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SITKA (AP) — The CEO of Sitka's community hospital said he missed a meeting last week because he was assaulted. Jeff Comer said he could no longer stay in Sitka and planned to leave over the weekend. Comer was scheduled to appear at a meeting with the Sitka Assembly on Friday. But he instead sent the hospital board president to read a statement from him. Comer said he was willing to help the city and hospital as needed, from Arizona, KCAW reported. Sitka police Chief Sheldon Schmitt confirmed to the radio station that Comer called dispatch F...
The initial stages to repair a dock structure in Middle Harbor that was damaged in early September by the M/V Safari Explorer are underway after the Assembly approved a contract with PND Engineers at Monday's regular meeting. "Basically it was one of our small cruise ships and they hammered that float pretty good," Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said. "We had PND do an analysis of it and there's some pretty severe damage." The damage incurred by the 127-foot long vessel owned by Un-Cruise...
January More than 600 Petersburg residents signed up for the borough's recycling program. The Petersburg Land Selection Committee requested the borough pursue legislative action regarding the State's calculation of land entitlement for the Petersburg Borough after the committee's determination that the State's selection of land was inadequate. The Petersburg School Board approved a $2.3 million exterior wall renovation project for the Rae C. Stedman Elementary School. Petersburg School District... Full story
Locally falling oil prices and fewer State funds have arisen alongside every budget discussion, especially as local officials wait to see if any State monies will be allocated for capital projects. Though falling oil prices are a detriment to the State's financial affairs, they also translate to lower prices at the pump, an effect being felt more nationwide than in Southeast. "Recent retail prices have been trending downward due to high domestic inventory levels of crude oil coupled with soft... Full story
Shortly after ringing in the new year, the Borough will start contending with a new law passed by voters in November’s State election that allows possession, use, sale and transport of set amounts of marijuana. The law goes into effect near the end of February, and Mayor Mark Jensen requested to include a discussion of its local implementation at a January Assembly meeting. Statewide the law legalizes marijuana use for individuals 21 years and older but bans public use of the substance – violators are subject to a $100 fine – two compo... Full story
Christine Wallace's third and fourth graders and David Owen's third graders recently published newspapers and their eager reporters are already brainstorming stories to fill the papers of future publications. Students from Christine Wallace's third and fourth grade split classroom put out The Weekly Wallace just after the Thanksgiving holiday. The project began as an idea between three of Wallace's third grade students: Logan Haley, Zander Jones and Myah Enriquez. Interest grew from there, and...
The Friends of the Library will begin holding monthly used book sales at the Public Library beginning Jan. 3. The mini book sales will be held the first Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will provide readers with more opportunities to purchase used books throughout the year, while also offering more opportunities for folks to donate salable books year-round. Sue Paulsen, the event’s organizer, said that the monthly sale will be in addition to, rather than in replacement of, the popular annual two-day used book sale organized by...
The U.S. Forest Service will soon be accepting comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Kake-Petersburg Intertie, a proposed electrical transmission line that would connect Kake to a SEAPA substation in Petersburg. The proposed project would bring cheaper power to Kake whose 550 residents are currently using costly diesel to power their homes and businesses. "In 2011, the full retail cost of power in Kake was 62 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), more than five times the... Full story
Residents from the Mountain View Manor and PMC Long Term care served as judges for this year's Chamber of Commerce holiday light contest held Friday. Ross Nannauck and Rudy Nannauck's colorfully lit and musical home won the judges over for first place in the homes category. Ken Yuen took second place for best decorated home. Petersburg Rexall Drug, Inc. took first in the business category for their window display celebrating The Nutcracker, which was performed by the Mitkof Dance Troupe. Robin... Full story
Though 97 percent of respondents said they are satisfied with Petersburg’s commingled recycling program, Public Works staff have also been alerted to possible improvements – including a switch to a cart-based program and bringing collection in house – after reviewing the results of a community survey that wrapped up last month about the program. At Monday’s Assembly meeting, Public Works Director Karl Hagerman presented the results of the survey, which was intended to help the department assess community satisfaction, cost effecti... Full story
Borough Assembly members moved speedily through the agenda at Monday’s regular meeting, approving a resolution to dedicate $950,730 of Property Development fund money to the Municipal Building renovation project. At the last meeting, Assembly members approved moving the monies – which are the surplus from the 2014 fiscal year’s General Fund – into the Property Development fund, so the Borough can have more financial options for funding local projects in anticipation of receiving fewer State funds this year. The renovation is the top priority on...
