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By any measure, the seemingly never-ending stream of vitriol at the Anchorage Assembly’s mask mandate debate over the past week was a depressing spectacle. If you showed up in person or tuned in to the livestream Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday evening, you were witness to an hours-long hatefest that displayed just how degraded our politics has become, even at the local level. After watching the proceedings for any length of time, two questions were sure to come to mind: “How did we come to this?” and “Can it possibly get worse?” The discourse...
Once again, Alaska legislators have gaveled back into special session because Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants to show his constituents that he believes in one thing above all else: The largest Permanent Fund dividend in state history. He’s like a wide-eyed kid in the candy shop, only he’s got a record-setting Permanent Fund balance jingling in his pockets and wants to spend some of it to buy chocolates for everyone in the state. Talk about a dangerous sweet tooth that can only decay the future growth potential of the state’s only savings accou...
Silent majority must stand up To the Editor: We of the silent majority must stand up and make our voices heard. The only way Covid-19 or its variants will ever be behind us is if the vast majority of us are vaccinated. People say “I probably won’t get very sick.” That may be true for you and your family but you might kill your neighbor. Christians are commanded to love their neighbor as themselves. This isn’t just a suggestion, it is a commandment. You may be worried that the shot will make you sick. I had my first shot in January and my third...
We encourage voters to vote YES on the $7.8 million bond issue proposed by Petersburg Power and Light to pay for back-up diesel generation and the refurbishment of the Crystal Lake hydro plant. Petersburg has enjoyed the benefits from the construction of the Crystal Lake hydro project that was built by forward thinking residents in the 1920s. The current operation, that was last upgraded in 1957, generates power at 1.3-cents per kilowatt hour. It’s a bargain rate compared to anywhere else in Alaska or the Lower 48. The project will enable f...
It was the same day that Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced the state would help hospitals cope with record numbers of COVID-19 patients by assisting with decisions to ration care, and the same day that the state’s chief medical officer, Dr. Anne Zink, said Alaska is “at the worst place in the pandemic that we’ve had this entire time.” It was the same day that the governor announced Alaska would spend $87 million to bring in out-of-state medical workers to help relieve pressure on overwhelmed hospital staff. And it was the same day Alaska set a r...
Forty-five years ago, with the foresight of a time beyond their newfound oil wealth, Alaskans took the initiative to create the Permanent Fund, thus constitutionally protecting a portion of the royalties for future generations. As a steward of the Fund, the Permanent Fund Corporation was established to invest the assets in an innovative financial structure which continues today to stand as a model for sovereign wealth funds globally. The legacy of the Alaska Permanent Fund is, and always has...
Calls for silent majority to be loud To the Editor: As we near our local election day on October 4, I hear people in our little town refer to a group known as the "silent majority." A group that prefers to stay out of the back and forth of politics. Members of our community that would prefer to keep to themselves and let their vote do their talking for them. The counterpart to this silent majority could then only be the "vocal minority." One might even say the "loud" minority. And boy, over the...
We encourage a NO VOTE on Proposition #2, which seeks to remove the Frederick Point East Subdivision from Borough Service Area 1. Changes to Service Area 1 boundaries proposed under the proposition are unnecessary and ill advised. In 2012 voters approved the creation of the Petersburg Borough boundaries. Terms for governing and taxing the borough were established, and the measure passed with 55% approval by the voters. Proponents argue few to no services are available to the Frederick Point East (FPE) property owners and consequently they pay t...
The anti-vaccination politics rolling across the country — much like a pandemic — have gotten so bad that the Alaska state Senate could not even manage to pass a bill last Friday allowing more telemedicine without lawmakers amending it into a debate over personal liberty. Much of the discussion had no connection whatsoever to patients and doctors working together online to diagnose and treat ailments often totally unrelated to COVID-19. The Senate amendments were targeted at blocking businesses, state agencies and local governments from req...
The school board did what was needed to assure the best chances of keeping the schools open this year. School board president Sarah Holmgrain succinctly stated online what needed to happen this year: “It’s mostly for me about keeping the school open, keeping quarantines down, keeping unvaccinated kids safe, and unvaccinated staff able to remain at school when they’ve been in close contact. “We simply do not have enough subs (substitute teachers) to cover if we have even a small outbreak at the school. That means parents are home, not at work...
Well finally hate mail....rather some opinionated opposite view. Mr. Mackay is this vaccine the second coming? Are vaccinated people safe now? Maybe, but really it's only been a few months, maybe, I hope it works. Rather than believing what the CDC, WHO or Dr. Fauci are telling us let's look at actual documented history. Israel was way ahead of the curve with 80% of the adults vaccinated. That country thought they had the virus beat in July. Through the rest of July and August to now things have turned around with record cases,hospitalizations...
Epitome of ignorance To the Editor: As an ex Petersburg resident and currently a business owner in Seattle, I find the comments by Mr. Martinson disturbing. To insinuate only the unhealthy are dying from covid is the epitome of ignorance. To constantly push his agenda and ignorance is why we are still in this mess. Please, don't listen to someone like this who might know how to fish, but sure as heck isn't a medical expert. Leave the medical advice to people who know what they're talking about...
