Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 381
In the final moments of Dave Kensinger's last Borough Assembly meeting Monday, September 18, lighthearted joking capped the session just before adjourning. It was time for assembly member comments when vice-mayor Bob Lynn spoke up to address something very important: "Well, since this is member Kensinger's last meeting, I gotta thank him for everything he's done. But the one area he hasn't really done a really good job - I think he was our representative with the Alaska Ferry System," a light la...
The state wants to send the Matanuska, the oldest vessel in the Alaska Marine Highway System fleet, into a shipyard for the equivalent of a full-body scan. Management wants to find out just how much of the ship's steel has rusted, and how far the rust has eaten into the thickness of the metal. The 60-year-old Matanuska has been tied up at the dock in Ketchikan since last November, waiting for the state to decide whether to repair the vessel and restore it to working order, or give up on the...
September 28, 1923 – Testifying in her action for divorce in Judge Hall’s court, Mrs. Otto Burkhardt branded her husband, Frederick Otto Burkhardt, the wealthy Alaska salmon packer, as an arsonist and testified that he purposely set the fires which destroyed the cannery at Chilkoot in 1919 and for which $290,000 insurance money was collected [$5,206,870 today]. Her testimony reads as follows: “I followed him down from the house to the cannery. He did not see me or know that I was there. I watched him go in and, from one end of the canne...
September 21, 1923 – Earl N. Ohmer this week received a sea sled which was designed and built for him by S.V.B. Miller of Seattle and Gregory Hildebrand of the Fair Island fox ranch. The boat is twenty feet long, equipped with a 60-horsepower Scripps engine and at present makes about twenty miles an hour. Ohmer has been tuning up the engine during the past few days and says he expects to get considerably better speed out of the boat. September 24, 1948 – Heavy winds were given as the reason for damage caused to the boat Wave last Sunday at Gri...
The night before my team and I were scheduled to fly from Juneau to Haines on Seaplanes with the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, I did something I’ve never done before when traveling in Southeast. I wished for rain and wind. I secretly hoped our flights would be grounded so the secretary would get a real taste of transportation in our state, where we often have to pivot to Plans B and C to get where we’re going. As luck and weather would have it, my prayers were quickly answered when we got the updated forecast at 4:30 a.m...
Employers everywhere are finding it hard to recruit and retain employees. But it sure seems that the state of Alaska, under the disengaged leadership of Gov. Mike Dunleavy, is sinking to new lows of high vacancies. The empty desks and undone work are degrading public services and hurting Alaskans. The administration’s reactions have been to express concern, provide excuses, talk about doing better and, in some offices, shuffle around available personnel to plug the biggest holes. And the governor proclaimed May 10 as State Employee A...
August 17, 1923 – Word has been received from Juneau that a force of men will arrive here soon to finish the Petersburg Scow Bay road this fall. The money necessary has been appropriated and the appropriation has been approved by the Secretary of Agriculture. The work will be under the charge of the Bureau of Public Roads and it is intended to put a full gravel surface over the entire roadway and to fix the road bed wherever necessary to hold the surfacing. Sand and gravel will be taken from either Five Mile or Sukoi for this work, and a b...
When U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg's flight from Juneau to Haines was rained out on Wednesday, he changed plans and did what Alaskans have done for decades: He boarded a ferry. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, traveled with Buttigieg and said the last-minute switch in travel plans "was a typical Alaska jump ball." It was an appropriate capstone to Buttigieg's three-day Alaska visit: a trip intended to emphasize the benefits of the Biden administration's infrastructure law,... Full story
The Washington State Ferries system still has not returned to its full pre-pandemic schedule, coming up short due to fewer riders, an inability to recruit, hire and train onboard crew, high rates of retirements and resignations, and a “lack of vessels due to unanticipated breakdowns and an aging fleet.” Some sailings have been canceled for lack of crew, and a few routes are running at reduced service. It sounds a lot like the Alaska Marine Highway System. The Washington state system, which has been around since 1951, 12 years older than Alaska...
After the past few years when resignations and retirements far outpaced new hires, the Alaska Marine Highway System was able to hire as many new onboard crew as it lost in the first six months of this year. It showed a net gain of two workers, adding 47 and losing 45, though most of the new hires were in entry-level jobs and not the critical experienced positions that remain vacant. The lack of enough crew to fully staff the state ferries has been a problem, keeping the Kennicott tied up this summer and creating spot shortages the past couple...
Join the Volunteer Fire Department To the Editor: Now that we have seen the ugly damage to the church that a structure fire does so quickly, it should be obvious why Petersburg needs a fire department. But a fire department is not just big red trucks, air packs, hoses, and axes. It needs volunteers — people who have the skills to deal with the serious problems that lesser mortals run away from. PVFD always needs more volunteers to learn to serve as firefighters, emergency medical technicians, search team members, and non-tactical supporting w...
Petersburg will go without any southbound ferry service in alternating weeks from Oct. 1 to mid-November under the Alaska Marine Highway System's draft fall/winter schedule. The town is on the schedule for its usual weekly northbound stop during that period. The rest of the winter schedule shows once-a-week service to town in each direction, with the bonus of two stops in each direction the second week of each month from mid-November through February when the Kennicott will shorten its...
