Sorted by date Results 4921 - 4945 of 5587
Petersburg School District Superintendent Dr. Rob Thomason announced his retirement last week. Thomason began working for the PSD in 2009. Jean Ellis, school board president, said he was instrumental in changing the district for the better. "I've been trying to talk him out of leaving," Ellis joked."When he became the superintendent he was the sixth one in eight years. People were becoming dispirited with superintendent turnover." Ellis credited his people skills and positive attitude as main...
Former Petersburg resident, Jasmin Jones, moved back to town to open an acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine clinic earlier this month. Jones most recently worked as an acupuncturist on a cruise ship line based out of Spain. She also practiced acupuncture for several months in Nepal. Jones earned a master's degree in Chinese Medicine and Herbology from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in New York City and San Diego. "What acupuncture does from the Western point of view, which is... Full story
The new library is buzzing since its opening last fall. “It’s been pretty steady,” said Borough Librarian Tara Alcock. “Some days are pretty manageable and other days we’re screaming busy.” As of October through December of 2013, the library checked out 18,679 items—a 40 percent increase compared to 2012. The average number of people coming into the facility has roughly doubled as well. Alcock said the most noticeable increase has been with teens stopping by after school. “The teen-room is pretty much packed,” Alcock said. “And we actually obse...
The Petersburg Borough assembly and hospital board met last week to discuss proposed changes to the Petersburg Medical Center’s charter code as well as a recent memorandum written by the borough’s attorney regarding the relationship between PMC and the borough. The memo details the attorney’s opinion on various questions assembly members posed about hospital policy. Assembly and PMC board members spent much of the time discussing the question of whether or not PMC employees are borough employees—a contentious issue many of the PMC board m...
WRANGELL (AP) — There’s only three bars open year-round in Wrangell, and one of them has gone smoke-free. Wrangell isn’t the type of town where going smoke-free would be an obvious choice. When people walk into a bar, you'd see a cigarette in the hands of customers, sometimes the majority of customers’ hands, KSTK reported. But Reme Privett, the owner of Rayme’s, said the bar went smoke-free on New Year’s Day. “It’s more of a trend. It had nothing to do with health. My employees down there, they’ve never voiced an opinion either way,” he s...
The State Department of Fish and Game has set the regulations for non-pelagic rockfish for Southeast waters. The regulations remained unchanged from last year’s season, which pertains only to non-pelagic, or deepwater rockfish, said Petersburg-Wrangell Area Management Biologist Doug Fleming. “It appears to be for all purposes pretty much the same as last year,” he said. The regulations for all Southeast waters are as follows: All non-pelagic rockfish caught must be retained until the bag limit is reached. Persons sport fishing from a chart...
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...
