Sorted by date Results 301 - 325 of 868
Bridges skookum & handsome To the Editor: The P.I.A. Trail Crew really knows their business. Today I walked the William Musson Trail between Mountain View Manor and the ball fields. The two new trail bridges spanning the gully are skookum and handsome. Thanks to P.I.A. for a job well done. Sam Bunge...
The word is already out. Pilot reporter Brian Varela is leaving Petersburg this week. His 3-year Petersburg career is drawing to a close. He's moving up in the world and will write for the 45,000 circulation Ventura County Star, a DAILY newspaper in Camarillo, California, just a stone's throw from his hometown of Oxnard. As a matter of fact, his beat will be his hometown. When Brian arrived three years ago, we had some problems. Not with him, but the education he received from a university...
Blame legislators for overspending and underachieving at the underlying need for a long-term fiscal plan for the state - if it makes you feel better. They certainly have made some poor decisions. But Alaskans need to look at their own reflection in the mud puddle of politics and realize we share in the blame for electing and encouraging bad decisions by many of those same lawmakers. We're just as guilty for decades of irresponsible requests for state funding, unreasonable expectations that the...
There’s another way To the Editor: I want to thank our Mayor Mark Jensen for inviting the SEARHC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Elliot Bruhl to the Borough Council Meeting. To hear another option for financing and managing our local hospital was encouraging. There is another way besides the borough going into long term debt. Maybe SEARHC would bring back the option of delivering babies in our community? Marj Oines Former hospital employee and retired RN...
If our old friend, and my mentor, the late Sen. Ted Stevens were with us today, he would have a short and direct solution to the extended deliberations of the Alaska Legislature and governor. It would be: "Just do what's right for Alaska." And he might add a few expletives. It's past time for our governor and a majority of our legislators to recognize the responsibility of each of them to represent the current as well as the long-range interest of Alaskans. This can only be done by making...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy must have learned how to manage state finances from the same people who guard the world’s biggest secret recipes: Col. Sanders’ fried chicken, Coca-Cola, Big Mac’s special sauce, Twinkies and Dr. Pepper. Keeping secrets from customers is smart marketing hype. Keeping secrets from the public is irresponsible. And, in the governor’s case, it’s dishonest. Dunleavy, who served on the Matanuska-Susitna Borough school board and later spent five years in the state Legislature, should know his arithmetic — if he had paid attention i...
Landless legislation needs support To the Editor: I am 80 years old now and was born here at the Petersburg Hospital as was my mother. Thirty years ago Spencer Israelson, who spent his youth at Point Agassiz, took me to the mainland and showed me many petroglyphs that he and his friend had found as they grew up in the area. He also showed me, as well, evidence of a native fish trap at Muddy River. My grandfather, Carroll Clausen, took me to Sandy Beach when I was eight years old and showed me...
Despite the fact that there were specific reasons why the five landless communities of Haines, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg and Tenakee were not included in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971, legislation is being crafted to grant each community 23,040 acres of land from the Tongass. Natives in these communities did not meet the requirements for inclusion under the legislation. In Petersburg's case, natives from surrounding villages came here to fish and hunt each summer and retu...
SEARHC or not to SEARHC To the Editor: I listened to the representative from SEARHC at Monday's Assembly meeting. It was really nice of him to come and give an overview of SEARHC to the Assembly. I have only lived in Petersburg for 25 years. I am a firm supporter of the hospital and Phil the present director. In the 25 years I have lived here this is the first time we have had not only a good administrator, but an excellent hospital administrator. It had been pretty dismal for several of the...
Just a couple weeks ago, Ketchikan reported 20 new COVID-19 cases in a single day and had more than 100 active cases in the borough. A week ago, the community still had more than 80 active cases and four people in the hospital. About 20% of all the cases reported in Ketchikan since the pandemic infected and inflicted its misery on the world more than a year ago have occurred in just the past few weeks. Many of the recent cases are people who did not choose to get vaccinated. Almost 40% of Ketchikan Borough residents 16 and older had not...
To steal the line from a country-western song of almost 30 years ago - "Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it" - Gov. Mike Dunleavy is sticking to his story that the Permanent Fund dividend is just about the most important thing in Alaska today. So much so that not only does he want the PFD enshrined in the constitution, but he wants the formula for calculating the annual payment to residents hard-wired into the everlasting document. Even education, public health and safety don't get that...
As we observe the anniversary of the creation of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (APFC) this month, it is noteworthy to laud the vision and leadership of the past, and imperative in my opinion to look forward - to bring that same extraordinary vision, leadership, and forethought to the now, the near, and the far. Now – today, Alaska is the only State that earns the majority of its unrestricted general fund revenues from the global economy. No longer a "rainy day account," the Permanent F...
A suggestion by Assembly member Taylor Norheim that term limits are needed for borough assembly seats is yet another solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Norheim says it will, "free things up for other people," to run. As long as former counselor Marc Martinsen continues to place his name on the borough ballot, it proves to us the term limit won't create more open or robust elections for the borough. Besides, assembly members themselves spoke against the proposal. Assembly member Tremblay...
