Author: Joe Viechnicki, KFSK

Petersburg’s borough assembly voted against filling two vacant public safety jobs last night. The positions in the police and fire department are in the budget for the borough this year. But concerns linger over future state funding cuts and their impact on the municipality’s ability to pay for these positions.

A young film maker sounding the alarm about global climate change is visiting Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest this summer.

The U.S. Forest Service in Southeast Alaska is recording more wide-spread tree damage from a bug called a hemlock sawfly on the Tongass National Forest. For the second summer, these native, defoliating insects are leaving behind reddish brown tree tops, this year stretching from Prince of Wales Island to Juneau.

Hatchery chum salmon returns in Southeast Alaska so far this summer have been much weaker than expected throughout the panhandle. There are signs that some of these fish may be late to show up but hatchery managers don’t expect to meet their forecasts.