Sorted by date Results 751 - 775 of 6903
Dredging is expected to resume at South Harbor this October to finish the maintenance project that was suspended earlier this year. Harbormaster Glo Wollen says Western Marine, who has undertaken the South Harbor dredge project, is "here, poised, ready to go" but must wait to resume in-water work due to environmental regulations. "Because of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, we can't do any in-water work until October 1," she said. "We'll see them start to fire up and get things ready, and then...
At the office of Petersburg nonprofit Humanity In Progress, anyone experiencing food insecurity can pick up a grab-and-go bag from the storage container just outside the door. Inside, a thoughtful collection of products to meet a person's basic needs are stacked against the walls. Humanity in Progress, also called HIP, is a small local nonprofit organization that aims to address the present humanitarian needs for shelter and sustenance in Petersburg. There is currently a housing shortage in...
It's the start of a fresh season for Petersburg High School's Cross Country team, marking the beginning of a new era under the team's incoming head coach, Casey Gates. With a community race under their belts and a first meet in Klawock coming up this weekend, Gates and this year's PHS team are ready and excited to put themselves to the test. "Looking at [our race] times, I really think that we've just scratched the surface of what we're capable of," said Gates. "I think that we're going to...
A village public safety officer in Kake was arrested Tuesday on three separate charges after he reportedly assaulted a woman and possessed a weapon while intoxicated, according to Alaska State Troopers. He was off-duty when the alleged crimes occurred. Austin Brady, 28, of Kake was arrested on second-degree assault (class B felony), fourth-degree criminal mischief (class A misdemeanor) and fourth-degree misconduct involving a weapon (class A misdemeanor), according to an AST daily dispatch. Information about his charges have not yet appeared...
The Petersburg School District approved the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) six-year plan at the first meeting of the academic year August 15. It is a long term plan that is vital to secure state funding for major maintenance and building capital projects. The facility committee met with Borough Building Official and Code Enforcement Officer Ray Wesebaum, Southeast Regional Resource Center representative David Landis, and school board member Jay Lister to review and discern priorities for a six-year plan. So far, there are five projects on the...
WASHINGTON — Following the Supreme Court’s summer ruling against 40 million federal student loan borrowers who would have qualified for debt relief, the Biden administration crafted a year-long delay in repayments. The policy, known as an on-ramp, is set to begin next month. Additionally, hours after the Supreme Court’s decision, the Department of Education unveiled a new repayment plan for those with federal student loans, known as Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE. The new income-driven repayment plan calculates payments based on a bor...
The first Alaska Music Census, a project by Alaskan musicians for Alaskan musicians, is underway until September 2 at AlaskaMusicCensus.com. The Alaska Independent Musicians Initiative (AKIMI) is taking a head count of Alaskans who engage with music in any way: Amateurs; pros; music techs, teachers, retailers, and librarians; players of any instrument, from banjos to bagpipes, playing any genre, from heavy metal to soundscapes; singers, from rappers to choir members; instrument makers; and fans. All are encouraged to participate in this...
Bo Varsano and Marja Smets of Farragut Farm won Farm Family of the Year at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer last week, the first Southeast farm ever to do so. Smets says they were surprised to hear they'd been nominated and selected for the award. "I think it's super cool to bring awareness to agriculture down here. People in the interior are like, 'Wow, there are farms there?'" In the Alaska State Fair announcement, Alaska Division of Agriculture Director Bryan Scoresby said, "Bo and Marja...
The filing window for candidacy in the 2023 Petersburg Borough Municipal Election officially closed Tuesday afternoon. Thirty candidates filed for the 20 seats up for election, and there will be 11 contested positions on this year’s ballot. The two contested seats on the assembly are now a race between Jeigh Stanton Gregor, Rob Schwartz, Rick Perkins, and incumbent Jeff Meucci. Both positions will be three-year terms. Dave Kensinger will not run for reelection in this year’s race. Both of the three-year terms on the hospital board are a con...
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Petersburg’s continually hazy sky hints at the wildfire conditions being battled by our neighbor to the South and East. Firefighters successfully prevented wildfires from destroying more structures in a scenic region of British Columbia, authorities said Monday as the prospect of rain raised hopes for the effort to contain the flames. Fire Chief Jason Broland said fire crews made more progress in the West Kelowna area known as a summer destination for families. He reported no new property losses in the pre...
At the first board meeting of the academic year last week, the Petersburg School District board decided that school meal prices will increase by at least $0.25 this school year. This decision was approved in order to maintain the financial sustainability of the school food service program and comply with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Paid Lunch Equity Policy. The policy says that schools serving lunch need to have enough money to pay for meals that students buy at the regular price, not the discounted price; some s...
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has again rejected a request to list Southeast Alaska's Alexander Archipelago wolves as endangered or threatened. The wolves, found in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, range among the region's large, old trees and are a subspecies of gray wolves. Putting the wolves on the Endangered Species List, either as endangered or threatened, likely would have resulted in new restrictions on development, logging and construction in the region, and the state of... Full story
Students in Petersburg School District are set to start the school year on August 29, alongside several upcoming additions to faculty staff. New to the district is Thomas Hambley, who will teach fourth grade at Stedman Elementary this fall. "I am excited about joining the team at Stedman Elementary and becoming part of the Petersburg community," he shared. Hambley moved to Petersburg earlier this summer from Glennallen, where he taught fourth grade. He specializes in elementary level teaching...
