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Why do a story on Petersburg Borough employee turnover? We were asked this question many times in the days leading up to the publication of this week’s story by reporter Ben Muir. Employee turnover is costly, for both private businesses and government. Replacing an employee requires: • Training time • Possible damage to equipment and property by inexperienced employees • Productivity losses • Lower teamwork output • Additional cost of overtime for remaining employees until vacancy filled Often managers don’t think about employee retention, be...
Due to a reporting error, Mayor Cindi Lagoudakis was omitted from the list of Assembly members who attended the meeting last week. She was there to lead the meeting....
Due to a reporting error, Eric Castro’s name was omitted from the list of Assembly persons named in the recall application that is being reviewed by the City Attorney. Power and Light employee Gary Morgan submitted the application to the Deputy City Clerk last Tuesday....
WRANGELL – The Wrangell Borough Assembly passed on first reading several ordinances related to marijuana, including an additional excise on that cultivated on the island. Under one proposed code change, a new section would affix a $10 tax per ounce on “the sale or transfer of all marijuana from a marijuana cultivation facility … to a retail marijuana store or a marijuana product manufacturing facility.” “The cultivator pays the tax,” explained city clerk, Kim Lane. It and the other ordinances were put together by a committee made up of Lane,...
After two years of kicking the can down the road, this may be the year the Legislature finally gets serious about closing the budget gap. For two years, action in the Alaska House and Senate has focused primarily on cuts, which has reduced the yearly deficit from $4 billion to $3 billion but can go little further without substantial negative impact to the state's core services — items such as education, transportation and public safety. Finally, there appears to be an emerging recognition by legislators that new revenue for the state is an a...
KETCHIKAN (AP) About an acre owned by the Craig Tribal Association will be the first Alaska Native land to go into trust with the federal government. The U.S. Department of the Interior announced the decision Friday, reported the Ketchikan Daily News. “It’s a historic day for the Craig Tribal Association and for all tribes in Alaska,” said Clinton Cook Sr., president of the Craig Tribal Association. “It’s a biggie.” A July court decision ended a long-standing practice barring Alaska Native land from going into trust. “The elimination o...
PHS volleyball headed to the Juneau Invitational Volleyball Extravaganza or JIVE Tournament last weekend and faced some tough competition. It’s a tournament the players and coaching staff look forward to every year, according to head coach Jaime Cabral. “Good weekend overall, we got to play some of the bigger teams with Juneau-Douglas, Mt. Edgecumbe and Sitka. The ones we normally don’t get to see,” he says. “Playing against them, we were up on points and then kind of hit a couple parts where we tensed up a little bit.” Petersburg ended up lo...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – U.S. Rep. Don Young is updating his financial disclosures to show ownership in a family farm dating to the 1990s and income from oil and gas leases, omissions that a Young spokesman called inadvertent but that Young’s Democratic rival in this year’s election characterized as a betrayal of trust. Young spokesman Matt Shuckerow said Monday that the failure to include the farm prior to his 2015 congressional financial disclosure was an oversight that became apparent after the 2014 death of Young’s brother, Russell, and the...
In last week’s edition of the Petersburg Pilot it was stated, “The Rasmuson Foundation has also issued an $8,000 challenge for the Petersburg Community Foundation. If the PCF can receive $8,000 from new donors, Rasmuson will provide PCF with a matching grant.” It is more accurate to state, “The Petersburg Community Foundation has a challenge grant on the table. If new donors match $8000, we will receive the same from the Rasmuson Foundation AND a local donor who has joined the match.” Part of this year’s grant funding helped purchase a...
The Petersburg High School baseball team hosted the Ketchikan Kings last Wednesday and Thursday, and played close games during the first day of the series. Game one started with a hit batter, a walk and an error allowing the Kings to put three runs on the board to start the game, but the home team was able to keep their composure. The Vikings lost 4-1, but the effort pleased head coach Jim Engell. "After we got out of that first inning, we just settled down and played really good baseball,"...
Last week’s story about the state budget stated that municipalities across Alaska are already facing decreased revenue sharing from the state. In Petersburg that amounts to a loss of $30 million from the normal $60 million it receives in revenue sharing. Those numbers reflect statewide cuts, not local cuts. Locally, the Petersburg Borough is facing roughly $170,000 less in revenue sharing. The Pilot regrets the error....
