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The Petersburg School board prepared a resolution Wednesday to send to the Alaska Association of School Boards, or AASB, urging the state legislature to clarify a statute that makes school districts responsible for paying for physical examinations of incoming students. School districts across Alaska require incoming students to receive physical examinations and parents or caregivers are responsible for paying for the exams. But after several Petersburg parents questioned the requirement, the school board had its attorney, Allen Clendaniel,...
Blue skies and warm days enveloped Petersburg like seine nets to pink salmon this summer as the Southeast saw temperatures above and rainfall below average. According to National Weather Service Data, the temperature on August 1 reached 83 degrees tying the warmest day ever recorded in Petersburg and breaking August 22, 2004’s 82-degree record high. Summer temperatures remained consistently warm across the region. Petersburg saw daily average temperatures in June and August reach three degrees above normal. And through September 15, average d... Full story
The Petersburg Library opened its doors to the public for the first time Monday. The facility boasts several new features such as a self-checkout station, a teen room and the ability to borrow laptops and iPads. There are six stationary express computers library users can log onto for 30 minutes at a time. But Tara Alcock, Borough Librarian, said people generally need more time than that. “People can come check them out (laptops and ipads), have two full hours and can sit anywhere they want i... Full story
Acting Revenue Commissioner Angela Rodell announced Wednesday that the 2013 Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) will be $900. 670,865 Alaskans applied for the 2013 dividend this year – a decrease of approximately 7,000 applications from 2012. The first dividends will be paid on October 3, when approximately 507,000 applicants will receive a direct deposit into their bank account, and 86,000 will be mailed a check. Paper checks will enter the U.S. mail system on October 3 from Juneau. More than $484 million will be directly deposited into Alaskans' b...
September 20, 1913 – The Indians of Skidgate, B.C. reported having seen a new kind of sea monster while out fishing recently. This monster struggled so violently in the encounter that it all but upset the canoe, but finally was cut in two. They reported to the Captain and the officers of the steamer Prince Albert that one of their fishing parties in a war canoe had met with a strange denizen of the deep on the fishing grounds. This creature, which appeared to be twenty feet long and from two to three feet in circumference, wrapped itself t...
Alaska’s salmon fishery harvest smashed records this season with everyone from fishermen to cannery workers feeling the tremors. Alaska’s Southeast regions pulled more than one third of the salmon stock from the waters this summer. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s website, roughly 103 million salmon were caught in Southeast waters compared to the 265 million salmon caught statewide according to the Alaska Journal of Commerce. The Southeast Alaska purse seine fishery closed for pink salmon September 8. ADFG final harve...
Aside from massive fish harvest, Petersburg canneries felt the added pressure of worker walkouts and no shows. This summer was the first time the companies couldn’t hire foreign student workers coming on J1 Visas after the federal government ended the program in an attempt to provide more jobs to American workers. Some estimates early in the season put no show rates between 15-20 percent. A local manager said working with a changed employee pool combined with peak production was a “double whammy.” “There were less workers in the pool and mor...
Pilot publisher Ron Loesch was awarded an Honorable Mention for Best Editorial, non‐daily division, circulation less than 3,000, by the National Newspaper Association. The award was announced this month at the NNA annual conference in Phoenix, Ariz. The editorial entitled, “The cost of lost opportunities,” was published in the October 18, 2012 edition. Judges' comments on the entry were: "Strong clear writing that presents voters with the information they need for an important vote." It was o...
Every school district in Alaska requires new or incoming students to receive physicals before starting school and most, if not all, don’t cover those costs. Most school districts in Alaska might be in violation of state statute. That’s if Petersburg School District’s attorney Allen Clendaniel’s interpretation of Alaska Statue 14.30.070 is correct. In part, it states, “The governing body of each school district shall provide for and require a physical examination of every child attending school in the district.” “If you look at the literal l...
Some initial concern over the Petersburg Road Improvement Plan turned out to be less of an issue than originally anticipated. The $4.1 million dollar project began in September of 2012. According to a project report written by Bryce Iverson, SECON Project Manager, “…2,800 cubic yards of concrete were placed, over 4,800 linear feet of curbs and gutter, 3,100 square yards of sidewalk, and nearly 10,000 square yards of concrete pavement.” The initial concrete pouring phase was put on hold because of early season freezing temperatures. Barry Morri...
