Sorted by date Results 1126 - 1150 of 1844
The five propositions that didn’t ask about fluoride or ATVs all passed except one, and 15 board members were added to Petersburg leadership after the uncertified municipal election brought out 43 percent of the voters. The school board had a contested race between two write-in candidates, which was too close to call Tuesday night. Janine Gibbons took the seat with 211 votes and Meredith Evens 180. Gibbons will serve a three-year term. Sarah Pawuk Holmgrain ran uncontested to fill a two-year term and received 925 votes. Meanwhile, voters decide...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —Alaska marijuana grower Mike Emers has been losing sleep with a vote fast approaching that he says could shutter his family’s business and financially ruin them. The statewide initiative that legalized recreational marijuana in 2014 allows local governments to ban pot businesses within their borders. And on Tuesday, voters in two of Alaska’s major marijuana-growing areas - including the Fairbanks area, where Emers operates Rosie Creek Farm - will decide whether to do so. If the proposed bans on marijuana growing, manuf...
Due to a production error, in the assembly candidate questionnaire in last week’s paper, the first and second answers by then-candidate Jeff Meucci were incorrect. Below are Mr. Meucci’s correct answers: 1) Why do you seek public office? A chance to help the community navigate a tough financial climate and to facilitate discussion within the community to find out what are important services and needs to make this a great place to live and raise a family. 2) Borough budgets are tightening. What are the first 3 budget cuts you would favor? I hav... Full story
The CEO of the Petersburg Medical Center is asking the Borough to change how all city board members can attend meetings, making legal and official business easier to conduct. Liz Woodyard, the Petersburg Medical Center CEO, wants to amend an ordinance that would allow board and assembly members to attend meetings electronically, and their attendance would still count toward a quorum. Woodyard reported last week that she is working with Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson to present the proposal to...
Name: Mark Jensen Age: 62 Experience: 10 years experience in public office. I was the last city mayor and first Borough mayor, combined about 4.5 years. As a third-year generation Petersburg resident, I understand the background of the town and how it ticks. Why do you seek public office? : People have encouraged me to put my name in. They would rather have me as mayor than the other candidate. Borough budgets are tightening. What are the first 3 budget cuts you would favor? That would have to...
Name: Cindi Lagoudakis Age: 63 Experience: Currently mayor and have served as vice-mayor. Originally appointed to Borough Assembly since 2013, subsequently elected when original term was up. Other state and local government experience includes serving as an ex-officio member of the City and Borough of Juneau Parks and Recreation Advisory Board; appointment to an Interagency Trails Advisory Group for the City and Borough of Juneau; appointment to Mendenhall Wetlands Citizen's Advisory Group by...
Name: Richard Burke Age:38 Experience: Civil Engineer. US Navy Submarine Service Vet. 1998-2003. AAS in Civil Engineering Technology, Mount Hood Community College 2005, BS Forest Engineering, Oregon State University 2010. Lived in Petersburg for 7 years. 5 years in Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department. 2 years on Petersburg Borough Planning & Zoning with a very good attendance record. I wrote Proposition 6 on this ballot. Why do you seek public office? I love Petersburg, and I think I can make...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A movement has begun to return part of Juneau’s land to those who originally inhabited it. The city and borough of Juneau’s Lands Committee will discuss a proposal to give Indian Point, also known as Auke Cape, back to the Native Alaskan Auk’w Kwaan tribe at its Oct. 23 meeting, Deputy Lands and Resources Manager Dan Bleidorn said Thursday. The committee plans to discuss the proposal by Goldbelt Heritage Foundation Executive Director Dionne Cadiente-Laiti with the intention of passing it on to the Assembly for conside...
Voters in Petersburg will be asked if the Borough should spend up to $500,000 on developing a small vessel haul out and work yard at Scow Bay. The Borough assembly in July approved a resolution to be placed on the October 3 ballot that would ask whether $500,000 should be spent on developing Scow Bay. The project had been estimated to cost $7 million. The $500,000 would identify to grant foundations that Petersburg is committed to spending its own money on the project, said Glo Wollen, the harbormaster. “Therefore spending this money [would s...
The hospital Board of Directors held a work session on Friday to further discuss its relationship with the Borough, to which it feels like the ugly stepchild. Jeigh Stanton Gregor was at the meeting to represent the Assembly and offer his input on the discussion. “Feeling triggered by the ugly step sister comment,” Stanton Gregor said, “I don’t think anyone feels that way. We want to know what you want. Tell us what you want the relationship to be like.” The board discussed adding a provision to the Petersburg Charter that would require t...
The Petersburg Assembly approved a “groundbreaking” request from the harbormaster on Monday that gave thumbs up to start blueprinting the south harbor dredge project. Glo Wollen said boats in the south harbor are running aground and getting stuck at waterfront entrances and stalls. “Our fishing fleet is going aground on higher portions of the low tide in the south harbor,” she said. “There are boats getting stuck coming in and out.” As a result, Wollen coordinated an agreement between the Boroug...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A group of Juneau seniors has registered as a special interest group with the Alaska Public Offices Commission in an effort to make a difference in the Oct. 3 election. The aim of Juneau Seniors Supporting Seniors is to get the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly to restore full senior sales tax exemptions, as restrictions have been in effect for two years, group treasurer Ron Somerville said. The group’s stated purpose is “to influence the 2017 Juneau Municipal Election concerning Assembly seats and ballot initi...
