Sorted by date Results 4733 - 4757 of 5587
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will present five changes to the borough’s sales tax code to voters on October’s ballot. In July, the assembly will begin drafting the elements of the changes, which include requiring PFD filings for proof of residency for senior sales tax exemption eligibility, limiting the exemption to food and heating fuel and the establishment of a sunset date for the eventual elimination of the exemption. Changes also include an increase in the sales tax cap and imp... Full story
Mayor Mark Jensen responded to questions City of Kupreanof resident Dave Beebe posed regarding Jensen’s support of the South Mitkof Timber sales. Beebe led the charge against the timber sales based on public safety concerns. He cited peer reviewed scientific studies that documented unstable slopes on Mitkof Island and landslide hazards as a result of logging. He and others also raised concerns regarding logging and its negative effects on deer habitat and current low hunter success rates. The Petersburg Borough Assembly joined the City of K... Full story
Bob Tkacz, a reporter for the Petersburg Pilot from 1986 to 1989, died in his office in Juneau at the age of 61. His body was found on Tuesday, May 27. The Juneau Police Department reported there were no signs of foul play and added there were indications of medical issues. Additional information could not be shared, according to police. With his departure from Petersburg, Tkacz headed to Juneau to work as a freelance writer, eventually starting his own newsletter, "Laws of the Sea," which he es...
Mystery and suspense author Rolynn Anderson is in town and will be doing a book signing for her newest novel, "Lie Catchers", which is set in Petersburg. The book explores the mystery surrounding the real-life 1932 murder of Sing Lee. Anderson taught English for most of her career and began writing late in life. Petersburg Pilot reporter Kyle Clayton interviewed Anderson yesterday afternoon about her newest novel and the writing life. Kyle Clayton: When did you first come to Petersburg and what...
Petersburg resident Polly Lee along with 50 other locals petitioned the Petersburg Borough Assembly during a public hearing last Monday to readopt an expired city ordinance that creates a Historic Preservation Commission. “We believe the re-adoption of Ordinance No. 827 would promote and enhance knowledge of the history of Petersburg, the areas and buildings of early settlers, and provide for the preservation of areas and historical objects of Petersburg history,” the petition states. “It could offer visitors a broad and comprehensive understan...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted 6-1 to authorize Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for the borough’s comprehensive plan. The comprehensive planning process is extensive and covers things such as updating zoning and land use, identification and selection of state land for economic and community development, evaluating housing availability and affordability, the impact of tourism and other quality of life issues. Developing a harbor master plan will also be included in the planning process. The a...
Karen Malcom won this year's King Salmon Derby after battling a 46.4-pound Chinook last Saturday afternoon. Besides fishing the derby one day last year, Malcom hasn't fished during the annual event for 15 years until last weekend. "My husband invited me to spend the weekend fishing with him and I took him up on it," Malcom said. "It was good quality time with he I and my dog. It was a family outing." Stan Malcom and Karen Malcom got skunked Friday. Stan Malcom caught a halibut on Saturday and... Full story
Despite fears this winter of dipping into its reserves, the Petersburg School Board unanimously approved a balanced budget for the 2014/2015 school year without spending from reserve funds. Petersburg School District Finance Director Karen Quitslund presented the budget to the school board last week. She outlined several budget considerations including recent legislation passed during this spring session that increased the base student allocation (BSA) by $150, which brings total funding per student to $5,830. Petersburg schools will have an an... Full story
Petersburg High School seniors are graduating next Tuesday in the high school gym. Petersburg School District teacher Sue Harden is retiring this year and will be the honored speaker during the ceremony. Among the many highlights at the event, the school’s band and choir will perform and Class Historian Fran Abbott will provide a history of the class. Petersburg High School and Mitkof Middle School Principal Rick Dormer said the senior class tends to set a tone for the school’s climate each year. This year’s class has created a quieter and c...
Three Petersburg WWII veterans returned from Washington, D.C. earlier this month where they toured the city and its war memorials as part of a national Honor Flights Program. Gerald Lind, 88, who served in the Air Force on crash boats and rescued downed pilots along the Aleutian Islands, said he and the other 49 veterans were well received. "The fun part for me was we were treated like we were the kings of the world," Lind said. "It's unbelievable to be greeted and cheered and clapped and...
Local resident and painter Beth Flor will have 45 of her paintings on display and for sale in a solo exhibit at the International Museum of Art in El Paso, Texas. Flor paints in a style named contemporary realism. "A common thread is light and shadow patterns in the works here and down there," Flor said. "Because it's in El Paso they're more interested in my work I do in Mexico." Flor travels and paints in Mexico for five months out of the year and the museum in El, Paso is particularly...
Last week, the Petersburg High School LeConte Glacier survey team tracked the latest movements of the tidal glacier after surveying its terminus earlier this month. Students traveled by skiff and helicopter to the site where they measured LeConte’s terminus, or the point of the face of the glacier furthest out. They used vertical and horizontal plane measuring instruments called theodolites. “To make it easier for ourselves, there are stakes driven into the rocks so we can set up on the same points year after year after year,” junior Kyle...
