Author: kfskadmin

Petersburg’s annual celebration of all things Tongass is getting underway this week. It’s the fourth annual Tongass Rainforest Festival. This year’s festival touches on topics from top to bottom from flying squirrels in the forest canopy to the undersea creatures that make their home in and around the kelp forests of southeast. The four day schedule is filled with forest-focused talks, walks, classes, and workshops for adults, teens and kids. Matt Lichtenstein has a preview of Thursday’s events with organizers Karen Dillman and Sunny Rice

Southeast Alaska got a new Presiding Judge for the first judicial district over the summer. Superior Court Judge Trevor Stephens of Ketchikan took over that post in June after the retirement of Presiding Judge Patricia Collins. Stephens has served as a Judge for 11 years. Prior to that, he was a private practice attorney. He also spent a year as a public defender and five years as a prosecutor. As a superior court Judge, Stephens presides over criminal trials in Ketchikan as well as Petersburg, where Matt Lichtenstein caught up with him for an interview late last month

The Alaska Office of Children’s Services is regionalizing its call-in process for reports of child abuse and neglect. That’s prompted concerns among child welfare advocates in Petersburg who fear it’s part of an effort to shut down the local field office. The agency says that’s not the case.

Residents in the Petersburg and Kupreanof area will have a chance to learn more about Petersburgs borough petition and the state’s borough formation process during two upcoming discussions. The staff for Alaska’s Local Boundary Commission staff has scheduled two public, informational meetings for September 18th at Keene Channel down the Wrangell Narrows, and the 19th in Petersburg. LBC staff will be there to talk about state borough incorporation standards, the petition, and the petition process. It’s also a chance for LBC staff to hear from local residents, though it is not a public hearing. The public hearing, where people formally present testimony, is scheduled for next May. But right now, the state is collecting the first round of written public comments through October 26th. Then LBC staff will do an in-depth analysis of Petersburg’s petition. Last month, Matt Lichtenstein interviewed LBC staffer Brent Williams.

The company that wants to build a large hydroelectric plant in Thomas Bay near Petersburg met with local residents and officials again last week. Cascade Creek LLC’s controversial proposal has drawn extensive criticism from the general public as well as from state and federal agencies. That includes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or FERC, which threatened to end the current licensing process earlier this spring after citing numerous problems with the company’s draft application. During the latest meeting in Petersburg, a Cascade representative gave another update in the face of on-going concerns.