Jolie Norman, the new first-grade teacher at Stedman Elementary, and fellow first-grade teacher Erin Hofacre pushed a lot of furniture around Ms. Norman's classroom yesterday, and they have more to do before school starts. "In a week, you won't recognize this place. I'm looking forward to making it my own," promised Norman. And in making it her own, she's excited to make it a place kids want to be and a place they want to learn. In addition to her longtime calling to work with kids, Norman...
The Access to Alaska Native Collections grant program is currently open and accepting applications until September 8. The application can be found on the Museums Alaska website. The program responds to the needs of Alaska Native artists and culture bearers for access to collections in museums by supporting research visits to museum collections storage in Alaska. Alaska Native artists and culture bearers are invited to propose a visit to a participating museum with a collection that has a clear benefit to the development of their work....
As the first practical measure taken by Petersburg’s Early Childhood Education Task Force, the PIECE program is nearing the mark of its first year in action. So far, eight childcare provider employees across three services in Petersburg have received a first round of fiscal incentives under the program. For some, the extra benefits have given them a positive boost toward higher education; for others, the bonus check has not provided enough of a platform to launch from. PIECE, short for Petersburg Incentive Education for Childhood Employees, i...
Mitkof Island experienced record breaking rainfall on Saturday, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Petersburg recorded 3.09 inches of rain, surpassing the previous August 12 record of 2.15 inches back in 1961, marking the highest amount for that day since records began in 1924. The rainfall sent a landslide across the road at 27 mile Mitkof Highway. The swath measured an estimated 100 feet wide and 20 feet deep, including 6 to 8 feet of mud plus...
The town's most notorious seasonal visitors are back, and effort is needed to prevent their behavior from getting dangerously trashy. Petersburg Area Biologist Frank Robbins says bears coming to town is "always going to be an issue. We live in the middle of bear habitat ... It's very easy for a bear to follow a shrub area or a muskeg and waltz right into town, and they're more apt to do that if there's readily available food." The annual return of bears to Petersburg can be credited to their...
In September 2022, Superior Court Judge Amy Mead presided over the State of Alaska v. Brandon “Andy” Burrell jury trial. Burrell was acquitted of Burglary in the first degree and Sexual Assault in the first degree; however, the jury found the defendant guilty of Criminal Mischief in the third degree and guilty of the lesser charge of Sexual Assault in the second degree. Judge Mead conducted the sentencing proceedings for those convictions on Wednesday, August 9, 2023. For the conviction of Sexual Assault in the second degree, Burrell was sen...
A crew member on the F/V Legacy, a Petersburg-based seiner, died earlier this month while fishing about 30 miles southeast of Wrangell, according to the Wrangell Police Department. At around 6:15 in the morning of Aug. 1, Paul Anthony Kavon, 64, of Oxnard, California was setting the net along the shore at Point Warde when the 19-foot power skiff he was operating struck a rock, according to captain of the F/V Legacy, Joe Cisney. “The skiff was hung up on a rock off the shoreline … the net kept going with the current … started pulling on the s...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted during its Aug. 7 meeting to schedule a non-compliance hearing to consider issuing an order to vacate 410 Mitkof Highway until it is legally connected to the borough sanitary sewer system. Borough Building Official Ray Wesebaum and Utility Director Karl Hagerman requested the hearing after the building owner, Courtney Johnson, failed to repair the building by hooking it up to the sewer system. According to their report to the assembly, the property was inspe...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted to move the Petersburg Indian Association's application to purchase a borough-owned lot at the corner of Haugen Drive and North 12th Street forward during its Aug. 7 meeting. Though the application is moving forward, the assembly did not come to an agreement on how the lot should be sold-either by a public sale or by a direct sale to PIA. The 0.31-acre property, located at 10 N. 12th Street, is undeveloped apart from the Petersburg School District's...
The Head Start program operated in 10 Southeast communities by the Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska wants to reduce its authorized enrollment by 80 children as the nonprofit adjusts to a tightening budget situation and staffing shortages. Tlingit & Haida is approved to serve 262 children across Southeast but has asked federal officials for permission to reduce the number to 182, according to Head Start Director Christa Green. Federal funding covers almost 80% of the program’s budget. The program provides 20 Head Start...
When U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg's flight from Juneau to Haines was rained out on Wednesday, he changed plans and did what Alaskans have done for decades: He boarded a ferry. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, traveled with Buttigieg and said the last-minute switch in travel plans "was a typical Alaska jump ball." It was an appropriate capstone to Buttigieg's three-day Alaska visit: a trip intended to emphasize the benefits of the Biden administration's infrastructure law,... Full story
JUNEAU - The gray, two-story home with white trim toppled and slid, crashing into the river below as rushing waters carried off a bobbing chunk of its roof. Next door, a condo building teetered on the edge of the bank, its foundation already having fallen away as erosion undercut it. The destruction came over the weekend as a glacial dam burst in Alaska's capital, swelling the levels of the Mendenhall River to an unprecedented degree. The bursting of such snow-and-ice dams is a phenomenon...
