Sorted by date Results 4810 - 4834 of 5587
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht gave the following report during the last borough assembly meeting: Petersburg Police Chief Kelly Swihart testified before Alaska Senate committees last week in reference the municipal remodel and drug trends in Southeast Alaska. The work on the Rasmus Enge Memorial Bridge project has commenced. The bridge has been closed to through traffic during the project and we will try to accommodate bridge residents and businesses as much as possible. The street crew will be sweeping and washing streets from 6:00 a.m. to...
Sitka sac roe herring fishermen sold their catch at around $150 a ton this season-a dramatic decrease compared to last year's sac roe average price per ton of $780. Sitka's Alaska Department of Fish and Game Area Management Biologist Dave Gordon said past fisheries in Sitka as well as Kodiak and Togiak have flooded the market. "There's an over supply," Gordon said. "There's always a desire to get the maximum quality under those circumstances...It's something that seems to happen in this fishery... Full story
The Petersburg School Board unanimously selected Dr. Lisa Stroh to be the new Petersburg School District (PSD) Superintendent. Stroh, who is the current superintendent of Valdez City Schools, officially begins July 1, 2014. "When I look at the (Petersburg) district, things are going very, very well," Stroh said. "What I need to do is get familiar with the programs, listen to people, talk with them and find out from them what's going well, what things we need to tweak, and how can I help them... Full story
A stray iceberg damaged several vessels in the South Harbor early Tuesday morning. Assistant Harbor Master Ed Tagaban received the call around 1:30 a.m. Tagaban estimated the iceberg’s surface to be around 40 to 50 feet in diameter and said, when he arrived, it had damaged the swim step on F/V Copasetic and was underneath two other vessels. The iceberg also punctured a hole through the stern of a vessel called the Sea Pride. “It rolled under the boats and lifted them up a little bit on the sterns,” Tagaban said. “The tide was running really...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) announced yesterday a 2014 Southeast Alaska Chinook salmon all gear harvest quota of 439,400 fish. Those fish fall under the Pacific Salmon Treaty—non-Alaska-hatchery produced Chinook. “The quota is based on the forecast of aggregate abundance of Pacific Coast Chinook salmon stocks originating from river systems in the area subject to management under the treaty, which stretches from Cape Suckling, Alaska to Cape Falcon, Oregon,” an ADFG press release states. ADFG officials stated the actual 2013...
Petersburg resident Brian Lynch, along with other Alaskans representing commercial fishing, tourism and tribal organizations, traveled to Washington D.C. to urge Alaska’s congressional delegation to become more involved in mining development in British Columbia. “Our request was to have the delegation draft a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry to get the ball rolling and make inquiries into Canada,” Lynch said. Lynch and four other Alaska representatives brought to the delegates a letter signed by the Petersburg Borough Assembly and 39 ot...
Fillmore Evenson, Petersburg's Children's Center Eagle's Nest lead teacher, won Southeast Alaska's School Age Caregiver of the Year. Evenson has been working at the Children's Center for around six years and last year began leading the Eagle's Nest class-an after school program for K-5 graders. "After their brains are already filled with information, then I get the aftermath," Evenson joked. Children's Center Director Terri Falter said since Evenson has been leading the program, student...
With some assembly members proposing cuts to school and mental health services funding, Petersburg School District (PSD) Superintendent Dr. Rob Thomason and Petersburg Mental Health Services (PMHS) Director Susan Ohmer each rallied against the potential cuts. Thomason explained that State and local funding has remained flat for the last four years. The State funds public school districts on a per pupil basis-an amount of $5,680 per child. Declining enrollment and increased operations and...
Former Petersburg Community School District Maintenance Director Tye Petersen plans to plead guilty to Distribution, Receipt and Possession of Child Pornography—three counts that carry up to 20 years of imprisonment each and a $250,000 fine for each count. In exchange for the U.S. District Court's acceptance of Petersen's guilty plea, U.S. prosecutors agree not to prosecute the defendant further for any other offenses arising out of the investigation related to Petersen's indictment, the plea agreement states. Last July, FBI investigators i...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announces the regulations for king salmon, effective April 2, 2014 - April 30, 2015. The regulations are: Alaskan Resident: The resident bag and possession limit is three king salmon 28 inches or greater in length. Nonresident: The nonresident bag and possession limit is one king salmon 28 inches or greater in length, except during May and June the bag and possession limit is two king salmon 28 inches or greater in length. The nonresident annual limit is six king salmon 28 inches or greater in length....
JUNEAU (AP) — A divided federal appeals court panel has sided with the state of Alaska in reversing a decision that reinstated the roadless rule in the Tongass National Forest. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision Wednesday, found that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had articulated ``a number of legitimate grounds'' in a 2003 decision to temporarily exempt the Tongass from the roadless rule. A lower court judge, in 2011, had found the decision to be arbitrary and capricious. The appeals court panel sent the matter b...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Jurors will hear opening statements Tuesday in the trial of a Coast Guard civilian technician charged with killing two co-workers workers in Kodiak. Federal prosecutors say 63-year-old James Michael Wells nearly two years ago dodged direct surveillance cameras and shot 51-year-old Richard Belisle (BEL'-eye-ul) and 41-year-old Petty Officer 1st Class James Hopkins at the communications station workshop where all three were employed. Prosecutors say Wells' had feuded with his younger co-workers and was unhappy that his a...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly couldn't come to a consensus last Tuesday for next year's budget spending after it was tasked with providing direction to borough staff to make any changes the assembly would like to see. The assembly met with department heads last week and went over budget line items department wide. During Tuesday's budget hearing, members of Petersburg's community service organizations-organizations the borough funds annually-lobbied for their respective funding needs....
