Sorted by date Results 551 - 575 of 851
Exception to rule needed To the Editor: Jens, Jake, and Carrie Hammer recently lost their father, Kenny Hammer. They inherited a cabin up Petersburg Creek that the Forest Service is in the process of forcing the family to remove. In their effort to eliminate every cabin ever built on Forest Service land, the Forest Service designed a permit plan that only allows one transfer within a family. When a family member dies, the Forest Service reserves the right to destroy that cabin. Jim Hammer made the mistake of transferring the permit to his son,...
I may be mistaken but it was my assumption the Borough assembly could only authorize spending of a limited amount of monies without the approval of the public, but even if I am mistaken, the assembly and manager have seemingly put Petersburg in a very precarious position for future bond issuing by their insatiable spending habits. According to their figures, we are now four and one half million or more dollars in debt and an effort to raid the Electric Utility reserve fund is under discussion to help pay that debt. I believe this action...
To the Editor: June 15, 2017 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. On this day, communities all over the world will sponsor events to highlight the growing issue of elder abuse. In confronting and addressing the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault, it is important that we also identify and recognize the signs of elder abuse. The U.S. Administration on Aging estimates that as many as 1 in 10 elders are abused or neglected each year. Older adults are valuable, contributing members of society and their abuse or neglect diminishes all of...
Extremely proud To the Editor: It is not too often that we hear about the accomplishments of our PHS graduates. We are extremely proud of Joseph Zarlengo as a U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduate. He also graduated with a mechanical engineering degree and a commission as an ensign, which is change of ranking as the lowest commissioned officer, ranking next below a lieutenant. We find a huge disappointment in our newspaper for thinking that this news is back page news. I say when you have such great accomplishments and are from our small town of...
Need to regroup To the Editor: Our local paper seems like it’s mixed up. Viking ship (in color) on the front page was perfect. However the criminal (in color) big time loser has been on the front page for the last three weeks, while our lovely Norwegian award winner was put in with the police news. How great is that? Another big news story, our Mayor Mark Jensen resigned, which will be a great loss to our community, in middle of paper someplace. You need to regroup Patty Nelson When rules are ignored, we must act To the Editor: On May 30, 2...
Thank you To the Editor: Thank you to all the wonderful people that came and helped haul stuff out of my warehouse that collapsed on the beach. I really appreciate all of you. Sigrid C. Medalen Fluoride To the Editor: Being a dentist in this community for approximately 37 years, 14 without fluoridation and 23 with, I have seen the positive effect that it has had on the dental health of the people in this town. When a water supply is fluoridated at the correct level, decay rates in permanent teeth drop significantly, because the enamel of these...
I met a friend at the post office last week, and he told me that nobody had ever died from fluoride. Well, he was wrong. There’ve been many cases of “death by fluoride.” I’ll mention just one that Alaskans ought to know: (From the Anchorage Daily News, September 22, 1992) “Dominic Smith didn’t realize that water from the village well was killing him. So he kept drinking. The sicker he got, the more he drank. The more he drank, the sicker he got. All around his part of the village, his neighbors were falling sick, too. By the next day, Smith...
For the third time in recent history voters will be asked to make changes to the sales tax ordinance. Be it exemptions for senior citizens’ purchases, establishing sunset dates on exemptions for seniors or raising the cap on taxable sales, the voters seem to be consistent. Their response has been, and we think will continue to be, No. That is why it is reasonable for the Assembly to work together with the Chamber of Commerce to craft some ballot propositions that both bodies can agree on, and perhaps, work together, to sell the resulting c...
Set the record straight To the Editor: Just to set the record straight, you really should have checked the accuracy of the statement made by Eric Castro in the April 20 edition of the Petersburg Pilot. Every single pound of seafood we process at Coastal Cold Storage is charged the 6% sales tax, as required by the Petersburg Borough (previously the City of Petersburg), unless it qualifies for a Senior exemption or Resale exemption. I can assure you that if Mr. Castro's uncle comes in the door with three fish to be filleted, vacuum packed and/or...
Fluoridation debate will continue Dear Editor and Assembly Members: In June of 2004, the Juneau Fluoride Commission was appointed and given the task of reviewing existing studies and reports. They were to come up with a recommendation whether or not to use the public water supply as a vehicle for dispensing fluoride. After two years of public meetings, the commission was divided in its recommendations. Three members firmly believed fluoridating the water supply was a good way to prevent dental caries, two members believed the practice should...
Fluoridation proven safe To the Editor: The safety and effectiveness of community water fluoridation has been scientifically proven and documented for 60 years. Dental decay is still the number one disease of children. Water fluoridation can greatly reduce decay across the population. The safety and efficacy is supported by over 100 National and International organizations, the American Dental Association, the American Medical Association, the U.S. Public Health Service(CDC), the American Cancer Society, the World Health Organization, and the...
How much flouride is safe? To the Editor: How much fluoride can you safely allow your baby to drink? Or bathe or shower or swim in? I’m not talking about topical fluoride applied to teeth. I’m talking about what you ingest, and absorb through the skin. We’re all familiar with the "Warning" label on fluoride toothpaste, advising us to call Poison Control if our child swallows more than a pea-sized amount of toothpaste. How much fluoride would that be if swallowed as a glass of fluoridated water? By some estimates, it could be the equivalent of 1...
