Sorted by date Results 926 - 950 of 1031
Stikine River mineral development To the Editor: This letter is to inform Petersburg residents of an important presentation coming to our community next week. On Wednesday, May 22, Guy Archibald of SEACC and Chris Zimmer of Rivers Without Borders will be giving a very informative power point presentation on the proposed mineral development up the Stikine River. The following night there will be an informal question and answer gathering. Both events will be at the Council Chambers, starting at 7...
Since the Petersburg Borough is a 6% partner with every business within their jurisdiction, it seems intuitive that their best interests would be served by working with those businesses to expand the economy with the use of tax-free shopping incentives for local shoppers. Since the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce had worked with the body to create Ordinance 954 and voters approved the ordinance allowing up to two tax free days per year, the effort was making inroads to give shoppers yet another reason to shop at home… not in Juneau, not in S...
Thank you To the Editor: It's 4 am on Tuesday morning and like the past three mornings that my wife and I have been in Petersburg, I find myself wide awake...you have to love jet lag. As long as I'm awake, I wanted to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you all for the hospitality that you've shown to us. We are truly amazed at how many friends we've made in our short time here. One of the main inviting factors in our decision to apply for the chief's position in Petersburg was the sheer natural beauty of the Inside Passage. What we've...
Nice when we were trusted To the Editor: The sky didn’t fall when we became a borough. In fact, nothing much seems to have changed at all. The old city limits sign is still in place. The council, er.. the assembly, still meets in the same chambers with the same old city emblem on its bench. There is only one change I’ve noticed. This is my 3rd year as a senior citizen. The first two years I paid for my tax-exempt card. Not once was I asked to show it. I just told them my number or wrote it down. It was nice to be trusted. Now that we are a boro...
Greens Camp improvements To the Editor: Thank you Petersburg Indian Association, Petersburg Borough and the Wrangell/Petersburg RAC for all the work, time and funding you have placed into improvements to Green's Camp. The State owned facility now has defined camp sites, wonderful picnic tables, a good road and grated fire pits.... all attributed to local labor, time and dedication. It is a wonderful place to visit and camp, not only for us residents and our families, but for our visitors. Now, if only we can work together to keep it clean. If...
Tonka Mess To the Editor: Thanks for this truth. Additionally, the Tonka mess goes far beyond these later-made changes. The Final EIS is devoid of important habitat & wildlife information that ADF&G put on record earlier in the Tonka planning process. That was removed at the direction of the State's Tongass timber tzar (in DNR), who executed the Parnell administration's political policy. The governor is entitled to his policy, but an EIS must be a fact-driven document. The Forest Service failed the public interest Larry Edwa...
What respect means to me is kindness and always paying attention when the person is talking. Also respect is an act of giving particular attention: consideration. When I’m respectful I’m kind and listening to what the teacher or my friends are saying. When I show respect I would normally get respect back and if my family shows respect to me they would get respect back. All-in-all respect is an act of kindness and helpfulness. I love to be respectful because I’m a person of kindness. Madyson Sauer, 6th grade Respect is treating others the same a...
Consider local preference To the Editor: Thank you and kudos to the Borough Assembly for having a noon meeting. It allowed me to attend without fear of being caught in the dark on my way home although it looked like the fog was going to make it difficult. I know nothing about contract law but it appears that, once again, Manager Giesbrecht is going to send a substantial amount of money out of our community. He urged the Assembly to deny Jim Martinsen’s appeal against awarding a several million-dollar contract to a Ketchikan contractor for w...
No EIS done on Tonka To the Editor: The March 28, 2013 Petersburg Pilot article on the Tonka log sorting and storage facility did not inform the public with all of the facts. On March 28, 2012 the Tonka Timber Sale FEIS was released and the Record of Decision (ROD) was signed which provided for the construction of a new Sort Yard of 5 acres. On April of 2012 the USFS performed a Change Analysis to expand the area another 11 acres which now total 16 acres (a 16 acre loss of productive old-growth, deer winter habitat, and an important wildlife...
Thank you To The Editor: This is a big Thank You letter from Ashley DuRoss, the chaperone for the upcoming Artfest event held in Skagway April 9th- 12th. THANK YOU community members for buying dinner tickets and supporting my young artists who will be participating in Artfest. We sold 145 dinners in one week! I hope your taste buds and bellies enjoyed the Seafood Fettuccine Alfredo dinner on Sunday night, March 24th. There was a lot of helping hands behind the scenes of that dinner. Thank you students! You worked hard in the kitchen, did well...
Made me feel welcome To the Editor: I want to thank everyone who helped make my first formal visit to Petersburg as your representative successful. I was lucky to be able to spend a long weekend in Petersburg March 7-10 while the Legislature took a break. On Friday, about 50 people came to a pizza party at the Legislative Information Office on Gjoa Street. I was also able to meet with various groups around town, including the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association and Petersburg Economic Development Corporation. I also spent time at some of the...
Staff does super job To the Editor: The Pilot can't get enough accolades as far as I'm concerned. Your staff does a super job at reporting with accuracy, fairness and integrity. Mary Lou Miller Detroit, Mich....
First, do no harm To the Editor: Does your heart break when you consider the motherless children? When you see a child without the loving embrace of her arms? We have been commanded to honor our mothers, yet we have allowed an innocent woman to be bereft of her life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Which law has she broken, one that is real, or one that is unreal? The law of the universe, or the law of the machine? Which law will you obey? We have also been commanded to love our enemies, to bless those that curse us, do good to those that...
