Sorted by date Results 976 - 1000 of 1621
January Public Works rolled out the borough's highly anticipated blue cart recycling program. The borough received $820,117.61 from the annual raw fish tax. Dave Zimmerman was hired as the new Tongass National Forest Petersburg District Ranger. The assembly continued discussing the reallocation of the Kake access road funding. Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins took part in a budget crisis presentation at Sons of Norway Hall. The visit was the first of many by representatives throughout the...
December 28 Suspicious activity was reported on S. Nordic Dr. December 29 There was a call concerning drugs on N. Nordic Dr. Suspicious activity was reported on N. Nordic Dr. December 30 Suspicious activity was reported at Hungerford Hill. There was a call concerning trespassing on Birch St. A traffic hazard was reported on Frederick Dr. A call concerning criminal mischief on Excel St. was received. A motor vehicle accident occurred on Sandy Beach Rd. Suspicious activity was reported at N. 1st and Gjoa St. January 1 Suspicious activity was...
WRANGELL – A lifelong Wrangell resident, Lawrence Bahovec, celebrated his 100th birthday this week. Asked how he felt about reaching the milestone, he joked: "It makes me feel old." He was born in Chicago on January 4, 1917. Alaska and Hawaii both were still territories at the time, the United States had not yet joined into the fighting alongside the Allied Powers during the Great War, and Wrangell was still very much a frontier town on the nation's periphery. At a very young age, Bahovec was...
WRANGELL – Wrangell's second-largest travel lodging has been sold, and will be repurposed as a senior housing and assisted living center this spring. The owners of the Sourdough Lodge sold the property to a group of buyers, who are currently renovating its rooms and preparing it for the new use. Once completed, by April 1 the lodge will be rechristened Harbor House Assisted Living Center and Senior Housing. One of the buyers, Shannon Bosdell, explained the facility will fill a need in the com...
Earlier this month, PPD responded to a request from the harbormaster to conduct a welfare check of a harbor resident. On Dec. 16, Edward Bottani was found deceased aboard the M/V Glider moored in North Harbor. Bottani had not been seen for two or three days and harbor staff contacted PPD out of concern. The Medical Examiner’s office was contacted and is continuing the investigation, as no immediate cause of death was apparent, according to PPD Chief Kelly Swihart. The death is not believed to be suspicious, and Bottani’s next of kin have bee...
JUNEAU – Gov. Bill Walker has proposed cutting hundreds more state jobs as part of a budget plan that includes the use of earnings from Alaska’s oil-wealth nest egg and ultimately tripling state motor fuels taxes. Walker’s budget office said the governor’s overall budget plan, if implemented, still would leave a budget deficit of nearly $900 million that would need to be closed with lawmakers’ help. In a statement Thursday, Walker said the state has already slashed its budget and will look for more ways to reduce costs. But he said Alaska ca...
December 14 There was an issue with parking on N. Nordic Dr. December 15 A motor vehicle accident was reported on N. Nordic Dr. December 16 Suspicious activity was reported on Hogue Alley. Suspicious activity was reported on Lumber St. Suspicious activity was reported at the airport. A traffic stop occurred on Lake St. A death was reported at North Harbor. A traffic hazard was reported on Dolphin St. Disorderly conduct was reported on Chief John Lott St. Suspicious activity was reported at the ball field. December 17 There was a call...
WRANGELL – Things are looking up for possible project financing needed to replace float facilities at Shoemaker Bay Harbor. In a budget draft released by Gov. Bill Walker last week, the Department of Transportation and Public Facility’s harbor maintenance program would have $5,000,000 in its coffers for next year, precisely the amount Wrangell would need in order to proceed with its renovation at Shoemaker. The Wrangell project has been given precedence this year over other applications from around the state, after being passed over last yea...
December 7 A call involving theft was reported on Charles W. St. A traffic offense occurred at Nordic and Dolphin. A call involving burglary was received at 4 1/2 St. An intoxicated individual was reported on N. Nordic Dr. Suspicious activity was reported on N. 12th St. December 8 Suspicious activity was reported on S. Nordic Dr. There was a call involving theft on Chief John Lott St. There was a parking issue on N. 2nd St. December 9 There was suspicious activity reported on Charles W. St. There was an issue with parking at South Harbor...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly’s counter offer to the Alaska Department of Transportation’s initial offer for taking over ownership of state-owned docks haas been denied. The assembly received a letter saying the state could not accommodate the borough’s request to only transfer ownership of two of three proposed docks, and receive increased funding to maintain the sites. The state’s original offer included Petersburg taking over the Papke’s Landing float, Kupreanof float and Entrance Island float with a one-time payment of just over $732...
November 30 There was a hit and run reported at an unknown location. There was an issue with parking at Towne Trailer Park. An intoxicated individual was reported on S. 2nd St. December 1 A traffic offense occurred at 12th and Haugen. A report involving domestic violence on Ira II St. was received. December 2 A report involving domestic violence on S. Nordic Dr. was received. There was a call involving a vehicle theft on S. 4th St. There was a call involving theft at N. 3rd and Gjoa St. A traffic stop occurred on Mitkof Highway. December 4...
