Sorted by date Results 4914 - 4938 of 5574
SEATTLE (AP) - With the planet's polar regions changing faster than ever before in human history, the University of Washington is launching a new initiative to boost research in the Arctic and prepare students for a world where melting ice is opening new opportunities - and posing new threats. Under the Future of Ice program, the university will hire eight scientists and faculty members and offer the country's first Arctic studies minor outside of Alaska. The inaugural course, which starts this month, filled up in less than two weeks. “The s...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Two adult Alaskans died from the flu in the past week, according to state health officials. The deaths are the first to be reported during Alaska's 2013-14 influenza season and the first since new rules requiring health care facilities to report adult flu deaths to the state took effect in late December. Before, Alaska only tracked deaths among children. The state has not been notified of any child deaths so far this flu season. “People think, ‘Oh it’s just the flu,’” said Dr. Brian Yablon, a state epidemiologist. “But flu ac...
Gov. Sean Parnell’s capital projects list shells out more than $10 million for the house district 31-32—more than $4 million will fund projects in Petersburg. More than $1.7 million of those dollars will go towards wastewater system improvements Steve Giesbrecht, borough manager, said the timing is great because the Alaska Department of Transportation will be resurfacing a section of Nordic Drive this summer between Haugen Drive and the ferry terminal. “We’ve got some sewer lines that that will affect,” Giesbrecht said. “We’ll try to incorp... Full story
John Swanson bought four lots at a public auction held during the borough assembly’s last meeting. The four undeveloped lots on Valkyrie Street came with a $78,000 price tag for Swanson after bidding higher than Andy Kittams. Kittams went as high as $23,000 on lots 2, 3 and 4 but stopped after Swanson upped the bid each time to $24,000. “That was higher than what the normal value would be on those properties,” Swanson said. Swanson bought lot 5 for the minimum purchase price of $6,000—the assessed value Mike Renfro, assessor for the borough... Full story
Petersburg Power and Light Superintendent and Southeast Alaska Power Agency board member Joe Nelson made a motion to suspend the Petersburg-Kake Intertie Project last week. Nelson made the motion after SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson reported to the board about future funding challenges associated with the project. The Ketchikan Gateway Borough, the City of Ketchikan and the City of Saxman all listed the Swan Lake Reservoir at the top of their capital project lists. Governor Sean Parnell’s fiscal year 2015 capital project list doesn’t include the pro... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously voted to go ahead with negotiations with Wrangell, Ketchikan and the Southeast Alaska Power Agency to provide a conversion plan for the transfer of operations and maintenance of the Tyee Hyrdo Facility from the Thomas Bay Power Authority to SEAPA. The vote comes after the Wrangell Assembly drafted a resolution earlier this month that, in part, accepts SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson’s August 19 offer to take over operations at TBPA. As part of the conversion plan and Acteson’s offer, the resolution states tha... Full story
Despite uncertainty over the continued existence of the Thomas Bay Power Authority, commissioners voted 5-1 Dec. 19 to renew the commissions travel and liability insurance for another year. The uncertainty stems from the possibility the TBPA in its present form may be placed on idle status as a result of negotiations between the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, and representatives for the Petersburg and Wrangell borough assemblies, set to begin after the Wrangell assembly voted Dec. 10 to approve a resolution authorizing the negotiations....
Petersburg Power and Light Superintendent Joe Nelson has recommended to borough officials an electric rate increase. The recommendation comes after a revenue requirement study that shows an average operational loss of $266,000 a year since 2010. John Heberling, D. Hittle& Associates engineer and consultant, began a revenue requirement study more than a year ago. “The electric rates are insufficient right now to recover the necessary revenue requirement that you do have,” Heberling reported to the assembly. “The bottom line is that we’re... Full story
The Petersburg Viking wrestling squad is taking ten of its athletes to the state tournament in Anchorage this weekend after a series of upsets and wins last weekend at the regional tournament in Sitka. Buddy Stelmach, who was seated 5th in the 98-weight class took first in the tournament after upsetting last year's regional champ. "That was an action packed match," said assistant coach Ed May. "The audience was going crazy." Stelmach also beat the number two-seeded wrestler from Craig. DJ Toyomu... Full story
Petersburg Mental Health Services will now have its own counselor present in Petersburg High School after receiving $25,000 for a suicide prevention grant. PMHS Senior Clinician Kim Kilkenny and Behavioral Health Clinician Robin Cooley presented the grant to the Petersburg School Board Tuesday night. “We wrote the grant last spring because it was the first time it became available with the (Alaska) Department of Education to provide services for suicide prevention,” Kilkenny said. Cooley wil... Full story
Local, state and federal authorities seized during the past year more than a quarter of a million dollars worth of controlled substances, cash and firearms related to the importation of narcotics into Petersburg. The Southeast Alaska Cities against Drugs Task Force, or SEACAD, works with multiple police agencies as well as the United States Postal Inspection Service. According to a Petersburg Borough Police Department press release, investigators seized more than $30,000 in cash and firearms. “Investigators also seized controlled substances i...
Petersburg district school enrollment numbers have decreased by 44 percent since 1997—almost double that of Wrangell and Sitka. It’s a number that Petersburg Superintendent Rob Thomason has been concerned about for some time. “It’s been a concern in the back of my mind ever since I’ve been here,” Thomason said. “The whole staff knows we’re always looking at the idea that this year does not preclude what it will look like next year. We always have to rethink that.” The district has seen about a two percent decrease in student enrollment each y...
