Sorted by date Results 4385 - 4409 of 5678
Part of its strategic plan for 2014-2020, WAVE (Working Against Violence for Everyone) has increased advocate interest, moving from five to 13 potential advocates, seven of which are taking calls. But the group is always looking for more. The non-profit organization discussed growing membership, among other topics, during its annual meeting Monday evening at the Petersburg Medical Center. WAVE provides advocacy for victims of both domestic violence and sexual assault. One discussion revolved around the possible formation of new support groups....
WAVE (Working Against Violence for Everyone) has a fairly new service that little seem to know about. “We’re hoping we can get a little more awareness out about the online (chat),” Executive Director Annette Wooten said. “It gives people another option.” The chat service she speaks of is similar to that of Google Gmail’s chat, or of that you’d see a service provider, such as an internet company, provide for tech support. In a small community such as Petersburg’s, it gives victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault seeking help a chance t...
With some troll areas expected to open in mid-April, "a little early" as Sitka Assistant Troll Fishery Biologist Grant Hagerman put it, local fishermen are gearing up for the spring season. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game held a public troll fishery meeting Wednesday afternoon in assembly chambers. An announcement regarding spring fishery plans is expected sometime next week, Troll Fishery Biologist Pattie Skannes said, after all public meetings have wrapped up on Friday. Frederick Sound...
As the summer season nears its start, residents interested in seeking work with the Alaska Marine Highway System or various other marine-related occupations may need to make sure they have the proper credentials first. Among these is the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC), which conveniently enough can be acquired at the Wrangell Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The office was able to take on the program after filing an application through Morphotrust USA, an identity services provider. A site survey was conducted to make...
The first of the Local Marijuana Regulation Advisory Committee subcommittees met over the last week, agreeing to bring a few items to the table for discussion at the next full committee meeting May 27. On Tuesday, at the public safety meeting, subcommittee members said they’d prefer no edibles or extractions be sold in Petersburg, a dispensary sit at least a mile outside of downtown and security of the facilities selling the product. “There’s no place in town I would feel comfortable with because our kids are everywhere,” Kathy Holtzin...
Angela Davis and Wes Davis and ten other sponsors may be asking for your signature on a petition for a resolution to retain the blue bag recycling program for at least two more years. The Davis’s—owners of Ruger’s Trucking, the current recycling contractor–filed an application for an initiative petition with the Borough clerk on Tuesday, and it is currently under review by Borough attorney Jim Brennan. If approved by the attorney, the Davis’s would have a limited time to collect 255 signatures, which would then bring their proposed resolutio... Full story
With budget and tax seasons upon us, money is on the minds of many in Petersburg. Locally, the economy saw about a 6 percent growth in sales across all categories of business from 2013 to 2014. Petersburg businesses reported almost $122 million in sales for 2014, which brought in $3 million in sales tax revenue to the Borough. Retail sales mirrored the overall trend, seeing about a 6 percent increase from $5.17 million in 2013 to $5.5 million in 2014. Several downtown retailers said 2014 kept pace with 2013, not a particularly busy or slow... Full story
Petersburg High School students arrived home with new knowledge and a national competitor in Ian Fleming after this weekend's Alaska High School Statewide Science Symposium. Fleming, who placed second overall, will be heading to the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, sponsored by the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force, in Maryland on April 29. "I'm excited to go," he said; to meet fellow science students from around the country, listen to speakers and make a stop at the nation's... Full story
The Petersburg School Board met in a special meeting Friday morning, approving the search for a new multi function school activity bus (MFSAB) and a bid for new gym lights. The board gave Director of Maintenance Dan Tate the authority to purchase the newest MFSAB he could find up to $40,000. That money will come out of the vehicle fund. Due to federal safety standards, the district has been looking for a 14 passenger or 12 passenger with wheelchair bus to replace a 2003 passenger van used for extracurricular activities. Any replacement...
WRANGELL — The high school is getting ready to sponsor a bit of culture, as it comes Wrangell’s turn to host this year’s Southeast Alaska Regional Artfest next week. Sixty students and 15 teachers from schools around the region will be represented, coming from Klawock, Skagway, Petersburg, Craig, Sitka, Mount Edgecumbe and Juneau. “We’re honored to host the continuation of the Southeast Alaska Artfest,” said Wrangell High School’s art teacher, Anne Luetkemeyer. Fifteen different classes will be offered to students next Wednesday afternoon thr...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors approved the hospital’s 2016 budget on Thursday, March 26, and will be sending it on to the Petersburg Borough Assembly the first of April for review. “The budget is really straight forward,” said Interim Chief Financial Officer Dornan Hammett. Petersburg Medical Center is looking at a total revenue of $13.9 million with operating and non-operating revenues, and a total expense of $13.8 million. There’ll be a $580,000 operating revenue loss, but a net gain of $71,000 with the non-ope...
A project to improve storage capacity at Southeast Alaska Power Agency’s (SEAPA) Swan Lake hydropower facility continues along with efforts to finance it with up to $11.36 million in bond sales. Over the past month, SEAPA’s executive director Trey Acteson and general counsel presented updates on the planned expansion of the facility located northeast of Ketchikan on Revillagigedo Island. Each of SEAPA’s three member utilities—Wrangell, Petersburg and Ketchikan— heard presentations on the expansion and the associated bonds. The project w...