Two superintendent applicants toured Mitkof Island, Petersburg and visited with various community members including district staff and administrators on Wednesday. Virginia Jewell Jewell grew up in New England and has spent more than five years of her educational career building start-up American schools in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. "Interestingly enough, overseas, you get a lot of non-Americans who want to have an American education," Jewell said. She is currently working at a start-up school... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously to increase electric rates by 4 percent over a two-year period. The rate increase comes after Petersburg Municipal Power and Light (PMPL) Superintendent Joe Nelson asked for guidance from the assembly as he moves forward in creating next year’s budget. Nelson told the assembly one of two things needed to be decided, one of which was the rate increase. “The other one would be to purposely approve a deficit budget which draws our reserves down and basically kicks the can down the road for a few... Full story
Petersburg Search and Rescue members assisted U.S. Coast Guard personnel with the rescue of a Petersburg man after he went missing Monday evening. The man launched his 14-foot skiff Monday from Banana Point on the south end of Mitkof Island. When a family member became concerned they called emergency personnel. Petersburg SAR Director Robert Carter got the call around 8 p.m. Carter and SAR volunteer Ted Sanhofer contacted witnesses who thought they saw the lost man on a small island near Green’s Camp. The two SAR volunteers set up base camp at...
Patti Steele won this year's Petersburg Parks and Recreation's Losing BIG Petersburg competition by a public majority vote. Steele was one of ten contestants, split into two teams, led and encouraged by team captains Christin Fankhauser and Shelly Pope. Each contestant entered the competition with a set of goals to meet and guidelines to follow each week related to exercise, diet and stress relieving activities. Each week, Petersburg residents tracked how contestants performed through Facebook...
Commercial troll fishery public meeting to be held in Petersburg The Alaska Department of Fish and Game will hold commercial troll public meetings in Petersburg on Wednesday, April 2 at 12:30 pm in the Petersburg Library Conference Room. Meeting topics will include, but are not limited to, plans for the 2014 spring and summer troll fisheries, the 2014 Pacific Salmon Treaty Chinook salmon abundance index and quota, and a review of the 2013 troll season. All members of the public are welcome to attend. State seeks public input on ferry schedule...
Members of Petersburg Boy Scout Troop 24 slept in snow caves and igloos last week as they participated in the annual 'Frostbite Challenge' just across the Canadian border near Skagway, Alaska. Petersburg scouts dug two snow caves out of 10-foot tall berm and constructed five igloos-two of which received honorable mentions in the judging contest. Petersburg scouts also took first place in several competitions including axe throwing, snowshoe races, snow canoeing and other snow related...
District Attorney Nick Polasky dismissed a case against Petersburg resident Martin Massin who local police charged with Theft and Criminal Trespass after he took his runaway dog from the pound. Massin said his dog Lucky jumped the fence at the local dog pound when Massin went to check on him. “When he (Lucky) saw me he jumped halfway up the fence, climbed up and bolted over,” Massin said. “I wasn’t thinking it was a big deal. It’s my dog right?” Massin paid the fines associated with having an unregistered dog and the impound fees several day...
Two Petersburg students won awards in the Alaska Statewide Youth Art & Writing competition. Helen Martin, 8th grader at Mitkof Middle School, won third place for an excerpt of a mystery novel she’s writing and another third place award for a flash fiction short story. Martin’s mystery novel is set in Denmark and chronicles a girl who discovers a body in a bog on land her father owns. “I’ve been writing for a really long time,” Martin said. “My mom has documents on her computer from when I was orating stories to her when I was five.” Mart...
Local healthcare consumers face an imminent deadline. After twice extending the deadline to sign up for a healthcare plan under the Patient Affordable Care Act – known colloquially as Obamacare – the date finally stuck at March 31, with little indication that officials will change it, according to various national news outlets. Uninsured patients will thus face a penalty on their next tax return. Consumers who fail to enroll will face a penalty of $95 or one percent of their income, whichever is greater. Families must pay $47.50 per uni...
The Petersburg Medical Center submitted a balanced budget to the assembly earlier this month. The budget for fiscal year 2015 anticipates a net gain of $333,014 after covering $13.5 million in total operating expenses compared to $13.3 million last year. More than $9 million is budgeted for salaries, wages and employee benefits—an increase of around $229,000 from the year before. Net patient revenue is anticipated at around $13.7 million compared to $13.5 million last year. In creating next year’s budget, the PMC Board operated under sev...
Fifty years ago today, March 27, 1964 the largest U.S. earthquake ever recorded rocked southern Alaska. Petersburg resident and Harbor Way Parts Owner Phil Meeks was seven years old at the time. He was building a snow fort in his Anchorage front yard just before the 9.2 magnitude earthquake struck. "I remember feeling frustrated that my fort wouldn't stand up," Meeks said. "It kept caving in." Meeks said when the Great Alaskan Earthquake began he noticed the sound more than motion. "It went from...
Summer break will start early for Stedman Elementary School students this year after the Alaska Department of Education Commissioner gave the Petersburg District School Board tentative approval to release students four days early so construction can begin on the elementary school’s exterior renovation project. The $2.3 million project will require a large amount of shuffling of classrooms and supplies and the extra few days will allow staff to pack up and move before full access to the building is granted to contractors on June 6. Exterior w... Full story
