Author: Joe Viechnicki, KFSK

Lawmakers from Southeast Alaska have mixed reviews on the Alaska Government Accountability Act, a proposed ballot initiative that voters statewide could be deciding this fall. The measure was sponsored by one legislator from the Alaska panhandle, but representatives and senators are somewhat split on whether it’s a good idea.

The Petersburg Marine Mammal Center is celebrating 20 years in existence this year. Organized as a non-profit in 1998, the center was formed as a resource for researchers studying the area’s abundant humpback whales and a depository for information on marine mammals in Southeast Alaska. The center has sponsored education on marine life along with disentanglement for marine mammals caught in fishing gear. Joe Viechnicki spoke with board members Julianne Curry and Barry Bracken about their first two decades and what’s in store for the next 20 years.

Over 100 women, men and children gathered in Petersburg Saturday morning for a Women’s March for Love, joining others turning out at marches held around the nation for the second year. Organizers plan to meet monthly and hope to bolster the turnout at the voting booth this fall.

Sailings on the state ferry Columbia are cancelled this week. The vessel remains in Bellingham, Washington with a broken bow thruster. A bow thruster is used to turn the 418-foot ship when it docks and also for navigating narrow waterways of Alaska’s Inside Passage, like the Wrangell Narrows near Petersburg.

New fees for cruise ship passengers and senior citizens got the first of three approvals by the Petersburg borough assembly this week. Elected officials are seeking to recoup some money from visitors to the area along with seniors who use an exemption from the borough’s six percent sales tax.