Rethink flouride To the Editor: I would like to request the Borough reevaluate its practice of adding fluoride to our water supply. It is time to investigate what the current research is on the safety of fluoride after so many years of public use. I found that fluoride in drinking water does give dental benefits to people across the board, and over and over I read, “the benefits outweigh the risks.” But that made me wonder, if there are recognized risks associated with fluoride introduced into the drinking water of municipalities, why don...
Not much has changed To the Editor: Due to circumstances beyond our control, Deb and I had to move back to Juneau temporarily a bit over a year ago. As a result, I’ve missed much of what has been happening in the Petersburg Borough. But a couple of recent visitors and phone calls lead me to believe that not much has changed. The other day we were driving down Calhoun in Juneau where it turns into 12th Street. It was a chilly 33 degrees but the sun was out and most of the snow and ice from a recent storm was gone. A man who appeared to be in h...
After two years of kicking the can down the road, this may be the year the Legislature finally gets serious about closing the budget gap. For two years, action in the Alaska House and Senate has focused primarily on cuts, which has reduced the yearly deficit from $4 billion to $3 billion but can go little further without substantial negative impact to the state's core services — items such as education, transportation and public safety. Finally, there appears to be an emerging recognition by legislators that new revenue for the state is an a...
Incorrect facts thrown around To the Editor: Thank you for the mention in the paper this week. The borough assembly was throwing around some incorrect facts at the meeting. Only one member of Planning and Zoning was appointed. The other six of us were elected. One of seven is hardly a majority. I spoke up because I don’t see how changing the seats to by appointment is going to fix the consistent vacancy problem. There are two empty seats on the hospital board that have been vacant for a very long time, and are essentially by appointment b...
Student request To the Editor: My name is Max M. I am a fifth grade student at Harlan Intermediate School in Harlan, Iowa. My class is studying geography and history of the United States. I am very excited to learn more about your beautiful state of Alaska. I would really appreciate it if you would send me pictures, postcards, or information on your state. My teacher, Mrs. Newlin, would like a car license plate, if possible, for a teacher project. I really appreciate your time and look forward to learning more about your beautiful state of...
A demand for floathouses To the Editor: I’ve been following the Stikine River houseboat dilemma for some time now with interest. I did moose patrols for the Fish and Wildlife Service on the river in 1957, 58 and 59. I also ran the river in the 70 and 80s with friends in Petersburg and Telegraph Creek with a youth camp. There were no house boats on the river in that time. There were, however, numerous private cabins and moose tree huts. Soon after statehood, the Forest Service, after taking much criticism for being a mere “Logging Ser...
To the Editor: I’m writing to you to mention a problem that all parents have during the winter months with having children who take the bus. Sometimes our children miss the bus due to the road and sidewalk conditions because of it being so slippery out and the roads and sidewalks not being properly maintained. My suggestion is that during winter months the buses should pull over at every stop and wait an extra 5 minutes and school started at 8:30am. This would help our kids to make it to school without breaking any bones trying to make it to t...
Ice safety reminder To the Editor: Petersburg Search and Rescue would like to issue the following warning. The recent cold temperatures have caused local lakes and some streams to freeze allowing for recreational activities out on the ice. However this weekend’s predicted warm temperatures and rain will cause the ice to melt and weaken. Please be extremely careful on or near the ice, especially with children. If someone falls through the ice if possible reach out to the victim without leaving shore. If you venture out on the ice to reach for t...
This week several people asked why we would print a story based in part on an anonymous source? The fact is that often news stories are developed from unidentified sources. In the past three months we have received two anonymous tips that resulted in four stories. Sometimes information is provided over the telephone, as was the case last Friday. That caller provided their name, but asked that it not be made public. We’re working on that story during the upcoming weeks. We printed stories this week and last after talking to recipients of the let...
The Borough Assembly acted appropriately to advance the sale of property at 919 Sandy Beach Road by continuing the rezone process and eventually putting the land up for auction. Assembly member Eric Castro noted correctly that the action would not impact the character of Sandy Beach nor harm the petroglyphs and fish traps on the nearby tide flats. Visitors seeking out the petroglyphs access the site from Sandy Beach Park, not by crossing over the borough owned lot. The borough’s administrators will use revenue from the sale of three parcels o...
Roads with ferries don’t work To the Editor: This fall Governor Walker has been weighing the pros and cons of proceeding with the Juneau road extension. The project entails fifty miles of new pavement, which would dead end at a ferry terminal on the uninhabited Katzehin River delta across the Lynn Canal from Haines. As residents of Petersburg and Wrangell know, long roads with short shuttle ferries have not worked out as hoped for in Southeast Alaska. The South Mitkof and Coffman Cove terminals, while beautiful facilities, have been largely shu...
To the Editor: Thank you for welcoming us into your communities. We are grateful to you for making time to visit with us to discuss the land exchange legislation and share your concerns about potential timber sales on Trust land near your community, if the legislation does not pass. At the meetings, we heard how important public safety is to the Petersburg community. We realize the announcement back in August about the potential timber sales surprised members of the community, and that created great concern. We take responsibility for the way...
The State of Alaska provided Petersburg pedestrians with one of the most important safety measures that money could buy. They completed the Haugen Drive walking path to Sandy Beach Park. It’s a smooth, dry solid walking surface that’s easy to navigate with strollers, bikes, dogs or kids. However, it can only keep walkers safe if they use it. We continue to see people walking along the sometimes very narrow Haugen Drive right-of-way, at night, wearing no reflective clothing and with no light. Certainly there’s no prohibition to walking next...
