Sorted by date Results 3371 - 3395 of 5694
Borough-wide trash collection should go more quickly, with the arrival of a 2017 side-loading vehicle, according to Public Works Director Karl Hagerman. The Borough’s oldest trash collection vehicle has been out of service since the start of the year. The 2006 vehicle “has had one problem after another,” so the sanitation department has gotten by with two trucks, collecting both recycle totes as well as trash, according to Hagerman. Hagerman explained that crews often had to pull trash from large totes by hand, since the rear-loading truck...
WRANGELL – Residents of Wrangell concerned about the state’s evolving budget proposals joined those from Cordova, Nome and other rural communities in testifying on House Bill 57 over the weekend. Proposed by the House Finance Committee as part of a package of budget cuts, HB 57 proposes cutting state payments to municipalities for school construction debt. Homer Rep. vPaul Seaton (R-District 31) co-chaired the proceedings on March 4, seeking input ahead of an amendment process scheduled for Tuesday. Wrangell is among the communities that would...
The bill giving the green light to an exchange of thousands of acres of land between the Alaska Mental Health Trust and the U.S. Forest Service was introduced in Juneau this week. Rep. Dan Ortiz, I-Ketchikan, filed House Bill 155 on Monday. It authorizes the trust to go ahead with an exchange of more than 17,000 acres of trust land for 20,000 acres of rural Forest Service timber land. In the process, the exchange would eliminate the possibility of logging on trust-owned land on Deer Mountain and above the Mitkof Highway in Petersburg. Those...
ANCHORAGE (AP) – Two people were rescued Friday after their small plane made an emergency landing near an Alaska island. The Coast Guard credits local authorities and others from the nearby community of Metlakatla for quickly responding to the scene in Smuggler Cove off Annette Island. The Coast Guard also helped in the response. Petty Officer Lauren Steenson says the people rescued were taken to the Metlakatla clinic for treatment of minor injuries. Officials say that because of icing on the BE18 Beechcraft plane, the pilot had missed the a...
The final chapter of Petersburg Medical Center's strategic plan is likely the most daunting. The first goal of the plan states: "Fix or replace the facility to create a safe environment for patients, staff and community." Decisions need to be made to remodel the current facility at an estimated cost of $16 million or to replace the facility for an estimated $33 million. Both options require outside funding sources. In May 2016 Joann Lott of Jensen Yorba Lott Architects told the PMC board:...
A snag in Sitka that was holding up progress on a state bill to help the Alaska Mental Health Trust with its land exchange — and thereby prevent logging on Deer Mountain — has been resolved, putting the bill on track to be introduced this session. State and federal lawmakers, at the behest of the trust, have been working on legislation that would mandate the U.S. Forest Service exchange more than 20,000 acres of rural timber land for approximately 17,000 acres of trust land located near Ketchikan, Meyers Chuck, Petersburg, Wrangell, Sitka and...
The Petersburg Police Department clarified that the arrest reported in the March 2 edition of Dustin L. Delong, 29 was a non-custody arrest. Charges of Theft in the 4th Degree and Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree resulted in charges being filed, but Delong was not taken into custody....
WRANGELL — Anan Wildlife Observatory will soon be implementing site improvements for safety and to extend the life of its existing facilities. The work is scheduled to begin March 15, 2017, weather permitting. Rainforest Contracting Inc. of Petersburg, will be making improvements to the trailhead and observatory deck. The work will require periodic closures to portions of the Anan Creek Trail (Trail #448) during construction and closure of the Lower Falls Observation Deck when the work moves to that location in the spring. The contractor w...
Glenn Cooke, CEO of Cooke Inc. was the keynote speaker at the Chamber of Commerce annual meeting and banquet on Saturday night at the Sons of Norway Hall. His company purchased Icicle Seafoods in June of last year. Cooke lives in Saint John, New Brunswick with his wife Pamela and two young children Allison and William. "Every time I come to Petersburg I discover we have many more things in common than we have differences. We all speak the language of seafood. We all depend on the sea for our liv...
Oversight and communication by the Chief Financial Officer are a key component of PMC's strategic plan to achieve a break-even operation. The CFO is charged to balance quarterly spending with revenue and reimbursement in each department and control unnecessary waste at PMC. Doran Hammet, CFO, regularly communicates PMC's financial position to employees, physicians, management and the board. He does this at monthly meetings of the hospital board. He assures that pricing is competitive and he...
State Senator Bert Stedman predicts the legislature will be in session for a full 120 days with an additional 30 day session if they are to complete their work this session. “There’s a lot of talk of the 90 day session but the constitution calls for 121 days. “We’ve only finished in 90 days one time,” Stedman noted. Stedman was in Petersburg this past weekend to attend the Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet along with his wife Lureen. Stedman said there is a “near zero chance of a 90 day session with any quality work being accomplishe...
Petersburg Rotarian Rick Braun traveled to India recently to administer polio vaccines and help build two dams to create a water retention reservoir. The reservoir will provide both crop irrigation water and raise the underground water table, enabling area wells to store more water for village residents. Braun has been a member of the Petersburg Rotary Club since 1987. The club has carried out fundraising projects for the organization's Polio Plus project for decades. Braun said polio has been...
