Sorted by date Results 876 - 900 of 999
A rapid response by nearly 800 Alaska fishermen will provide a guideline for giving them a hand up as the coronavirus swamps their operations. An online survey from April 14-May 3 by Juneau-based nonprofit SalmonState asked fishermen about their primary concerns both before the Covid outbreak and in the midst of the pandemic in April. It also asked what elected officials at local, state and federal levels can do to help them directly. Over half of the 817 responses came in over four days, said Tyson Fick, Salmon State communications ad...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska had 42,200 fewer jobs in April than a year earlier as coronavirus fears shut down or disrupted businesses at a time when many traditionally would start adding jobs for the summer, the state labor department reported Friday. As restrictions ease, some of the jobs will return, but many seasonal jobs won’t happen this year, such as those serving cruise passengers, the report stated. Nearly 540 Alaska voyages have been canceled, according to Cruise Lines International Association Alaska. Streets that normally would be b...
The borough assembly approved a letter of agreement with the Petersburg Municipal Employees Association at their assembly meeting on Monday that includes a two percent raise that will go into effect on July 1, 2020. The letter of agreement extends the term of the 2017-2020 collective bargaining agreement, which was set to expire on June 30, 2020. Negotiations between the two parties to discuss a new three-year contract were to begin in April, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The...
American Cruise Lines has 11 stops planned for Petersburg this season, with the first docking taking place at the end of June, according to ACL CEO Charles B. Robertson. ACL's American Constellation is planning to dock in Petersburg on June 21 and June 29, the first of the cruise lines' expected stops in town. The two sailings will begin in Juneau and make their way counterclockwise through Southeast Alaska. Nine more stops are planned in Petersburg through the summer, with the last trip being...
The borough assembly passed the borough's fiscal year 2021 operating budget in its second reading on Monday after making six amendments to it. The first draft of the budget shows expenditures for the general fund totaling $9,838,846, but it's balanced out equally by $9,838,846 in revenues. The first amendment to the budget removes an additional building maintenance position back into the Public Works Department, resulting in a savings to the borough of $117,445. The second amendment increased th...
The borough assembly unanimously approved the extension of an emergency ordinance that allows the assembly and certain staff members of the borough to put civil emergency provisions in place in the event of a civil emergency for another 60 days. Emergency ordinance #2020-08 was first adopted on March 20 and had an expiration date of May 18. The assembly extended that expiration date in emergency ordinance #2020-17 on Monday by an additional 60 days, though the emergency mandate can be repealed...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced on Tuesday that phases three and four of his Reopen Alaska Responsibly Plan will take effect Friday morning, but Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said communities are still waiting for more details on what businesses can expect to happen later this week. "[Dunleavy's] obviously making some leaps here to move the state ahead and jumpstart the economy, but the details of how or what restrictions are expected of every business hasn't been released," said...
Representatives from Icicle Seafoods and Tridents Seafoods laid out their plans for bringing in outside workers to Petersburg amid the COVID-19 pandemic at the COVID-19 community update last Friday. Julianne Curry of Icicle Seafoods said the company's plans for protecting its workforce and the community from an outbreak will adapt as new mandates are released from the state and as needed on a local level. "The situation is very fluid, so we'll incorporate new information into our plans and...
On April 24, Gov. Mike Dunleavy's first phase of his Reopen Alaska Responsible Plan went into effect, allowing some businesses to open their doors again with restrictions. Since then, businesses in town that had to close up shop have been scrambling to reopen their doors and make sense of the restrictions they now have to operate under. Kito's Kave, Roni's Hair Design, the Cedar Box and Sing Lee Alley Books are just a few of the businesses in town that have jumped at the chance to resume busines...
Typically sometime in May, parents and family members fill the stands in Petersburg High School gym and watch as the graduating senior class, dressed in their regalia, walk up one-by-one to receive their diplomas. This year, the graduation ceremony will look much different than it has in the past as Petersburg School District reacts to social distancing orders caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. "We're doing everything we can, and we're putting in a lot of extra time," said PHS Principal Rick...
A graduating class of 36 Petersburg High School seniors will be receiving their diplomas on Tuesday following a parade that is set to begin at 7:30 P.M. This year's senior class is just above the average number of graduating students, according to PHS Principal Rick Dormer; however, this is just a small iteration of the class of 2020. Up until this recent year, the class has had around 40 students in it, said Dormer, but some students have moved and exchange students have come and gone. Last...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska airline has made a purchase offer for another regional carrier whose parent company declared bankruptcy because of the economic impact of the coronavirus. Alaska Seaplane Services LLC says it wants to buy Peninsula Airways Inc. and save the Southwest Alaska airline’s operating certificate, Alaska Public Media reported Sunday. Juneau-based Alaska Seaplane Services, doing business as Alaska Seaplanes, declined comment on the amount of its offer to buy the air carrier certification of Peninsula Airways, known as...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska House abruptly adjourned Tuesday after ratifying plans for using more than $1 billion in federal coronavirus relief aid, one day after reconvening to take up the issue. The Senate passed its own ratification bill but stayed in session to consider the House version, which aides said is identical. A vote is expected Wednesday, as Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration moves ahead with plans for distributing funds, including community and small business aid. Payments to communities could begin as early as Friday onc...
