Sorted by date Results 1051 - 1075 of 6836
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously voted to appoint 14 people to the Housing Task Force during Monday's meeting. Members of the task force include Gary Aulbach, Jay Barnard, Annette Bennett, Joyce Cummings, Darcie Ewert, Larry Hofstad, Sarah Holmgrain, Ashley Kawashima, David Kensinger, Malena Marvin, Jeff Meucci, Erin Michael, Jalyn Pomrenke, and Jeigh Stanton Gregor. The assembly also chose Stanton Gregor to act as the group's facilitator after a unanimous vote. The group was...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved an ordinance which would adjust the FY23 budget for known changes in its first reading Monday. The assembly voted 6-1 in favor of Ordinance #2022-15 with Assembly Member Thomas Fine-Walsh opposed. The supplemental budget accounts for some funding received from state grants, items that could be purchased, and repair work that was not included in the original FY23 budget. The adjustments to the budget are as follows: • Accept $123,158 in state l...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously to send a letter to the Wrangell Borough Assembly seeking to open a discussion on the possible expansion of the Inter-Island Ferry Authority (IFA) to serve the two communities. The IFA currently runs between Hollis and Ketchikan daily and is composed of two ships-the M/V Stikine and the M/V Prince of Wales. The letter comes after former Gov. Frank Murkowski visited Petersburg on Sept. 22 to discuss the current state of transportation in Southeast...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted to spend $20,000 to find out the estimated costs to develop multiple subdivisions during its Sept. 19 meeting as it looks to open up more lots to address the housing crisis. The total expenditure was approved in two parts and the estimations will be completed by PND Engineers. Both expenditures passed in 5-1 votes with Assembly Member Bob Lynn opposed. First the assembly approved spending $4,000 to revise the estimated costs of the Fram Street and Hungry Point subdivisions, which was also completed by PND...
This Saturday evening Humanity In Progress (HIP) is hosting Empty Bowls, a fundraiser working to end hunger one bowl at a time. From 6 - 8:30 p.m. a donation of ten dollars per person will get supporters into the warmth of Sons of Norway Hall, where they’ll be given a bowl of soup and a roll, and invited to listen to live music while they browse the temptations of the silent dessert auction. If they’d like to take a bowl home, a beautiful selection of handmade and donated bowls will be ava...
Dr. Mark Tuccillo has practiced family medicine in Petersburg since 1993 and soon plans to taper toward retirement starting at the end of October 2022. Growing up in New Jersey, his grandfather glorified Alaska, where he had crash-landed as an aviator with the Army Air Core, forcing him to walk over a week to the nearest village. "He had us all hooked talking about dogsledding and polar bears," Tuccillo remembers. "It was sensationalism, but it stuck with me." Certain he would become a doctor, t...
WRANGELL—“Not happy” was how Borough Manager Jeff Good described his mood last week when he received word that Wrangell was left off the list of Alaska communities sharing in $27 million in the final round of federal pandemic assistance funding. Wrangell was not alone in receiving nothing. Juneau, Sitka and Anchorage also came up empty. The funding formula was based on federal acreage within each borough, with population and economic conditions, such as poverty levels and unemployment, factoring into the formula. “I think Treasury got it wron...
WRANGELL — It is tempting to imagine that toilets, shower drains and kitchen sinks are domesticated black holes, transporting our waste to some mysterious nether region outside space and time, where it ceases to exist the moment it is out of sight. However, Public Works Director Tom Wetor knows better than anyone in Wrangell that the spoiled milk, blackened cooking oil and remnants of last night’s dinner that are flushed into the sewer do not disappear. Pouring oil, grease and fat down the drain can damage essential infrastructure, strain the...
Haines—A couple armed with bug nets wading through roadside fireweed were searching for bumblebees in the Chilkat Valley north of Haines last month as part of a research effort to see if the Western Bumblebee’s range includes Alaska. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists are considering proposing that the species be added to the endangered species list. “It’s disappeared over a big chunk of its former range which stretched from California out to some of the western states and all the way up into British Columbia at about 55 degrees north,...
A Sitka assemblymember and a former Hoonah mayor are competing for the Alaska House of Representatives seat being vacated by five-term Sitka Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. Though nonpartisan candidate Rebecca Himschoot had an edge over Republican Kenny Skaflestad in last month’s open primary – about 54% to roughly 46% – it’s a difference of 373 votes. Voters in Sitka overwhelmingly favored their assemblymember – 1,059 votes for Himschoot to 552 for Skaflestad. Voters in Hoonah cast more votes for their former mayor and city council m... Full story
At a forum on fishery issues held in the seaport town of Kodiak, two of the leading gubernatorial contenders spent time focusing on a man who was not there: incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy. After about an hour of in-depth discussions of fishery issues that included climate change and its effects in the oceans, the role of hatchery fish in the ecosystem and economy, the infrastructure and workforce development needs of the fishing industry and state fiscal policies, former state Rep. Les Gara and former Gov. Bill Walker turned their fire directly... Full story
The five candidates running for the two seats on the Petersburg Borough Assembly participated in a candidate forum on Monday in the assembly chambers hosted by KFSK and the Petersburg Pilot. Assembly Member Jeigh Stanton Gregor, Assembly Member Chelsea Tremblay, Donna Marsh, Scott Newman, and Kurt Wohlhueter were presented with the same questions and were each given one minute to respond in a random order. The first part of the forum saw candidates answer questions asked by members of the media...