At this point, anything is worth a try. If a healthy life, caring about family and neighbors, and wanting to dream about perhaps someday flying without a face mask isn’t enough of an incentive, maybe a chance at winning the Alaska vaccination lottery will be just the shot in the arm some people need. Literally. The state has decided to use $1 million in federal pandemic aid to offer a lottery — a weekly $49,000 prize for eight lucky adults (age 18 and over) of the 49th state who figure a chance at cash is worth a little ache in the arm. The...
It's not about you To the Editor: I am a youth of Petersburg, and similar to the majority of the youth in Petersburg that are my age, I attend Mitkof Middle School. I have lived in Petersburg for nine years. When the pandemic hit, my family and I socially distanced, masked up, and did what we thought was right. Part of the reason we didn't contract the virus is because the school took precautions too. There has been an argument about what the coming school year will look like; people are...
Me, Myself and I To the Editor: Millions of people are sick and dying of covid, or as the unbelievers, uneducated call it "the Sniffles." I can't understand with 99% of the medical community saying covid, especially covid delta is making millions of us sick and killing us yet people refuse to get a simple vaccine approved by the FDA. It saves lives and keeps people from extreme illness. Why do people listen to talk show host Phil Valentine (RIP) who told his followers not to get vaccinated with...
Editor's note: The following letter is published as submitted, unedited. We just don't know To the Editor: Seems like a lifetime ago the consensus was to lockdown, shutdown, close schools, business we must stop this horrible virus. My question was, can man stop a virus. Not a great track record with the common cold. Dr. Fuacci, CDC, WHO, were convinced we could. Ok,well good luck with that one. School, sports, little league, jobs, dignity, self worth replaced with alcohol and drug abuse. Depress...
It seems like we've been here before. Mask use is low, positivity rates are low (3.3%), only 3 active cases in town and 55.6 % of us are fully vaccinated. The temptation is to let our guards down as COVID-19 fatigue sets in and makes us forget about masking, social distancing and hand washing protocols. That is all that needs to happen to allow a surge of cases to run amok in Petersburg. To avoid infection, get vaccinated. The much higher transmission rate of the delta variant is one of the...
Don't understand To the Editor: I'm sure it is just me; but I don't understand how a large blue banner on Fram St. that says F....K BIDEN contributes to a fact-based, calm, rational, respectful discussion of the controversial issues and problems facing our beloved country today. Sam Bunge...
We Alaskans have had a free ride To the Editor: We Alaskans have basically had a free ride since our Permanent Fund was established in 1976 with the proceeds from the Prudhoe Bay oil lease sales. At that time, the Legislature decided to abolish the State income tax (based on a percentage of the Federal income tax), the School Tax (a once-a-year $5 payment per wage earner to help fund schools) and the Disaster Tax (a once-a-year $10 payment per wage earner to help fund disaster relief). Rather than keep these taxes, even at a very minimal rate,...
The list of escalating Alaska political divides is growing faster than skunk cabbage in a rainforest. And it smells just as bad. The line-up for the political fight scorecard seems endless: Democrats versus Republicans, liberals versus conservatives, rural versus urban, sportfishing versus commercial versus charter fishing, full-dividend advocates versus fiscal restraint, tax advocates versus budget cutters. There are those who believe religion belongs in government and others who believe God belongs in church, not the state Capitol. And those...
A new group of citizens are advocating in favor of SEARHC to provide for the future health care needs of Petersburg. After all, it worked in Wrangell after the community leadership grew weary of writing checks to keep their facility operating. Petersburg is however a different story. Petersburg Medical Center is financially self-sufficient and carries an investment account balance enabling them to get through occasional lean times. They have an attentive hospital board that is elected to seats...
We congratulate Joyce Cummings on her semi-retirement from her 35-year tenure at First Bank. We have observed first-hand Cummings commitment to her work and her fellow employees. Over the years she became an expert at mortgage loan production and has been repeatedly named as a top loan producer by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation in Southeast Alaska. For decades we have watched as she trained new employees and branch managers about all things Petersburg as it related to First Bank. She...
WRANGELL - As of last week, employees, contractors and volunteers with the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, which operates in 19 communities, must show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or risk losing their jobs or access to the facilities. Exceptions will be allowed for staff who are pregnant or breastfeeding, have a history of anaphylaxis or allergy to the vaccine, or "persons whose sincere religious observances and practices related to life, purpose or death oppose vaccines,"...
Alaskans have taken a collective leap over the embankment of common sense. We didn't merely leave the road to the Church of Wisdom, we turned to the false political god of the Church of the Permanent Fund Dividend to lead us to the promised land. Think about what Moses would do. Instead of leaving the Israelites on their own for 40 days during his hike up Mount Sinai to retrieve the Ten Commandments, what if he had climbed Denali and returned with a long-term fiscal plan for Alaska, only to see...
LeConte Bay To the Editor: All around the state we have names which have deviated from the pronunciation that was used at the time that they were named. There must be a natural human tendency to do that that is even stronger than the one that causes explorers to ignore the geographic names the locals use and bestow new ones. A couple of local examples are Sukoi and Kupreanof Islands. Pronouncing either of them in the phonetically proper way will instantly expose anyone who does so as not being...