The state ferry Columbia, after a week in the shop to repair leaky pipes and its bow thrusters, was expected back at work starting Wednesday, June 28, with its regularly scheduled run from Ketchikan to Bellingham, Washington. The vessel was pulled from service on June 20, missing two southbound stops and one northbound stop in Wrangell. The 50-year-old Columbia left Haines that day — without any passengers — and headed straight for the Vigor shipyard in Ketchikan for repairs, canceling all stops along the way. “There’s a manifold down in the...
The Alaska Marine Highway System, which five months ago embarked on improving its hiring process to address chronic crew shortages, is unable to say how many new employees it has hired since then. The push started after a consultant’s report in January determined the state had hired just four out of 250 job applicants the over prior 12 months. The crew shortage forced the state to pull the Kennicott, the second-largest operable ship in the fleet, off this summer’s schedule and keep it tied up at the dock in Ketchikan. Asked how many new emp...
The Columbia state ferry has cancelled its sailings for at least a week due to a mechanical issue, affecting stops at ports between Haines and Bellingham, Washington, according to a service notice by the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS). The primary interruption to service is a seven-day period starting Wednesday, with a sailing from Ketchikan to Bellingham and back through Southeast Alaska cancelled, the AMHS notice issued Monday notes. The decision is due to a "mechanical issue with the ves...
May 11, 1923 – The big freighter Cordova was in port this week and discharged 100 tons of coal for local merchants. While here she took on 143 yellow cedar logs which were shipped by Gordon McDonald and his two partners, Charles Cripe and Jack DeSota. The logs scaled around 23 thousand feet and were logged along the muskegs back of town, being hauled to the beach over snow with a Fordson tractor. May 7, 1948 – A new business will open in Petersburg on Saturday at 2 p.m. and will be known as “Mitkof Ice Cream Parlor.” The owners, Mr. and Mrs...
Serious scrutiny needed To the Editor: When we think about our rapidly growing national debt, it is wise to remember that the vast majority of the money owed has been spent on bad ideas that never would have gotten anywhere in the first place if not for the illusion of prosperity that comes from having money that has largely been created out of thin air. Our politicians at every level of government are happy to spend money on the various bad ideas presented to them to ensure that the grateful voters who receive it will return them to their...
The Alaska Marine Highway System is short more than 100 new crew to safely and dependably put the Kennicott to sea. Without enough onboard workers, the state ferry system will start the summer schedule in six weeks with its second-largest operable ship tied up for lack of crew. Though management has said they could put the Kennicott into service if they can hire enough new employees, filling all the vacancies would represent more than a 20% gain in current ferry system crew numbers, setting a very high hurdle to untie the ship this summer. The...
Just eight weeks before the start of the summer timetable on May 1, the Alaska Marine Highway System has released its schedule and opened its online reservations system for bookings. The schedule, which was announced March 7, came later than usual this year as the state continues to wrestle with crew shortages that will keep a couple of ships tied to the dock for the summer. Petersburg will see a weekly ferry stop in each direction May through September. “The Kennicott and Tazlina will be off-line for the time being due to skilled crew s...
March 9, 1923 – The Standard Oil Company and the Sitka Wharf and Power Company have signed a contract for three tanks with meters to be installed on the City Dock. E.J. McClanahan, assistant district sales manager for the Standard Oil Company arranged the final details of the lease with the local company. The tanks will be put in place in time for the fishing fleet this summer. There will be a gasoline tank, distillate, and another for refined oil. Heretofore the supply of oil was given from drums, a rather slow process during the busy f...
The Alaska Marine Highway System is working faster to hire more crew, trying to fix problems that slowed the process so much the past four years that the state failed to keep up with retirements and resignations. The hiring process was so cumbersome and excessively choosy that the state brought aboard just a few new workers out of 250 applicants forwarded by a search agency over the past year, according to a January report from the recruitment contractor. “Since 2019, AMHS has lost more staff annually than recruitment efforts can replace. F...
In a change of plans from just a few weeks ago, the Alaska Marine Highway System reports it lacks enough crew to operate the Kennicott this summer. The loss of the Kennicott from the schedule likely would mean dropping service to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, and the loss of two additional port calls in Petersburg each month, May through September. It also could jeopardize state ferry service to Yakutat on the cross-gulf route, and abandoning plans to run the Kennicott to Bellingham, Washington, once a month to help move the heavy load of su...
Dear Friends and Neighbors: The House Education Committee heard an introduction of HB 65, INCREASE BASE STUDENT ALLOCATION on Monday, February 20th. The hearing was the first, of what I hope will be many, hearings on this critical piece of legislation. I will be sure to let you know when there is an opportunity for public testimony on this bill. In the meantime, please feel free to contact me regarding this bill or any other bills we are considering in committee. On February 22, 2023, the Senate joined the House for a Joint Session for the pur...
An ongoing shortage of crew is the “No. 1 risk factor” for the Alaska Marine Highway System, Transportation Department Deputy Commissioner Katherine Keith told legislators. As of a Feb. 2 presentation to the Senate Transportation Committee, the ferry system was short just over 100 crew for full staffing to efficiently operate the winter schedule, about a 20% vacancy factor for onboard employees. The ferry system, however, is able to run its schedule with crew members picking up extra shifts and overtime to cover the work, and with man...
Dear Friends and Neighbors: I write this first update to House District 2 from my office on the 4th floor of the Capitol. It is hard to believe, but the legislative session is already in full swing. In addition to attending floor sessions and committee meetings this week, I had the privilege of meeting with some of my constituents and I enjoyed participating in Southeast Conference. As a member of the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee, this week I was proud to support moving...
