Sorted by date Results 2657 - 2681 of 5553
WRANGELL - A preseason forecast for next year's king salmon return to the Stikine River has come up worryingly short, boding ill for local fisheries. Released last week by Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the preseason terminal run size forecast for the Stikine River was at only 6,900 fish, less than half the lower threshold of the stock's escapement goal range. The Stikine EGR is between 14,000 and 28,000 Chinook salmon, and such a low forecast does not allow for an allowable catch under tre...
WRANGELL — The regional forest supervisor with the United States Forest Service issued a final decision on the Wrangell Island timber sale project on Monday. Addressing a number of objections to the project as it was proposed last year, the scope of the sale approved by the Tongass National Forest supervisor’s office in Ketchikan will be but a fraction of what it had been. Among five alternatives presented, it was Alternative 2 which the USFS opted for. Of the plans, it had the greatest amounts of acreage and timber deemed to be sus...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — Kodiak’s seafood processors are facing staff shortages as older employees reach retirement age and a younger generation is showing little interest in joining the workforce. James Turner, plant manager at Ocean Beauty Seafoods, said that over the salmon season, they were roughly 100 employees short. The processor usually requires about 350-360 workers, but this summer they were down to roughly 230-240. Though this didn’t inhibit the amount of fish that Ocean Beauty processed, it did affect the ways in which the fish was p...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Every morning, Cathy Dobson walks into her kitchen to make breakfast. The moment she steps into the room, her slippers are covered in rollicking puppies. “I love it,” she said. From her home in the Mendenhall Valley, Dobson is one of the most reliable volunteers for Southeast Organization For Animals, a network that connects abandoned animals with new owners. This week, she has some special guests: A litter of 6-week-old puppies from Prince of Wales Island. Most of them are blind. One is both blind and deaf. For SOFA, as t...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – President Donald Trump’s efforts to make the United States “energy dominant’’with help from Alaska got off to modest results Wednesday. The Interior Department made its largest-ever lease offering within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska: 900 tracts covering 16,100 square miles (41,700 sq. kilometers), roughly the size of New Hampshire and Massachusetts combined. But oil companies submitted bids on just seven tracts covering 125 square miles (324 sq. kilometers). The bids totaled $1.16 million, to be split bet...
On Dec. 11, at about 10:40 p.m., Juneau based Alaska State Troopers received a report of an assault at a Church Street residence in Kake. The next day State Troopers responded to Kake and investigated. Aaron Lee Loges, 32, of Kake is alleged to have assaulted three separate family members, two of which were small children, recklessly endangered a third child, and damaged the property of another family member. Aaron was arrested on three counts of Assault 4-DV, Reckless Endangerment, and Criminal Mischief 5-DV. He was transported to Juneau and...
The furbearer trapping season is open in Petersburg and the Alaska Department Fish and Game is asking pet owners to control their animals to avoid legally set traps. “Leash laws, where applicable, should be followed,” said Richard Lowell, an area management biologist with the department, who issued a press release on Wednesday. “A person may not obstruct, hinder, or disturb a lawful trapping effort.” The department is asking hunters to use discretion when setting traps near trails, recreational or residential areas where there are people...
A heat wave unprecedented in the past 73 years has toppled weather records across Alaska, particularly in Southeast Alaska. On Friday, the National Weather Service thermometer at Juneau International Airport hit 54 degrees, tying the highest temperature ever recorded in December there. The airport is the city’s official measuring point, and according to records kept by the Weather Service since 1936, three of the 10 warmest December days in Juneau’s history have come in the past week. The city has set four daily high-temperature records. It...
The Petersburg Vikings were crowned 2A Volleyball State Champions on Saturday, coming after an early loss to Wrangell and injury to one of its all-conference seniors, leaving the team shaken and its coach unsure if it'd regroup. Petersburg began the state championship on Thursday with two sweeping wins against Unalaska and then Kenny Lake. Wrangell was up next for Petersburg on Friday. In the first game, Petersburg was leading two to zero when senior Elisa Larson went up to swing and her knee...
The borough assembly on Monday appointed two members to the board of an agency that provides about 60 percent of the power used in Petersburg, Wrangell and Ketchikan. The vote on Monday was a redo after the first try in a previous meeting was deemed improper. The assembly had voted with closed ballots, which is only allowed when appointing a vice mayor, said Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson on Monday. In the do over, former Assembly Member Bob Lynn was selected as the voting member to represent Pet...
The Petersburg assembly on Monday continued its discussion on the possibility of charging a marine passenger fee to all vessels that enter borough waters. “Currently we aren’t charging cruise ships that come to Petersburg, though most of the communities around Southeast are,” said Jeff Meucci, an assembly member. “And I’m just trying to sort out how we would be a part of that process.” At first the assembly proposed a committee but members later voted to have a work session instead, a decision that could streamline the approach. The Harbor...
A town hall is scheduled in Petersburg on Thurs., Dec. 14 at 5:00 p.m. at the Sons of Norway Hall with Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins hosting a panel to discuss the opioid crisis and its effects on Alaska. Kreiss-Tomkins said the opioid topic has come up nearly every time he has spoken with Petersburg residents. "It's a huge issue," Kreiss-Tomkins said. "There is a lot of concern locally, and I wanted to make sure we could bring this expertise to Petersburg." The panel will include Dr. Jay...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game advised caution for hikers and for dog walkers in Juneau as wolf sightings have increased. Anecdotal reports of wolf sightings in Juneau have increased this year, but assistant area management biologist Carl Koch cannot be sure whether that’s due to an increase in wolf awareness from encounters posted to social media or a reflection of a population increase in Juneau, the Juneau Empire reported . “I’d say the anecdotal reports are higher (this year) than they have been,” Koch said...
