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Senate candidate Miller addresses pledge on earmarks

One of the hot issues in this year’s race for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Lisa Murkowski is that of federal spending on local Alaskan projects. Republican nominee Joe Miller, who defeated Murkowski in the August primary, is promising to work to reduce federal government spending if he’s elected to the Senate. Miller has signed a pledge called the “No Pork Pledge” put forth by the lobbying group the council for Citizens Against Government Waste. In that pledge Miller says he will not request any pork barrel earmark not requested by the president, requested by only one chamber of Congress or serving a local or special interest. The group publishes an annual pork list, naming projects it considers pork. This year’s pork list includes 482-thousand dollars that Petersburg officials are hoping the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will receive to help dredge the North Harbor. It also names one and a quarter million dollars for the U.S. Forest Service to prepare timber sales on the Tongass National Forest. Joe Viechnicki spoke with Miller about the pork pledge and any specific actions he would take to help Petersburg if he’s elected to the Senate.

Salmon can pack tops 11 million

This year’s count of cans of salmon packed in Petersburg was down a little over two million cans from 2009. Cannery employees packed the equivalent of 11,191,957 cans. The can pack count was announced Saturday during the annual Humpy 500 go cart race in front of the Icicle Seafoods Petersburg plant. Seafood processing companies and the Chamber of Commerce sponsor an annual contest to guess the can pack.
The $2,000 first place prize this year goes to Sherlita Eusebio. Her winning guess was 11,181,980, less than ten thousand off the actual can pack.
The second place $1,000 cash prize goes to Paul Walters. Eusebio’s winning guess was 566 cans closer than Walters’s second place guess.
Icicle Seafoods was the only participating cannery this year. The can pack has been as high as 34 million in 2003 and hit a low of just under six million cans in 2008. This summer’s pink salmon run turned out better than forecast with larger than average fish boosting the pounds of pinks canned. Petersburg Fisheries also processed pinks from a record setting run in Prince William Sound.

NPFMC recommends fishery observer restructuring

New observer requirements and fees for Alaska’s halibut fleet and smaller groundfish vessels are a step closer to approval. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council unanimously passed a recommendation for restructuring the federal observer program last week.

Go cart racers add color to rainy Saturday

Eight teams raced their 55-gallon drum go carts down the hill by Petersburg Fisheries on North Nordic Drive Saturday in the 15th running of the Humpy 500 race. Drivers and their teams won gift certificates worth several thousand dollars at local businesses for cart design, costumes and fastest cart. The "Silver Swordfish” finished the course in the fastest time of 19.84 seconds and also took the top prize for the best costumes. "Salmon Wars" and "The Killers" took second and third in the costume category. "Red October" and "Jigging Time" were second and third fastest carts. Best design went to the "Afognak," with "Red October" and "Jigging Time" also taking second and third in that category. Joe Viechnicki spoke with some of the contestants along with Icicle Seafoods Petersburg plant manager Randy Lanteigne just before the race.

City starts gathering signatures for borough petition

Petersburg’s signature gathering effort to form a new borough government is underway. A newly formed committee of local residents along with staff from the city of Petersburg met for the first time Thursday.