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The borough assembly will see a resolution at its next meeting to approve a program known as local improvement district or LID. Approval of the resolution would be the first step of many in taking a private approach to paying for paving a select number of neighborhood streets in town. Public works director Karl Hagerman says LID is already on borough books, but it’s rarely utilized and he thinks it could do well to improve the borough before SECON pulls their asphalt plant out next year. If the resolution fails to pass the assembly next week no...
Earlier this month, PPD responded to a request from the harbormaster to conduct a welfare check of a harbor resident. On Dec. 16, Edward Bottani was found deceased aboard the M/V Glider moored in North Harbor. Bottani had not been seen for two or three days and harbor staff contacted PPD out of concern. The Medical Examiner’s office was contacted and is continuing the investigation, as no immediate cause of death was apparent, according to PPD Chief Kelly Swihart. The death is not believed to be suspicious, and Bottani’s next of kin have bee...
The municipal building might have been a quiet construction site over Christmas, but prior to the break public works director Karl Hagerman says up to 25 men had been working in and around the building to complete Phase 1. Additional men will be brought in to make the mid-January deadline, if necessary, he says. That means the Petersburg Police Department's move from the south side of the building should go as planned. Hagerman says the PPD move will take place Jan. 15 through Feb. 15. "There...
JUNEAU (AP) – The incoming speaker of the Alaska House, known as a level-headed moderate willing to work across party lines, faces major tests in leading a new majority coalition and trying to secure agreement on a plan to address the state's multibillion-dollar deficit. Rep. Bryce Edgmon acknowledges moments of trepidation about his new role. “But I'm also somebody who rises to the challenge,” the Democrat said. Edgmon's ascendance to House speaker comes 10 years into a political career that started with Edgmon winning a primary contest with...
Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced Wed., Dec. 21 that, on Tuesday, a Petersburg man was sentenced to federal prison for the transportation of child pornography. Marvin Mitchell Jackson, 28, a resident of Petersburg, Alaska was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess to five years in prison for a single count of transportation of child pornography. Upon the completion of his prison term, Jackson must complete a 30-year term of supervised release. A...
ANCHORAGE (AP) – A man suspected of fatally shooting an Anchorage couple during a Christmas Eve robbery was arrested Tuesday after he surrendered at a west side motel, police said. The arrest of Lamarkus Mann, 22, came after a police SWAT team and other officers surrounded a room at the Lakeshore Motel. Mann was being sought on a murder warrant in the deaths Saturday of Danielle Brooks, 32, and Christopher Brooks, 38, in a shooting witnessed by a 6-year-old child in their home. Police believe Mann and Jaylyn Franklin, 20, went to the c...
WRANGELL – Alaska's two senators jointly welcomed a new addition to their Southeast team. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan issued statements December 22 congratulating Chere Klein to serve at the South Southeast delegation representative office in her home town of Ketchikan. "The district office is kind of the eyes and ears of the senators when they're back in D.C.," Klein explained of the post. "Our main business is doing casework, and that's helping constituents around the district w...
WRANGELL – The governments of Alaska and neighboring province British Columbia initiated their first bilateral working group on transboundary mining and water quality concerns earlier this month. In a statement from his office released last week, Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott expressed his appreciation for the meeting, which was one of the measures outlined in a statement of cooperation the two governments signed in October. The agreement was a next step in the process of addressing concerns among Southeast Alaskan communities about the e...
Next year’s pink salmon harvest forecast for Southeast Alaska is anticipating a run statistically on the stronger side, though the numbers may not be particularly optimistic for fishermen still reeling from a disappointing 2016 run. The 2017 report predicts the coming run will fall within in the “strong” range, with a point estimate of 43 million fish and an 80-percent confidence interval. To produce the forecast, researchers adjusted past harvest trends using peak June-July juvenile pink salmon abundance data from 2016. Using expon...
JUNEAU (AP) – Alaska lawmakers could take another run at revising statutes governing alcohol when the legislature convenes next month. A Soldotna state senator, Republican Peter Micciche, is expected to again push for reforms that were partially addressed in his bill in 2015, the Juneau Empire reported. The Alaska Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and interested parties since 2012 have worked on new drafts of Title 4, the chapter of state statutes that regulates the manufacture, possession and sale of alcoholic beverages. “I don’t want to say...
JUNEAU (AP) – More than three years of renovations at the Alaska State Capitol have wrapped up and the building's expected to be fully open for business in January. The Juneau Empire reports that about $36 million has been spent to reinforce the structure against earthquakes, improve its heating system and freshen up the look of the 85-year-old building. Six new rooms have also been added to the Capitol. With all the work that's been put in, project manager Jeff Goodell says it's still hard for some people to notice the changes. He says the r...
JUNEAU (AP) – The state will only pay for lawmakers to bring one vehicle with them for the coming legislative session under a policy change approved by a legislative committee. The policy previously allowed transportation costs to be covered for up to two vehicles. Legislative Affairs Agency finance manager Jessica Geary told the Legislative Council, which weighed in on the issue Tuesday, that during recent sessions, only a few legislators brought more than one vehicle. Lawmakers can still bring more than one vehicle at their own expense. A...
