Sorted by date Results 626 - 650 of 708
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski and Petersburg residents had a conversation Tuesday night in the Sons of Norway Hall about community, regional and state issues. The first subject Murkowski brought up was the less than ideal condition of the Petersburg jail. “You were in the running with Bethel for the worst city jail,” Murkowski said. “And now Bethel’s (jail) is looking pretty good. You win the prize in my view, of all the communities that I’ve gone to, for the worst conditions.” Murkowski f...
SITKA — Half a century of Sitka history in a 61-foot steel hull is being auctioned off by the U.S. Forest Service. The M/V Sitka Ranger, which entered service in 1959 as the floating presence of the Forest Service in the Tongass National Forest, is on the auction block. Roy Mitchell, deputy regional fleet manager for the Forest Service in Anchorage, said the Sitka Ranger and its sister ship the M/V Tongass Ranger are being auctioned off because there’s no longer enough field work in the cou...
Dean John Weeden, 82, passed away on July 17, 2013 at St. Mary's Assisted Living in Eureka, Mont. He was born on November 7, 1930 in Lynn, Mass. to Dagny Thoresen and John Sven Weeden (Widen). Age five to seventeen he lived in Brooklyn, N.Y. with his mother and step-father Ole Olsen. Dean hopped a train out west when he was seventeen years old launching his first job in the Forest Service doing seasonal work in Idaho. In 1951 he served in the Air Force as a Surgery Technician for the 452 Bomb...
Kake Access Committee Chair Cindi Lagoudakis updated the Assembly during Monday night's meeting regarding the latest progress in the Kake Access Environmental Impact Study and Purpose and Need draft. The Kake Access project is to bring better access to the community of about 500, and could include the construction of a new road, the development of new ferry connections, or a combination. The State in 2012 appropriated $40 million for the project. A project to bring more affordable power to Kake is also in the works as part of support to the... Full story
July 26, 1913 – Strange things happen these days, even in Alaska. For instance: we all have heard of the man who catches the “bug,” or in other words, gets “buggy” on something. Of course there are different kinds of bugs. The “potlach bug” we heard infesting Seattle lately, was thought to have been the latest discovery in “bugdom,” but that is a mistake. The latest, as far as we know, is the “fishing bug.” Strange things never happen singly but in pairs. So in this instance, the other strange thing in connection with this “fishing bug” is...
The Borough Assembly voted to award the gymnasium floor refinishing contract to Alaskan Industries based on a recommendation from the Parks and Recreation Dept. Alaskan Industries is the company that has worked on the floor for the last 15 years, said Parks and Recreation Director Donn Hayes. The cost for the floor refinishing will be $32,400, or $35,900 with the Petersburg branded logo installed in the middle of the gymnasium floor. Part of the funding, $13,000, has been provided by a grant...
Tonka facts To the Editor: U.S.D.A. Forest Service has led the public to believe pre-commercial thinning (PCT) creates wildlife habitat but conversely PCT promotes nothing of extended value but potential timber harvesting opportunities. For the Tonka Timber Sale the U.S. Forest Service never cites Cole etal. (2011) which was an agency research project that demonstrated the main positive effects of pre-commercial thinning (PCT) are short lived, about 7 years, which includes the time needed to collapse the slash enabling deer access to food. Inst...
A nearly week-long celebration for Independence Day brought a halt to Nordic Drive road construction and even a break in the clouds. The festivities kicked off on Tuesday evening with a retirement party for Judy Forgey, including a pie eating contest, at the Community Gym. Forgey also served on Thursday as the parade Grand Marshal. Wednesday’s activities began with the Scrap Fish Derby. Two categories, kids age seven and younger and kids 8 -to 12 competed using only bait and hand lines. The w... Full story
The Tongass National Forest issued its Record of Decision and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Big Thorne Project last week. The decision allows for the harvest of 148.9 million board feet from approximately 6,186 acres of old-growth and 2,299 acres of young-growth near Thorne Bay and Coffman Cove on Prince of Wales Island within the Thorne Bay Ranger District. According to Tongass National Forest Supervisor Forrest Cole, the U.S. Forest Service believes the action could help stabilize the timber industry in Southeast Alaska as the...
Local preference To the Editor: I attended the Borough Council Meeting on July 1, 2013. I was disappointed to see attendance was so low but maybe the listening audience was large. Other than Department Heads, Councilpersons, me, Joe Viechnicki and the new police chief, there was only one other person present. Acting Mayor Sue Flint conducted a short, sweet, and to the point meeting that everyone appreciated. Bravo. There were two things that bothered me. The first was personal in that they are going to enter into a contract with Mike Renfro...
A young moose calf trots behind its mother along the shore near the Forest Service’s West Point Cabin....
The United States Forest Service will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, July 1 to discuss a request by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to change subsistence hunting regulations for deer on a portion of Unit 3. The request is to reduce the Federal subsistence deer season and harvest limit on the Lindenburg Penisula portion of Kupreanof Island for the 2013 season. The proposed action is to reduce the current four month, August through November season to a two week Oct. 15 through Oct. 31 season and to reduce the harvest limit from...
