Sorted by date Results 4014 - 4038 of 5587
The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has actively been collecting water samples from Sandy Beach and testing them for quality since mid-July, after spillage of waste occurred months earlier. Late last week, a DEC press release was issued alerting recreational beach users to be aware of elevated levels of fecal coliform bacteria in marine water near the beach. The testing process included collecting weekly samples of marine water, and sending them to a Juneau lab. Since time can decrease bacterial counts in a matter of six to... Full story
This year's Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) will be $2,072. That's the highest on record not adjusting for inflation, though qualified residents received a $2,069 PFD in 2008 alongside a $1,200 resource rebate. Qualified residents who applied for direct deposit of the funds and were in eligible status by Sept. 18, 2015 will receive their PFD on Oct. 1. Checks will be mailed out the same day. Last year over $1.1 billion was paid out to almost 599,000 Alaskans. If there's a similar number of PFD... Full story
KETCHIKAN (AP) — A tour boat company based in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, is considering running a weekly ferry service to Ketchikan next summer. Owners of West Coast Launch and its subsidiary, Prince Rupert Adventure Tours, Debbie and Doug Davis said they are interested in making trips to Alaska next year, especially as the Alaska Marine Highway Service reduces service, The Ketchikan Daily News reports. Debbie Davis said at the Southeast Conference on Wednesday that as the Alaska Ferry system drops from twice-a-week service in the s...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — The owners of two marijuana delivery services and the owner of the Alaska Cannabis Club in Anchorage have been charged with drug crimes for the delivery and possession of marijuana. Undercover officers made multiple marijuana purchases from each business before charging them with misconduct involving a controlled substance in the fourth-degree, a felony, and in the fifth-degree, a misdemeanor, according to the Alaska Dispatch News. “We wanted there to be a clear message that for the marijuana industry, you need to follow the...
The local Rotary Club had a special guest at their weekly lunch meeting last Wednesday when District Governor Brad Gamble stopped by. Among the chief responsibilities for Gamble as district governor is to oversee all of Alaska and Yukon territories, and pay a visit to each club in the district during his year in the position. Gamble has been a part of Rotary for 10 years, and all club members, including leadership positions are unpaid volunteers. He says Rotary International and district funds financially help support his travel expenses, but...
Following their annual meeting last week in Prince Rupert, the Southeast Conference (SEC) will be going back to their transportation lobbying roots. The organization was formed in 1958 to lobby for a regional transportation system—now known as the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS)—and members are coming together once again to address needed changes to that system. A resolution was passed at last week’s meeting to restore the Transportation Board of the SEC, which will push during the upcoming legislative session to change the Marine Trans...
Subscribers, click link below to access a downloadable PDF file of this week's full print edition of the Pilot.................................................................................................................................................................................. http://www.petersburgpilot.com/homeedition2015.pdf...
Moose season is now open and hunters are afield trying to fill their freezers. Hunters will continue to operate under the same regulations, as hunting areas and antler restrictions remain unchanged from 2014. The season opens with high hopes for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) and hunters alike. Last fall, 106 moose were taken locally, the second highest total on record for the RMO-38 moose hunt. The total was just a couple shy of the 109 recorded moose killed in 2009. “That’s very good, because it wasn’t that long ago that we we... Full story
About 15 Petersburg and Kupreanof residents attended a meeting last Thursday night to hear about and voice their opinions on recent developments on the Kake Access road project. Meeting attendees listened to presentations by ADOT's Andy Hughes, Seth English-Young from the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) and two consultants working on the project who explained developments with the project's purpose and need statement and a screening process developed to evaluate 21 transportation... Full story
Sue Erickson of Petersburg-Wrangell Insurance gave an overview of the Borough’s liability insurance coverage at Thursday’s regular Assembly meeting. The Borough’s insurance has been provided by Alaska Public Entities Insurance for over a decade. There’s a $240,000 premium for its liability coverage, 11 percent of which goes to cover workers’ compensation. The premium has only increased $11,000 in the past six years, which Erickson characterized as “fantastic” and attributed to both claims handling and safety efforts by the Borough. Eric... Full story
Born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil-the largest city in the Americas with a population of almost 12 million-Carolina Macluf is settling into life in small town Alaska as this year's in-bound Rotary exchange student. Macluf chose Petersburg as the location for her one-year exchange because she wanted to practice English and see somewhere different. "I just think I want a different place," she said, adding that several other out-bound exchange students from her area chose to study in one of...
Three concerned Petersburg and Kupreanof residents spoke out against a resolution being considered as part of last Thursday’s Borough Assembly agenda. Though three Assembly members—Mayor Mark Jensen, Bob Lynn, Nancy Strand—voted in fav or of the resolution, four votes were needed for it to pass. The resolution would have called for the governor to petition for an appeal of the Ninth Circuit court’s late July ruling which overturned the Tongass National Forest’s exemption to the Roadless Rule. The Wrangell Borough and Ketchikan Gateway B...
For its September regular board meeting, Southeast Alaska Power Authority (SEAPA) board members met in Petersburg earlier this week. The board heard updates concerning the company's ongoing efforts to catalog hydro sites in Southeast. This summer, a consultant flight crew moved personnel and equipment to remote areas, including lakes that have never had bathymetric studies conducted on them. The process reveals underwater topography while recording the depth of the lakes. Falls Lake and Scenery Lake were both mapped and recorded. Similar survey...