Not going to mend fences To the Editor: Well, dip me in honey and throw me to the bears. For once I agree with Dana Thynes. In last week's Pilot, she took the newly elected borough assembly to the woodshed for not appointing Bob Lynn to one of the vacant assembly positions. Her point was that Mr. Lynn was a good candidate, but the elected assembly members rejected him in favor of appointments intended to preserve a uniform perspective on the assembly. Ms. Thynes also theorized that there was a “secret handshake” imbedded in a question that the... Full story
Several people have inquired why this newspaper never printed the final borough election results. We assured them that we had, but not until this week did we actually go through the January 2013 editions of the Petersburg Pilot to confirm that publication did take place. After all, this writer had a printout of the election results which were posted on the State of Alaska website, complete with scribbled notes on the page, indicating the story had been prepared for publication in the Jan. 3 edition. Also, we recollected discussions with our sta... Full story
Cruise ship sewage mixing zone To the Editor: It is with a feeling of pride that I can now tell family and friends that I am now a 'Cruise ship sewage mixing zone Alaskan commercial fisherman'. Imagine, out on the beautiful waters of Southeast Alaska, catching salmon from the fecal and heavy metal polluted waters. It's only a million people or so a season on the cruise ships. And for sure, once word gets out salmon and seafood consumers around the world will all want to purchase our fecal and heavy metal laced seafood. A nod of thanks to our...
The season of silence between the borough vote in December 2012, and the formation of assemblies, commissions, boards and committees suggested that those opposed to the formation of the Petersburg Borough might accept the election results. We hoped all would prepare to work together under the new borough. After all, many of the more vocal borough opponents drafted the very charter that provided the outline for the new government entity. Instead, this week the assembly is lambasted for the appointments they made to the assembly, filling vacant...
“Thank you” to emergency responders To the Editor: The motto for Alaska’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is, ‘Neighbor Helping Neighbor’ and in the past several weeks, I’ve been able to witness communities walking the walk, not just talking the talk. Recently, a child was murdered in the village of Kake. Responding to the call for help, the Kake EMS and the community responded to one of the most dreadful scenes imaginable. In the wake of the event, resources flooded into Kake to help with the psychological and physical trauma surrounding...
Stedman Barn Dance To the Editor: I am a little late on writing this but figured better late than never. I would personally like to thank all those who helped and volunteered for the Barn Dance. Not having any past experience with how they have run, I think this years was a great success. We couldn't have done it with out the many teachers, staff, parents and students who volunteered. We would like to thank Hammer and Wikan for donating items and the community for coming out and enjoying this great event. I'm sure I am missing people or places...
Nominate a volunteer To the Editor: Dear Alaskans, Whenever I travel in Alaska, I meet volunteers with big hearts and helping hands. I know you see their positive impact in your community. Please take time to nominate an outstanding volunteer for the First Lady's Volunteer of the Year Awards. Nominations are due by March 1, 2013. Details and a link to the nomination form are available at gov.alaska.gov. Thanks to all our volunteers for making a difference across our great state. Sandy Parnell First Lady of Alaska...
Big adventure ahead To the Editor: The newly created Petersburg Borough stands poised at an epic transformation. The big question is: How can we achieve unity in the overall populace? No other organized borough in Alaska hails any ethnic group as a component in it’s composition either in it’s name or group as a component in it’s motto/slogan/by line/ tag line. Why? It would be devisive and discriminatory, degrading every other person outside the named group. Our new organized borough now includes lands and waters and people far outside the t...
Can’t kill our way out of mess To the Editor: If we’ve reached a new biological cliff and are turning to preditor control as our last tool in the toolbox, it means we’ve failed. We’ve failed to manage ourselves and the need for a scapegoat. The reality is a number of human factors have led to dramatic declines in deer populations and we can’t simply kill our way out of this mess. The state manages deer for maximum huntable populations. The problem is, the forest service manages the land for industrial clear cutting using a 30 year old faulty de...
We were surprised to hear that 337 mail-in ballots remain to be counted by the Division of Elections. We guessed that 100 to 150 more ballots would be the likely number of late returns for the borough election whose deadline was Dec. 18. We doubt the election outcome will change, as approximately two-thirds of the final ballots would have to be cast against borough formation, to alter the outcome. — George and Florabelle Rice stopped by to show us their White House Christmas card. They supported President Obama’s re-election and received the...
If you believed everything in the news about the dysfunctional U.S. Senate, you’d agree it can’t get anything done. I certainly share the frustrations of most Alaskans and Americans that Washington, D.C., is broken and must be fixed. That’s why I ran for the Senate four years ago – to get things done for our state and nation. If you look beyond the headlines, the Senate and occasionally even the U.S. House have passed significant legislation to create millions of jobs for Americans and address some of our nation’s serious problems. Just last...
While we’re elated that the initial election results favor the formation of the new Petersburg Borough, we will enjoy even more the silenced debate over the divisive topic. Those on both sides of the issue expressed passionate positions on the proposed borough. As we await final ballot tallies, we hope all residents of the borough will contemplate the new possibilities Tuesday’s election has brought forth. The formation of a borough government will take time, as administrators transition from a city to a borough, as vacant elected pos...
