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September 12, 1914 – The Petersburg school began the term last Tuesday with a full attendance. Forty-eight pupils were enrolled, approximately ten more than attended last year. The addition of Miss. Edna Miller on the staff of teachers, is a great help and both Miss Mitchell and Miss Blyth express much satisfaction at the new order of things. September 8, 1939 – At the first meeting of the month Tuesday the City Council passed the new ordinance fixing a license fee on automatic amusements games. A fee of $50 a year was established by the cou...
Trimming trees would improve outdoor experience To the Editor: I like trees but I think its time to start thinning out some of the jungle that is now covering Mitkof Island. We used to have a beautiful cemetery that was such a scenic spot to view from boats going by. Because of high trees blocking sunlight the once beautiful lawn is now never dry and moss has taken over. One now cannot use the benches for taking in the spectacular views because of the advancing jungle. Wrangell Narrows is one of the most scenic waterways on earth but unless you...
September 12, 1914 – The Petersburg school began the term last Tuesday with a full attendance. Forty-eight pupils were enrolled, approximately ten more than attended last year. The addition of Miss. Edna Miller on the staff of teachers, is a great help and both Miss Mitchell and Miss Blyth express much satisfaction at the new order of things. September 8, 1939 – At the first meeting of the month Tuesday the City Council passed the new ordinance fixing a license fee on automatic amusements games. A fee of $50 a year was established by the cou...
PHS Cross Country is off and running with a new head coach. Vikings Head Coach Tom Thompson has led practices for a full month and took the girls and boys teams to Juneau for the first meet of the season last weekend. This year's girls team has some very big running shoes to fill after last year's "Fab Five" seniors took the Region V title and finished third in State. Despite being a young team of six girls with a total of three years of cross country experience between them all, Coach Thompson...
The 7th annual Rainforest Festival kicks off next week. There are many highlights this year including a portable planetarium for viewing a projection of the night sky indoors and the first ever Rain Forest Run half marathon. The Rain Forest Run half marathon, a 13.1 mile run or walk, will be the first event of the festival. The run will be held on Labor Day, Sept.1, on a course beginning at central Mitkof Island and ending at Sandy Beach Park. "The event was organized by local runners eager for... Full story
The assembly voted unanimously in favor of a motion to change the wording in their letter to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in support of the North End Ferry Authority's Rainforest Islands Ferry using a Petersburg launch point. The assembly had previously voted to support the North End Ferry Authority in using the Banana Point launch ramp as an interim ferry terminal for the Rainforest Island Ferry. At Monday's meeting the assembly voted to change the wording to say they support the use of Olsen's log dump or the South Mitkof Ferry...
PETERSBURG (AP) — A federal contractor is removing soil contaminated by fuel and debris at a Cold War mountaintop radio site near Petersburg. The Kupreanof Island site was a manned U.S. Air Force communications station, one of 18 built in Alaska in the 1950s that were part of an early warning system to relay radio communications to Colorado Springs during the Cold War. It was deactivated in 1976, and the Air Force removed more than 100 old fuel barrels from the area in 2000. But fuel drums, rubble, trash and chemical contaminants still r...
To the Editor: True Tongass ‘transition’ would increase local jobs per log cut. In its latest statement on the direction of the much-awaited Tongass transition, the Forest Service says the future is now for the Tongass National Forest. We couldn’t agree more, and we’re happy to see the agency working with local people to chart a course toward a more prosperous and sustainable future for Southeast Alaskan communities. But if local stakeholder consensus is the goal, the Forest Service’s decision to include industrial-scale old-growth timber sa...
For the next two years, the newly formed Tongass National Forest Advisory Committee (TAC), under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture, will advise the U.S. Forest Service's (USFS) timber sale management program in the transition from old-growth to new-growth timber management. A transition that will take 10 to 15 years. With nearly 17 million acres, the Tongass is one of the world’s largest intact rain forests. USFS announced its intention to form the federal advisory committee back in January. “The Committee will be expected to provid...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — In the secluded island village of Angoon in Southeast Alaska, a long-talked-about airport is still in the works. Planning for the Angoon airport -- which in rural Alaska means a single runway and access road — began a decade ago, and despite community support, transportation planners say it will be many more years before small airplanes can land on the island. ``Will I still be alive by the time it actually goes in?'' Sue Bates, co-owner of the Angoon Trading Company, asked jokingly in a recent interview. ``Honestly, I thi...
August 1, 1914 – An unaccountable late season has somewhat worried the cannery men up till now; and great apprehension was felt all along that possibly this year would also prove another failure. However, the last few days have shown better. Out of 8,000 salmon brought in Thursday evening at the company's cannery, 4,000 were sockeyes. The sockeye this season has helped considerably. Capt. Sanderson of the company's cannery tender, the Marian, said that nearly 4,000 cases of sockeye were already put up by the company with a bright prospect of a...
WRANGELL — This year's Bearfest attracted a number of bear-knowledgable brainboxes, from biologists and behaviorists to wilderness managers, guides and artists. Over the course of the five-day event, experts shared their knowledge in a series of workshops, demonstrations, and lectures with the public. "It's a great opportunity for Wrangell residents and visitors alike to hear from some of the best bear experts in the world," explained Lance Craighead, conservation director at the Craighead Institute in Montana. A lot of what was discussed w...
