Sorted by date Results 3551 - 3575 of 5678
October 28, 1916 – A local business man suggests that, in anticipation of probable spells of cold, dry weather during the nearing winter season, with consequent increase of danger from fires, now would be a very proper time for some preparedness. While the present members of Petersburg’s volunteer fire department have proven their efficiency in the handling of firefighting apparatus, and have thereby on numerous occasions prevented serious property loss, a strengthening of the organization at this time through the acquisition of and dri... Full story
The Planning and Zoning Commission spent a significant amount of time at their Oct. 25 meeting on the issue of the Borough’s proposed land sale of Lot 10 in the 900 block of Sandy Beach Road. Votes to vacate a portion of a public easement on the property and to rezone it from public use to single-family residential both failed, largely because several on the commission had concerns about the sale itself which has drawn criticism from many local residents. Though the land sale has already been approved by the Assembly, commissioner Dave K... Full story
The Alaska Mental Health and Trust Authority will hold a community meeting at the Sons of Norway Hall tonight, October 27 from 7-9 p.m. to talk about their hope to exchange land with the US Forest Service and the potential for selective helicopter logging on land they own near Petersburg. AMHTA has been working towards a land exchange deal for 10 years and in September announced they would move ahead with selective logging on their land in both Petersburg and on Deer Mountain in Ketchikan if Congress failed to approve the land exchange by Jan....
Susan Harai, engineer for Petersburg Indian Association (PIA), informed the Planning Commission at their Tuesday meeting that a previously proposed trail to connect the Severson subdivision to the fire station was found to be unviable, aside from a 1,400 foot portion that would connect Possum to Queen Street via a raised boardwalk. The trail was part of PIA's long-range transportation plan which includes more portions of trails in neighborhoods in town to supplement the variety of trails built...
ANCHORAGE – Night-drop kennels give stray animals a warm place to spend the night in Anchorage. People who find animals after hours but cannot take them home can leave them in heated kennels behind Anchorage Animal Care and Control, reported KTVA-TV. The kennels have water access and the doors lock behind the animals. Shelter workers check the kennels every morning. Animal Care and Control spokeswoman Laura Atwood said shelter staffers feel for animals left outside despite the availability of kennels. “Somebody was trying to get the dog in the...
Three people were displaced from a trailer fire Friday night at about 11:58 p.m. on South 41/2 Street. The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene with two engines and an ambulance and found the structure fully engulfed. A neighboring trailer had also caught fire and suffered slight exterior damage. According to Dave Berg, PVFD spokesperson, it took the department 10-15 minutes to knock down the blaze and another two-hours to extinguish hot spots. Cause of the fire is...
ANCHORAGE – Biologist Colleen Handel saw her first black-capped chickadee with the heartrending disorder in 1998. The tiny birds showed up at birdfeeders in Alaska's largest city with freakishly long beaks. Some beaks looked like sprung scissors, unable to come together at the tips. Others curved up or down like crossed sickles. Handel, a U.S. Geological Survey bird specialist, was sure the cause of avian keratin disorder would be found quickly: contaminated birdseed, a poison targeting s...
BETHEL – Bethel has collected over a quarter of a million dollars in alcohol sales taxes since a pizza shop sold the city’s first beer in more than four decades earlier this year. Fili’s Pizza and AC Quick Stop have paid Bethel more than $277,000 this year in alcohol taxes, with the liquor store contributing the majority of the funds. Another liquor store recently opened, but its sales weren’t included, KYUK-AM reported AC Quick Stop opened in May and has paid nearly $272,000 in alcohol taxes. The pizza shop has paid about $5,000 under the 12...
The community gym was bustling for the better part of Saturday as over 50 food, art and craft vendors set up booths and sold their wares at the 40th annual Oktoberfest Art Share. The event is coordinated by the Muskeg Maleriers and this year Jean Curry, Sally Dwyer and Polly Koeneman were the lead organizers. "It went well," Curry said. "It was busy almost the entire time." Shoppers had access to everything from pottery and jewelry to beeswax candles and handcrafted textiles. As tradition goes,...
HOMER – Homer Folk School is here to stay and provide intergenerational learning of folk arts from homesteading to maritime skills to Homer and the surrounding areas, said folk school board member, as well as organic farmer and herbalist, Robin McAllistar. “I am such a fan. I am so excited about this amazing thing that is being created. We’re hitting the ground running. We’ve got classes up. Our first year anniversary is going to be really telling,” McAllistar said. “I have full faith that this is the first day of Homer Folk School and i...
FAIRBANKS – This summer’s discovery of dinosaur bones in Denali National Park has opened the door for more remains to be found, researchers say. Paleontologists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the National Park Service uncovered the bones during a July expedition. The trip also turned up new dinosaur trackways, fossilized impressions the animals left by walking through mud that later hardened into stone. Pat Druckenmiller, curator of earth sciences at the University of Alaska Museum of the North, said the discovery marks the beg...
WRANGELL – The city is currently working on ways to reduce the number of autos, boats and other items abandoned or else improperly stored around the island. Chief Doug McCloskey with the Wrangell Police Department explained there currently are many derelict vehicles on the city’s radar, about a dozen in all. In municipal code, junk vehicles by definition are those which are stripped, wrecked or otherwise inoperable due to mechanical failure. Currently it is against the law for a junk vehicle to remain in public view on any property, public or...