The abundance of outdoor opportunities in Southeast creates a haven for those willing to explore the almost unlimited potentials. Often times that exploration can lead to personal growth and finding new hobbies that quickly become passions. For Bev Siercks, picking wild berries means wine making, and relaxing amongst the trees and assorted berry patches. Growing up in North Dakota, Siercks occasionally picked berries, but since moving to Petersburg it's become a lifestyle. Especially this year,...
The Borough Assembly voted unanimously to approve new columbarium fees and increases to other cemetery fees as part of an ordinance passed on its first reading last Thursday. The ordinance includes language changes to reflect Borough incorporation and to establish fees to place an urn in one of the 320 burials niches of a new columbarium erected at the cemetery last month. The new proposed fee for urn placement is $175, with an additional $75 charge for placements occurring on weekends or holidays. The proposed fee for burials—opening and c...
Icicle Seafoods owner Paine & Partners announced Sept. 4 that the sale of the company to buyers Dominion Catchers, LLC and Convergence Holdings, Inc. has been cancelled. The sale was anticipated to close in August and was announced in late June. Company representatives declined to comment further on the reasons for the cancellation. Some online industry sources have speculated that a provision in the American Fisheries Act which requires U.S. citizens to have 75 percent ownership and control of commercial fishing vessels 100 feet or greater in... Full story
The Petersburg School Board held its first meeting of the 2015 school year. At the meeting, the board unanimously approved spending $18,510 for the much needed addition of an exhaust hood in the cafeteria kitchen. “We have received a health code violation because we do not have an exhaust hood over our stove and steam kettle,” said Daniel Tate, maintenance/facilities director. “The school never was designed with a cafeteria, it was essentially put into a multipurpose room.” Tate believes the cafeteria was originally called a gymnasium on the... Full story
In a special meeting on July 7, board members of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) met to discuss two items. The board voted to award a bid not to exceed $396,080 for the Swan Lake Powerhouse Roof Membrane Project to the Sitka-based company CBC Construction. The company was one of four that submitted bids, which ranged from $336,569 to $566,258. Petersburg Power and Light Superintendent Joe Nelson was the sole dissenting vote. He said he had reservations about the large spread of bid amounts and the design of the roof. “I think we s... Full story
Petersburg Medical Center (PMC) recently added digital mammography to its list of services offered. The new machine is two years old, but the capability of its technology is proving less harmful and possibly life changing for patients. "We're exposing the patient to at least half of the radiation they were being exposed to before," says Liz Bacom, PMC Laboratory/Imaging Director. The superior image quality of the Phillips MicroDose uses revolutionary photon counting detector technology. Bacom...
An ordinance changing the language and fee structure of cemetery services will go before the Assembly at today’s regular meeting. The changes are both to reflect Borough incorporation and to establish fees to place an urn in one of the 320 burial niches of a new columbarium erected at the cemetery last month. The new proposed fee for urn placement is $175, with an additional $75 charge for placements occurring on weekends or holidays. The proposed fee for burials—opening and closing a grave—would be raised from $650 for an adult and $300 for a...
Petersburg police have been investigating a local commercial psilocybin—hallucinogenic mushroom—grow operation. So far one of three suspects, 19-year-old Anthony Curtiss, has been arrested and indicted on charges related to the case. Curtiss was arrested on Aug. 28 on three felony charges. The first charge, Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the 1st Degree/Division IIA, relates to alleged delivery of the psilocybin to a minor who is at least three years younger than Curtiss. The minor in this case is an unnamed 15 year old. A fel...
The United States Postal Office (USPS) considers transient individuals to be anyone living in a moveable structure. Therefore, according to USPS policy, residents in Petersburg living in motor homes or boats are considered transient, no matter how long they have lived in the Borough, even if the structure has not moved in a decade. In Petersburg, USPS offers one free P.O. Box per physical address or delivery point. For instance, if multiple generations of a family reside in one home, that home is only allowed one free registered P.O. Box. If... Full story
ANCHORAGE (AP) — There may finally be a buyer for a multimillion dollar ferry that's never seen service. The Alaska Journal of Commerce reports Matanuska-Susitna borough officials approved the $1.75M sale of the ferry Susitna to the Philippine Red Cross. The $78 million ferry was a prototype catamaran-style landing craft built for the U.S. Navy, and it was donated to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. But it has sat docked hundreds of miles away in Ketchikan for years because it has no place to dock in Anchorage. The 195-foot ferry was intended t...
KENAI (AP) — An Alaska Medicaid program that funds care for adults with developmental disabilities is looking to cut the number of people it enrolls each year by 75 percent. The Peninsula Clarion reports that currently 200 people are taken off a waiting list to be enrolled in Medicaid's Intellectual and Developmental Disability waiver annually. Administrators now want that number to drop to 50. Officials say they would not be abandoning those waiting to join the program. In addition to the annual 50-person increase, wait-listed people would a...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — A Wasilla newspaper has filed a complaint with the Department of Public Safety after an Alaska State Trooper pulled over a reporter and seized his camera memory card. The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman says the trooper's actions violated constitutional protections of freedom of the press and against unlawful search and seizure, the Alaska Dispatch News reported. The Department of Public Safety is investigating. According to the complaint, Frontiersman reporter Brian O'Connor went to cover a reported shooting in Willow on W...
