Sorted by date Results 4321 - 4345 of 5574
As the 29th Alaska State Legislature reached the halfway point of this year's session last week, Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, House District 25 representative, stopped in Petersburg to talk about legislature issues with a local impact. By far, the budget is the largest issue facing this year's legislature, Kresis-Tomkins said. "I ran into someone yesterday and we were talking really briefly about it and I mentioned I felt like a pallbearer at a funeral because of the budget," he said. "Gloom and doom is kind of the mood." That's because the state... Full story
The Sitka sac roe herring fishery will be done cooperatively this year, with processing completed in Sitka alone, meaning no fish tax for Petersburg. "This is an industry initiated cooperative," Dave Gordon, area management biologist at the Department of Fish and Game, said of the co-op. He added that the sac roe herring market is "very poor right now," and that the decision was made to eliminate competition and risk - to lower costs to "make it worthwhile to go after the product." "The quota this year is quite small," said Patrick Wilson,... Full story
What is the need for a road between Kake and Petersburg? That's the question Petersburg residents wanted most answered during a meeting with the Federal Highway Administration and Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) Tuesday evening. The two entities brought along the McDowell Group and Northern Economics, who conducted studies concerning the project. It was the 2012 Alaska Legislature that appropriated $40 million to ADOT&PF to construct about 22 miles of a new,... Full story
The Petersburg Medical Center is in a good position financially right now, but it’s in the next three to five years that it may face some serious challenges. Representatives from the hospital and its board of directors met at a special meeting with the Petersburg Borough Assembly Monday evening. “Your hospital is strong, you have almost no debt,” said Interim Chief Financial Officer Doran Hammett, who brings in an outside perspective as he does financial work for hospitals around the country. He added that Petersburg has a strong balance sheet...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly passed an ordinance on first reading at last Monday's meeting that establishes fees for the new Drive Down Dock facility that is expected to be available for use later this month. The ordinance also increases the short term and transient moorage fees. Vessel owners accessing the new Commercial Drive Down Dock will pay $2.50 per linear foot for an annual permit for the facility. Those accessing the facility on a per use basis will pay $1.00 per linear foot of...
Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) CEO Trey Acteson spoke before the Petersburg Borough Assembly last week and the Wrangell Assembly this week to update the communities on the progress of the Swan Lake expansion project and apprise them of their role in upcoming refinancing efforts. The current dam at Swan Lake is 174 feet tall and 430 feet wide with a spillway slot that is 15 feet high and 100 feet wide. "Essentially the project is to fill that spillway slot, be able to raise the reservoir...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) _ The supervisor of the Coconino National Forest in Flagstaff, Arizona, will move north to become supervisor of the nation's largest national forest. The Juneau Empire reports Earl Stewart has been named supervisor for the Tongass National Forest, which spans more than 26,500 square miles in southeast Alaska. The U.S. Forest Service in an announcement says Stewart likely will take the new position in May but a start date hasn't been decided. Stewart says working in the Tongass is a lifelong dream. He will replace Forrest...
Tonka Seafoods, Inc., announced last year that it was working to bring shrimp fisheries and processing back to Petersburg after a nearly decade-long absence. Well, it's delivered. The fishery is closed for March and April, but Chief Financial Officer Seth Scrimsher said they purchased 250,000 pounds of pink shrimp from fisherman at a price of 40 cents per pound over the winter. A customer contacted Tonka and requested the shrimp after spotting the seafood company as one of 12 finalists for the... Full story
The assembly continues to be divided on changing the current blue bag recycling program to a cart-based system that would also bring collection in-house. The ordinance containing the budget item for the sanitation department narrowly passed its second reading at Monday’s meeting with members Bob Lynn, Kurt Wohlhueter and John Havrilek opposing. The sanitation fund is one of two enterprise funds that are not currently meeting their reserves goal. The budget policy approved by the assembly last November established that reserves should equal at l... Full story
Petersburg Indian Association started their week off without a tribal administrator on staff. Bobbi Scherrer was hired into the position this January and left at her own hand after creating an operational budget and seeing the funds weren’t there for fiscal year 2015 for the organization to employ an administrator. “I’m very sad to be leaving. It’s not what I thought would happen and certainly not this soon,” Scherrer said. “I knew we weren’t out of the woods yet, but I was hoping when I put together the operational budget to find a little... Full story
Individuals will have the opportunity to provide public testimony via teleconference on two bills being discussed in the Alaska State Legislature on Thursday, March 5 from 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. at the Petersburg LIO (Legislative Information Office) at 11B Gjoa St. The two house bills under consideration cover the state operating budget and the mental health budget. The public hearing time allotment will be shared with Sitka, Delta Junction, Unalaska, Glennallen and Tok. Public testimony is limited to two minutes. Individuals wishing to...
She's got just a few weeks left in the office, but they're going to be busy ones for former Petersburg Borough Clerk Kathy O'Rear as she prepares for retirement. "We've always got a ton of work to do here," she said. Debbie Thompson was sworn in as clerk Monday, and O'Rear's last day will be March 31. Until then, she'll be assisting Thompson in the transition. O'Rear became Petersburg's clerk in August 2000, and was a city clerk in East Jordan, Mich., for 16 years before that. "We had come up he...
Despite the proposed statewide budget cuts, our legislators will not close paved highways elsewhere in the state. Likewise, they won’t restrict two-lane highways down to a single lane. But that will be the effect a proposal by a legislative subcommittee that is proposing a 10-percent cut to the Alaska ferry system. Some proposals call for taking ferries out of service, including replacement vessels that go into service when vessels are taken out of service for repairs or annual Coast Guard required overhauls. Southeast communities will not o...
