Author: kfskadmin

Petersburg Medical Center’s new Chief Executive Officer Liz Woodyard has been on the job for several weeks. Woodyard took over the top job at the medical center from John Bringhurst, who retired in the middle of July. She has three year’s experience as a CEO of a hospital in Susanville, California. Woodyard, a registered nurse, is originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She’s worked as chief nursing officer at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, and has been in health care administration, nursing and nursing education jobs in Fairbanks, Missouri and Minnesota since 1987. Joe Viechnicki spoke with her about the new job in Petersburg.

Petersburg voters will decide this fall whether senior citizens and non-profit groups will have to start paying sales tax on their alcohol and tobacco purchases. The city council last night voted five to one to put the proposed ordinance on the ballot.

The state ferry Fairweather runs twice weekly between Petersburg and Juneau during the summer months. The vessel is one of two fast catamarans the state brought into service in 2004 and 2005 and it has more than cut in half the sailing time between Petersburg and the Capital City.

Ridership on the fast ferry Fairweather between Petersburg and Juneau remains low but system officials plan to continue the route next year at a reduced level. Even in the busy summer season, the Fairweather is far from full between the two Southeast communities.

The Five Finger Lighthouse is on its way to becoming the first whale research station in Southeast Alaska. The Juneau Lighthouse Association has teamed up with the Alaska Whale Foundation to repurpose the historic building. A research team led by Oregon State University graduate student Michelle Fournet spent five weeks on the island this summer monitoring humpback whales. Fournet’s team is investigating how communications between individual whales influence their spacing across the Frederick Sound feeding grounds. They are also looking at how vessel noise affects the whale’s behavior and ability to communicate. Esmay Joyce spoke with Fournet about her research and future plans for the station.