ANCHORAGE – The state of Alaska has received a $1 million grant to help bolster employment within the state’s health care and aviation industries. The U.S. Department of Labor grant will support apprenticeship programs, which the state hopes will encourage more companies to hire Alaska residents, The Alaska Public Radio Network reported. The programs combine on-the-job training with classroom instruction. “We’ve gotta do everything we can, and apprenticeship just seems to provide a really good opportunity to get folks on the first ladder...
In the October 13, 2016 interview “Lifelong resident launches write-in campaign”, Mike Sheldon was quoted: “we knew the price of oil wouldn’t be over 100 dollars a gallon forever.” The quote should have said: “we knew the price of oil wouldn’t be over 100 dollars a barrel forever....
The owners, operator and individual Fishing Quota permit holder of the F/V Spicy Lady were charged in 2015 with three counts under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and the Northern Pacific Halibut Act for retaining IFQ halibut on the vessel in Regulatory Area 3A in excess of the total amount of unharvested IFQ applicable to that regulatory area held by all IFQ permit holders aboard the vessel. They were also charged for retaining IFQ sablefish on the vessel in Regulatory Area West Yakutat in excess of the total...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously voted to authorize borough manager Stephen Giesbrecht to enter into a cost share agreement for a dredging study of South Harbor at its meeting Monday night. The harbor is becoming increasingly difficult for some larger vessels to access. The agreement allows the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to gather information on the project to determine the feasibility of a long-term partnership with the borough. The federal agency will pay the initial $100,000 for... Full story
In 1971, there was a record setting stretch of 17 days without rain during September and October. In 2012, there was a 13-day stretch during the same period with dry weather, according to NOAA meteorologist David Levin based in Juneau. Levin says the lowest total on record for precipitation for October came in 2012. And it steadily increased with 13.76 inches the next year, 15.97 inches in 2014, and 19.27 inches falling last year. He says there’s a chance the total rainfall for October this year could challenge the 2012 amount of 6.12 inches, o... Full story
The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department’s youth program is picking up momentum and students are beginning to learn more about fire behavior and safety. Program leader Devren Bennett says this year has been great because it’s a full class with 12 students participating. Bennett says among the top benefits is introducing youth to the PVFD program. This is important to the local community because the department is having a difficult time bringing in recruits. It’s a problem departments natio... Full story
JUNEAU – Forecasters say Juneau has seen measurable snowfall before Fairbanks for the first time in over 70 years. The National Weather Service reported on Sunday that Juneau was one of the first communities in Alaska to have snowfall this season. “Fairbanks has not seen any snow yet so far this season, neither has Anchorage. Nome has had zero. Kotzebue has had zero,’’ meteorologist Edward Liske told KTOO-FM. “The only place that really has had measurable snow this season has been Barrow with a tenth of an inch so far.” The state’s cap...
ANCHORAGE - Two southeast Alaska hunters have been cited for shooting swimming deer. Alaska Wildlife Troopers on Saturday seized six deer from the fishing vessel Sumner near Washington Bay on Kuiu Island. Troopers say 49-year-old Robert Martin of Petersburg and a 15-year-old juvenile shot the deer as the animals swam near Mist Cove. Troopers seized two rifles. Martin was cited for taking big game from a boat and taking swimming big game. On Tuesday, the juvenile was issued a summons on counts of taking big game while swimming, taking big game...
Area hunters brought in a bumper harvest this fall, with 112 moose reported at the end of the month-long 2016 season on Saturday. The total ended up being the largest on record, besting the 109 harvested in 2009. That year, antler restrictions were loosened to allow the harvest of bulls with two brow tines on both antlers, allowing for better yields. Alaska Department of Fish and Game area biologist Rich Lowell noted returns on the Stikine River were well below the long-term yearly average of 26...
WRANGELL – Wrangell Cooperative Association added its voice to the chorus of people concerned about Canadian mining concerns developing upstream of shared rivers. The forum was a hearing held by the Alaska House Fisheries Special Committee in Juneau on October 12. Testimony was collected from around the state, with speakers calling in even from as far away as Arizona. The issue at hand is a collection of large scale mines either operating or in development, located in the watersheds of the Stikine, Unuk and Taku rivers. For Wrangell, the Red C...
Topi Karikorpi is this year's inbound Rotary Long Term Exchange student and he's been enjoying island life for two months now. He comes from a small village in Finland, and says he likes the size of Petersburg. "I live in a very little village in Finland," he says. "I live in a forest, literally." Other exchange students from his country went to Florida and Brazil, but Karikorpi, 18, is glad he was chosen to live in Alaska. "I want to learn more about the culture of America and meet new people,"...
ANCHORAGE – The two main candidates for Alaska’s sole U.S. House seat vowed Monday to work with whoever wins the presidential election to advance Alaska’s interests in resource development. “I won’t be happy particularly with one of them being elected, and won’t be too happy with the other one,’’ said Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, without naming either presidential candidate. Young, the longest serving Republican in the U.S. House, is seeking his 23rd term. “I’ve worked with eight presidents, and I’ll work with a ninth president to make sure Alaska...
PHS volleyball headed to the Juneau Invitational Volleyball Extravaganza or JIVE Tournament last weekend and faced some tough competition. It’s a tournament the players and coaching staff look forward to every year, according to head coach Jaime Cabral. “Good weekend overall, we got to play some of the bigger teams with Juneau-Douglas, Mt. Edgecumbe and Sitka. The ones we normally don’t get to see,” he says. “Playing against them, we were up on points and then kind of hit a couple parts where we tensed up a little bit.” Petersburg ended up lo...
