Author: kfskadmin

Petersburg High school’s Drama, Debate and Forensics team had their first competition earlier this month. Several students made it to finals including Heather Bieber, who took first place in Extemporaneous Commentary. Local interest in the activity has increased over the past couple of years. Matt Lichtenstein recently spoke with several of the students and their coach

A local man has to serve just under a year in jail for drunk driving, assaulting a police officer and then trying to get away. A Petersburg jury this week convicted 28-year-old Mark Olsen of two misdemeanor offenses. He had already pleaded guilty to three other misdemeanors from the incident. However, jurors found him not guilty of more serious, felony charges.

While Republican Joe Miller won the primary with just under a two percent margin statewide, 57 percent of Southeast Republicans stuck with incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski last month. Just before Murkowski announced her independent write-in campaign last week, Miller tried to boost his Southeast support with visits to Petersburg and Juneau. The 43-year-old Fairbanks attorney is married with eight children and has served as a state and federal judge. He is also a decorated Army veteran whose list of credentials includes a commission from West Point, a law degree from Yale, and a masters in economics from the University of Alaska. Miller grew up in Kansas and has lived in Alaska for 16 years. During his brief visit to Petersburg during last week's Southeast Conference annual meeting, Miller stopped by KFSK for an interview. Among other issues, Matt Lichtenstein asked Miller to elaborate on his call for state control of federal lands, less federal regulation, and more rapid resource development.

One of the three candidates for Alaska’s U.S. Senate seat in the November election has spent part of his life in Petersburg.
The Democratic nominee Scott McAdams is the mayor of the city and borough of Sitka and is the director of the community schools program with the Sitka School District. He attended Rae C. Stedman Elementary school from 1st through 8th grades and also fished during his twenties on some Petersburg boats, the Aleutian Spirit, Aleutian Dream and the Martina. McAdams received his degree from Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka and is married with three kids. He has also served on Sitka’s school board, and as president of the Association of Alaska School Boards and on the board of the Alaska Municipal League. Joe Viechnicki spoke with McAdams last week during a campaign stop in Petersburg.

It will be another year without a commercial fishery for red and blue king crab in Southeast. The fishery was last opened in 2005 but fishery managers say the amount of harvestable red king crab continues to drop around the region. Meanwhile, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game along with the commercial crab fleet are trying out other ways of estimating crab stocks.