Construction of the newest improvement to the Petersburg's harbor facilities is complete ahead of schedule. The bulkhead addition project also came in under budget, according to harbormaster Glo Wollen. "It looks like it cost the borough, when it was all said and done, under $200,000," she said. "We thought it would be a little over that figure." The total for the bulkhead was almost $1.4 million. Luckily, the borough had $1.23 million left over from the first phase and was able to apply that...
November 22 A traffic offense occurred on Sandy Beach Rd. November 23 There was an issue with parking on Lumber St. There was a report involving the sexual abuse of a minor. November 25 Suspicious activity was reported on S. 2nd St. A motor vehicle accident was reported. November 26 An intoxicated individual was reported at Magill’s Trailer Park. There was a report involving assault on S. 3rd St. An intoxicated individual was reported on Ira II St. November 27 There was a report involving theft on 12th St. There was a report involving a...
WRANGELL – Several Wrangell boat owners learned they had been burgled early Saturday morning. Wrangell Police Department received a call concerning Heritage Harbor, where it appeared three boats moored there had been entered, one forcibly. Owners were contacted, and they confirmed a number of items were missing, including dive gear and a firearm. “Sure enough, someone had liberated my possessions,” commented Steve Prysunka, owner of the boat Mollyann. “They stole such an interesting variety of things.” In addition to his dive gear, he found...
Alaska’s university system is ramping up programs to train the next generations of fishery and ocean specialists - and plenty of jobs await. Since 1987, the College of Fisheries and Ocean Science (CFOS) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has offered undergraduate and graduate degrees in Fisheries Science, complete with paid internships to help prepare them for positions in the state’s largest industry. “It’s a degree path preparing students for what I call fish squeezers – they’re going to go to work for the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game, o...
November 9 There was a parking issue at Dolphin and N. Nordic Dr. Justin D. Falter, 29, received a citation for violating conditions of release at 16 S. Nordic Dr. There was a report involving assault on Lumber St. November 10 There was a report involving theft at Middle Harbor. November 11 There was a report involving theft at North Harbor. November 12 A traffic offense occurred on N. Nordic Dr. November 13 Vava R. Wikan, 69, was given a citation for failure to give immediate notice of a motor vehicle accident. November 14 There was a report...
Petersburg is among the top 30 fishing ports in the United States according to the annual Fisheries of the US report for 2015 released this week by NOAA Fisheries. Petersburg is ranked 26 on the list with 69.6 million pounds of seafood delivered with a value of $39.3 million. Among Alaskan ports, Petersburg placed 11th. Last year, Petersburg ranked 24th on the list with a reported 64.7 million pounds of product bringing in $50.9 million. The ranking is determined by value of the seafood products. Topping the list for Alaska were: Port Pounds...
Values of Alaska salmon permits have taken a nose dive after a dismal fishing season for all but a few regions. “No activity for drift gillnet or seine permits in Prince William Sound…No interest in Southeast seine or troll permits…Nothing new in Area M (the Alaska Peninsula),” wrote Mike Painter of The Permit Master. And so it goes - “With the lone exception of Bristol Bay and Area M it was a pretty grim season for salmon fishermen all over the state, and we are seeing that reflected in the declining prices for salmon permits and very low...
October 19 Police responded to a disorderly conduct report. A Scow Bay citizen was assisted. October 21 An assault was reported at the Middle Boat Harbor. Justin D. Falter, 28, was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct at the scene of a fire at 4-1/2 Street. Police responded to an alarm at the Petersburg Public Library. October 22 A trespassing report was received at an unidentified parking lot in Petersburg. October 23 Police made a traffic stop at Lyons Road and Mitkof Highway. October 24 Suspicious activity was reported at an...
WRANGELL – The city is currently working on ways to reduce the number of autos, boats and other items abandoned or else improperly stored around the island. Chief Doug McCloskey with the Wrangell Police Department explained there currently are many derelict vehicles on the city’s radar, about a dozen in all. In municipal code, junk vehicles by definition are those which are stripped, wrecked or otherwise inoperable due to mechanical failure. Currently it is against the law for a junk vehicle to remain in public view on any property, public or...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously voted to authorize borough manager Stephen Giesbrecht to enter into a cost share agreement for a dredging study of South Harbor at its meeting Monday night. The harbor is becoming increasingly difficult for some larger vessels to access. The agreement allows the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to gather information on the project to determine the feasibility of a long-term partnership with the borough. The federal agency will pay the initial $100,000 for... Full story
Petersburg Borough clerk Debbie Thompson gave the following Borough Manager’s Report during the assembly meeting on Oct. 18. Representatives of the Rasmuson Foundation and Alaska Community Foundation were able to visit the Children’s Center last week and tour the new classrooms. Next week Sandy Dixson will be attending the Fall Preparedness Conference and Local Emergency Planning Committee Association meeting in Anchorage. Attendance is Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHS&EM) grant requirements. Dixson and Fire Chi...