The borough has until the end of the year to accept the Alaska Department of Transportation (ADOT) proposal to take over three float facilities currently under state control. The assembly continued talking about the subject at the Monday meeting. Vice mayor Cindi Lagoudakis gave figures she had tracked down regarding what it would cost for annual maintenance and improvements for the three facilities. Harbormaster Glo Wollen had worked up some numbers and Lagoudakis read them to the assembly. The Kupreanof float would cost an estimated $216,000...
Working Against Violence for Everyone or WAVE moved from the Sing Lee Alley location last month and welcomed a new employee the next day. WAVE director Annette Wooton said the increased office space and newly hired advocate Rikki McKay are showing an immediate positive impact. "We can see two people at once, where at the other office we were limited to seeing one person at a time," Wooton says. She says making do is part of being a non-profit organization, and the old space could have worked wit...
JUNEAU – Gov. Bill Walker has proposed cutting hundreds more state jobs as part of a budget plan that includes the use of earnings from Alaska’s oil-wealth nest egg and ultimately tripling state motor fuels taxes. Walker’s budget office said the governor’s overall budget plan, if implemented, still would leave a budget deficit of nearly $900 million that would need to be closed with lawmakers’ help. In a statement Thursday, Walker said the state has already slashed its budget and will look for more ways to reduce costs. But he said Alaska ca...
The assembly discussed a proposed program aiming to give residents the opportunity to pave the street of their neighborhood at their own expense on Monday. The proposal, brought forth by public works director Karl Hagerman, would save the borough money on maintaining the streets in the future and increase the quality of life in various areas of town. The program, referred to as a local improvement district or LID would offer street paving to a select number of neighborhoods before SECON pulls their asphalt plant out next year. In order for the...
WRANGELL – Representa-tives between the city and its public employees union met in court in Ketchikan Tuesday for a scheduled settlement conference, as part of an ongoing arbitration dispute between Wrangell and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1547. The conference was set to continue into Wednesday. On December 6 Judge William Carey of the Ketchikan Superior Court was appointed as the settlement judge by Judge Trevor Stephens, who is assigned to the civil case. Parties were given until Monday to submit confidential b...
FAIRBANKS – A 27-year-old man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to charges connected with a snowmobile attack on two mushers competing in Alaska's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in March. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports Arnold Demoski of Nulato was sentenced Monday to six months, most of which has already been served. The sentencing comes after Demoski pleaded guilty to felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor charges of assault, reckless endangerment and driving under the influence. Demoski had been accused of driving a s...
WRANGELL – Things are looking up for possible project financing needed to replace float facilities at Shoemaker Bay Harbor. In a budget draft released by Gov. Bill Walker last week, the Department of Transportation and Public Facility’s harbor maintenance program would have $5,000,000 in its coffers for next year, precisely the amount Wrangell would need in order to proceed with its renovation at Shoemaker. The Wrangell project has been given precedence this year over other applications from around the state, after being passed over last yea...
Joe Viechnicki just celebrated 20 years of living in Petersburg. He moved here the first week in July of 1996, and he worked as a reporter covering the Fourth of July festivities that year. The tragic event of July 4 this year, when a one-car accident that took the lives of Molly Parks and Marie Giesbrecht, hit Viechnicki hard and he's hoping to help the community he cherishes with all his heart and himself heal through his artwork. "That event that night really touched something in me that I...
JUNEAU – Plans for managing the nation’s largest national forest call for changes in timber harvests that one critic says will be “the demise of the timber industry.” The Tongass National Forest released a management plan update Friday that it says emphasizes young-growth timber sales in the forest covering much of southeast Alaska over old-growth timber. The plan would allow for a logging rate that management says will meet projected demand. Kristen Miller, with the Alaska Wilderness League, says the plan protects important places that sup...
The school board ended the 2016 year with a brief meeting about transitioning to a paperless board and an update about the changes to the high school dress code. Board president Sarah Holmgrain said she was excited about the move to have board members utilizing district-issued devices rather than relying on paper. “The hope is that it’s less work and time, as well as effort for Irene, because it is a lot to Xerox and copy everything,” Holmgrain said. “And also, just using less paper. It’s as expensive as ever.” She also reminded anyone that the...
JUNEAU – An estimated 36,000 uninsured Alaskans got health care coverage under President Barack Obama’s signature health care law between 2010 and 2015, according to figures released by the federal government Tuesday. The data was released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services just weeks before Obama leaves office, amid calls by many Republicans in Congress for replacing the law after Donald Trump’s administration takes power. The state-level data touting the law’s benefits provides a lens through which to judge new proposals and...
Patrick McGrath, the owner of property at 895 Mitkof Highway displayed the ongoing construction work at his home and challenged a reporter to find raw sewage on his property. The homeowner was accused by letter, of having septic waste on his land by a disgruntled individual. Copies of the letter were sent to neighboring property owners, the newspaper, Borough administrators and the Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation. Candice Bressler, Public Information Officer with the ADEC told the...
It may be math teacher Joyce Metsa's first year in Petersburg, but she's already found a way to make a positive impact on a handful of students by establishing a middle school Robotics Club. Metsa is teaming up with Cyndy Fry and the two are bringing competitive robotics to youngsters in town. The club traveled to Juneau last weekend with five students to compete in their first ever FIRST LEGO League event. The team got a late start on the season, and the club ended up coming in 17th out of 26 t...