Giving COVID relief funds to the seafood industry and stepping on the gas for offshore fish farming are two big takeaways from the executive orders and congressional packages coming out of the nation’s capital. Recent news that Alaska would receive $50 million from the $300 million fisheries relief funds in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was well received by industry stakeholders and it’s likely to be followed by more. A May 15 hearing called “COVID 19 impacts to American Fisheries and the Seafood Supply Chain...
An overhead shot of Mitkof Highway shows that Petersburg High School seniors haven't lost their spirit despite the COVID-19 pandemic. They still made their way out the road to scribe their names at the 12 mile mark of Mitkof Highway per tradition at the Big Dip. A different view of the seniors' names can be seen on a cover page....
On Monday, Gov. Mike Dunleavy released state health mandate #18, which eases previous restrictions on intrastate travel. The newest health mandate supersedes state health mandate #12, which had limited travel between Alaskan communities to critical infrastructure or critical personal needs. State health mandate #18 now opens up all purposes of travel for communities connected by the road system and the Alaska Marine Highway System. Travel between those communities does include the use of boats...
The borough assembly met with Matt Weatherly of Public Sector Personnel Consultants on Tuesday afternoon to review the preliminary findings of a recent compensation survey of borough staff for the 2020 fiscal year. According to survey documents, the borough's current entry pay ranges are more than five percent behind market averages for 52 percent of the borough staff survey sample, resulting in 48 percent of entry wages for borough positions being competitive. Less competitive were the maximum...
The Petersburg School Board approved the 2021 fiscal year operating budget at their meeting on Tuesday, which has a revenues budget that is $105,060 above expenditures to account for unknowns in the coming school year. The budget has $8,832,258 in revenues, with most of the funding to Petersburg School District coming from the state and Petersburg Borough, according to PSD Director of Finance Karen Morrison. The state contributes $6,861,054 to the Petersburg School District, making up 78...
PALMER, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska school board postponed a vote over rescinding a ban on selected English course books after taking public testimony on the issue that attracted national attention when a Grammy-winning rock group pledged to purchase the banned books for students. The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District board heard three hours of testimony Wednesday on a proposal to rescind last month’s vote to remove five American literature classics from high school English elective courses. The board is scheduled to vote on the pro...
WRANGELL — It was a relatively light meeting of the Wrangell Port Commission last Thursday evening, May 7. There was only one agenda item for the commission to consider, a request by GCI to relocate the landing for a submarine cable. The telecommunication company currently has a submarine cable come onto the beach next to the community garden area, near City Park. From there, according to the meeting’s agenda packet, the cable hits aerial lines and goes to its hub building, and also leaves the beach area and runs towards Petersburg. How...
Sales of Alaska’s most popular seafoods are being hit hard by markets upended by the coronavirus, but perhaps none is getting battered worse than halibut. Along with the big losses in the lucrative restaurant trade, Pacific halibut also is facing headwinds from increasing foreign imports. Starting three years ago, sales of fresh Pacific halibut to established markets on the east coast were toppled by a flood of less expensive fish flowing in primarily from eastern Canada. Trade data show that for 2019 through February 2020, total Canadian h...
The borough assembly passed an ordinance adopting the borough's fiscal year 2021 operating budget in its first reading on Monday. Expenditures for the general fund in the proposed budget total $9,838,846, but it's balanced out equally by $9,838,846 in revenues. The current 2020 fiscal year budget has a total of $9,533,511 in revenues and $9,467,855 in expenditures. There were several challenges facing department heads in creating the upcoming fiscal year's budget. Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed 100...
The borough assembly on Monday failed to make a motion to extend public health mandate #4, the local face covering mandate, past its May 5 expiration date. The face covering mandate first went into effect on April 21 and was set to last until May 5 at 11:59 P.M. The local face covering mandate requires all persons to wear some form of covering over their nose and mouth in certain social situations to help prevent the spread of droplets that could infect others with COVID-19. As of Monday, May...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht told the borough assembly on Monday that the borough has been working with Icicle Seafoods and Trident Seafoods on their plans for bringing cannery workers into town during the upcoming fishing season. Giesbrecht said the two canneries' plans are being reviewed by medical professionals at Petersburg Medical Center. Both canneries are making modifications to their plans and submitting them to the state for approval, said Giesbrecht. The borough is having a...
