Sorted by date Results 76 - 92 of 92
The Borough Assembly is working to put a proposition on the Oct. 6 municipal ballot that exempts candidates running for local public offices from a state requirement to disclose income, business interests and other assets. An ordinance to put the exemption to the voters passed on its first reading at Monday’s regular meeting. Prior to Borough incorporation, public officials were exempt from the financial disclosure requirements. However, after Borough incorporation, in the 2014 municipal election, the exemption was put back up for a vote and n... Full story
Father’s Day is on Sunday. Children across the country will honor their dads at family gatherings with gifts, cards and special meals. On this occasion, we encourage dads to consider the creation of a special gift for their children. It is a time consuming project that will reap personal rewards well worth the effort put forth. Why not write a family history and distribute it to your children next year, or two years from now? Other dads have done this, including my father, who wrapped up his 64-page compilation just months before his death a...
ANCHORAGE (AP) — Three men have been accused of stabbing a young moose to death at a park in Alaska's largest city, and police said witnesses reported seeing the men punching the animal and walking away. The men were arraigned Wednesday in the death of the yearling moose near a bike trail in Anchorage's Russian Jack Springs Park. All three were arrested on charges of animal cruelty, wanton waste of big game and tampering with evidence. Three witnesses called police shortly before 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to report the moose under attack. Assistant D...
Meeting in Wrangell last week, the Alaska Board of Fisheries elected to maintain the current Southeast Alaska Area Dungeness Crab Fisheries Management Plan. A trio of policy proposals would have repealed the plan and its early closure thresholds, returning management of the fishery to size, sex and season, as used elsewhere. “I understand the reason this proposal was put forward,” board member John Jensen said of Proposal 58. “Size, sex and season has been a very good way to manage fisheries for a long, long period of time in South...
Throughout history, arguments over land and water usages have run the gamut from tussles over fences with next door neighbors to shoot outs over inter-state grazing rights in the old west, but when land and water rights pit one country against another, that’s when things really get tricky. That is the situation in Southeast Alaska, where residents find themselves downstream from several massive open pit gold/copper mines being developed in bordering British Columbia. The mines are located in the headwaters of some of Southeast’s largest and...
WRANGELL - On the morning of Oct. 15, Wrangell physician Greg Salard was arrested for the alleged receipt, possession and distribution of child pornography following a search of his home by law enforcement personnel representing federal, state and local agencies. According to an affidavit in support of application for an arrest warrant, the arrest came following a five-month investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Anchorage office in which FBI Special Agent Anthony Peterson...
Patrick Oliver Roundtree left us unexpectedly Wednesday morning, October 8, 2014. Oliver was born on the 19th of September 1988, to Tanya and Patrick Roundtree. He was the one to give his mom the most labor pains. He quickly became their loving, compassionate, sweet little boy. He joined his big brothers, Kyle and Jesse, at their home in Juneau. The family moved to Petersburg in 1993, his charm and big heart earning him many friends immediately. Ollie also lived for a time in Coffman Cove with his father. Family and friends were everything to... Full story
“Surprised and disappointed” was the reaction by Senator Mark Begich upon learning that his opponent Dan Sullivan has bowed out of an October 1 fisheries debate in Kodiak. It is the second time this year that Sullivan has declined to participate in the Chamber of Commerce event that has been an election year tradition since 1990. “I can’t recall a time that a candidate has not participated in the Kodiak debate,” Begich said as he readied to head back to DC on Friday. “It’s a must do for statewide candidates. It’s not an option. It’s clear he do...
The Petersburg Medical Center is asking the Borough for financial assistance with capital project expenses. This has caused the Assembly members to ask questions about the operations of the hospital concerning everything from the administrator’s recently amended employment contract, hospital indebtedness, investments and the procurement of construction contracts and change orders. At their meeting last month, the assembly refused to release the city attorney’s memorandum regarding the Petersburg Borough Relationship with Petersburg Medical Cen...
