Sorted by date Results 801 - 825 of 1172
It was around noon on July 3 when Tim Koeneman was driving out the road to take his dog for a walk when he began to notice porcupine carcasses scattered on Mitkof Highway between Blind Slough and Manmade Hole. He said he counted about 14 porcupines in the roadway. "Approximately half of what we counted were young porcupine," said Koeneman. State Trooper Cody Litster was out on the water when he began getting phone calls from residents saying there were dead porcupines in the middle of the road....
Since she was 12 years old, Kara Newman has dreamed of living in Scandinavia and later this month, she will finally achieve that goal. Newman, 15, said she wanted to go to Scandinavia to better understand the culture that she grew up in here in Petersburg, although; she won't be staying in Norway, but in Sweden. Newman said that by living in Sweden, she will be in the heart of the region, with Finland to the east and Norway to the west. "I'm so excited to go," said Newman. "This has been my...
The fireworks display tonight at 11P.M. at the ball field is moving forward as planned, said Assistant Fire Chief Dave Berg, as parts of the state face fireworks bans due to wildfires and dry conditions. On June 27, the Alaska State Fire Marshal's Office implemented an immediate suspension on the sale and use of fireworks across most of the state, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety, Fire and Life Safety. The ban affects areas that face fire risk levels in high, very high and...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors passed the hospital's 2020 fiscal year budget at their board meeting last week. The balanced budget anticipates $16,695,000 in both total revenue and total expenses for the new fiscal year that began on July 1. A preliminary budget was approved by the board in March, and several changes have been made to the budget since then, according to PMC Controller Rocio Tejera. The amount of money budgeted for employee wages was increased since salaries...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will be holding an assembly meeting on Thursday at 10 A.M. to discuss and possibly pass a resolution setting a supplemental millage rate for the 2020 fiscal year that began on July 1. The millage rate is the amount per $1,000 of a property's assessed value that is used to calculate taxes within the borough. The meeting was originally supposed to be held on Friday, but it was cancelled due to a lack of quorum. The next meeting wasn't going to be until July 18, but...
Petersburg Medical Center Controller Rocio Tejera gave her monthly financial report to the PMC board of directors last Thursday explaining the hospital's financial standing during the month of May and the fiscal year-to-date. Both PMC's gross and net operating revenue were above target for the month of May. The gross operating revenue was at $1,873,317, which was 24 percent above the budgeted $1,503,353 for the month. The net operating revenue was up 16 percent at $1,501,766. The hospital's...
A list of Petersburg Medical Center's capital items and projects for the 2020 fiscal year was presented to the Board of Directors at their meeting on Friday. The list included over 20 items from nine departments for a total of $827,646, but PMC Controller Rocio Tereja said that the hospital will not be going over $500,000. "We have no intention of going over $500,000 on capital," said Tereja. "We need to sit down, talk about it and see what's really needed and go from there." The list was just...
The Resource Advisory Committee plans on completing most of their on-going projects in the Petersburg, Wrangell and Kake areas. RAC makes recommendations to the Forest Service on how to allocate funds that it receives from title two of the Secure Rural Schools Act. The act was created to offset the loss in funding that western states were receiving from the timber industry, according to Petersburg District Ranger Ted Sandhofer and RAC Designated Federal Officer. Fifteen percent of the funds...
Chelsea and Pete Keutmann have taken on hours of extra work when processing the fish they catch in an effort to reach their goal of utilizing the entire fish and leaving behind zero waste. "A big thing that we're passionate about is minimizing the waste that we're producing," said Chelsea. "Some people fillet a fish and then it's just discarded. However, there is so much nutrients and value left on these fish that can still be utilized." The two have been marketing fish for about 12 years, but...
At their meeting last Friday, the borough assembly approved 13 goals and objectives for Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht to work on in the upcoming 2020 fiscal year. The 13 items are a result of the manager's recent performance evaluation. Some of the goals and objectives have comments from Giesbrecht that go into further detail to better capture the assembly's intentions. A motion was made to adopt Giesbrecht's comments into the document. Giesbrecht said that he could get each of the items done...
On Friday, the borough assembly approved one of two resolutions that set the millage rate at 11.45 mills for service area one. The millage rate is the amount per $1,000 of the property's assessed value that is used to calculate taxes within the borough. The mill rate reflects a scenario where Gov. Mike Dunleavy does not veto the state legislators' 2020 fiscal year state budget and funds the state's portion of the school bond debt reimbursement. If the governor does veto the budget, the assembly...
A request for proposal was awarded to Eaton Corporation on Friday by the borough assembly for the supply, integration, training and support for a fully functioning radio frequency meter reading system not to exceed $113,034.38. The Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system will replace all the meters in North Boat Harbor and some of the meters in the Middle and South Boat Harbors. The radio frequency meters will eliminate the need for a meter reader to go down to the harbor when a visiting...
