Sorted by date Results 2986 - 3010 of 5684
WRANEGLL — The state environmental regulator last week announced it would be postponing a planned monofill project on Wrangell Island until next year. In a press release issued September 7, the Department of Environmental Conservation announced it will hold off on construction of a monofill site on the island. The department is currently engaged in the cleanup for the former Byford site, a property south of Wrangell that had for several decades been used as a junkyard. The first phase of thi...
WRANGELL - The local American Legion unit held a day of service and remembrance over the weekend, dedicated to the September 11 attacks. The American Legion Auxiliary of Alaska Unit #6 was awarded a $1,000 grant this summer from the national organization, one of 50 such awards provided by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The funds would go toward projects across the country, held between September 8 and 13 in memory of those involved in the attacks of September 11, 2001....
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska Native regional corporation has rejected a proposed settlement from the state of a dispute over public access to Klutina Lake. Ahtna Inc. has been embroiled in a lawsuit with the state since 2008 over the public’s access to the historic Brenwick-Craig Road, leading from Copper Center to Klutina Lake. Ahtna’s board of the directors voted to reject the settlement offer after considering comments from villages in the area and those submitted to the state during the public comment period, the company said in a...
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska state representative has been accused of ethics violations by the Legislative Ethics Committee. The Daily News-Miner reported Tuesday that the Committee claims Republican Rep. Tammie Wilson of North Pole violated two parts of the Ethics Act in January 2014. The Committee claims Wilson produced and sent a postcard about air quality issues to constituents outside her legislative district using state resources and included the return address of an official legislative office on the postcard. Wilson has long b...
At an August 30 hearing Superior Court Judge Louis Menendez ordered the replacement of class representatives and class counsel for the Hanson Class plaintiffs who have been pursuing their receipt of a $2.7 million judgment that was awarded to them in a 1998 award brought forward by Petersburg attorney Fred Triem against Kake Tribal Corporation. Judge Menendez ordered in February 2017 that class representative Clifford Tagaban and class counsel Fred Triem be removed from their respective positions. Paul Fay was elected class representative by...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A proposed ban on intoxication in public places has failed in the Alaska Gold Rush town of Nome, which has long grappled with hard drinking. Officials say the ordinance law fell short of the necessary City Council votes Monday to proceed to a later, second vote. The measure would have prohibited intoxication in public rights of way, including the city’s Front Street, where drinkers can be seen staggering along or passed out near tourist shops. The measure included no penalty for violators, but City Manager Tom Mor...
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities will be conducting road work this week in Petersburg, according to a press release submitted by spokesperson Aurah Landau. Crews will be chip sealing on Mitkof Highway near Papke’s Landing Road and also near Scow Bay Loop Road. Machinery will be on the roads, painted center lines will be gone and speed and other road conditions will be changing. “Please pay close attention to sign and flagger directions for safety,” the press release said. After the work, gravel will be loose on th...
Local attorney Fred Triem appeared before Superior Court Judge William Carey on August 22, to argue that his client Helen Lingley had given him verbal permission to reach a settlement with her former employer Alaska Airlines to resolve a wrongful termination claim Triem filed on her behalf five years ago in 2012. Lingley was terminated from her customer service position with Alaska Airlines in Juneau for removing a customer's lost ear buds from the baggage lock-up area of the terminal, for...
The Petersburg Police Department was unaware when it hired an officer in 2015 that he had allegedly been fired for sexual harassment from his last position. The officer would later have an affair with an informant in Petersburg, allegedly, then leave the department for apparent unrelated reasons, only to commit more sexual misconduct at his next post in Washington State. “We very quickly realized this is not a person we want working in this state,” said Bob Griffiths, the executive director of the Alaska Police Standards Council. “As much...
The 2017 moose season is set to begin next week, with the monthlong harvest opening on September 15. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has already seen an increase in permits being issued as the season approaches. Last year's harvest for District 3 – encompassing Wrangell, Petersburg, and surrounding islands – had seen 110 moose taken, according to ADFG harvest records. It was the district's best on record, surpassing 109 harvested in 2009. "Everything's pretty much the same," Pet...
The Petersburg Borough is one step closer to saving thousands of dollars on gravel road upkeep in residential areas, said Chris Cotta, the assistant director at Public Works. The Borough Assembly approved a bid award to Reid Brothers Construction in a meeting on Tuesday for nearly $43,000 for asphalt waste to be crushed and later used as a replacement for gravel, Cotta said. “The thought has always been that we could crush up the material and turn it into usable recycled asphalt product,” Cotta said in a recommendation letter to the Ass...
The Borough Assembly on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution supporting the Southeast Alaska Solid Waste Authority recommendation to participate in a regional scrap metal recycling system. The approval fast tracks a financial plan that will organize a barge to come to Petersburg and pick up any scrap metal waste the community wants to dispose of, said Karl Hagerman, the Public Works director. A five-year “master plan” agreement with Waste Management and SEASWA has formed in surrounding regions and Petersburg committed to it this week. The...
