Sorted by date Results 651 - 675 of 6858
A statewide effort to build up Alaska’s mariculture industry is looking to expand production at the same time it grows the market, particularly for kelp. “Everyone talks of the chicken-and-the-egg situation,” Juliana Leggitt, mariculture program manager at the Southeast Conference, said of what comes first: More kelp or more buyers. “There are definitely challenges in both.” The Alaska Mariculture Cluster, a consortium led by the Southeast Conference, has $49 million in federal money and $15 million in cash and in-kind matching funds to use ove...
WRANGELL - A seal-processing workshop hosted by the Wrangell Cooperative Association brought knowledge about traditional subsistence practices to the community. During a series of classes on Oct. 6, 7 and 8, students helped harvest the meat, fat, skin, oil and intestines from two seals and learned how each byproduct could be prepared or stored. Instructor Paul Marks II learned how to harvest and process seals from his family in Kake, particularly his grandmother. "I would bring in fish, crab,...
HAINES - More than $3.5 million worth of Haines real estate - most of it in the downtown area - went up for sale last week, surprising business owners and public officials who worried about what the sale might mean for the vibrancy of the city center. The properties include Alpenglow Pizza, Thor's Gym and Eagles Nest Apartments, and are owned by Chris Thorgesen, who purchased most of them about 10 years ago. "It's obviously a concern," said mayor-elect Tom Morphet. "Chris single-handedly kind...
After a period when COVID-19 restrictions halted the spread of other respiratory diseases, Alaska had a big increase in influenza cases, state data shows. The overall influenza case load during the 2022-23 season was much higher than in prior years, reports a new bulletin issued by the epidemiology section of the Alaska Division of Public Health. Most notably, cases spiked much earlier in the season, in November and December, before dropping. There were five influenza deaths over the season, all among adults, according to the bulletin, the late... Full story
Jobs are available in Alaska, but the workforce to fill them isn’t there. A report from the Association of Alaska School Boards linked it to underfunding public schools — especially guidance counselors and guidance programs. The report noted that one in five young adults in Alaska isn’t connected to school or work. Emily Ferry, a coordinator for the Association of Alaska Schools Boards, said schools and Tribes need support for these programs. “It’s not surprising when you invest less, your return on investment is not there, it’s not the sam... Full story
The five-person board in charge of drawing Alaska’s legislative districts will pay $400,000 to settle financial claims brought by a group of East Anchorage plaintiffs who successfully challenged the boundaries of Eagle River’s state Senate district last year. In total, the state will have paid more than $600,000 to settle financial claims resulting from what the Alaska Supreme Court called “an unconstitutional political gerrymander.” Two smaller financial claims by other plaintiffs remain unresolved, but Friday’s decision by the redistric... Full story
On Monday, Clerk Debbie Thompson and Deputy Clerk Becky Regula opened and counted the final votes for Petersburg's 2023 municipal election, as candidates and their supporters anxiously watched in assembly chambers and listened via the live broadcast on KFSK radio. A total of 12 out of 24 uncounted absentee ballots reached the clerk's desk before the election was certified on Monday, Oct. 9. The four questioned votes were determined invalid by the state and did not count toward the election. This...
Assembly: Rob Schwartz – 698 Jeigh Stanton Gregor – 597 Rick Perkins – 596 Jeff Meucci – 548 Hospital Board: (Two 3-year terms) Jerod Cook – 901 Marlene Cushing – 808 Don Koenigs – 442 (One 1-year term) Mika Hasbrouck – 602 Jim Roberts – 527 Public Safety Advisory Board: Mark Tuccillo – 649 Stanley Hjort – 412 Jacob Slaven – 403 Tony Vinson – 391 Russell Thynes – 324 Library Board: (Three 3-year terms) Mary Ellen Anderson – 850 Lizzie Thompson – 734 Marilyn Menish-Meucci – 514 Tina Buschm...
At the regular Planning & Zoning Commission meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 10, the commission considered the rezoning and sale of five lots on Odin Street and one parcel near Skylark Way at the request of Rock'n'Road Construction and Skylark LLC owners Sig and Ambre Burrell. The Burrells put forward the request for the borough to rezone and sell the properties with the intention to purchase and develop them. "If we can buy these lots, put the utilities in, turn around and sell them, put the utilities...
Alaska Seaplanes has decided to shut down its Wrangell and Petersburg operations, citing poor economics. Its last flights to the communities are scheduled for Oct. 31. "Unfortunately, it wasn't financially sustainable with the ridership," Carl Ramseth, general manager, said Thursday, Oct. 5. "It hurts to pull out of those two communities." Alaska Seaplanes started scheduled service into Petersburg in spring 2021, with daily flights from Juneau, and added a Sitka-Petersburg-Wrangell-Sitka flight...
At the Alaska Hospital and Health Care Association (AHHA) conference in Girdwood last month, Petersburg Medical Center Long Term Care received the top award of Excellence in Quality for the 2023 Nursing Home Quality Awards. The Alaska Nursing Home Quality Achievement Award was bestowed to PMC by Mountain Pacific, a nonprofit corporation that oversees the quality of care for Medicare and Medicaid members through federal and state contracts, as a Gold Pan award for the quality of care delivered... Full story
The Alaska Division of Public Assistance has temporarily stopped dropping people from Medicaid for paperwork-related reasons after thousands of low-income Alaskans — including families with children — lost health coverage that they may still be eligible to receive. Nearly 14,000 households have lost their Medicaid coverage in the past two months. Almost 265,000 households were enrolled in the program as recently as April, before the state embarked on the federally required review of participants’ eligibility. The state Division of Public Assis...