All is not clear To the Editor: This is regarding your article in the August 31, 2017 edition “PMC & physicians face wrongful death claim". I am sorry to see this kind of reporting and journalism in your paper. There are many issues in a case like this and much emotion, obviously. The reporting of a claim that has not been settled in the court, by judge, jury and peers of those involved such as this results in, loss of confidence in your local medical institution and staff without due process, that would have been fair. Thus, I think that y...
WRANGELL - At a rescheduled meeting of the Port Commission last Friday, members approved a request for an extension by a lease holder at the boatyard. Contractor Don Sorric requested the addition of three years to his current lease, which at the moment is due to expire July 31, 2019. He requires the extension for a bank loan, which would finance the addition of new concrete pads at his Superior Marine Services. "The bank has asked for more time on his loan than he has on his lease," commission...
The Petersburg Borough is one step closer to saving thousands of dollars on gravel road upkeep in residential areas, said Chris Cotta, the assistant director at Public Works. The Borough Assembly approved a bid award to Reid Brothers Construction in a meeting on Tuesday for nearly $43,000 for asphalt waste to be crushed and later used as a replacement for gravel, Cotta said. “The thought has always been that we could crush up the material and turn it into usable recycled asphalt product,” Cotta said in a recommendation letter to the Ass...
The Borough Assembly on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution supporting the Southeast Alaska Solid Waste Authority recommendation to participate in a regional scrap metal recycling system. The approval fast tracks a financial plan that will organize a barge to come to Petersburg and pick up any scrap metal waste the community wants to dispose of, said Karl Hagerman, the Public Works director. A five-year “master plan” agreement with Waste Management and SEASWA has formed in surrounding regions and Petersburg committed to it this week. The...
WRANGELL — Last week, Alaska’s lawmakers received word from the governor’s office another session may be called for October. On August 31 emails were sent to members of the Alaska Legislature, letting them know a special session – the fourth of the year – will likely be called to discuss revenue. During the second special session in July an operating budget was passed, with a capital budget approved the following month in another session. The spending bills came with cuts and an overhaul of the state’s oil tax credit system, but without new...
The hospital in Petersburg is an independent operation that makes its own decisions, despite being owned by the Borough. It makes finance decisions on its own with no proviso that the Borough oversee those moves. But one condition in the Borough Charter says the Petersburg Medical Center Board and the Assembly should meet annually. And they did last week — the first joint meeting since March 2015, confirmed by Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson. “There hasn’t been any dialogue between the Borough and the hospital,” said George Doyle, a hospita...
The hospital in Petersburg is a Band-aid station that’s aging in sections invisible to the vast majority of the community. That is according to its consultant, Monica Gross, the author of a long term planning report for the Petersburg Medical Center that was released last week. In it, she outlines a range of surveys she conducted with hospital staff and community members with regard to remodeling or replacing the hospital. In a Hospital Board meeting last week, she first addressed an apparent misconception of the Medical Center, which is its f...
The race for mayor on October 3 is between the former mayor who resigned a few months ago and his replacement, who had previously hinted strongly she wouldn’t run but was asked to reconsider by a “number of people.” Mark Jensen is running for the mayor post after an abrupt exit in May. He will contend with Cindi Lagoudakis, the interim mayor and previous Assembly member, said Debra Thompson, the Borough Clerk. Jensen had resigned after expressing contempt for the actions taken by the Assembly and Borough. He left on the heels of a decis...
There will be eleven candidates running for Borough leadership on the ballot in October, including a contentious run for the mayor post, and a six-person race for two Assembly seats. The folks running for a seat on the Assembly -- there will be two -- include: Bob Lynn, Richard Burke, Ken Hamilton, Brandi Marohl, Jeff Meucci and William Ware. Cindi Lagoudakis will be running against Mark Jensen for the mayor post. The Petersburg School Board is looking to fill two seats in the election but received one submission for candidacy from Sarah Pawuk...
Mayor Cindi Lagoudakis in an Assembly meeting on Monday said the governor is hoping to visit Petersburg to sign a land selection bill and perhaps stay overnight to view ongoing projects in the community. Mayor Cindi Lagoudakis said in a report that she met with Gov. Bill Walker to discuss Senate Bill 28, which if signed would increase the Borough state land grant from 1,400 acres to more than 14,600. The bill passed the House and Senate on the last day of session in May largely due to the joint...
WRANGELL – Public Works changed its summertime water management conservation level back to normal last week, ending a month of minor restrictions. Up until last Friday, users of Wrangell’s water utility have been advised to use less water starting in mid-July, when the city entered the first of a three-stage response status. Better water management has been a key issue with the city this year, with an emergency response plan formally adopted in April. Last summer demand outpaced the water treatment plant’s ability to supply, prompting the b...
Cindi Lagoudakis, the interim mayor of Petersburg, has decided to run for the permanent seat in October, retracing strong indications that she wouldn't. "A number of people had asked me to reconsider," Lagoudakis said. "And after giving it some hard thought, in the end I decided to run." Debbie Thompson, the Borough clerk, confirmed last week that Lagoudakis filed for candidacy. Before becoming interim mayor, Lagoudakis spent time on the Assembly, where her experience was rewarding, she said....
Karl Hagerman, the Petersburg Power & Light interim supervisor, recently outlined about a dozen city projects in a 30-minute update to the Assembly. "The Utility has a very large reserve," Hagerman said. "So the Assembly wanted to know what projects could be accomplished with those savings." This also comes after the Assembly requested an overview of those projects before moving forward with finding the permanent replacement to head the department. Now that Hagerman gave that report, he said it...