The Salmon Project, a Kodiak-based non-profit that explores Alaskans’ relationships with wild salmon, will be holding a book drop at the Petersburg Public Library this weekend. Some 1,250 copies of David Montgomery’s book ‘King of Fish’ will be given away as part of the statewide campaign, which will then head to Sitka, Cordova and other communities in Alaska. “When we do book drops our first step is always to go into a community with a large number of books and try to get them in people’s hands,” said Executive Director Erin Harrington. ...
An 18-member Local Marijuana Regulation Advisory Committee has been formed to discuss the local implementation of a law that took effect Feb. 24, allowing for the private use and commercial sale of marijuana. The assembly unanimously passed a resolution to create the committee at Monday’s regular meeting. Three assembly members, Nancy Strand, Kurt Wohlhueter and Jeigh Stanton Gregor, will sit on the committee with Stanton Gregor appointed as the committee’s chairperson. Joined by the three assembly members are 15 residents who expressed int...
A number of public hearings on Alaska Marine Highway System’s operating budget have been scheduled this week, allowing ferry users the opportunity to give their input to state legislators as they draw up a budget. In a media release, Southeast Conference highlights the ferry system’s importance to the region’s communities, and further warns of a possible $9.5 million cut to AMHS being weighed as the Legislature finds ways to address a $3.5 billion deficit anticipated for the 2016 fiscal year. If that sized cut goes ahead as planned, servi...
These ordinances, resolutions and requests came before the Petersburg Borough Assembly at Monday’s regular meeting. Approved by the assembly •The assembly approved a bid award for landscaping at the Petersburg Public Library. Of two bidders, Reid Brothers Construction won the bid for an amount not to exceed $199,332 to do hardscape and rock work at the library along with drainage improvements. Funds for the landscaping project will come from a 2012 State Legislative Grant allocated for the construction of the new facility as well as from pri...
Dani Palmer, 27, joins the Petersburg Pilot this week and will write news, sports and features for the paper. She most recently worked for the twice-weekly Newport News-Times (Oregon) covering education and county news for the paper and provided coverage for The Herald Bulletin as well. A graduate of the University of Southern Indiana, she was both a Chief Copy Editor and Editor in Chief for the university newspaper. Palmer was named Senior of the Year in 2011 for Journalistic Excellence and...
The availability and affordability of housing in Petersburg Borough and the effects of a changing age composition of the borough’s population were two emerging themes highlighted in a report released Feb. 20 by Agnew Beck, the consulting firm heading up the borough’s new Comprehensive Plan. The report outlines challenges and opportunities in nine key areas that spring from residents’ feedback at the consultants’ last visit to town in December as well as a community-wide survey that closed last month. Over 350 individuals, more than 10 percent... Full story
Petersburg Indian Association (PIA) announced the departure of Tribal Administrator Bobbi Scherrer in a press release yesterday. Scherrer’s position and two part-time positions will be eliminated from PIA due to a budget deficit. “My first act as Tribal Administrator was to formalize an operating budget for PIA,” Scherrer said in the release. “The 2015 finalized budget identified a deficit that required serious cuts.” Scherrer has been serving as the tribal administrator for about one month. In a February interview, she told the Pilot she... Full story
After two years of work Petersburg Mental Health Services (PMHS) has earned a three-year accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). This is the first such accreditation PMHS has earned from the international accrediting body. “This has been a process we’ve been working on for two years,” said PHMS Executive Director Susan Ohmer. The organization began undergoing the accreditation process in 2013 as part of a state mandate for grantees of behavioral health services. Since then PMHS staff, heade...
The Petersburg High School shop class recently finished making 19 new log books for the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) cabins in the area using the computer numerical controlled (CNC) router put into service at the school in the fall of 2013. The shop class, lead by teacher Nick Popp, has been using the CNC router to produce signage for the Petersburg Borough and other organizations around town. The partnership between the USFS and the school began the idea for such collaborations, and also helped...
JUNEAU (AP) — Alaska on Tuesday became the third U.S. state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults, but it was a subdued milestone. Unlike in Colorado and Washington state, there were no street parties and public smoking displays in Alaska’s biggest cities. But backers of legal pot said the mild reaction was fitting because they are aiming to promote responsible consumption of marijuana as they work with lawmakers during the next few months in preparing its sale. “We wish people would just celebrate in a little less publi...
JUNEAU (AP) — Questions to ponder as Alaska legalizes marijuana: HOW DID LEGALIZATION HAPPEN? Alaskans voted 53-47 percent in November to legalize marijuana use by adults in non-public places. Possession and transportation of up to an ounce of pot, and growing up to six plants, half of which can be mature, are legal as of Feb. 24. The state has nine more months to create regulations for a commercial marijuana industry whose pot will be sold and taxed. BUT WASN’T POT ALREADY LEGAL IN ALASKA? Yes and no. A 1975 Alaska Supreme Court decision pro...
Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott filed an emergency regulation Feb. 24 defining what “in public” means in the Alaska statute that make the consumption,possession, transport and transfer of marijuana legal. A meno from Mallot’s office reads: “Alaska Statue 17.38.010 expressly makes it unlawful to ‘consume marijuana in public.’ Alaska Statute 17.38.040 defines ‘consumption’ as ‘the act of ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing marijuana into the human body.’ But AS 17.38 does not define ‘in public.’” “This emergency regulation is nec...
