voters, who voted to legalize recreational use. Instead, a member of the Republican-led Senate majority offered something quite different. The Senate refused to consider Senate Minority Leader Berta Gardner's proposal, which was a response to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinding Obama-era guidance that allowed legalized marijuana to flourish by limiting f...
WRANGELL — The Forest Service held a public input session with Wrangell residents last week, as it puts together ideas for a 10- to 15-year project to benefit the Wrangell and Petersburg districts of the Tongass National Forest. The Central Tongass Landscape Level Analysis would plan for a major project on a large scale that would increase the number of activities authorized in a single analysis and decision. It reflects a larger effort nationwide to improve the USFS environmental analysis process, and the approach is hoped to allow site-specif...
About five weeks ago a 16-year-old South African stepped onto a tarmac in Alaska wearing flip-flops, ready to spend 11 months in Petersburg. It was the first time Clarisa Boshoff had experienced snow, and she was hooked. "I literally arrived and I'm like 'I'm not going back,'" said Boshoff, whose home city is populated with about eight million people. "I'm staying here." Boshoff, now equipped with Xtratuf boots, will stay in Petersburg through Christmas as part of the Petersburg Rotary Club...
Police this week seized items from a residence in Petersburg that are consistent with the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine, according to a release from the department. On Thursday and Friday, Petersburg officers served multiple search warrants at a residence on Cornelius Road, and “another location,” according to the release. Officers seized glassware, listed chemicals, materials used to package controlled substances for distribution and other suspicious substances, which will be submitted for official identification. The sus... Full story
The Petersburg assembly gave its final approval of a reorganization of borough departments on Monday, coming after a petition to reject it was signed about 270 times by 270 residents. In a 4-2 vote, the assembly finalized the borough manager’s revise leadership of the electric utility. Those against the reorganization circulated a petition over the weekend that received 272 signatures in support of appealing the decision. “That’s a pretty good percentage of the 1,110 people that voted in the last election,” said Mayor Mark Jensen, who has opp...
Petersburg Medical Center board of directors recognized the long term care department for its recent five-star rating on a Medicare network, along with a quality of excellence award from 2017. The Petersburg Medical Center Long Term Care department was given a five-star overall rating from Nursing Home Compare, a branch of The U.S. Government Site for Medicare. Long term care also received the “Recognition of Quality Achievement Award” in September 2017, presented by Mountain-Pacific Quality Health, a Medicare quality organization for Ala...
In last week’s Court Report the sentencing and dismissal of charges against Joshua Hall Blewett were attributed to Kenneth Lee Birch. The court dismissed charges of Assault in the 3rd Degree, Sexual Assault in the 1st Degree, Kidnapping, and 2 counts of Assault in the 4th Degree against the defendant Joshua Blewett. He entered a guilty plea to a single charge of Assault in the 4th Degree and was sentenced to 365 days in jail and payment of 2 - $50 surcharges. The court released Blewett after giving credit for time served. The case involving K... Full story
Mike Bangs, who helped pioneer commercial diving in Alaska and was chair of a regional advisory council and Petersburg harbor board, died last week at 62. About 250 people filled the Sons of Norway Hall for the Celebration of Life program on Sunday. Nearly 20 friends and family members told stories about their time with Mr. Bangs. "For many of us here today, the world is already a different place without our friend Mike Bangs," said Glo Wollen, giving remarks at the program. "He passed far too y...
A Petersburg man in his second round of proceedings with the borough assembly has been approved to build a Scow Bay boat ramp that he will pay for. John Murgas, a boat hauler and owner of Island Ventures LLC, was green-lit by the assembly on Monday to lease tidelands and construct a temporary boat ramp at the Scow Bay Turnaround. The Petersburg Harbor Board, Planning Commission and Economic Development Council all recommended the assembly approve a lease for Murgas. The purpose of the ramp is...
Two Petersburg teens last week pleaded not guilty to charges of harassment in connection to chasing and hitting multiple deer with a pickup truck in early February. Jasmine Ohmer, 17, and Sebastian Davis, 17, appeared before Judge William Carey in the Petersburg District Court for an arraignment hearing last week. Ohmer pleaded not guilty to harassing game. Davis pleaded not guilty to harassing game, as well as reckless driving. According to court documents, on Feb. 5, Davis allegedly used a...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Trident Seafoods Corp. will pay a nearly $300,000 civil penalty to settle violations of federal clean water rules at two Alaska ports. The Environmental Protection Agency says the $297,000 proposed settlement is for violations by processing plants at Sand Point and Wrangell. Trident will remove seafood processing waste that covers nearly 3.5 acres of ocean floor near the Sand Point plant. The company was required to limit its waste pile to one acre. Waste piles contain bones, shells and other organic materials that c...
The first thing Charlotte Hoiosen did when she moved to Alaska in 1960 was have dinner with the governor. Hoiosen was 38 and married with two kids. The family loaded a van and started a one-way trip from Southern Minnesota to Petersburg. Her husband, Roscoe, would be a teacher there. The family camped along the way. Not for leisure. Money was tight back then. "I remember waking up one morning and finding a nice little nest of baby rattlesnakes not far from our tent," said Hoiosen, who turned 95...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Moose thrive in Alaska's largest city with little to fear from natural predators such as wolves or bears, but getting an accurate count of the largest member of the deer family remains a challenge for the state wildlife biologists who must manage their numbers. Traditionally, aerial surveys are performed from low-flying aircraft after there's snow on the ground when spotters can distinguish between male moose with antlers and cows without them, but flight rules from...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska legislators are considering a bill that would require smaller boats to obtain a title issued by the state Division of Motor Vehicles. The bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Peter Micciche is aiming to reduce the number of vessels becoming derelict and abandoned along the state’s waterways, KTOO Public Media in Juneau reported Friday. Micciche told the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday that the bill intends to help officials track ownership of the boats, so they can address the issue before boats become aba...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Taking a cue from the fight over immigration, some states that have legalized marijuana are considering providing so-called sanctuary status for licensed pot businesses, hoping to protect the fledgling industry from a shift in federal enforcement policy. Just hours after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Jan. 4 that federal prosecutors would be free to crack down on marijuana operations as they see fit, Jesse Arreguin, the mayor in Berkeley, California, summoned city councilman Ben Bartlett to his office w...
WRANGELL - The Wrangell Museum added a new piece to its public gallery, an antique cannon. Not that the piece itself is new, thought to be close to two centuries old. Nor is it newly acquired, donated in 2002 to the museum by nonagenarian Bruce Johnston, a former resident then living in Ketchikan. Handed over before the museum's transition over to the Nolan Center, during the shift the cannon wound up in one of the many scattered caches of items kept around town. By now settled, museum staff hav...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Winter at the top of the world wimped out this year. The Arctic just finished its warmest winter on record. And sea ice hit record lows for this time of year, with plenty of open water where ocean water normally freezes into thick sheets of ice, new U.S. weather data show. Scientists say what’s happening is unprecedented, part of a global warming-driven vicious cycle that likely plays a role in strong, icy storms in Europe and the U.S. Northeast. “It’s just crazy, crazy stuff,” said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow...
A petition that circulated in Petersburg last week is catching some fallout after three borough employees reportedly used city equipment to seek signatures during work hours. In an assembly meeting on Monday, member Jeff Meucci read from an email written on Friday by the borough manager, which addressed a public appeal petition of the electrical reorganization. “This is clearly the right of persons involved,” reads the email from Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht. “However, it has been reported t...
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...
