Sorted by date Results 226 - 250 of 387
January The borough assembly received a proposed update to its zoning code that would introduce a new form of affordable housing, an expansion of the historical and industrial districts and the end of a requirement for businesses to include parking downtown. The borough assembly held a work session to discuss a plan to impose restrictions on the senior tax exemption. A possible annual fee to sales tax exemption card holders was agreed upon ranging between $50 and $60. Police Chief Kelly Swihart...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An additional $30 million in public money is needed to install crew quarters on Alaska’s two new ferries, the Alaska Marine Highway System said. Adding crew quarters will allow the ferries Tazlina and Hubbard to be used on longer routes than originally planned, the Anchorage Daily News reported this week. The new ferries were designed for specific roles, but cuts to ferry service means the ships will need to enter general service. With the state’s budget constraints, two older ferries will likely be taken offline as th...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP)– The construction of the second of two new Alaska state ferries is nearing completion. The 280-foot (85-meter) ferry Hubbard was lowered into the water for the first time at the Ketchikan Shipyard last week and checked for possible leaks, the Ketchikan Daily News reported Saturday. The vessel is being built by Vigor Alaska, which also constructed its sister ship Tazlina. The ferry Tazlina launched in May and was christened in August. The remainder of work on the Hubbard consists of interior outfitting and finishing. T...
WRANGELL - Lisa Von Bargen, Wrangell's city manager, has recently been elected to sit on the board of directors of Southeast Conference. Southeast Conference was originally founded in 1958 as a network of organizations to advocate for the Alaska Marine Highway System. Today, though, it is a collection of municipalities, nonprofits, businesses, and other groups working together for economic development in Southeast Alaska. As the newest member of the board, Von Bargen said that she wants to help...
Last week at Southeast Conference, Petersburg’s nomination for the board of directors seat, assembly member Jeff Meucci, wasn’t elected to the seat. Petersburg’s nomination for the board of directors seat was a contentious issue in the borough assembly as both Mayor Mark Jensen and Meucci sought the nomination. “I think the assembly needs to address some of the issues regarding that controversy,” said Meucci at a borough assembly meeting on Monday. “Hopefully, we’ll do that when the mayor gets back.” Jensen is Petersburg’s representative to...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The crew and passengers of a fast ferry celebrated the vessel's possible last voyage in southeast Alaska over the weekend. The ferry Fairweather traveled from Skagway and Haines to Juneau on Sunday, taking its last trip in the area for the season before continuing operation in the Prince William Sound, CoastAlaska reported this week. Two new ferries of a different class are expected to enter the service of the Alaska Marine Highway next year, casting doubt on the future of...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — A Ketchikan shipyard is expecting to lay off 50 to 80 workers between October and the end of the year. Vigor Alaska officials informed workers of the layoffs at a meeting last week, citing a lack of new construction projects, the Ketchikan Daily News reported. Without more work orders coming in, the company will need to lay off ``core workers,'' said Doug Ward, the director of shipyard development. The company that operates the shipyard is a subsidiary of Vigor Industrial, based in Portland, Oregon. ``We wanted to give...
The borough assembly voted in favor of nominating assembly member Jeff Meucci for the Southeast Conference board of directors on Monday. "Jeff has entered into his role of the assembly with such a vigor," said assembly member Eric Castro. "I can see [him] carrying that with [him] to the Southeast conference board." Meucci and Mayor Mark Jensen submitted letters of interest to the assembly, which had the option to nominate both Meucci and Jensen. A motion was made to only nominate Meucci. After...
With the adjournment of the Legislature on May 12, Senator Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, talked to The Pilot during the Little Norway Festival about the session. The legislature realized they have to restructure the Alaska Permanent Fund (APF) and Senate Bill 26 does that. Stedman was one of 13 senators who voted in favor of the legislation. With a $2.5 billion deficit the APF has to be protected. He has favored that idea for a long time because it would limit payouts and gives the public the opportunity to look at its structure. The bill sets a...
Anchorage, AK – Rasmuson Foundation has named 35 artists in 12 Alaska communities as Individual Artist Award recipients for 2018. This is Rasmuson Foundation’s 15th year of supporting working artists with direct grants. Ten individuals will receive $18,000 Fellowships and 25 artists will receive Project Awards of $7,500. Recipients were selected from a pool of almost 400 applicants. The artists represent all career stages. Their work spans cultures and disciplines, sustaining and expanding on traditional art forms and employing new tec...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht presented the following report at the Assembly meeting on May 7. The Library is getting ready for the Storyteller Pole unveiling on Thurs., May 17 at 4pm. PIA's JOM Dance Group will perform and Nicole Hallingstad will be guest speaker. City Creek Spillway Rehabilitation pre-construction meeting has been held. Reid Brothers to mobilize to the site and start work on May 7. Their proposed schedule has them finishing up all work by mid-July. Marty Susort has been hired as the Borough’s inspector on the Spillway w...
Peter Christoffer Thynes Jr., 58, died on January 28, 2018 in Petersburg, Alaska. He was born April 15, 1959, the fourth son of Pete and Tora Thynes. Born and raised in Petersburg, he attended school here, except for a couple of years when his parents lived in Port Townsend while building the "Tora". Peter worked in a work study for Alaska Island Air his sophomore year, loading and unloading freight. There, he was able to go on the occasional flight with Lloyd to wash the beaver in Petersburg...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — A former state ferry has departed from Alaska after serving in the Alaska Marine Highway System since 1963. The Taku left Ward Cove in southeast Alaska Tuesday morning and is headed for Singapore, the Ketchikan Daily News reported. The Alaska Department of Transportation transferred ownership of the vessel to Jabal Al Lawz Trading Est., a Dubai-based company, in January. It was sold for $171,000. Some people gathered to say goodbye the vessel on Tuesday including Bill and Wynn Hopkin, who both worked aboard the Taku. B...
