Sorted by date Results 1958 - 1982 of 6799
The United States Coast Guard medevaced an injured fisherman on board the F/V Magnus Martens 80 miles Northwest of Dutch Harbor in the Bering Sea on Dec. 30, according to a USCG press release. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew based out of Air Station Kodiak was deployed on board the Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley. The fisherman was initially flown to Dutch Harbor for medical care, but it was determined that he was in need of a higher level of care, according to the press release. He was then...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors awarded a $1.3 million request for proposal to Cerner for a new electronic health records system at an executive meeting on Dec. 22. The electronic health records system is to be paid for with a state grant awarded to PMC for the technological improvement of the facility, according to PMC CEO Phil Hostetter at a regular hospital board meeting in early December. PMC was also able to overhaul its telehealth infrastructure to help with the COVID-19...
Southern Southeast Alaska Aquaculture Association hopes to secure $200,000 to make up for a loss in funding for Crystal Lake Hatchery (CLH) following the expiration of a sport fishing license surcharge SSRAA General Manager David Landis told the Borough Assembly at their Monday meeting. The sport fishing license surcharge needed to be renewed before Dec. 31 by the state legislation, but the COVID-19 pandemic prevented lawmakers from acting before the deadline, said Landis. The most recent...
Petersburg Indian Association tabulated the results of their 2021 election on Jan. 5 following a voting period that began in early December. Unofficial results from the election show Christina Morrison, who ran unopposed, taking the 1-year term as Tribal Council president with 59 votes. Five tribal members ran for three 2-year terms as members on the Tribal Council. Jaclyn Lyons and Joseph Stewart tied with 49 votes, and Jeanette Ness took the third seat with 44 votes. Incumbent Brenda Norheim w...
WRANGELL - Between state budget cuts, a mainline vessel engine breakdown, a halt to port calls in Prince Rupert, B.C., and COVID-19 travel restrictions, the Alaska Marine Highway System has struggled the past year to provide service to Wrangell and the rest of Southeast. Under the governor's proposed budget for the state fiscal year that starts July 1, the ferry system would have even less money to provide service. "Woefully inadequate," Ketchikan Rep. Dan Ortiz, who also represents Wrangell,...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Small businesses in Alaska say new federal coronavirus relief funds will provide needed aid, especially for those in the service industry facing their slowest time of the year. The aid package grants almost $300 billion nationwide in new forgivable loans. The first round of federal aid in March provided about $1.3 billion to roughly 12,000 Alaska businesses, the Anchorage Daily News reported Tuesday. The new package provides extra money for restaurants, breweries, bars, hotels, live venues, movie theaters and c...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the shooting of a bald eagle near Alaska’s capital city, which led to the protected bird being euthanized. The injured eagle was rescued Dec. 22 in Juneau, but it was not clear the bird had been shot until the Alaska Raptor Center in Sitka did an X-ray, The Juneau Empire reported Friday. The bird’s pelvis was shattered and there was mounting lead poisoning from a type of shotgun ammunition that is illegal in Alaska, and it had to be euthanized, Juneau Raptor Center Manag...
The Petersburg Emergency Operations Center has identified two more local cases of COVID-19 within a single household on Monday, according to a joint press release between the Petersburg Borough and the Petersburg Medical Center. The two new cases are close contacts to a previous positive case, according to the press release. The two individuals have quarantined, and public health officials have been notified to begin contact tracing, according to the press release. Because the two individuals... Full story
Five more cases of COVID-19 were identified in town on Tuesday, bringing the local active case count back up to nine, according to a joint press release between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The five new cases are within the same household, according to the press release. The cases are close contacts of a previous positive case and have been in quarantine since the first household member tested positive for the virus. The Petersburg Emergency Operations Center is... Full story
January The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration proposed establishing critical habitat areas for humpback whales in three distinct population segments located off Mexico, Central American and the Western Pacific. The Petersburg Borough sent a letter of disapproval to the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding the proposed critical habitat for humpback whales after residents spoke out against the proposal. The Petersburg Borough authorized the hire of Josh Rathmann to fill the...
Bell ringers raised $19,879.50 in donations for the Salvation Army Red Kettle campaign this holiday season, said Salvation Army Major Loni Upshaw. The donations will fund the Salvation Army's social services budget through 2021. Donations exceeded last year's donation by $2,700, and nearly reached the same amount as Ketchikan's Salvation Army's donations, which surprised Upshaw. She said she didn't have as many organizations and volunteers out ringing the bell this year as previous years. "We...
Scott Newman had always wanted to fly float planes out of Petersburg. He had flown planes for both Pacific Wing and Pacific Wings on and off since the early 1990s. When COVID-19 shut down the latter air taxi service earlier this year, the DeHavilland Beaver went up for sale. "I really liked flying the Beaver," said Newman, who was born and raised in Petersburg. "It was kind of like my airplane of choice. When I flew for them, I tried to fly it as much as possible." He purchased the Beaver and...