Patricia "Pat" Lee Walden (Ray) of Sedro-Woolley, Wash., died suddenly on Thursday, July 24, 2014, in Mount Vernon, Wash. Pat was the first of three children born to Lee Ray and Shirley Menne. She was born on August 28, 1955 in Redding, Calif. Pat grew up in the Concrete and Newhalem area of Washington State and graduated from Concrete High School in 1973. In 1978, Pat married Douglas Lawrenson of Burlington, Wash. During their marriage they had three children. At the time of their marriage,... Full story
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Southeast Alaska's watersheds are changing quickly, and researchers are working to figure out how, why, and what those changes mean. Sanjay Pyare, Assistant Professor of Geographic Information Systems and Landscape Ecology, Sonia Nagorski, Research Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences, Brian Buma, Assistant Professor of Forest Ecosystem Ecology, and other researchers affiliated with the University of Alaska and the Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center _ including graduate and undergraduate students _ on a recent F...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Water crept up on homes and closed roads and popular hiking trails Friday, as residents braced for possible record flooding after the release of water from a glacially dammed lake. The old record of 11.18 feet on Mendenhall Lake, set in 1995, was broken by Friday afternoon, as the lake water level reached 11.8 feet, then began to drop slightly, the National Weather Service said. Authorities have been monitoring the lake and Mendenhall River to see when they would crest f...
Herring Toss (12 years and younger) Female: Jaden Perry Male: Alex Worthatch Herring Toss (13 years and older) Female: Lisa Haas Male: Chase Lockhart Tote Races John Kolomaznik Team Blindfold Rowboat Races Desi Burrell & Dan Babcock Log Rolling Women’s & Co-ed winner: Alesha Jabusch Men’s Winner: Max Peeler Scrapfish Derby (7 years and under) Biggest Fish for Boys: Caleb Lutomski Biggest Fish for Girls: Stella Walton Scrapfish Derby (8-12 years old) Biggest Fish for Boys: Keisuke Sasada Biggest fish for Girls: Anya Pawuk Parade Best of Par...
Herring Toss (12 years and younger) Female: Jaden Perry Male: Alex Worthatch Herring Toss (13 years and older) Female: Lisa Haas Male: Chase Lockhart Tote Races John Kolomaznik Team Blindfold Rowboat Races Desi Burrell & Dan Babcock Log Rolling Women’s & Co-ed winner: Alesha Jabusch Men’s Winner: Max Peeler Scrapfish Derby (7 years and under) Biggest Fish for Boys: Caleb Lutomski Biggest Fish for Girls: Stella Walton Scrapfish Derby (8-12 years old) Biggest Fish for Boys: Keisuke Sasada Biggest fish for Girls: Anya Pawuk Parade Best of Par...
A committee made up of local citizens who collaborate with and recommend projects to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) might disappear if new members don’t apply to fill current vacancies on the committee. The Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) is made up of 15 voting members who choose where to direct Secure Rural Schools Act Title II federal funding. “As far as being a member of this federal advisory committee, you get to make a direct recommendation to the federal government on how to spend appropriated dollars,” said Jason Anderson, USFS Peter...
Look at the facts To the Editor: Papac Alaska Logging, Inc. (PAL) worked on Kupreanof Island, Lindenberg Peninsula, from April through November last year, on the U.S. Forest Service Tonka Timber Sale and is currently working this site. It has been brought to our attention that there is a misconception that we are not supporting local business or contributing positively to the Petersburg community. Our company, as well as the timber fallers of Timberwolf Cutting, is based out of Craig, on Prince of Wales Island, only a short distance south of...
If genetically modified salmon gets a green light by the federal government, it will be labeled as such if US Senators on both sides of the aisle have their way. The Senate Appropriations Committee last week passed the bipartisan Murkowski-Begich amendment requiring that consumers be advised of what they are buying. During testimony, Senator Murkowski questioned if the so called Frankenfish can even be called a real salmon. “This takes a transgenic Atlantic salmon egg, which has genes from an ocean pout that is somewhat akin to an eel, and it c...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly joined the City of Kupreanof in sending a letter to the University of Alaska President requesting the suspension of contract finalization for timber sales on South Mitkof Island. The first timber sale is located adjacent to Banana Point and the Wilson Creek Recreation Area and the other is along the Wrangell Narrows across from Keene Island. “These timber sales will likely result in the increase of severe landslide potential, loss of critical deer winter range, and visual impacts to the Wrangell Narrows Scenic By... Full story
Hats off to Stan Hjort To the Editor: I would like to recognize Stan Hjort who escorted three Petersburg WWII veterans to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials that were built in their honor. Stan called me and inquired about the trip, and after explaining to him how it all worked, he recruited and signed up the three guys and worked hard with us to schedule and coordinate it all, which was not an easy task. The community should be proud to have someone like Stan among them. We take our hat off to Stan and thank him for his service and...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will discuss the impacts of the University of Alaska timber sale on South Mitkof Island after two members of the community shared their concerns last week. Dave Beebe represented the City of Kupreanof and spoke before the assembly. He cited studies by Geologist Dr. Douglas Swanston from the 1970s regarding unstable slopes and potential landslide issues posing threats to public safety. “Essentially the whole state holding is documented as unstable slopes within a half mile of pubic roadways,” Beebe said. “If... Full story