WRANGELL — While ground work is underway at the Alder Top Village (Keishangita.’aan) subdivision upland from Shoemaker Bay, borough officials are at work researching options for how the residential lots — as many as 42 — will be sold. The sale is expected by next summer or fall. “People are excited about it,” said Kate Thomas, the borough’s economic development director. The community has never seen so many building lots come up for sale at one time, she said in an interview Friday, Oct. 6. “This is a new opportunity for us.” Borough officials...
The unofficial results of the Petersburg 2023 Municipal Election are in. When the voting window closed at 8 o'clock Tuesday night, 1250 voters had cast their ballots. The preliminary results amounted to a strikingly close race for positions in the Borough Assembly and Public Safety Board - with a difference of five votes between assembly candidates and nine votes separating public safety board contenders. 24 absentee ballots remain uncounted, along with four questioned ballots. Borough Clerk...
October 3, 2023 Total ballots cast - 1250 Assembly (Two 3-year terms) Rob Schwartz – 695 Rick Perkins – 593 Jeigh Stanton Gregor – 588 Jeff Meucci – 540 Hospital Board (Two 3-year terms) Jerod Cook – 891 Marlene Cushing – 798 Don Koenigs – 441 Write-in – 8 (One 1-year term) Mika Hasbrouck – 597 Jim Roberts – 519 Write-in – 6 Public Safety Advisory Board (Two 3-year terms) Mark Tuccillo – 641 Stanley Hjort – 409 Jacob Slaven – 400 Tony Vinson – 388 Russell Thynes – 324 Library Board (Three 3-...
Alaska Airlines would like to improve passenger flow at its Wrangell and Petersburg airport terminals. The idea of making any changes to the buildings was put on hold during the pandemic. "We've got to find a way to improve the passenger flow in both those terminals," Scott Habberstad, the airline's managing director for Alaska, said last week. The tight space for people waiting to board after they clear TSA security screening creates a logjam on heavy traveler days that can slow down the...
In the final moments of Dave Kensinger's last Borough Assembly meeting Monday, September 18, lighthearted joking capped the session just before adjourning. It was time for assembly member comments when vice-mayor Bob Lynn spoke up to address something very important: "Well, since this is member Kensinger's last meeting, I gotta thank him for everything he's done. But the one area he hasn't really done a really good job - I think he was our representative with the Alaska Ferry System," a light la...
During the recent Hospital Board meeting Sept. 28, Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter shared news of receiving the "verbal greenlight" for a $20 million treasury grant earlier that day. The verbal greenlight came from PMC's liaison with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) at the state governor's office, which is the agency that is working with the Department of the Treasury, Hoffstetter explained to the Pilot in an interview. This $20 million grant will be used to develop the... Full story
After a series of setbacks, Kari Petersen recently returned to Petersburg from Fort Collins, Colorado, where she accomplished the long-time personal goal of becoming a licensed massage therapist. In January of 2020 Petersen made what was, for her, a "massive investment" when she enrolled in the United States Career Institute's Massage Therapy training, a hybrid program designed for working students like Petersen, a single mother with a full-time job. Divided into two parts, the program required...
With high oil prices driving up state revenues, Southeast legislators say to expect a larger capital budget next year for public works projects, more money for deferred maintenance and another attempt to boost state funding for public schools. That’s assuming oil prices stay elevated as the state works its way through the fiscal year that will end on June 30 and remain high in the forecast for the next year. Lawmakers will return to work at the Capitol on Jan. 16. With oil prices last week 30% higher than assumed in this year’s spending pla...
The state wants to send the Matanuska, the oldest vessel in the Alaska Marine Highway System fleet, into a shipyard for the equivalent of a full-body scan. Management wants to find out just how much of the ship's steel has rusted, and how far the rust has eaten into the thickness of the metal. The 60-year-old Matanuska has been tied up at the dock in Ketchikan since last November, waiting for the state to decide whether to repair the vessel and restore it to working order, or give up on the...
High oil prices could provide an additional $500 for Alaskans a year from now. As part of the end-of-session budget deal put together by legislative leaders, particularly in the Senate, lawmakers in May adopted a provision in the fiscal year 2024 state spending plan that will provide a one-time “energy relief payment” next fall if state revenues exceed estimates. Global supply shortages, caused largely by production cuts in Saudi Arabia and Russia, have driven up oil prices and boosted state revenues for the first three months of the fis...
A record number of people visited Anan Wildlife Observatory this season - the largest amount since 2004, when the permit system was implemented. Of the 2,905 visitors who came through the observatory in 2023, 548 were independent or unguided and 2,357 were commercially guided. Guide companies used nearly 80% of their available permits - only 610 commercial permits were unused. The visitor count was slightly higher than the pre-pandemic peak in 2013 and much higher than the lowest recorded visito...
This year's Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend will be $1,312. The Alaska Department of Revenue announced the figure last Thursday, two weeks before the annual cash payments will be delivered by direct deposit. PFD applications that were filed electronically, slated for direct deposit and have been deemed eligible will be paid out Oct. 5. The Department of Revenue will mail paper checks and begin direct deposits from paper applications later in the month. This year's PFD amount had been estimated... Full story
If you thought it seemed awfully rainy last Thursday, you'd be right. An atmospheric river saturated Petersburg last week with heavy rain and windy conditions. A record breaking 4.47 inches of rain fell on Petersburg on Thursday, Sept. 21, which resulted in landslides in remote areas, reservoir spillover at Crystal Lake, and some hazards across all three harbors. A flood advisory was put into effect for Falls Creek Thursday morning due to excessive rainfall. Mariners were advised to check the...