For the third week in a row, editions of the Petersburg Pilot and Wrangell Sentinel have been delayed. The replacement part to repair the Pilot’s plate maker arrived on Saturday and was found to be the wrong part. A repair technician apparently ordered the incorrect part from the factory in Denmark. “Last week the part delivery was slowed by the bombing at the Brussels airport in Belgium,” publisher Ron Loesch said. “This week, it’s human error, totally beyond our control.” Plates for both editions were produced at the Ketchikan Daily News...
Not a subsidy To the Editor: I wanted to thank you for your editorial several issues back about the marijuana law. I really appreciated your thoughts that, although you personally were against legalization, you did feel that the voters had spoken and that the process needed to move forward regardless of your personal feelings. This was a commendable position to take and expressed what our democracy is, or should be, all about. One “complaint” I do have is about your AMHS editorial in this week’s edition. You used “subsidize” and “subsidie...
JUNEAU (AP) — A price drop that lowered Fred Meyer's gas prices to less than $2 a gallon at the Oregon-based department store's Juneau store only was caused by a mistake and prices will gradually go back up, a company spokeswoman said. Melinda Merrill told the Juneau Empire that the overnight drop from $2.92 to $1.91 between Monday and Tuesday was due to an error made by corporate staff. “That huge price drop yesterday was a mistake,” she said. Merrill said the price drop was the result of a typo. The price should have been reduced by only...
The Petersburg School Board unanimously approved an $80,037 software program for the Petersburg School District’s finance office. PSD Finance Director Karen Quitslund said the current software is 35 years old and that she has been looking at new programs for several years. “The current system is really outdated. It’s inefficient,” Quitslund said. “All the processes are done manually and of course the more manual processes that you have the more the margin of error is greater.” The district’s current software doesn’t interface with other prog... Full story
In last week's Pilot there was an editing error, and a picture of Ethan File was incorrectly identified as Mike File in the caption. The Pilot regrets the error....
Sandra Darlene Wolf, 66, died on December 8, 2015 in Petersburg, Alaska. She was born in Warren, Ohio on July 15, 1949 to Arthur and Lyda Winyard. Her concern for others lead her to a nursing career and eventually to Ketchikan's Gateway Alcoholism Program. There, as a psychiatric nurse she would handle mentally unstable males weighing twice her weight as she escorted them from Ketchikan to Juneau for treatment. When Sandy would say "sit, or else" they sat. A significant moment in her life came... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved a resolution on Monday to establish budget policies with the intention of providing sound management of borough funds. The adoption of the document means setting guidelines to assist with annual budget preparation and current administration requirements. Document guidelines include policies regarding how to handle the general fund balance, capital projects and employee travel, among others. The only amendment to the resolution was brought forth by assembly member Nancy Strand concerning the...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved at its Nov. 2 meeting a resolution that urges the state of Alaska to amend the Mariculture Revolving Loan Fund to allow non-profit shellfish hatcheries to apply for loans with the state. The state’s revolving loan fund provides long term loans for Alaska owned mariculture operations. According to the resolution, the Petersburg Borough Assembly “believes that it is in the best interest of the State of Alaska and the mariculture industry that non-profit shellfish hatcheries be eligible to utilize the fun...
In the Sept. 24 edition of the Pilot, the Court Report incorrectly stated that Dustin Haviland appeared for a status hearing regarding remand to serve sentence for Burglary in the 1st Degree and Theft in the 2nd Degree. The charges were actually Criminal Trespass in the 1st and 2nd degrees. The Pilot regrets the error....
The United States Postal Office (USPS) considers transient individuals to be anyone living in a moveable structure. Therefore, according to USPS policy, residents in Petersburg living in motor homes or boats are considered transient, no matter how long they have lived in the Borough, even if the structure has not moved in a decade. In Petersburg, USPS offers one free P.O. Box per physical address or delivery point. For instance, if multiple generations of a family reside in one home, that home is only allowed one free registered P.O. Box. If... Full story
In last week’s issue of the Pilot, it was stated Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors voted to update the telephone system in the Joy Janssen Clinic, but the telephone system for the entire hospital will be replaced. The Pilot regrets the error.... Full story
The June 25 edition of the Petersburg Pilot stated that Jacob Sturgeon had received a charge of misconduct involving a controlled substance in its Court section. That charge was dismissed due to a lack of probable cause. The Pilot regrets the error....
Their adventures were always meant to be educational in addition to fun, but two stuffed animals ended up teaching a different sort of lesson after taking an unplanned trip on a state ferry. Eight-year-old Kate Thompson was thrilled to be reunited last week with her traveling companion, Piglet, and her friend's sea turtle, Aurora, after a post her mother made about losing the stuffed animals went viral on social media. "I wanted to teach her when you make a mistake, you admit to it and do the...
