Sorted by date Results 801 - 825 of 1007
WRANGELL - Three new cases of COVID-19 were announced in Wrangell over a period of four days this past week. This has brought the total number of cases of the virus in town up to 12. The first case in this string, case no. 10, was announced Friday, July 24. During the initial announcement, it was not known if this case was from a local or a nonresident. This information was updated the next day, July 25, with the announcement of case no. 11. Both cases 10 and 11 were confirmed to be Wrangell...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A seafood processing plant in Anchorage has found 56 employees tested positive for COVID-19, marking the latest outbreak in the industry, health officials said. The Anchorage Health Department announced Friday that testing was conducted between July 17 and July 22, and more workers could test positive as 30 test results are still pending. The plant is owned by Copper River Seafoods and employs 134 workers, many who live in the city. “This is a concerning situation for the people of Anchorage,” said Bruce Chand...
Alaska’s seafood industry stakeholders have a four bagger chance to provide input on policy decisions that directly affect their livelihoods: trade, relief payouts for cod and salmon, Board of Fisheries meeting plans and appointees. For several, the window of opportunity is tight. Here is the line-up according to the deadline dates for comments: 1. Trade input - By August 1 suggestions are invited for a newly-established seafood trade task force to be chaired by the U.S. Trade Representative and the Dept. of Commerce. The chance to provide i...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted on Monday to postpone the third reading of the civil emergency provisions ordinance to Sept. 21 with a public hearing to be held before the final reading. Ordinance #2020-19 updates language in the civil emergency provisions of municipal code to reflect the conception of the Petersburg Borough. Additionally, the ordinance adds language that isn't present in the municipal code that establishes actions the borough manager or incident commander can take during...
There have been zero active cases of COVID-19 in town since Thursday, July 16 when the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center first announced that all cases of the virus have since recovered. "It's a nice place to be," said Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman at the COVID-19 community update on Friday, July 17. "That's a nice number. Zero active cases is the perfect number for Petersburg." Hagerman confirmed on Friday that cases of COVID-19 that were reported locally, from both...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency Board of Directors has awarded a bid for the replacement of a damaged submarine cable to Sumitomo, a Japanese firm, according to Board Chairman Bob Lynn. Lynn updated the Petersburg Borough Assembly on the project at their meeting on Monday. SEAPA received three bids for the project, and while Sumitomo’s bid wasn’t the lowest, the company has made a name for itself in the United States. Lynn said the project is expected to cost somewhere between $9 and $11 mil...
The borough assembly voted in favor of having an in-person municipal election this fall at their assembly meeting on Monday, instead of an election held entirely by mail. Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson said the borough is taking precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the election. It will be held in the community gym to allow for greater space between voters. New polling stations were purchased that can be disinfected after every use. Personal protective equipment was also...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The largest city in Alaska has mandated residents wear masks in public to limit the spread of COVID-19, but several other cities and boroughs declined to follow suit, arguing the mandates weren’t needed, would be difficult to enforce or were illegal. Anchorage, Cordova, Dillingham, Kotzebue, Seward, Unalaska and Valdez were the only large cities to require masks in all public indoor spaces, including stores and restaurants, the Anchorage Daily News reported. The Northwest Arctic Borough was the only borough to do so....
WRANGELL - "Concern" is a common theme in the COVID-19 pandemic. People are concerned about their health, their jobs, getting their kids back into school, and the economic prospects of their community, among other things. Wrangell resident Kassee Schlotzhauer wants to help ensure that getting enough to eat is not one such concern, through Wrangell's Subsistence Giving Project. "My family and me, we like to subsistence hunt, fish, gather for our family for the winters," she said. "This last year...
Most Alaskans are surprised to learn that seafood is by far Alaska’s top export, the source of the state’s largest manufacturing base and its #1 private employer. More surprising is that those simple to find facts are not included in the official trade sheet for Alaska provided by the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). The information on the USTR website, for example, incorrectly claims that petroleum and coal were Alaska’s top exports in 2018. But seafood has been state’s top export by far for decades. “Seafood comprises...
Can't afford boondoggle To the Editor: Senator Stedman's diatribe defending his second road to nowhere is totally unpersuasive (Petersburg Pilot, July 2, 2020). His persistent opposition to public involvement smacks of a backroom deal gone wrong. But that does not matter. We simply cannot afford this boondoggle given Alaska's deficit spending and more pressing needs. This road was a last-minute addition to a capital budget done without adequate public hearings. True to form, Senator Stedman...
2,132 Alaskans are reported infected with the Covid-19 virus along with 487 non-residents as of July 21. Petersburg has had zero active cases of COVID-19 since Thursday, July 17 according to Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman. We count ourselves among the lucky simply because we live on this isolated island. If we counted on elected officials for a long overdue permanent emergency ordinance, we'd be disappointed. The borough assembly by a vote of 4-3 decided to delay the final passage of...