Police have received complaints in recent months of marijuana dealers selling product outside the licensed retail shop in downtown Petersburg. “I am not aware of any thefts related to the new marijuana laws,” said Kelly Swihart, the Petersburg police chief. “But we have had complaints of non-licensees making sales in the immediate vicinity of a licensed business.” Susan Burrell, owner of The 420, a marijuana retail store located through an alley off North Nordic Drive, echoed the complaints heard by police. “Several months ago we had regular c...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The cruise industry has dodged a tax increase after Alaska’s U.S. senators helped strike the provision from the tax bill that passed the Senate. The bill approved early Saturday includes other provisions that Alaska Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan hailed as significant for Alaskans, including allowing oil and gas drilling on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Murkowski called the package “a critical milestone in our efforts to secure Alaska’s future.” The measure also would pro...
On Nov. 23, Juneau based Alaska State Troopers received a report of an assault on Canadian Side Road in Kake. State Troopers subsequently responded and investigated. Investigation revealed a 35 year old male resident of Kake physically assaulted a 44 year old male Kake resident. A charge of Assault 4 is being referred to the Juneau District Attorney’s Office for prosecution....
The Power and Light building at the Haugen and North Nordic Drive intersection is about to be taken in about nine feet. Public Works Director Karl Hagerman said the work to remove a nine-foot corner section of the Power and Light building could be done this month. Contractors are working on a plan to cantilever the upper floor and leave an 11-foot-tall opening for drivers stopped at Haugen Drive to have a better line of sight for drivers. "I hesitate to commit to a date when this will happen as...
The top executive at the Petersburg Medical Center has announced her retirement for next June. After 44 years in the medical field, Liz Woodyard is retiring as CEO of the medical center, effective at the end of June 2018, she said. "Well, I'm 65," Woodyard said. "I'll be 66 by then, so I'll be at my full retirement age." Woodyard has been CEO of the hospital in Petersburg for seven years. Before that, she pinballed around the west coast from being chief nursing officer in Fairbanks to CEO of a m...
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — Alaska’s lone individual insurance carrier has reached an agreement with the state Division of Insurance to make a one-time $25 million reimbursement. Premera Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alaska announced on Friday that its reimbursement will go toward funding high-cost health insurance claims through the Alaska Reinsurance Program, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. The state-operated reinsurance program aims to stabilize customers’ premiums by covering claims in the individual health care market for those with...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska Native tribe and three environmental groups sued the U.S. government, claiming an agency granted mineral exploration permits without considering how a mine could affect a major salmon river and bald eagle preserve. The lawsuit filed Monday by the Chilkat Indian village of Klukwan calls for revocation of the permits granted to Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. upstream of the Chilkat River near the port of Haines in southeast Alaska. Tlingit Indians thrived because of the abundance of salmon in the watershed, K...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Backers of a hydroelectric dam proposed for a lake southeast of Juneau say construction could start as soon as summer 2018 following the U.S. Forest Service’s latest action. The Juneau Empire reports that the Forest Service approved on Friday a special land-use agreement for Juneau Hydropower Inc., which is planning to build a 111-foot-tall (34-meter) concrete dam at the outlet of Lower Sweetheart Lake. The dam would be built above a series of waterfalls that block natural salmon passage into the lake. The project has alr...
WRANGELL — At its regular meeting Tuesday, the Borough Assembly approved moving ahead with seeking a consultant on the hospital’s future, while members also learned city computers had been targeted by a hacking attack. A letter recommending hiring a consultant had been submitted to the city by the Wrangell Medical Center governing board last month. Currently the hospital is a municipal service, but recent cash flow troubles and sizable costs for a replacement facility have had administrators and elected officials alike considering other alter...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska program is in its final year of an experiment to determine whether hatchery-raised red king crab can increase wild stock. The Alaska King Crab Research, Rehabilitation and Biology Program started its work in 2009 with a goal of enhancing depressed king crab populations throughout Alaska, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Tuesday. So far, the program has achieved efficient production of juvenile crab, conducted research on their behavior and completed a number of small out-planting releases. Dr. Robert Foy, d...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The bidder who planned to purchase Alaska’s ferry Taku and turn it into a waterfront hotel and restaurant in Oregon has backed out of the deal. The sale of the 352-foot surplus vessel was expected to close in early December. But the winning bidder withdrew, citing factors such as regulatory problems in Portland, said Aurah Landau, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Facilities. Portland resident Jonathan Cohen offered $300,000 for the ferry on behalf of KeyMar LLC in September, the Juneau Emp...
SITKA, Alaska (AP) _ Bird watchers have spotted a rare thrush in Alaska. The dusky thrush, which is commonly found in Asia, has only been spotted a few times in Alaska, the Daily Sitka Sentinel reported . Bird enthusiast Matt Goff reported seeing one Friday in Sitka. “I don’t think it’s an uncommon bird in Asia,” Goff said. “But in North America — it’s very unusual.” The dusky thrush’s appearance differs slightly from that of its North American counterparts. It lacks the bright red or orange breast of a varied thrush, or robin, and has “p...