Brandon Estes, 20, plead guilty to six counts of Burglary in the 2nd Degree last Monday after being accused of breaking into multiple businesses around Petersburg late last summer. The six Class C felony charges are connected to AP&T, Wikan Enterprises, the Petersburg Parks and Recreation building, Hammer & Wikan Grocery store, Waterways Veterinary Clinic and Petersburg Motors last August. Police received reports of break-ins and burglaries throughout the day on August 28 from those locations and later obtained search warrants after viewing...
WRANGELL — An Alaska Division of Insurance ruling will effectively cancel a widely used medical evacuation membership plan across Southeast. The ruling, issued in a letter of judgment Nov. 12, effectively invalidates the Airlift Northwest’s Alaska AirCare membership plan. Airlift Northwest is a subsidiary of the University of Washington, and until mid-November the Alaska AirCare membership plan was designed to eliminate co-payments for emergency medical costs in Southeast. Wrangell citizens typically use a combination of plans to cover the cos...
WRANGELL — The council voted 5-0 to approve a resolution that would begin the process of moving the Thomas Bay Power Authority-run Tyee Lake facility over to the Southeast Alaska Power Agency. The resolution reflects a draft resolution approved at the Dec. 3 special assembly meeting, and keeps most of the terms of that resolution intact. TBPA employees would be “kept whole” in terms of wages, benefits, and positions during the conversion process. SEAPA would absorb the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) unfunded liability. Wrangell and P... Full story
WRANGELL — The borough assembly voted 5-0 Tuesday night on a draft resolution which — if approved next week — could begin the process of putting Tyee Lake operations in the hands of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency. Assembly members instructed Borough manager Jeff Jabusch to look through and fine-tune the resolution, which would empower him to enter into negotiations on a formal written offer for the SEAPA transfer “which essentially accepts the terms of the August 19, 2013 memo from the SEAPA CEO to the TBPA President,” the measure reads. Th...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Insurance companies that sent cancellation notices for policies that won't meet requirements of the federal health care law have until Dec. 31 to file and extend those policies in Alaska. State insurance director Bret Kolb said Friday that if carriers opt to do this, coverage would be extended one year under the existing policies. He said by email that the division is working with companies operating in Alaska but did not say if any indicated that they wanted to extend existing plans, recommending instead reaching out t...
Juneau — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announces that the season for the commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Registration Area A (Southeast) will close in most areas by regulation at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, November 30, 2013, consistent with 5 AAC 32.110. Districts 1 and 2, and Section 13-B outside of the Sitka Sound Special Use Area [5 AAC 32.150(10)] will remain open until February 28, 2014. For those areas that close at 11:59 p.m. on November 30, all Dungeness pots must be removed from the water except that pots may be stored on t...
WRANGELL — Wrangell Oil, Inc. officially ceased to exist Friday. Bill Privett, the current owner of the town’s multi-generational oil concern, sold his company to Seward-based Petro Marine Services for an undisclosed sum. The sale is a win-win for the community, based largely on the economies of the scale Petro Marine can provide, Privett said. The Wrangell Distribution plant joined Petro Marine’s Alaskan plants in Ketchikan, Petersburg, Kodiak, Seward, Sitka, Skagway, Whittier, Anchorage, Homer, Juneau, and a Canadian plant in Whitehorse, Yuko...
WRANGELL - The borough's energy committee asked borough administrator Jeff Jabusch to provide the borough assembly with data-driven assessments of options for the future of the Thomas Bay Power Authority. The committee's Monday meeting was largely an informal affair, with most decisions being made by consensus instead of role-call votes. Committee members also honed in on the options for the TBPA, which has been stuck in limbo since the Petersburg borough council voted to withhold their portion...
JUNEAU (AP) — A former president and CEO of Sealaska Corp. was charged with felony theft, accused of embezzling funds from two nonprofit organizations run by an Alaska Native civil rights group in Juneau. Robert W. Loescher is accused of stealing $21,500 from the bank accounts of a legal defense fund to protect subsistence rights and another entity focusing on security of traditional food resources. Loescher could not be reached Monday. It's unclear if he has an attorney. Loescher, 66, chaired both the Alaska Subsistence Defense Fund and the A...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Two environmental groups say the federal government is taking too long to decide whether a subspecies of gray wolf found in southeast Alaska old-growth forests should be considered for endangered species protection. In a letter Tuesday, the Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace urged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide whether additional protections are needed for Alexander Archipelago wolves, which are found on Prince of Wales Island and are genetically distinct from other wolves in the Tongass National F...
WRANGELL — The Wrangell Borough Assembly’s energy committee met for the second time ever Tuesday night. Committee members took no formal actions, other than to elect assembly member James Stough – the only sitting assembly member on the committee – as chair, and to elect Brian Ashton, a Southeast Alaska Power Agency board member and Thomas Bay Power Authority commissioner. The former energy committee chair, board member Pamella McClocskey, had resigned. However, the committee composed a set of possible recommendations to the assembly to be f...
WRANGELL — A power outage left Ketchikan and Wrangell without power for about an hour Friday afternoon. Lights and signs all along Front Street and throughout town abruptly shut off at about 4 pm. Power had been restored to most of the town by about 5 p.m. Lights remained on at businesses with back-up generators, most powered by either diesel fuel or propane. Petersburg reportedly suffered some temporary fluctuations about the same time, but never lost power entirely. Some businesses, like radio station KSTK, Alaska Island Community S...
KETCHIKAN — The changing face of visitation on the Tongass National Forest, along with the reality of shrinking budgets, has prompted Tongass managers to begin strategically planning for the future of the forest’s 152 recreation cabins. Increasing costs and declining funding resulted in a $600,000 budget shortfall in the forest’s cabin program this year. In the strategic plan, managers aim to identify cabins that are underused, dilapidated, or otherwise unsustainable, and explore how the forest can refocus available funding on those cabins whic...