The borough assembly voted in favor of amending borough code to add language for a civil emergency response in the ordinance's second reading at the assembly meeting on Wednesday. Ordinance #2020-19 updates language in the civil emergency provisions of municipal code to reflect the conception of the Petersburg Borough. Additionally, the ordinance adds language that isn't present in the municipal code that establishes actions the borough manager or incident commander can take during an...
American Cruise Lines has cancelled their voyages through Southeast Alaska this summer leaving Lindblad Expeditions as the last cruise line with port calls in Petersburg this summer. ACL had originally planned to make about 11 stops in Petersburg this summer, with the American Constellation making the cruise line's first stop at the end of June, according to a statement made to the Pilot in May by ACL CEO Charles B. Robertson. Paul Taiclet, vice president of ACL, said on Monday the decision to...
A visitor from outside of the state with COVID-19 was identified at the testing site at the James A. Johnson, according to a joint-statement between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The individual arrived in Petersburg on June 30, but overloaded laboratories in Washington led to a delay in the results of the test. According to the joint statement, the individual spent a few days with friends who were also non-residents at a United States Forest Service cabin in Beecher's Pas...
The borough assembly voted in favor of a memorandum of agreement between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center for an asymptomatic testing program at their assembly meeting on Wednesday. The agreement would allow the borough to fund an asymptomatic COVID-19 testing program through PMC with money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act for cannery workers who live in town year round. The program is estimated to cost $177,800. There are no preventative measures...
The borough assembly unanimously approved two emergency ordinances at a special meeting Thursday morning that cleared up a quorum problem. Ordinance #2020-20 retroactively establishes a quorum for the May and June assembly meetings, despite the assembly not meeting in person. Ordinance #2020-21 allows the assembly to telephonically establish a quorum for the next 60 days. A previous emergency ordinance approved by the assembly allowed them to meet a quorum telephonically, but it expired on...
The guideline harvest levels (GHLs) for the second fishing period (July 1–August 30) are 308,000 lb in District 6 and 250,000 lb in District 8, in accordance with the preseason GHL news release. Estimated harvest for the first fishing period (May 1–June 30) in District 6 was 282,000 lb. This harvest was 18,000 lb below the 300,000 lb GHL, thus 18,000 lb will be rolled over in addition to the 290,000 lb GHL announced preseason. Totals for coonstripe shrimp bycatch harvest to date in District 6 are confidential. Estimated harvest for the fir...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska is on track to repeat last year’s mark of the nation’s highest rate of tuberculosis infections, health officials said. There have been 38 reported cases of tuberculosis in the state so far this year, The Anchorage Daily News reported. A federal report released in March said Alaska had 58 documented cases of the disease in 2019. COVID-19 has complicated the mission of eradicating tuberculosis in Alaska by reducing the public health resources that can be dedicated to fighting the illness caused by bacteria that...
Governor Dunleavy’s controversial selections to the state Board of Fisheries (BOF) will get a legislative hearing in early fall and the call is out for public comments. The board oversees management of the state’s subsistence, commercial, sport and personal use fisheries. Appointments were made on April 1 and would normally go through a vigorous vetting process by the Alaska legislature with public input. But COVID-19 sent lawmakers home early from the last session, leaving the confirmation process in limbo. Now, Representative Louise Stutes (R...
Winston, a rescue dog from Texas, spending time onboard the F/V Deam Maid. He came to Alaska after his owner's college campus in Idaho closed down due to COVID-19....
It's simple math To the Editor: Here is some simple math for the local folks who don't want to wear masks because of their constitutional "rights" and because a 1% COVID-19 mortality rate is no big deal. How can a disease with 1% mortality shut down the United States? There are two problems with this question: It neglects the law of large numbers; and it assumes that one of two things happen; you die or you're 100% fine. The US has a population of 328,200,000. If one percent of the population di...
The following editorial was posted to the newspaper website on Monday, July 13. My goodness. Doesn't anyone pay attention to the details? Short-term mandates proposed by the Petersburg Emergency Operations Center are necessary to prevent the spread of the Corona virus and resulting Covid-19 infections. Some mandates are voluntary. Some are short-term. Some are longer term. The borough assembly establishes termination dates for all legislation they enact. The EOC is granted its authority by the...
The borough assembly was expected to meet Wednesday, after canceling their Monday meeting, to hold their regular meeting and address an issue with the assembly meeting a quorum telephonically, but the meeting was postponed to give the public time to review two emergency ordinances. Monday's regularly scheduled meeting was cancelled due to internet issues at the borough building and was rescheduled to Wednesday. Two emergency ordinances, ordinance #2020-20 and ordinance #2020-21, were added to th...
Two additional cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the community in the past week, bringing the total number of cases to seven, though four have recovered. The first was identified on July 2. The individual had developed symptoms and was evaluated by Petersburg Medical Center and tested on site, according to a joint press release between the Petersburg Borough and PMC. The person was directed to isolated at home. The second confirmed case of COVID-19 was identified as part of OBI Seafoods'...
