Author: Joe Viechnicki, KFSK

2019 could be another down year for pink salmon fishing in Southeast Alaska. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game and scientists with NOAA Fisheries Auke Bay Lab are forecasting a commercial harvest of 18 million fish, which would fall in the weak category for catches over the past six decades.

Petersburg Medical Center Thursday started up the first in a series of community forums on essential services at the community owned hospital. Administrators are hoping to engage local residents in a discussion about what’s needed in a new facility.

The U.S. Forest Service has started up a series of meetings about managing conflicts between hunters, tour operators and other land users in parts of the Tongass National Forest.
The meetings aim to minimize crowding during spring and fall hunting seasons on Admiralty Island, as well as national forest land around Hoonah, Juneau and Sitka. They’re the result of a collaboration between hunting guides and small cruise ship companies and are an offshoot of a 2017 Forest Service decision on land use called the Shoreline Two Outfitter Guide Project.

A major renovation of food service areas in Petersburg’s schools could start before the end of the school year. The one and a half million dollar project will complete a catering kitchen at the high school and renovate the kitchen facility at the elementary school.