Sorted by date Results 3545 - 3569 of 5587
WRANGELL – A former Wrangell resident joined an Alaska canoe group in supporting a North Dakota tribe protesting construction of an oil pipeline across sacred lands. Earlier this month Ken Hoyt met up with members of the Juneau-based One People Canoe Society for a three-day spiritual journey on the Missouri River. For a week they joined a growing group of people protesting construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline near tribal land. The pipeline is planned to be an 1,172-mile connection be...
A state outreach program designed to shake some sense into Alaskans, with the help of a mobile earthquake simulator worth over $100,000, stopped by Petersburg last week. Each year the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) sends out a mobile trailer unit to different communities in an effort to raise awareness of earthquake risks. However, this year is the first for the simulator traveling around Southeast Alaska, according to Jeremy Zidek, public information...
Suzanne Wood, co-founder of Mitkof Highway Homeowners Association, on Sept. 1, sent a letter to the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority seeking records for the 11 August 2016 Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority’s Resource Management Committee Meeting and Executive Session and for the 24 August 2016 AMHTA Board of Trustees Special Meeting. The documents, according to the letter, “are necessary for us to ascertain how the Trust could transition from the ongoing and forward-moving AMHTA-US Forest Service administrative land exchange process to s... Full story
PETERSBURG – A school on Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska that saw only a handful of graduates last year is closing its doors due to a lack of students. The small school on the northern end of the island in Port Protection is closed for the fall semester. The closure comes after the recent shuttering of two other schools in the Southeast Island School District, KFSK-FM reported. Superintendent Lauren Burch said the Port Protection school had only a few graduates this year and that there are no school-age children left in the small c...
Endangered humpback whales in nine of 14 newly identified distinct population segments thave recovered enough that they don’t warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act, NOAA Fisheries said this week. International conservation efforts to protect and conserve whales over the past 40 years proved successful for most populations. Four of the distinct population segments are still protected as endangered, and one is now listed as threatened. Commercial whaling severely reduced humpback whale numbers from historical levels, and the United S... Full story
WRANGELL – Local air travelers were invited to the airport for a question-and-answer session August 25. A delegation of managers with Alaska Airlines fired up a grill out front, fielding questions people may have about the phasing out of the services “combi” fleet next year. Since its introduction in 2007, the 737-400 combi has been a unique facet of travel within the state, combining cargo conveyance with passenger service in the main cabin. Until it phases them out, Alaska Airlines is the only major domestic carrier to still use the combina...
The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority trustees come across as a bit heavy-handed in their effort to make an argument that their land parcels in Ketchikan and Petersburg need to be sold and logged before Congress acts on a land sale agreement that is before the Congressional body. To suggest that the S.E. timber industry will collapse and leave their timberland valueless in the next 6-months seems improbable. Timbered land parcel values very likely fluctuate with market conditions rather than the state of the S.E. Alaska timber industry. To...
JUNEAU – Costs for Alaska’s expanded Medicaid program have exceeded first-year estimates by roughly $30 million so far, leaving some concerned about the impact the program may have on the state budget once the federal government stops covering the entire tab. Gov. Bill Walker expanded Medicaid to provide coverage to thousands more lower-income Alaskans. Enrollment began last September, and as of July 31, nearly 20,400 people had signed up. The federal government is expected to fully cover the health care expenses for the expansion enro...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly agreed to send a letter urging an alternative route to logging Alaska Mental Health Trust (AMHT) lands south of town at its Tuesday meeting. The land in question is on steep hillside located above Mitkof Highway, and the borough would rather see land exchanged than logging. Last month, the AMHT board announced plans to go forward with timber sales of lands near Petersburg from Scow Bay to south of Twin Creek, if a land exchange is not approved by Congress on Jan. 15. There is also AMHT land near Ketchikan. The...
The municipal election on Oct. 4. is fast approaching as the deadline for candidates to file came and went. Mark Jensen will run unopposed for mayor. Jeigh Stanton Gregor, Kurt Wohlhueter and Marc Martinsen are all running for two open assembly seats. Sandra Stevens is seeking a three-year term with the school board, leaving one vacant seat still open. Darlene Whitethorn is throwing her hat in for an open hospital board seat, but three, three-year terms do not have candidates. The planning and zoning commission has Otis Marsh and Yancy Nilsen l...
The assembly held its first reading of an ordinance amending borough code by imposing excise taxes on marijuana businesses within the borough. According to borough manager Stephen Giesbrecht, the assembly can elect to implement an excise tax on marijuana products, and that doesn’t need to be voted on. However, any additional taxes on licensed facilities would need to be voted on. Local resident Marj Oines took the time to speak on the potential excise tax at the meeting, during public comments. Oines noted any funds from an excise tax would g...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska’s attorney general says marijuana social clubs are illegal, addressing what had been a hazy area following the state’s legalization of recreational pot. The opinion does not apply to licensed retail marijuana shops, for which state regulators are considering rules for allowing cannabis consumption. At issue are clubs that charge fees for patrons to use marijuana onsite or that otherwise provide access to a significant number of people to consume marijuana there. Those, according to the opinion by Attorney Gener...