Frederick Point East – Ordinance 2021-08 To the Editor: This letter is in rebuttal to Finance Director Jody Tow's comments during the May 3 assembly meeting regarding Ordinance 2021-08 which seeks to remove Frederick Point East (FPE) from Service Area 1 because Service Area 1 mill rates do not accurately reflect the actual borough on-site services provided to FPE. Service Area 1 services, such as road maintenance, police protection, trash service, etc, are not provided to FPE. Ms. Tow's o...
The last time Alaska changed the state tax on motor fuel, gasoline cost about 36 cents a gallon at a Lower 48 pump, the average home price in the United States was $24,000, and the average price of a new car was about $3,500. The motor fuel tax rate in Alaska in 1970 was 8 cents a gallon, about half the price of a cup of coffee. Gasoline now runs about $2.50 a gallon in the Lower 48, $3 in Anchorage, and closer to $4 a gallon in California. The average home price in the country is over...
Changes to Service Area 1 boundaries proposed under Ordinance 2021-08 are unnecessary and ill advised. The issue has nothing to do with services available to the Frederick Point East (FPE) property owners. They currently pay the lowest tax assessments for their properties. Millage rates don't have to be revised. Because they lack amenities available to other property in Service Area 1, the assessments reflect that fact. A waterfront 12,000 sq. ft. lot in the Frederick Point East subdivision is...
"Confidence in an economy matters," Dan Robinson, research chief at the state Department of Labor, told the House Ways and Means Committee earlier this month. "There is an economic cost of not solving these problems." He was talking with legislators about the state's job loss, population loss, economic loss and inability to agree on a fiscal plan to pay for public services long term. For most of the past 30 years, Alaska has taken from savings, prayed for high oil prices and rejoiced at any...
We're getting closer to achieving the required herd immunity levels needed to abate the spread of COVID -19 and the expanding variants as the virus mutates across the worlds' populations. According to the State of Alaska, Petersburg is second from the top (behind Skagway) in attaining the most vaccinations. Petersburg's rate stands at 72.94 percent as of Wednesday. Vaccine hesitancy is the major roadblock to the U.S. achieving herd immunity against COVID-19. Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe...
Thank you for caring about Petersburg To the Editor: I know there is not a single citizen in Petersburg that has not walked by and admired one of our beautiful flower boxes or gardens created by Petersburg Borough Groundskeeper, Jesse O’Connor. Jesse’s 25 year long commitment to serve our community began in 1996 when he was hired as an assistant groundskeeper during the summer season. As that season ended, he moved over to help our sanitation department, both as a laborer and a supervisor. In 2001 he went back to the Public Works Dep...
A deep dive To the Editor: The author of the Letter to The Editor entitled “Regulatory malfeasance” in the April 15 edition of The Pilot appears to be following her unfortunate practice of citing scientific studies, historical facts, or analogies that do not actually support her positions on issues ranging from fluoride in our drinking water, to face coverings to vaccines. In this letter, the author cited the thalidomide debacle for the reason to be distrustful of regulatory agencies such as the FDA, that “failed the public they are suppo... Full story
Thrift Store To the Editor: We need to ask the community of Petersburg to stop dropping off donations when the store is closed. The stealing and vandalism from our local thieves is getting out of control. Your donations left when we are closed is attracting them, and we end up having to take donations to the dump as a result of damage. They are known to urinate on items, dump liquid in the bin and recklessly throw things around and they end up broken. Please do not leave your items when the... Full story
Vaccinations save lives To the Editor: Here is some important information that I have read about the vaccines that protect you against Covid-19: If you get Covid-19, it could infect your whole body and you could be sick for more than a week. This viral infection may damage many vital organs in your body such as your lungs, heart, and brain. This damage will probably heal but it could also last a long time and be life changing. Covid-19 is much more likely to cause long term damage to your body than the vaccines will. The vaccines, once they... Full story
The governor will go to great lengths to avoid supporting a tax — any tax — but taxes are how people pay for public services. Instead of thinking about the public, his administration’s latest ill-conceived plan is to close Division of Motor Vehicle offices in six small communities so that he can claim budget savings of $500,000 a year. Of course, what the state may save, the public would have to pay — and more. The administration has proposed contracting with private operators to provide driver’s license and vehicle registration services...
The Alaskan Republican Party's censure of U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski for voting to convict former President Donald Trump at his impeachment trial, and now ousting her as a GOP candidate in next year's election displays the worst traits of party politics. It's no wonder that Congress is battling such partisanship and why little is accomplished unless a single party controls both houses of Congress and the White House. If a Senator or Congressman is obligated to vote the party line on every issue, r...
Ferry system needs to be own entity To the Editor: Governor Dunleavy's AMHS Reshaping Work Group did not show the passion, desire, or knowledge needed to recommend a decision for the future of the AMHS. To qualify for the work group, each member should have made a round-trip from Skagway to Bellingham-once in the winter and once in the summer-this also includes a round-trip across the Gulf to Whittier and a round-trip from Homer to Sand Point. They are to make all their own reservations for...