Around 2 A.M. on Sunday morning John P. Akers allegedly drove an SUV down Sing Lee Alley while under the influence of alcohol and crashed into the hand rail on the right side of the bridge near the former Seaside Restaurant, according to police. Officer Eric Wolf was conducting a standard patrol of the area when he came across a black, 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe that was straddling the bull rail of the bridge with the front and back passenger side tires hanging over the side in mid-air, according to...
The borough assembly on Friday voted in favor of moving assembly meetings in July and August from their usual Monday dates to Thursdays to have a better chance of a quorum. "I think if we moved it to Thursday and had better odds, I don't see a problem with that," said Assembly Member Brandi Marohl. Assembly meetings are usually held on the first and third Mondays of the month at 12 P.M. and 6 P.M. respectively. The meetings in July and August will fall on the Thursday after the first and third...
Alaska Fish and Game biologist Troy Thynes has accepted the role of regional management coordinator for commercial fisheries, which is the first time the position has been held in Petersburg. Thynes has been with the Petersburg Fish and Game office since 2000 when he took a job as a fish and wildlife technician. After a year, he transferred to the area management department as an assistant. In 2009, he took over as area management biologist for the Petersburg and Wrangell area. Now he oversees...
Just before 7 A.M. last Friday, the United States Coast Guard was notified of a wooden, seine fishing vessel that had run aground in the Wrangell Narrows and was sinking with four individuals on board, according to a prepared statement by the USCG. By 9 A.M. the Coast Guard Cutter Bailey Barco and its crew had arrived on scene to begin pumping water out of the boat; however, due to the current and the fact that the vessel was already completely flooded, the USCG's dewatering efforts failed. All...
The borough assembly and borough department heads conducted an annual performance evaluation of Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht that found that the manager generally exceeds or meets expectations. The performance evaluation is a way to increase communication between the borough assembly and borough manager regarding Giesbrecht's goals and accomplishments. During the performance evaluation, assembly members and department heads are presented with different columns within categories that relate...
The Petersburg School Board approved the district's fiscal year 2020 operating budget at their monthly meeting last week. "This is a solid budget," said Finance Director Karen Quitslund. "It's fiscally conservative." The district's budget ignores uncertainties in Gov. Mike Dunleavy's proposed 2020 fiscal year state budget. The district did not believe a state budget was going to be passed before it had to submit the district's budget to the state by July 1. Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter...
Changes to 11 board policies are set to go into effect after the Petersburg School Board approved the alterations in their second and final reading at a board meeting last week. The changes to the policies were minor and were made to be in accordance with new state laws, according to School Board President Mara Lutomski. Some of the policy changes add language related to culturally responsive education and cultural and tribal consulting, which was the case in the changes to board policy...
Some residents have noticed trash scattered around in the muskeg near the baler facility, which has been blown out of a nearby open container, and Public Works Director Chris Cotta has taken action to remove the trash. "We have been trying to keep the trash somewhat contained," said Cotta. "It's pretty hard to keep it all in the container when we're dumping in there. The birds get into it. The wind blows and blows it out of there and blows the bags out." The trash was generally made up of wrappe...
Some veterans have kept their experiences on the battlefield bottled up in their minds where they continually cause suffering, but Steve Henline is getting veterans to open up about what they went through in war while on a fishing boat in Alaska. Through his non-profit organization called Warriors' Tails, Henline has been taking veterans, many of whom have been severely wounded, fishing all over the country where they can feel safe among other veterans to talk about their experiences or just enj...
The borough assembly adopted the 2020 fiscal year operating budget in its third reading on Monday after making 11 amendments to it since the assembly received the proposed budget on April 1. Expenditures in the general fund total $9,467,855, but is balanced out by $9,533,511 in revenues. The total amount of excess of revenues over expenditures is $65,656. The current 2019 fiscal year budget has a total of $9,466,759 in revenues and $9,446,352 in expenditures. During the assembly meeting on...
Mayor Mark Jensen requested a discussion on the Petro 49 land exchange during Monday's assembly meeting to hear Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht's input on the matter, since the manager wasn't present at the previous assembly meeting. "I have no intention of asking to have the action that was taken at the last meeting rescinded," said Jensen on Monday. "I just wanted a little bit of clarification for myself." At the assembly meeting on May 20, the borough assembly voted in favor of directing...
The Planning Commission approved an updated zoning map for service area one at their meeting on Tuesday, which will go before the Petersburg Borough Assembly for three readings. The commissioners heard a final six amendment requests to the zoning map before it was approved. A lot on Scow Bay and at 211 Mitkof Highway were zoned as light industrial, or what was previously known as C2 commercial. Lots at 708, 710, 712 and 804 S. Nordic Dr. were rezoned from industrial to light industrial. A...
An ordinance allowing the use of fireworks within service area one three days out of the year was passed by the borough assembly in its third reading on Monday. Ordinance #2019-04 allows residents to light fireworks on their property on July 3 and 4 and Dec. 31 from 12 P.M. to 1 A.M. Those who light fireworks within service area one outside of the three dates stated in the ordinance can face up to a $500 fine. The ordinance will also allow special permits for the use of consumer fireworks with p...