The month long moose hunting season is ready to begin next week, opening on September 15 and lasting until October 15. For the Wrangell, Petersburg and Kake game unit, last year’s moose season turned out being the third best on record according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game harvest data. Area hunters had a 13-percent success rate, with 103 males harvested by 772 participating hunters. A total of 1,061 permits had been issued. After a reasonably mild winter, the moose population appears to be doing well. An aerial survey of the S...
With the seasonal peak behind it, Alaska’s commercial fishing industry is expecting one of the worst shortfalls for salmon in recent memory. As of last Tuesday, Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s in-season blue sheet summary estimated just over 102,245,000 salmon had been caught statewide, with less than a quarter of that caught in Southeast. Despite a fair showing for sockeye, the state’s fishermen would be fortunate enough to harvest half the 263,463,000 salmon estimated caught last year. The news has not been good for the local comme... Full story
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) – A dog is back home safe with its owners after a pilot who had just landed a floatplane spotted it struggling in an Alaska waterway and rescued it. Pilot Mike Hudgins pulled the miniature sheltie named Misty from Tongass Narrows on Sunday. The animal had been swimming alone in the channel between the Ketchikan International Airport ferry dock and Taquan Air’s floatplane dock. Hudgins had finished giving a tour to a family when he called out to Misty, who was about 40 yards ahead of where he landed. “She started to turn...
Jon Pust comes from a family filled with musicians and artists, including a couple of cousins who are "topnotch painters." Pust used to work construction and drove some truck, but after he taught himself how to carve soapstone and alabaster into wildlife it suddenly became his career. After seeing some soapstone carvings with his wife Dawn, she challenged Pust to try his hand at the craft. "At first I thought she was nuts, but she finally talked me into trying it and I made three or four pieces... Full story
The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority (AMHTA) board approved the sale of timber on two parcels they own in Ketchikan and Petersburg on August 24. According to the Trust, the sale will move forward if Congress does not pass legislation this session requiring the U.S. Forest Service to exchange land with equal timber values for the parcels. According to the Trust the two land parcels will be rendered valueless if they are not marketed soon. The parcel of land near Petersburg runs along a section of uplands along Mitkof Highway that is prone...
In last week’s article about halibut released it was stated the assumed mortality for released fish was 60 percent, but it should have stated 16 percent. Also a “trawl survey” was referred to as a “troll survey.” The Pilot regrets the errors....
LeConte Glacier is a treasure many locals might overlook, but PHS students have been gaining a new respect for the icy giant for over 30 years now, thanks in large part to Paul Bowen. He is not a glaciologist. He is not a certified surveyor. Bowen was simply a science teacher who's been intrigued by glaciers ever since 1952 when he spent three months living on one while conducting fieldwork. In 1962, Bowen's first year teaching at PHS, it only took a week or two before he asked his new students...
WRANGELL – A pilot study currently underway seems to be bearing good news for Wrangells water worries. In mid-July the city declared a state of emergency as its water treatment plant struggled to meet local demand. An appeal to residents and local seafood processors to limit water usage followed, allowing Public Works time to replenish its reserve tanks. By August 18 City Hall declared the crisis over, but still encouraged people to conserve water. The problem was primarily with the plants w...
tWRANGELL – The City of Wrangell is applying to the United States Forest Service to give a historic boat a new home. The M/V Chugach was one of 11 ranger boats operating in the state during the first half of the 20th century. Built at the Lake Union Dry Dock and Machine Works in Seattle in 1925, the vessel was assigned to Cordova for work in the Tongass and Chugach national forests. It remains the last of its kind in the USFS fleet, continuing service until last year. The boat was restationed in Petersburg in 1953, it served from there more t...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Gov. Bill Walker is holding off on implementing an administrative order that was recently at the center of a lawsuit between the state and a commercial fishing trade association. A release issued Thursday by Walker’s office says he is putting a moratorium on the order to allow more time for public input, The Juneau Empire reported. The order, issued in February, called for the transfer of several functions of the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The move is expected to sav...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – A bear that mauled two cruise ship wilderness guides during a hiking excursion in Alaska attacked so quickly that there was little time to defend against the animal, the CEO of the cruise ship company said. The attack occurred after the guides and a group of hikers from the cruise vessel Wilderness Explorer rounded a “semi-blind corner” and found themselves between the bear and her cub, UnCruise Adventures CEO Dan Blanchard told the Juneau Empire in an interview published Tuesday. “I can’t express enough about how rapid...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A new report highlights the uncertainty of the University of Alaska athletics programs, with some facing elimination as the university prepares to make drastic budget cuts in coming years. The UA Anchorage and UA Fairbanks programs receive more than half their current budget from state funding. University officials are looking to significantly reduce those funds, The Alaska Public Radio Network reported. The Anchorage campus is getting $5.3 million from the general fund for athletics this year, and university o...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – U.S. Rep. Don Young is updating his financial disclosures to show ownership in a family farm dating to the 1990s and income from oil and gas leases, omissions that a Young spokesman called inadvertent but that Young’s Democratic rival in this year’s election characterized as a betrayal of trust. Young spokesman Matt Shuckerow said Monday that the failure to include the farm prior to his 2015 congressional financial disclosure was an oversight that became apparent after the 2014 death of Young’s brother, Russell, and the...
