Sorted by date Results 4358 - 4382 of 5553
JUNEAU (AP) - Patricia Ann Roppel arrived in Ketchikan as a newlywed home economics teacher in 1959, the same year Alaska became a state - and she was quickly captivated by its history. Canneries, fishing, old mill sites, mining; for decades she, husband Frank Roppel, and, later, their children, John and Cindy, explored Southeast Alaska's beaches and its forests, looking for pieces of the past. The first historical place the couple found together, Frank said, was an old mining mill site. "That s...
University of Alaska Anchorage Eva Kowalski was named to the Chancellor's list for a GPA of 4.00 at the University of Alaska Anchorage for 2014 fall semester....
Last month was the rainiest January on record. Some 21.05 inches of rain fell on Petersburg, breaking the January 1985 record of 20.8 inches, according to National Weather Service’s climate data. While precipitation was noticeably present, snowfall was noticeable absent. Only 4 inches of snow fell on the town, far short of 21.9 inches that is typical for the month. Service Hydrologist and Meteorologist Aaron Jacobs told the Pilot last week that the lack of snowpack on the mountains could mean trouble for stream flow levels, and subsequently f...
Though a ruling was made Jan.16 in the case of Fred Triem and Karen Ellingstad versus the Borough, the matter is still not settled. After having the case under advisement for several months, Superior Court Judge Philip M. Pallenberg affirmed the Borough’s determination that Triem and Ellingstad’s property on Wrangell Ave. was a “dangerous building” according to municipal code. Though this brought some sense of closure to the matter, which has been ongoing since summer 2013 when the Borough first sent notice to the homeowners to repair or demo... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly is soliciting community input on a law going into effect Feb. 24 that allows the personal use of marijuana. The law also provides for the eventual commercial sale of the drug, though municipalities can choose to limit or ban commercial enterprises. Mayor Mark Jensen asked to begin a discussion of how the assembly and community would like to approach the new law at the Jan. 20 assembly meeting. "I personally feel it's important that as a Borough we start working... Full story
According to a Petersburg Police press release, on Jan. 28, Petersburg Police and Southeast Alaska City Against Drugs task force, with the assistance of the USPS and FBI, arrested Samuel Nelson, 51, of Petersburg, for alleged crimes involving distribution of methamphetamine, including Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the Third and Fourth Degrees and Tampering with Evidence. Nelson is currently being held on $50,000 bail. Initial investigation revealed that Nelson allegedly imported a significant amount of methamphetamine into... Full story
Petersburg residents might slosh through the rainiest January on record, according to data from the National Weather Service. As of Wednesday afternoon, 19.5 inches of rain has fallen this month securing Petersburg at least a second place ranking for the rainiest January. Record rainfall for the month was 20.8 inches in 1985. Service Hydrologist/Meteo-rologist Aaron Jacobs said more rain is forecasted before the month’s end. “There’s a decent chance that we could break that record,” Jacobs said. Several records have already been broken....
The transfer bridge of the new drive down dock drew quite a crowd during its Jan. 16 installation. Despite the downpour Petersburg residents came out, cameras in hand, to watch a large crane place the 140-long by 17-foot wide bridge. "It is rated to haul anything that can go down the highway," said Harbormaster Glo Wollen. Efforts continue on the construction and assembly of the float pieces, the next component slated to go into place. "Currently what Tamico is doing is they're putting the...
The state-sponsored Healthy Futures Challenge awarded $300 to second grader Martha Midkiff for her participation in the fall 2014 program that ran from Sept.-Nov. Midkiff was one of three kids selected from a state-wide drawing of participants in the program who submitted a physical activity log for each of the fall months. Midkiff's mother, Mary Midkiff, said the school sends the information on to the state on the kids' behalf and learning that Martha had won the drawing came as a pleasant...
U.S. District Judge Timothy Burgess granted a motion to give defendant Mark Weaver, 59, and his counsel more time to prepare before his case goes to trial at a Nov. 19 hearing. With the granting of the Unopposed Motion to Continue Trial, Weaver’s court date was rescheduled from Dec. 1, 2014 to March 2, 2015. In his written request to the court, Weaver’s attorney Phillip Weidner said more time was needed to effectively prepare for the trial. He also stated that the “defendant is seeking an attorney-client privileged expert evaluation” that wi...
Superior Court Judge William Carey sentenced 20-year-old Christafur Morrell to serve 23 months flat of jail time for Attempted Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the 2nd Degree. He was also sentenced to pay police training and jail surcharges totaling $200 and the $500 cost of his appointed counsel, in addition to forfeiting the money seized during a police search. Morrell was indicted by a grand jury last July following an incident where local police seized around $75,000 worth of heroin. Morrell is not a resident of Petersburg...
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Liz Woodyard announced that the hospital is considering hiring an occupational therapist to replace physical therapist Leslie Stancliff who announced her retirement from the facility. “One of the things we’ve looked at as far as services is what are our needs and I think an exciting opportunity for us is to look at is perhaps hiring an occupational therapist instead of a physical therapist,” Woodyard said. Physical Therapy Manager Ellie van Swearingen explained the role of an occupational therapist as opposed to ph...
At last Thursday’s meeting, Petersburg Medical Center’s Interim CFO Doran Hammett updated the board on recent efforts to increase cash on hand at the facility by decreasing accounts receivable (A/R) days –the amount of time it takes for a patient to pay money owed for services rendered. Hammett said that PMC’s accounts receivable days have historically been very high for PMC. “Gross A/R days have ranged from 106 to 145 (days) over the past two years,” he said. “Looking at this last fall we realized that we had gotten to a point in our patien...