Tommy Joseph, master woodcarver and Tlingit artist, gave a Technology, Education and Design talk in the borough assembly chambers last Thursday. Joseph talked about his experiences traveling the world learning about Tlingit battledress and how he incorporated that knowledge into pieces he crafted called “Rainforest Warriors” that are in display at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau. His work was inspired in 2004 while researching the battledress used during 1804’s Battle of Sitka that pitte...
The Petersburg Borough Sanitation department removed the recycling drop-off dumpsters behind the Community Cold Storage effective Tuesday, September 17. This was in response to a long history of misuse of the site, contamination of the recyclable materials and litter accumulations. For residents and businesses that wish to drop-off recyclables, the drop-off location will now be located at the approach to the baler building. For all residents that wish to utilize the aluminum dumpster to benefit the local scouting programs, the container will...
In a joint work session Tuesday aimed at discussing the future of Thomas Bay Power Authority, the dialogue between Petersburg and Wrangell borough assembly members missed the mark. The joint meeting was sparked after the Petersburg assembly voted not to fund its share of a portion of the TBPA budget labeled non-net billable — funding the two municipalities have traditionally split that goes towards administrative costs of TBPA’s commission. The lack of funding left Wrangell shelling out its $55,000 share, enough to keep the commission run... Full story
Petersburg Medical Center staff, from a variety of departments, received training last Thursday that aims to change the way staff solves problems to improve service quality. Called Lean training, aspects of the method have been around since the early 1900s but it was popularized and made famous by the Toyota Motor Company. It isn’t as much a how-to guide as it is a continual problem solving process unique to the respective organization that implements it. Lean principles have been successfully transitioned into health care. Anners W... Full story
Responders out of Juneau were able to free a portion of gear off the humpback whale that was entangled in a gill net August 23 in Frederick Sound. Petersburg volunteers were the first to reach the snared whale but were unsuccessful in removing the net. They did manage to attach a satellite buoy to track the humpback, helping the Petersburg team and other officials including those from National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration monitor the animal as it moved north towards Juneau. NOAA fisheries... Full story
September 13, 1913 – While patroling the beach a short time ago, a life saver by the name of Blackbery of Mansfield, Or., came across a lump of peculiar substance weighing about 85 pounds, but paid no attention at the time and went on his way. After he got home he remembered the material he had been so careless with resembled a picture he had seen of ambergris, which brings $1000 a pound. Blackbery rushed back to the beach and took the substance home. He sent a piece to David Starr Jordan of California, who declared, after an examination, t...
Tuesday’s joint work session with the Wrangell and Petersburg assembly members leads us to believe the work of the Thomas Bay Power Authority is no longer needed. It’s time to disband the organization and turn their responsibilities over to the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, which owns the Tyee facilities. The Thomas Bay Power Authority deserves praise for what it has accomplished since it formed in 1974 and began its search for a viable hydroelectric operation for the two towns. The Tyee project was built by the State of Alaska and was later p...
Tlingit carver and wood conservator Tommy Joseph and his son Joe Joseph are cleaning debris off and weather-guarding the pair of totem poles in town. Tommy, who crafted the totems 14 years ago, and Joe are in Petersburg from Sitka. They’ve been strapped onto scaffolding and scrubbing off algae, moss and lichen that’s been accumulating on the 35-foot totem poles for nearly 14 years. Tommy credits his son for much of the work. “Heights are really not my thing,” Tommy said. “I’ve never been on a f...
A laundry list of charges were filed against Brandon Estes, 20, and Joshua Franklin, 26, during their arraignment August 29. The men are being accused of breaking into multiple Petersburg businesses last week along with the theft of cash and items at those locations. Franklin received eleven felony and four misdemeanor charges including burglary, theft and criminal mischief. Estes racked up 13 felony and four misdemeanor charges of the same nature. Police received reports of break-ins and... Full story