Stephen Scouller, 48, was arrested on charges of theft in the 2nd degree and theft in the 3rd degree on Aug. 30. Theft in the 3rd Degree places property value at $250 to $999. Theft in the 2nd Degree places property value at $1,000 to $24,999. In a probable cause statement filed in court, contractors Thomas Greenly and Joe Aliberti both reported to police that tools and equipment were stolen from homes they were working on at Arness Heights Drive and Woodrow Wilson Drive respectively. Police...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted three men on charges connected to illegal hunting in an Alaska national park. The indictment announced Tuesday names 44-year-old Jeffrey Harris of Poulsbo (PAWLS-boh), Washington, 72-year-old Dale Lackner, of Haines, Alaska, and 47-year-old Casey Richardson of Huson (HEW-son), Montana. Online court documents do not list their attorneys. Federal prosecutors say the hunts occurred at a lodge in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The indictment says Harris and Richardson, w...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The owner of a southeast Alaska fishing charter service has been ordered to stay out of boats in Alaska waters for one year after pleading guilty to repeat fishing violations. Alaska State Troopers say 75-year-old Stuart Merchant of Klawock pleaded guilty this week to three counts of violating halibut regulations and one count of falsifying sport fish charter logbooks. He was fined $13,000, with $8,000 suspended, plus $2,000 dollars for violating probation from a similar 2015 case. He will forfeit a 26-foot (8-meter) g...
After years of filming, Jeff Mittelstadt was able to offer a private screening to about 140 people in Petersburg, the town which supported the making of his whirlwind documentary, "Staring Down Fate." Mittelstadt had an idea in 2011 to put together a series of short films on the red wolf conflict in North Carolina. He would make an interactive online documentary with graphics to illuminate the science and economics of the red wolf, while telling the stories of people on all sides of the issue....
Forest Service System Road 43501 on the Tonka road system is closed to motor vehicles at milepost 0.513 due to an unsafe bridge. The road will be reopened when the structure is replaced according to a USFS release dated Sept. 6. "Engineers doing routine maintenance checks discovered the log stringers are failing," said Petersburg District Ranger Dave Zimmerman. "The road currently has road closure signage and boulders placed across road." A star on the accompanying map shows the location of the...
WRANGELL — Later this month the region’s economic development organization will be meeting in Haines to discuss new trends, problems and opportunities it will face in the coming year. Representing many of the area’s municipalities, federally-recognized tribes, businesses, government agencies and organizations, Southeast Conference holds two major forums each year, in the spring and in the fall. Its autumn meeting is its biggest, in past years drawing hundreds to hear about and discuss concerns unique to the region, from transportation and u...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The state of Alaska is exploring options for conducting elections after 2018, as it is faced with an aging voting system and financial pressures amid an ongoing state budget deficit. A bipartisan working group established by Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott is examining the issue. Josie Bahnke, director of the state Division of Elections, said one option that has gotten attention is a hybrid system would include allowing for early, in-person voting and voting by mail. But she said discussions are preliminary and more research m...
(JUNEAU, Alaska) – Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) Commissioner Marc Luiken has named Lance Mearig as the Southcoast Region Director. "Lance is precisely the leader we need in Southcoast Region," said Commissioner Luiken. "His professional passion is Alaska's coastal transportation infrastructure and he has long standing relationships in the communities he will be serving." Mearig has over 35 years of experience in transportation. He has most recently s...
A 13-mile race on Labor Day is often not the first activity that comes to mind on a day that celebrates hard work, yet more than a dozen Petersburg folks laced-up to run or walk a half-marathon on Monday morning. About 15 people participated in the 2017 Rain Forest Run with donations to the event going to the Petersburg Cross Country team. Joe Viechnicki organized the race before running in it, despite a dogged knee and slim expectations. "I'm a little sore," Viechnicki said the next day. "I...
WRANGELL - A Wrangell café is raising funds for disaster relief, following the hurricane and deadly floods affecting Texas last month. Zak's Cafe owners James George and Katherine George-Byrd plan to send all earnings from their Tuesday and Wednesday sales this week to a response fund benefitting Hurricane Harvey victims. On August 24 the storm system became the first category 4 hurricane to make landfall in the United States in over a decade, and the biggest in Texas since Hurricane Carla in...
WRANGELL — Last week, Alaska’s lawmakers received word from the governor’s office another session may be called for October. On August 31 emails were sent to members of the Alaska Legislature, letting them know a special session – the fourth of the year – will likely be called to discuss revenue. During the second special session in July an operating budget was passed, with a capital budget approved the following month in another session. The spending bills came with cuts and an overhaul of the state’s oil tax credit system, but without new...
A story in last week’s paper said a nursing program was the first of its kind in Petersburg. There was actually a similar program over a decade ago coordinated through Weber State University, but it was a one-time opportunity. Due to a production error, that was not reflected in the article. The site coordinator, Nichole Mattingly, also noted that Rosa Mergenthal is another instructor currently leading the program in Petersburg....
Delays to line maintenance prompted by a public employee strike in Wrangell this June will cost a regional power utility an extra $103,000. Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) chief executive Trey Acteson presented board members with a change order for the project, which would among other maintenance tasks replace marker balls along the transmission lines connecting Tyee Lake to the grid. Work had been set to start the latter half of June, during which time Wrangell would have had to run on its diesel backups. But an unrelated strike by two...