The Alaska Marine Highway System announced it has adjusted ferry service schedules for the middle of April in order to help roughly 400 students and chaperones from across Southeast travel to the Region V Music Festival in Juneau. AMHS will be rerouting the M/V LeConte to make a round-trip run through southern Southeast to pick up and return the students. With this service adjustment, students from Ketchikan, Wrangell, Metlakatla and Klawock will be able to attend the annual festival. Students from Sitka and Haines will use a...
Petersburg’s assembly on Monday voted against issuing a permit to allow a private hauler to pay for a second boat ramp at Scow Bay, saying it would set a precedent open for too much interpretation. John Murgas, owner of Island Ventures LLC, applied for a special use permit to install a second boat ramp at Scow Bay. His proposed ramp would nudge-up against a jetty, which would, he says, create safer launching and hauling of boats. “A single mishap,” Murgas wrote in his permit application, “while loading or launching a vessel due to souther...
Lack of support from KSTK public radio listeners and businesses in Wrangell may bring ownership changes to the station. A public notice published in last week’s Wrangell Sentinel foreshadows the transfer of radio station assets to CoastAlaska in Juneau. CoastAlaska provides administrative support and other services for seven Southeast public radio stations including KSTK. Reductions in grant revenue and local donations, has made the station’s financial situation untenable. We’re not convinced that moving the station’s operations to CoastAl...
November 30, 1917 — The local lodge of Moose, after a somewhat prolonged vacation, has again become active, and gives promise of holding its place in the future as one of Petersburg’s wide-awake social and beneficial orders. The wake up is largely due to the efforts of Dr. Pigg. The doctor is dictator of the lodge in Wrangell, and has also been active in organizing lodges of Moose in other places. November 27, 1942 — A special meeting of the Town Council was called on Wednesday evening to make arrangements for immediate storage and care of emer...
One of Southeast's primary ferries will be out of service longer than expected as it undergoes annual maintenance, affecting the winter schedule. The Alaska Marine Highway System announced last week the M/V Malaspina will be out of commission several months longer than expected. The vessel went in for its annual overhaul and certification on October 1, with the intention of returning it to service on December 22. During the overhaul engineers determined an extensive replacement of the craft's...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — In a story in the Wrangell Sentinel and Petersburg Pilot last week, about a group’s report about the state ferry system, The Associated Press reported erroneously the name of the organization. It is the Southeast Conference, not the Southwest Conference. In the same editions, a story about possible ticket price increases for the Alaska Marine Highway System, The Associated Press reported erroneously the projected source of a 21 percent reduction in expenses. The reduction would come from a combination of changes and som...
(JUNEAU, Alaska) – The Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) announced Wednesday that extended repairs needed on the MV Malaspina will change winter ferry service for Southeast Alaska and Prince Rupert. The Malaspina went in for its annual overhaul and certification on October 1, 2017 and was scheduled to return to service on December 22, 2017. During the overhaul, engineers determined that extensive steel replacement was needed and that both propeller hubs must be repaired. Because shipyard space is limited and propeller hubs will take s...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — A report by Alaska’s Southeast Conference calls for the state marine highway system to increase its ticket prices. The recommendation is part of a 25-year plan that Gov. Bill Walker asked the conference’s stakeholders to put together for the struggling Alaska Marine Highway System, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Thursday. The major part of the plan is to turn the marine highway into a public corporation. The system’s Reform Steering Committee is pursuing legislative changes to make that happen. Stakeholders estimat...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — A report by an Alaska regional development organization indicated that the success of the state ferry service could hinge on repairing the troubled relationship between its management and labor force. The Southwest Conference found that the relationship was strained, inefficient and ineffective, causing financial problems for the Alaska Marine Highway System, the Kodiak Daily Mirror newspaper reported Friday. “Management and labor need to have a realignment so they’re working toward a common goal,’’ said Robert Venables,...
One of the state’s public ferries will help collect data on ocean acidification during its regular route. The news was announced last week by Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center at University of Alaska Southeast, which has partnered with the Alaska Marine Highway System, British Columbia’s Hakai Institute, Alaska Ocean Observing System and other federal agencies on the project. The vessel chosen for the data collection study is the M/V Columbia, which at 418 feet and a gross tonnage of 3,946 is the ferry system’s largest. On its route betwe...
The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities reported that the M/V Kennicott has been temporarily taken out of service. After completing its southern run to Ketchikan on November 4 it entered dry dock for repairs. "It's got a leaky seal on its port-side propeller," explained Aurah Landau, public information officer for Alaska Marine Highway System's South Coast office. She estimated repairs should take until mid-month to complete, and the ferry may return to service later next week....
October 12, 1917 – Olaf Arness made a business trip the first of the week to Ketchikan, where he was called to confer with Robert B. McClary, of the signal corps, U.S.A. Mr. McClary stated that it is essential that the government get all of the aeroplane spruce in the country, and he was anxious to learn of the condition and prospects for operating the big mill at Petersburg. Mr Arness was able to give assurance that the mill will be running next spring. October 09, 1942 – A new course in First Ade is being taught in the Senior High School und...