The Petersburg Legislative Information Office is currently closed to walk-in services. Call or leave a message with your name and number, or email for help. Limited live appointments are available. Call to make a plan with us before making a trip downtown. 2020 Non Reproducible IRS Employer Report Forms: The LIO has the 2020 tax year forms in stock. 1099 MISC, INT, DIV,1098, 1096 Transmittal, and W-2 and W-3s are all available. Call with your order, and it will be ready here for pick up. FY22 Budget Release and Executive Order: If you...
A Petersburg resident who returned from out of state on Dec. 30 has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The individual was tested for COVID-19 three days before traveling back to town, and received the positive test result soon after landing in Petersburg. According to the joint press release, the individual is asymptomatic and in isolation. Another resident who returned to Petersburg from out of state on Dec...
WJE Associates, Inc. has finished the designs for the rehabilitation of the Motor Pool Shop, and Public Works Director Chris Cotta said he will begin the bidding process in the first week of January. "The basics are it's a renovation," said Cotta. "There's going to be a lot of cleaning and selective demolition and replacement of anything that was damaged in the fire." The Motor Pool Shop was damaged in August of 2019 when a fire originating from an adjacent storage shed spread to the building....
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is predicting an average pink salmon harvest of 28 million fish in 2021, according to an advisory announcement. While the point estimate for the harvest is 28 million fish, the range of the forecast is between 19 to 42 million fish. Andy Piston, Fish and Game Southeast Alaska pink and chum salmon project leader, said that such a wide forecast range is a reflection of the uncertainty in the forecast. "Twenty-eight million sounds pretty good compared to...
WRANGELL — Groundwork for the Wrangell Mariners’ Memorial has come to a halt for winter, but progress has still been made recently. Jenn Miller-Yancey, with the Mariners’ Memorial board, reported that work is being done for the memorial’s walls, where plaques will one day be hung to commemorate Wrangell sailors who have passed away. “There will be four walls within the memorial, three walls meant to hold plaques that are 26 feet long, curved and vary in height from 42 inches to 8 feet,” Miller-Yancey wrote in an email. “There will be 1 wall at...
SITKA, Alaska (AP) — A bill to establish the nation’s first ever federal program to train prospective commercial fishermen has passed Congress and awaits approval by the White House. The Young Fishermen’s Development Act was passed unanimously by both the U.S. House and Senate, the Sitka Sentinel reported Monday. The law would provide grants to foster the growth of budding fishermen across the country. The bill introduced by Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan in 2019 had bipartisan support, with co-sponsors that included Democratic U.S. Sen....
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A bald eagle that had been shot has survived with a broken leg and is being treated at a bird hospital in Alaska. The eagle was rescued on Tuesday after Kathy Benner, the manager of the Juneau Raptor Center, received a report about an injured bird in a person’s yard in Juneau. It is illegal to harm bald eagles under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940 unless a permit from the Secretary of the Interior is provided. Violating the law can result in up to $100,000 in fines for individuals and $200,000 in fin...
The Petersburg Emergency Operations Center raised the local risk level for COVID-19 from yellow to orange on Monday after Petersburg saw six active cases of the virus within seven days, according to a joint media release between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. "Following the holidays, and some holiday travel, Petersburg is definitely seeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases," said Incident Commander Karl Hagerman to the Borough Assembly at their meeting on Monday. Details of the... Full story
Petersburg Medical Center received 220 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday and has since begun vaccinating those who are most at risk, according to local health officials at the COVID-19 community update on Dec. 18. The vaccinations arrived on the afternoon jet from a cold storage facility in Anchorage, and almost immediately afterwards, PMC staff set to work. Mamie Nilsen, a registered nurse in the hospital's long term care facility, was the first person in Petersburg to receive th...
The Borough Assembly again voted on a memorandum of agreement between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center for the asymptomatic testing of staff at Mountain View Manor Assisted Living. After it was made clear that testing would be voluntary, the borough assembly approved the agreement unanimously at their meeting on Monday. According to the MOA, PMC will provide the staff, equipment and materials needed to perform asymptomatic testing at no cost to MVM AL. Both parties will...
At the COVID-19 community update on Friday, Dec. 18 Incident Commander Karl Hagerman reminded the public to visit the borough's COVID-19 dashboard and risk communication plan and send any questions or comments to the Emergency Operations Center. The dashboard monitors the community's COVID-19 situation and the risk communication plan offers mitigation protocols that reflect the local risk level. "We want the plan to be well vetted by the public before we put it to the assembly for approval,"...
An ordinance adjusting the fiscal year 2021 borough budget for known changes, including the reallocation on COVID-19 funds, passed in its third reading on Monday by the Borough Assembly. Ordinance #2020-24 takes the remaining $275,000 in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Support Act funds set aside for a one-time $500 utility credit for households struggling financially as a result of the pandemic and transfers it to three other COVID-19 related programs. Of the $275,000, $100,000 will go to...