Superior Court Judge William Carey presided over the sentencing of Marvin Mitchell Jackson on state charges of Misconduct Involving Controlled Substance, a Class B felony. The court ruled Jackson is to serve 23-months in jail. The jail time will be served concurrently with his jail time on Federal charges. Jackson was also ordered to pay a police training surcharge of $100 and $500 towards the cost of appointed counsel. While investigating the drug case, police seized and searched his cell...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly gathered in its newly renovated municipal building this week during its February 27 meeting. During the meeting, the assembly passed 5-2 in its final reading an ordinance updating from city to borough code a Local Improvement District (LID) that allows for property owner-funded capital improvement projects. The ordinance would, in part, take advantage of the SECON asphalt plant while it’s in town by offering residents of select neighborhoods the opportunity to pay for their streets to be paved. The assembly a...
The Alaska Dispatch News reported this weekend that Juneau’s three lawmakers “are collecting thousands of dollars in public money meant to pay for their lodging and meals during the annual legislative session even as they live in their own homes.” This when Alaska is trying to cut its way out of a multi-billion-dollar deficit. Sen. Dennis Egan and Reps. Sam Kito III and Justin Parish, all Democrats, each get $160 a day in “per diem” payments, according to the Dispatch. The Legislature convened Jan. 17 for a 90-day session. In addition to the pe...
Luis Guillermo Arce is the first prisoner to be housed in the new community jail. Arce, age 59 of Petersburg, was arrested on Feb. 22, after Magistrate Judge Desiree Burrell issued a warrant for his arrest the day before. The arrest followed an investigation, which resulted in the filing of charging documents for Domestic Violence Assault in the Fourth Degree. Arce appeared in court on Feb. 22 and was released on his own recognizance with conditions. A plea agreement was reached pending...
WRAGNGEL – When Southeast Conference meets for its annual Mid-Session Summit in Juneau later this month, among the items high on its list for discussion is the structural reform of Alaska's ferry system. Southeast Alaskans have become dependent on the state's Marine Highway System since its establishment in 1959, essentially becoming their road network into and out of the region. It is a significant economic driver for the coastal communities it services as well, with an estimated impact of j...
WRANGELL – The City and Borough Assembly confirmed its selection of an interim borough manager to serve after Jeff Jabusch retires from the position March 31. He announced his plans to retire last September, putting an end to four decades of service to the city. In his stead, economic director Carol Rushmore has been named to serve as interim manager. As part of the arrangement, the Assembly agreed she will be paid an extra stipend for the months of March, April, and however long it might t...
KETCHIKAN (AP) – Elizabeth Peratrovich’s name now stands over the theater in the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center, placed there by the U.S. Forest Service and the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood and revealed in an emotional ceremony. Peratrovich, born in Petersburg in 1911 as a Tlingit of the Raven-Sockeye clan, is celebrated for her role in the passage of the Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945, one of the first of its kind in the United States, in territorial Alaska a role that dozens of people honored during the ceremony renaming the t...
The Petersburg Borough Administration offices will be closed Thursday and Friday to allow the staff to move into the renovated facility on Nordic Drive. The borough has been leasing space at Petersburg Indian Association's Halingstad Peratrovich Center on 12th Street for the past year. Finance Director Jody Tow said the Borough has leased office space for the past year and wanted to relocate before they paid an additional month's rent. Tow said the Borough paid $8,000/month to the Petersburg Ind...
Petersburg Medical Center’s strategic plan includes monitoring and improving health care services at the facility. This entails using state, federal and internal quality indicators to improve clinical excellence at PMC. Staff educational meetings and reports to the hospital board are a function of monitoring progress of the plan. Staff will monitor for new and changing regulations and implement those changes with education of employees and reports to the board. Policies will be updated to reflect changes in regulations, according to the strateg...
The Petersburg Girls Scouts enjoyed a day long STEM workshop at the Sons of Norway Hall lead by Kelly Fitzgerald of the Alaska Girl Scout Council. The girls rotated through four sections on: engineering, ecology, ornithology and seismology. Susan Harai, a professional engineer licensed in the State of Alaska, lead the engineering project which was a geodesic dome made of newspaper triangles. The triangles are the strongest structure shape and are used throughout building trusses and bridges. The girls built the dome then further added to the...
WRANGELL – The hospital approved a response to the Wrangell Borough Assembly regarding the future of its billing services contract. At an August 23 meeting, the city’s governing body asked that Wrangell Medical Center put together an assessment of its two-year contract with TruBridge, which took over billing services for the community-owned hospital the summer of 2015. The contract offered the company 2.2 percent of the transactions it processes on behalf of the hospital, with the intention of addressing its excessive accounts receivable and...
WRANGELL – After meeting with one candidate in a closed-door session last week, the Wrangell Borough Assembly has decided to put the city manager position back out for advertisement. In the position since 2013, present manager Jeff Jabusch announced last September his plans to retire on March 31. Prior to that, he spent the better four decades as the city finance director. From a pool of 25 candidates a selection committee made up of Mayor David Jack, city staff and some Assembly members winnowed the field to four candidates. Of these, two d...
WRANGELL – A Wrangellite took part in the 44th annual March for Life, which last month made its way through the streets of Washington, D.C. Since 1974, the annual nondenominational march is held each year on or around the anniversary of the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, which held that abortion was protected under the right to privacy in the Constitution. Opponents to the court decision have since met at the National Mall on about every January 22 since, marching from there to the s...