While we’re elated that the initial election results favor the formation of the new Petersburg Borough, we will enjoy even more the silenced debate over the divisive topic. Those on both sides of the issue expressed passionate positions on the proposed borough. As we await final ballot tallies, we hope all residents of the borough will contemplate the new possibilities Tuesday’s election has brought forth. The formation of a borough government will take time, as administrators transition from a city to a borough, as vacant elected pos...
A lawsuit filed in Wrangell’s First District Court by Dr. Greg Salard and his wife, Laura Salard, is seeking monetary damages and attorney fees in a defamation case against a longtime Wrangell resident. The case, which was initially filed on July 13, alleges that Lisa Gillen made statements in an online chat session about the physician, his family, and his ability to practice medicine. The filing also seeks damages exceeding $50,000, the Salard’s attorney fees, and any other relief the court may see fit to award. Attorney Michael Nash, who is r...
We like to hear from our readers. Some people write letters. Some people drop by the office. A recent visitor questioned why the Pilot carried two pages of news on the recall of the Wrangell hospital board and the subsequent firing of the hospital administrator (June 21, 2012 edition). “Didn’t you have any Petersburg news?” the reader queried. Certainly, we had Petersburg news, but nothing quite as important as the goings-on in Wrangell. The news generated by the recall of all but one member of the Wrangell hospital board and the firing by th...
wrangell — In what was their final meeting as an elected quorum, the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors terminated the contract of WMC CEO Noel Rea on Wednesday, June 20. The dismissal came in a 6-1 vote, with board member Dorothy Hunt-Sweat voting against the termination, and members Jake Harris and Delores Norman not present. Eight members of the board; Mark Robinson, Jake Harris, Linda Bjorge, Lurine McGee, Delores Norman, Jim Nelson, Sylvia Ettefagh and Leann Rinehart were r... Full story
WRANGELL — In the end, the special election to recall 8 members of the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors accomplished what it set out to do – removal of all those facing recall. The recall, which evolved from an effort spearheaded by Wrangell residents Gary Allen, Sr., and Mike Otteson, Sr., asked voters in the borough to remove board president Mark Robinson, and board members Jake Harris, Linda Bjorge, Lurine McGee, Delores Norman, Jim Nelson, Sylvia Ettefagh and Leanne Rinehart. Board member Dorothy Hunt-Sweat was the sole mem...
WRANGELL — With eight members of the Wrangell Medical Center Board of Directors facing recall in a June election, tensions were high among members of the board, supporters of the recall effort, and citizens of the borough at the directors’ most recent meeting at WMC. At the May 23 meeting, board member Jim Nelson inquired of CEO Noel Rea whether allegations of WMC losing as many as 10 beds if the hospital is forced to update to current ADA standards was a “scare tactic.” “I think when the (general obligation) bond question came up everyone...
WRANGELL Eight recall petition applications to remove all but one member of the Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) Board of Directors have been filed with the City and Borough of Wrangell. WMC Board members included in the petitions are WMC Board Chair Mark Robinson, Vice Chair Jim Nelson and Linda Bjorge, Sylvia Ettafaugh, Jake Harris, Lurine McGee, Dee Norman, and LeAnn Rinehart. The sole WMC Board member not included in the petitions is Dorothy Hunt-Sweat. Wrangell resident Gary Allen, Sr. is the main sponsor of the petitions, and Michael V....
It all started with a pat on the back from the Chief of Police who praised the work of one of his employees at the end of the city council meeting. Nothing to worry about I thought. But Chief Agner stammered a bit and then broke into unabashed praise for his wife, Sgt. Heidi Agner. The Chief started, “Normally I don’t do this. It is going to be a little odd because it’s somewhat nepotism related. But I really would like to recognize Sgt. Heidi Agner. Sgt. Agner …who through a great deal of diligence, who for well over a year, has been working...