The Petersburg Vikings lost two games to Thunder Mountain and Sitka in Juneau last week. Head Coach Jim Engell said despite the loss to Thunder Mountain, his team succeeded defensively. “This is the third game where we’ve had the ability to win defensively and just can’t come up with the runs offensively,” Engell said. “That’s tough.” The Vikings offense had six hits compared to Thunder Mountain’s four, but Petersburg left eight runners stranded on bases throughout the game. Pitcher Colby Bell struck out ten batters and gave up four runs, two...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will discuss changes to the borough’s sales tax code after Sue Flint, Sales Tax Committee Chair, presented it's recommendations last week. After months of discussion, the committee recommended two changes to Petersburg’s sales tax code—increasing the sales tax cap to $1500 and requiring PFDs, instead of driver’s licenses, as proof of residency for senior sales tax exemption cards. There was a long list of exemptions, such as pull-tabs, fish box tax and-- the most contentious issue-- senior exemptions, which the c...
WRANGELL - According to news reports, a Tlingit hat sold for $365,000 on the auction block at Sotheby's of New York May 21. The hat's sale had been opposed by local Alaskan Natives and board members of the SEALAKSA corporation on the grounds that as a sacred at.óow object, it never should have left possession of the Wrangell Kiks.áadi clan in the first place. The hat was in the style of an Aleut hunting cap with Tlingit embossments and accents and was carved by master carver Wiliam Ukas, who c...
FAIRBANKS (AP) — Oil companies that own the trans-Alaska pipeline will have 30 days to appeal a State Assessment Review Board decision to set the value of the pipeline system at $10.2 billion. The decision last week set a figure sharply higher than the $5.7 billion set by the state assessor. Oil companies contend the system should be valued at $2.7 billion and municipalities such as the Fairbanks North Star Borough argued for $13.76 billion. The decision can affect oil companies' property tax bills by tens of millions per year, the Fairbanks Da...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly joined the City of Kupreanof in sending a letter to the University of Alaska President requesting the suspension of contract finalization for timber sales on South Mitkof Island. The first timber sale is located adjacent to Banana Point and the Wilson Creek Recreation Area and the other is along the Wrangell Narrows across from Keene Island. “These timber sales will likely result in the increase of severe landslide potential, loss of critical deer winter range, and visual impacts to the Wrangell Narrows Scenic By... Full story
The Petersburg Borough assembly unanimously approved moving forward with police and municipal building remodel design and construction plans. The $506,654 plans and design will help lock in construction costs and get the project shovel ready, which Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said helps the borough when it lobbies for capital project funding during next year’s legislative session. Giesbrecht estimated a project shortfall of around $4.7 million for the renovation of the police station, jail and municipal offices. That cost does not i...
The public will vote this October on whether or not they want Petersburg Borough elected officials to be exempt from the public official financial disclosure law, which requires public officials to disclose income sources and business interests. According to state statute, the disclosure of financial earnings is meant to discourage public officials from acting upon a private or business interest in the performance of public duty. If the exemption is not approved, bodies such as the borough assembly, school board and planning commission would...
Mandy Kivisto opened up a new photography studio as the Little Norway Festival kicked off last week. Kivisto has only been seriously into photography for two years, but since then her photos have been published in Alaska Magazine and Alaska Airlines Magazine, and she's earned a handful of awards for her work. The name of Kivisto's business, Altered Perceptions Studio, was inspired by the experience of looking into the view finder of a camera she got for Christmas two years ago. "I hadn't had a...
Salvation Army Lieutenants Caleb Fankhauser and Christin Fankhauser are saying goodbye to Petersburg after three years of service in the community as they transfer to Homer next month. "The Salvation Army is a lot like the regular military," Caleb Fankhauser said. "You get told this is where you're needed and you get sent and salute and go." The Fankhausers came to Petersburg fresh after graduating from the Salvation Army Seminary-a training school in Los Angeles, Calif. "It's a great place, esp...
In last weeks story entitled “Ragnarok Rollers host first official bout during Little Norway Festival”, it was stated that heckling is encouraged. Heckling is, in fact, not encouraged during Ragnarok Roller Derby bouts. The Pilot regrets the error....
Petersburg Mayor Mark Jensen will revisit the offering of a request for proposals (RFP) for a borough comprehensive plan after the assembly voted down such a request at its last meeting. “Due to the great importance of a comprehensive plan to the community and the absence of several people from the May 5 meeting that could have provided more information I believe the topic deserves further discussion and debate,” Jensen said. Jensen and assembly member Kurt Wohlhueter did not attend the May 5 meeting where assembly members John Havrilek and...
This year's Little Norway Festival will commemorate the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Norwegian Constitution on May 17, 1814. Mayfest began in Petersburg more than 50 years ago and Janet Holten, Chair of the Little Norway Festival, said it has grown ever since. "In 1958 when Alma Wallen and Bernadine Trones founded the festival, I don't know if they would have ever dreamed that it is as big as it is now," Holten said. "It was to mark the coming of spring, the sending off of the fleet,... Full story