The Tonka Timber Sales Logging Project was contracted in September 2012 and the work commenced on two projects in Feb. 2013. “Two different projects came from the original notice of intent in 2008,” United States Forest Service District Ranger Jason Anderson said. “These projects were the sort yard and the actual timber sale contract.” The sort yard project is an area for upland log storage above the existing ramp and dock at Tonka. This contract was finished in late April. As that project was ending the timber sale contract began and continu...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — More than 200 scientists have signed onto a letter asking Congress to enact legislation protecting 1.9 million acres of salmon habitat in this country's largest national forest. The proposal is billed at the “Tongass 77,” referring to the number of watersheds in the Tongass National Forest that would be protected from activities like logging, mine development and road-building. There is currently no bill pending in Congress but the roughly 230 scientists who signed the letter, dated Monday, as well as other activ...
For the last 30 years, students from Petersburg High School have tracked the movement of LeConte Glacier and continue this tradition to this day. PHS teacher, Victor Trautman, along with students have used approved surveying techniques to measure the terminus of the glacier. The group usually does this in the second week of May and they map it from there. “With this map we are able to generate the general idea of whether the glacier is advancing or receding,” Trautman said. “What we have to re...
National Maritime Day on May 22 is a holiday created by Congress in 1933 to honor America’s sea-going industry. It marks the day when the steamship Savannah set sail from Georgia on the first ever transoceanic voyage under steam power. As celebrations are underway, another maritime benchmark will be set as the first full container of 18 tons of fresh salmon from Chile is offloaded from a cargo ship in California after an iceless month at sea. How can that be? By using fuel cell technology in a new way. A fuel cell is an electrochemical e...
The Petersburg Police Department received a call from a concerned citizen Sunday, May 5 reporting a possible portable Methamphetamine lab. After further investigation, PPD, with the assistance of SEACAD and the U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement, determined it was a portable lab. “A family was out hiking in the Noseeum and Lumber Street area,” Petersburg Police Chief Jim Agner stated. “They found a backpack and looked inside. They suspected it was a meth lab, picked it up, took it to the road and called police.” Agner also stated that he did...
Wednesday May 15th 4:00 pm - 9:00 pm $ The Little Norway Festival Paddle Battle - Sons of Norway Hall. Join in this ping pong battle for the coveted Purple Paddle. Single Elimination Bracket Play. Youth ages 12-20 will play from 4 pm - 6 pm and Adults 21+ will play from 6 pm - 9 pm. Cash bar will be open! Brought to you by the Sons of Norway, Kito’s Kave and Petersburg Parks & Recreation. Thursday, May 16th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Visitor Information Center Open - 1st and Fram 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Clausen Memorial Museum: Little Norway Art Show open (... Full story
SITKA (AP) — A couple escaped a landslide by running down a narrow, pebble beach away from the shifting mountain. The slide happened Sunday just as Kevin Knox, 41, and his girlfriend, Maggie Gallin, 28, returned from fishing in a rowboat to the National Forest Service cabin at Redoubt Lake, about 15 miles southwest of Sitka, KCAW reported. “We had just tied the boat up and Maggie was in the cabin, and it just let loose _ a huge piece off of the side of the mountain. I yelled for Maggie to run, to get out of the cabin. We started running dow...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly met with department heads Monday afternoon in a work session to discuss the proposed 2013-14 fiscal budget. “For the 2013-14 budget, the general fund is presented to the Petersburg Borough Assembly as a balanced budget,” Petersburg Borough Finance Director Jody Tow stated. “Property tax revenue is budgeted to increase due to the new library bond and the proposed budget does not include any increase to the base tax rate of the borough.” Tow also explained that the borough is expecting to receive an additional $193...
The Forest Service is working with the One People Canoe Society in their efforts to participate in the Chief Shakes House re-dedication effort in Wrangell, the weekend of May 4. “There are groups coming from all over Southeast Alaska,” Petersburg District Ranger Jason Anderson said. “We have been asked to actually crew one of the canoes to join them as they pass by Petersburg and paddle into Wrangell.” At this time there are approximately 40 to 50 people that will be canoeing past Petersburg and they are hoping for a place to stop. “The be...
Tonka Mess To the Editor: Thanks for this truth. Additionally, the Tonka mess goes far beyond these later-made changes. The Final EIS is devoid of important habitat & wildlife information that ADF&G put on record earlier in the Tonka planning process. That was removed at the direction of the State's Tongass timber tzar (in DNR), who executed the Parnell administration's political policy. The governor is entitled to his policy, but an EIS must be a fact-driven document. The Forest Service failed the public interest Larry Edwa...
April 6, 1983 – In response to requests from Congressman Don Young and others concerned about the development of ocean resources, president Reagan signed a proclamation establishing an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extending 200 miles from the shores of the United States and its overseas possessions. The presidential proclamation affirms U.S. sovereign rights over living and non-living marine resources (except for highly migratory tuna). Congressman Young had sought a presidential proclamation of this nature to provide greater opportunities f...
The Forest Service Tonka Timber Sale has spawned the need for a log sorting and storage yard. The planning, environmental impact study and design phases are now complete. Federal public works funds will finance the projected permanent facility, which will also include a new public dock, said Petersburg Ranger Jason Anderson. The Tonka sort yard is located almost directly across from Papke’s Landing and was constructed by Channel Construction Inc. out of Juneau, Anderson said. Tamico completed t...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Alaska's challenge to the Clinton administration-era roadless rule in national forests was rejected Monday by a federal judge, who said it came too late to be considered. The rule that was put into place in January 2001 restricts road construction in national forest areas without roads. The Bush administration in 2003 exempted the vast Tongass National Forest, the nation's largest at nearly 26,563 square miles on Alaska's Panhandle. A federal judge in March 2011 overturned that decision and the state of Alaska sued to o...