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has cancelled a preliminary permit issued to Hydro Development, LLC in August 2013 to study the feasibility of a hydroelectric power project at Swan Lake and Cascade Creek, located 15 miles northeast of Petersburg near Thomas Bay. FERC issued the order to cancel on March 17 after the Bellingham-based company failed to submit a progress report. The preliminary permit granted by FERC gave Hydro Development, LLC priority to submit a license application for the project. Their 2012 application for the...
Environmental organization Earthjustice announced last Friday groups it is representing in a trio of lawsuits opposed to U.S. Forest Service’s Big Thorne timber sale have filed two notices of appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, following the dismissal of their suits by a federal judge in a March 20 ruling. The Big Thorne sale involves the harvest of around 6,200 acres of forest on Prince of Wales Island and includes the clearcut of old-growth rainforest. Klawock-based mill Viking Lumber was awarded a contract last September to h...
WRANGELL — Wrangell residents and other Alaskans from around the state were given more opportunity to voice concerns over impending cuts to state programming during a public hearing held Monday evening for the draft of next year’s budget being considered by the Senate Finance Committee. Six Wrangellites came to their local Legislative Information Office to provide testimony via telephone, along with residents of Petersburg and Ketchikan. “I am speaking in opposition to the cuts to the Alaska Marine Highway System,” borough manager Jeff Jabusch...
Dave Kensinger of Chelan Produce has a 38-year-long business history with the ferry system. “I’ve probably ridden the ferry more than anybody else,” he said. He uses the barge to ship produce (and has for a long while), but utilizes the ferry to travel back and forth between Sitka, where he also sells produce. With a Senate Finance Subcommittee proposing a $12.3 million cut to the ferry system, reducing service to Petersburg and other Southeast communities, Kensinger said he and his wife are looking to fly back and forth to Sitka now, a more ex...
The Senate Finance Subcommittee voted Thursday, March 25, to eliminate all funding to public radio and television. “To be clear: this level of a cut would end KFSK’s local service,” General Manager Tom Abbott said in an email attached to a parent legislative update from Petersburg schools. KFSK has a total budget of $480,000 in revenue: $137,000 in state funds, $125,000 in federal funds and $218,000 in local revenue, Abbott wrote. Governor Bill Walker proposed an 18 percent cut to public broadcasting, then a 59 percent one was proposed in th...
The Petersburg Borough was the lone bidder on three parcels of land at Papke's Landing. Seven parcels at Papke's Landing were up for bid as part of the Alaska Mental Health Trust's 2014 winter land sale, which closed Friday. The parcels bid on by the borough measure half an acre each and are located south of Papke's Landing Road near the dock and parking area. Outgoing borough clerk Kathy O'Rear said the Borough bid $46,000 for lot 7 (parcel 24) and $31,050 each for lots 1 and 2 (parcels 18 and... Full story
The Local Marijuana Regulation Advisory Committee met for the first time Wednesday evening, establishing subcommittees to discuss concerns more in-depth. It ultimately decided to form three subcommittees: zoning, discussing where marijuana may be grown, sold and smoked; permitting and taxation; and public safety. “My main concern is to make sure it (marijuana) stays in proper places and not near schools,” committee member Thomas Kojima said. He wasn’t alone in wanting to keep marijuana out of the hands of minors. That’s why the topic got tossed... Full story
The Petersburg School District is looking at a potential enrollment increase next year, “exciting” news for a district that had been seeing a fairly steady decline until the last year or two, Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter said. After speaking with preschools and health clinics, the district is looking at an estimated 44 kindergartners next year. It currently has 27 and is graduating 30 seniors this year. Mitkof Middle School will actually see a smaller group, with 29 sixth graders going over. It’ll provide “different opportunities for sch... Full story
The two have spent 65 years together as a married couple, traveling and taking on new ventures. George and Florabelle Rice are celebrating that anniversary this week, having married on March 25, 1950. The couple met in college in 1949. Florabelle was a junior and George had just begun school on the GI Bill. They married quickly. "In '50, we graduated together from Western Washington, one of five couples," George said. The two stayed in Washington state for several years working as teachers. In 1...
The Petersburg Community Foundation’s (PCF) will award $11,000 to local nonprofit organizations this year as part of their annual grant cycle. Three or more organizations will receive grant monies from PCF to support programs in areas ranging from health and safety to community and economic development to the arts, recreation and education. In order to be eligible for the grant, organizations applying must have 501c3 status. Community services organizations without such a status may partner with a 501c3. “These grants are quite often ideal for...
It's a great opportunity to work with scientists and see what peers from other parts of the state are doing: four students from Petersburg High School are heading to the Alaska Statewide High School Science Symposium this weekend. The "fabulous four," as their AP (Advanced Placement) biology teacher Joni Johnson referred to them, have each completed their own experiments and made presentations based upon them. They presented their hypothesis and findings to an audience at the Petersburg Public L...
One People Canoe Society (OPCS) will be hosting their first-ever Petersburg paddle making workshop this weekend. Veteran paddle makers Jim Zeller and Doug Chilton will lead participants through the three-day workshop using equipment in the Petersburg High School shop classroom. “We promote healthy activities using canoes and canoeing activities,” said OPCS organizer Alicia Armstrong, adding that the workshops teach teamwork as well as the technical skills of paddle making. “The paddles are actually used for being out in the water and on a can...
The Inside Passage Waterkeeper organization premiered their "Water is Life" film to a Petersburg audience of about 50 at the public library on Friday. The ten-minute video follows the Stikine River from its headwaters to its terminus and highlights its importance to nearby communities. "The purpose of the video is to help people remember that this really is a rich, rich resource that we have here and it's increasingly rare in this world to have such a rich resource like that," said Daven Hafey,...