Meeting in Wrangell last week, the Alaska Board of Fisheries elected to maintain the current Southeast Alaska Area Dungeness Crab Fisheries Management Plan. A trio of policy proposals would have repealed the plan and its early closure thresholds, returning management of the fishery to size, sex and season, as used elsewhere. “I understand the reason this proposal was put forward,” board member John Jensen said of Proposal 58. “Size, sex and season has been a very good way to manage fisheries for a long, long period of time in South...
WRANGELL — The Wrangell area will be without an Alaska Wildlife Trooper for the foreseeable future, according to the state agency’s Juneau office. The vacancy was created by the transfer of Trooper Scott Bjork to the Juneau area earlier this month. Citing budgetary constraints, head of Southeast Detachment Lieutenant Jon Streifel confirmed Monday the post will remain unfilled until the department knows what the upcoming budget will look like. “It’s a new transition,” he said. As the new legislative session convenes this week in Juneau, s...
The Community Advisory Board of American Seafoods Company announced it will be accepting applications for its Alaska community grant program. The deadline for applications is Feb. 17. Since its inception in 1997, the CAB has granted over $1.25 million to organizations and programs in Alaska. For this particular application, small grants totaling $38,000 will be allocated to community projects addressing issues such as hunger, housing, safety, education, research, natural resources and cultural activities. The majority of awards range from $500...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – President Barack Obama is proposing to designate the vast majority of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a wilderness area, including its potentially oil-rich coastal plain, drawing an angry response from top state elected officials who see it as a land grab by the federal government. “They've decided that today was the day that they were going to declare war on Alaska. Well, we are ready to engage,” said U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, chair of the Senate energy committee. The designation would set aside an addit...
The Assembly voted 5-1 to bid on land at Papke’s Landing in the winter auction of the Mental Health Trust Land Office. Assembly member Nancy Strand was the sole vote against the resolution. “I can’t support the Borough getting involved in anything at Papke’s Landing until Papke’s Landing is in a Service Area,” Strand said. “We shouldn’t have asked ‘should we acquire these three lots?’ I think we should have asked ‘how much do you want your taxes to go up so we can acquire these three lots?’” Mayor Mark Jensen said he had some concerns about t... Full story
Paine & Partners of San Francisco has announced the sale of Icicle Seafoods according to multiple news sources including Undercurrent.com and other seafood industry news sites. According to Laine Welch of the Fish Factor, Pacific Seafoods is seen as a frontrunner for buying Icicle. Other sources theorize that Icicle is a “mini-conglomerate” that would make the company attractive to multiple buyers if broken up. The Oregon-based Pacific Seafood Group is a family owned operation that has operations spanning the west coast from Mexico to Ala... Full story
On Jan. 16, Superior Court Judge Philip M. Pallenberg issued his decision affirming the Borough’s determination that a Wrangell Ave. home owned by Karen Ellingstad and Fred Triem is a “dangerous building” according to municipal code. The ruling comes after more than two years of back-and-forth about the structure’s fate between the owners and the Borough culminating in the homeowner’s filing a notice of appeal in Superior Court on Jan. 2, 2014. The appeal was in response to a non-compliance hearing held Dec. 2, 2013 in which the Borough A... Full story
Though many of the thirty individuals who showed up at the public meeting held last Wednesday to discuss the Kake-Petersburg Intertie (KPI) expressed their support for the project, a spirited discussion also ensued about the various components included in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) released by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the environmental review process. The review process is required under NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) for any projects that will have a...
Max Worhatch IV is this year’s Chamber of Commerce Rain Game winner with a guess of 115.75 inches. The total reported precipitation by NOAA for 2014 was 115.87 inches, meaning Petersburg saw higher than average precipitation this year. According to NOAA, annual precipitation for the area is 109.95 inches. Chamber Director Cindi Lagoudakis said the winner came down to the numbers beyond the decimal as 13 contestants guessed the rainfall at 115 inches. A total of 248 entries were received for this year’s contest. The lowest and most opt...
The Petersburg School Board approved a new search proposal with the Alaska Association of School Boards (AASB) to conduct a search for a new PSD Superintendent after the Board accepted previous Petersburg School District Dr. Lisa Stroh’s resignation and settlement release agreement, which grants her administrative leave with pay and benefits through June 30, 2015—the same benefits outlined in a paragraph of her hiring contract provided to Stroh should she be fired without cause. Questions have been raised as to whether or not the board fir...
Jasmine Ieremia will be spending the 2015-16 school year abroad in Thailand. The Petersburg High School freshman learned the location of her studies abroad after attending a winter orientation for Rotary Youth Exchange students last weekend in Anchorage. "It (the orientation) was really for the outbounds to learn what country they were going to and just to learn some tools to use on their exchange dealing with people and dealing with being away from home," Ieremia said. She said that spending a...
The Petersburg School Board unanimously approved Tuesday night a $69,350 bid to replace a boiler in the middle school. Ketchikan Mechanical Incorporated submitted the second lowest bid to the district and will replace the current leaky boiler that was originally installed in 1984. The boiler will likely be replaced by the end of March. Harri Plumbing was the high bidder at $143,600. Schmolck Mechanical Contractors bid second highest at $141,637. Superior Plumbing and Heating bid the job at $89,740 and Raincountry Contractors was the lowest bidd...
