Author: Joe Viechnicki, KFSK

Two large fires near the small community of Telegraph Creek on the Stikine (STICK-een) River in British Columbia have joined into one and are burning out of control. Telegraph Creek is 160 miles up the Stikine River from the Southeast Alaska town of Wrangell. Residents in Telegraph Creek were evacuated Sunday to Dease Lake, Iskut and Terrace. The fires, started by lightning, were first discovered August 1st.

A former Petersburg borough employee Wednesday pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter in the van wreck that killed two people and injured a third on July 4th, 2016. Sentencing is scheduled for December.

With a few exceptions, Southeast Alaska’s commercial salmon trolling shuts down this week but trollers will have another shot at king salmon next week.
The fishery shuts down just before midnight Thursday, August 9 and will re-open on August 15th. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game closes the fishery at this time of year to allow enough coho salmon to return to spawning streams on the inside waters of Southeast.

The conversation is underway on reducing the use of light-weight plastic shopping bags in Petersburg. Members of Petersburg’s borough assembly Monday had mixed feelings about a local bag ban or extra charge for their use but they’re hoping to hear more input from the community.

Petersburg’s recycling program is no longer saving the borough money on the cost of shipping solid waste out of town. That’s because of a drop in the value of recyclable materials and an increase in the cost of processing that material. Now borough staff are recommending the assembly start a discussion about whether to continue it, or make changes.