JAG Ketchikan LLC, which began operating the state-owned Ketchikan Shipyard in September, has secured a nearly $100 million contract for a service-life extension project involving a federal research vessel. The $99.6 million contract from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for its Rhode Island based fisheries survey ship Henry B. Bigelow has a start time of June 6 for procurement...

Petersburg burned notably less diesel than usual during this month’s annual Southeast Alaska Power Agency maintenance shutdown, as mild weather, low industrial demand and customer conservation combined to ease the borough’s reliance on its backup generators even as fuel prices spiked, the borough’s utility directors said. With SEAPA’s hydroelectric feed offline, Petersburg Municipal Power and Ligh...

Two high-quality interactive web cameras have recently been installed atop Five Finger Lighthouse – one of the world's most renowned humpback whale watching locations. The Five Finger Lighthouse Society (FFLS) installed a similar camera earlier this year at the lower boathouse level. Now, there are two more atop the lighthouse – one facing north, one south. The FFLS is a Petersburg-based non-...

June 24 – An officer conducted a welfare check on Hungerford Hill Rd. Emergency Medical Service (EMS) was contacted and responded. There was a report of a dead deer in the roadway on Mitkof Hwy. The person granted permission to salvage the meat found the deer gone upon their arrival. An officer responded to a health and safety report but was unable to locate the described individual. An officer as...

I think the general perception of our nation’s founders is of a grouping of bespectacled, white-haired old men speaking an antique language that sounds almost foreign to our modern ears. In fact, Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of our Declaration of Independence, was a youthful 33 years old when he drafted the document in 1776. John Hancock, the president of the Continental Congress that appr...

I’m sorry to say this column is about taxes. Oil and gas taxes. Corporate taxes. Legislative debate over taxes. If you want to read about the World Cup or salmon fishing or summer recipes for the best potato salad, this is not your cup of iced tea. But what better to talk about on the week of the nation’s birth than taxes, one of the major gripes of the colonies against England. In the week before...

Petersburg's Fourth of July weekend schedule has been released for an eventful three days in the town–the traditional two-day local holiday celebration on the 3rd and the 4th and with an additional third day celebration on Sunday, July 5th featuring a community potluck to celebrate America's 250th birthday. Parks and Rec facility supervisor Julie Anderson, Chamber of Commerce Director Ke...

June 25 , 1926 – At Wednesday’s Commercial Club meeting strong opposition to taking any action toward making Sandy Beach a city park was expressed. Some of the members felt that the place was spoiled for picnics or outings now on account of the number of private houses going up out there. Although the city had staked the beach out for a park, it was said that those building houses out there were e...

The Alaska Supreme Court on Monday ordered the Alaska Division of Elections to include Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg on the primary ballot as a candidate for U.S. Senate. The ruling upholding a lower court’s decision came just hours after oral arguments in a fast-tracked case ahead of the division’s deadline to certify and print primary election ballots at noon on Tuesday. A full opinion on the ca...