School board members unanimously approved an updated budget presented by Finance Director Karen Quitslund at Tuesday’s meeting, which included an additional $197,643 in revenue from the state, based on student enrollment. The budget was formulated based on a projected enrollment of 425 students. The actual student enrollment for this year is 431, one student more than last year’s enrollment of 430. “So in the fall we have…our student count. When we have those actual numbers, they get plugged into a formula called the foundation formula and tha... Full story
An update to the Borough’s Comprehensive Plan is in full swing after consultants arrived in town last week for the first of four scheduled visits with community members and the planning team. “We are in town really kicking off the process with the community. We have a series of meetings and opportunities for the community to come talk to us,” said Shelly Wade, a consultant with Agnew Beck on hand at the community open houses held Wednesday and Thursday. The Comprehensive Plan Wade and her team will be formulating this year creates a bluep... Full story
Soon to be 17-year-old Rikke Sætermo from Alta, Norway has been adjusting to life in America, Alaska and Petersburg's Little Norway since she arrived to town in September as an exchange student with AFS USA. Sætermo hails from a small town in one of Norway's northernmost municipalities. She's used to cold weather and that's what she prepared for when packing her bags for Petersburg, based on her perception of Alaska. "I'm kind of embarrassed about this but I was thinking it was going to be i... Full story
Assembly members received a report on the Borough’s annual audit performed by BDO at last week’s regular meeting. BDO partner Michelle Drew informed the Assembly of the ins and outs of the fiscal year 2014 audit. “The audit received a clean audit opinion, an unmodified opinion, and that’s kind of the highest report card you can get from an external auditor,” Drew said. The Borough ended the fiscal year with $10.4 million in total revenues for the general fund, while total expenditures amounted to $8.9 million. Drew said that total revenues...
Petersburg Schools will be looking to replace their existing boiler rather than rehabilitate it, board member Cheryl File reported on behalf of maintenance director Dan Tate at Tuesday’s meeting. Tate was absent due to serving jury duty in Ketchikan, but sent along a report explaining that further research indicated that repair of the apparatus wasn’t feasible “We became aware that the manufacturer only recently discontinued manufacturing the seal kits needed to repair our boiler,” File read from the report. “This…necessitates the need to repla...
WRANGELL — Wrangell's advisory committee to Alaska Department of Fish and Game held the second of several public meetings at the Fire Hall Dec. 11, to discuss Board of Fisheries proposals for the 2014-15 meeting cycle. This committee provides a forum for fishing and game management issues, allowing the public to review and discuss new proposals and to provide recommendations to both state boards of Fisheries and Game. To consult with them on crab, shellfish and shrimp management policies were Joe Stratman and Troy Thynes from Petersburg's A...
Assembly members unanimously voted against a resolution to dedicate local funds to capital improvement projects pending the allocation of State funds by the Alaska legislature. Assembly member Bob Lynn had proposed the resolution at the Nov. 25 meeting because he said projects with a local match are more likely to be funded by the legislature. Rather than dedicating funds among the lengthy list of capital priorities, Assembly members said they wanted to see all monies put toward the number one... Full story
This year's Pickled Herring Contest held at the Sons of Norway Hall Wednesday evening was one of the biggest ever. Four tables showcased over a dozen entries apiece, each competing for the top prize in four categories: pickled seafood, smoked salmon, cured/smoked seafood and pickled herring. Cynthia Mathisen, the event's organizer, said there were more entries overall this year and several exciting entries in the cured category, which was new to the contest this year. "Everyone has their... Full story
The Assembly speedily approved two housekeeping matters at Monday’s regular meeting in addition to approving funds to ship a crane off for repairs after failing a recent OSHA inspection. Some $60,000 was allocated for the repairs to the small crane on the Crane Dock, which will be performed by Maximum Performance Hydraulics (MPH) in Seattle. The initial estimate from MPH was $25-30,000, though Harbormaster Glo Wollen said the estimate is based on pictures and information sent to the company, and a final estimate won’t be available until the...
Four parties expressed their opinions on the acquisition of land at Papke's Landing, which will go up for sale Dec. 15. The initial public comment period was held at Monday's regular Assembly meeting. There are three lots in particular that Borough Assembly members have said are important to the public and possible future development at Papke's. Before making a decision on whether or not to bid for the lots, the Assembly wanted to hear public input. So far public opinion is split on the land...
Petersburg resident Karen Dillman's studio is a split between a mad scientist's lab and a serious crafter's work space. There are jars filled with all manner of dried mushrooms and lichen and others filled with rich, colorful dye baths. Skeins of hand-spun yarn in a rainbow of colors line the wall and a small library of books is close at hand to look up formulas and provide inspiration. An ecologist for the U.S Forest Service by trade, Dillman combines artistry with her love of the natural...
Summer 2014 was a busy one for Petersburg, with tourists bringing more charter business to town and spending more on hotels and retail than the previous summer. This summer the Borough collected over $35,000 in sales taxes from charter businesses, almost double what was collected over the same time period in 2013. The Borough also collected about $4,000 more each in bed tax revenue and retail sales tax revenue. Marilyn Meucci of the Visitor Information Center said she thought that a rebounding economy played a large role in the increased...
With the addition of Marlene Cushing and Kris Thynes, the Petersburg Medical Center (PMC) now has a full board of seven, as well as new officers for the coming year. Tim Koeneman was named board president and cautioned the board that they would have to lean heavily on Darlene Whitethorn, elected vice-president in her absence per her prior assent to the idea and formerly secretary, during the summer months when he is away. “With kids and grandkids all in Juneau, there are vacation times when I’m simply not here,” he said. “I’ll certainly...
Petersburg Mayor Mark Jensen brought his fisheries knowledge to bear as a chosen member for new Governor Bill Walker and Lt. Governor Byron Mallott's transition team. The team met Nov. 21-23 at a three-day conference to identify key issues to be addressed by the new administration. "I was very honored to get picked to participate," Jensen said in a phone interview. He was one of 246 Alaskans comprising the transition team, which was sub-divided into 17 groups covering topics from education and... Full story