The borough is reprinting the ballots for this year's municipal election after Scott Roberge's name was erroneously left off according to a public notice released by the borough Tuesday. In the public notice it states that Roberge's name was "inadvertently omitted" during the initial preparation of the ballot but has now been included. Roberge is running for one of the two seats on the Harbor and Ports Advisory Board along with Raliegh Cook, Casey Knight, and John Murgas. He had registered for...
With plans on the horizon for the Petersburg Medical Center to assume control of Assisted Living at Mountain View Manor, the Petersburg Borough Assembly has recently taken steps toward separating the Assisted Living and Elderly Housing departments. During its meeting on Sept. 6, the assembly voted unanimously to hire Michelle Lopez as Elderly Housing Director, a new position, with a salary of $62,000. Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said the borough and PMC have had multiple meetings on the...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved Ordinance #2022-13, which would put a property obtained by the borough in a tax foreclosure proceeding up for sale, during its first reading at the Sept. 19 meeting. The property, parcel number 02-285-140, was previously owned by Allen Hudson and Billy Harding and is located in the Wrangell Narrows Subdivision. If approved in three readings, the ordinance would affirm that there is no public need for the parcel and that it would not be...
WRANGELL – Issues with lingering supply chain disruptions that started with the COVID-19 pandemic have put hunters and gun enthusiasts in a bind. Though there are signs that ammunition shortages are on the decline, stores in Southeast — and nationwide — are still having trouble getting stocked up, leading shooters to go on the hunt for ammo or to create their own. Last month, Mike White, manager of Sentry Hardware, was still waiting on a $75,000 ammo order he had placed in January. He said incoming stock is better than it was a year ago, yet o...
(AP) - A landslide triggered by record rainfall significantly damaged three homes, prompted the evacuation of about a dozen residents and caused power outages in downtown Juneau, Alaska's capital city. Geological assessment teams determined Tuesday that favorable weather has returned the threat level to pre-slide levels. The city's public works department was preparing to begin removing debris, city spokesperson Meredith Thatcher said. Of the three homes, one was completely destroyed as it came...
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources is preparing a new program that would allow Alaska sawmills to sell lumber for local construction without having that wood graded for quality by an Outside inspector. The program was announced Tuesday at Southeast Conference, a gathering of Southeast Alaska political and business leaders, by Alaska State Forester Helge Eng. Eng said the program, which may take two years to implement, would encourage the growth of Alaska’s lumber industry by making it easier to use locally produced lumber. Many r... Full story
WRANGELL—Tribal members from both sides of the U.S.-Canada border — the headwaters and downstream region of the Stikine River — talked about strengthening their relationship when they met at the recent Sharing Our Knowledge conference in Wrangell. One of the common interests bringing the Indigenous people together is their concern for the river — protecting and preserving its salmon runs that have fed tribal members for generations. The discussions during the conference were about “connecting and cementing those relationships,” said Christ...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A U.S. Coast Guard ship on routine patrol in the Bering Sea came across a guided missile cruiser from China, officials said Monday. But it turned out the cruiser wasn’t alone as it sailed about 86 miles (138 kilometers) north of Alaska’s Kiska Island, on Sept. 19. Two other Chinese naval ships and four Russian naval vessels, including a destroyer, were spotted in single formation, the patrol boat, known as a cutter called Kimball, discovered. The Honolulu-based Kimball, a 418-foot (127-meter) vessel, observed as the s...
Alaska officials are asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide 100% of the funds necessary for Western Alaska communities to recover from damages inflicted by Typhoon Merbok. That would match the 100% funding that was committed to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Fiona in President Joe Biden’s federal disaster declaration. Typically, FEMA covers 75% of disaster-relief costs, leaving the remainder to be matched by state, local or tribal governments. For Western Alaska, “we feel that that’s just not acceptable, parti... Full story
Voters will be faced with three ballot propositions during the municipal election on Oct. 4 which, if approved, would amend Petersburg's home rule charter. The three ordinances which sent the three propositions to the ballot were unanimously passed by the Petersburg Borough Assembly earlier this year. During Monday evening's assembly meeting, Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson led a review of the three propositions during a discussion requested by Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor. Proposition 1 would...
Last Sunday there was a familiar Petersburg scene at the Lutheran Church's Holy Cross House: a table laden with open-faced sandwiches, shrimp and macaroni salad, delicate krumkake, spritz, and the signature kransekake (wreath cake). This time, however, the celebration was for an uncommon, maybe even unprecedented event: a 75th wedding anniversary–a milestone so few couples accomplish that there is no statistic for it, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The room was packed and loud with h... Full story
The three candidates running for mayor in this year's municipal election participated in a candidate forum hosted by KFSK and the Petersburg Pilot Tuesday afternoon. Mayor Mark Jensen and Assembly Members Bob Lynn and Jeff Meucci were presented with the same questions on a rotating basis and were each given one minute to respond. Written here are some of the questions asked and a summary of each candidate's response. The full forum can be listened to at https://www.kfsk.org/2...
Aaron Hankins was officially hired as the new Fire/EMS/SAR director during Monday evening's Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting with unanimous approval. Hankins said he was initially hesitant to apply for the position and try to follow in the footsteps of former director Sandy Dixson, but after receiving encouragement from friends and family he decided to give it a shot. "My dad is the one who sat me down and said, 'listen the worst they can say is no, from what I've see you have what it takes...
