Author: kfskadmin

If you hike a ways up Petersburg lake trail from the government dock on Kupreanoff, you’ll find a new cedar bench built in memory of a Petersburg teen who loved the outdoors. Local high school seniors have built two such benches to honor and remember their close friend and classmate, Jacob Madsen. The 16-year-old died in a firearms accident while hunting in may 2008. Madsen’s friends installed one of the benches on the trail last weekend with the help of their shop teacher and the Forest Service. The other bench will be installed at Frenchy shelter which is also known as The Hilton. That’s a favorite spot for snow machiners out the road at Twin creeks. Matt Lichtenstein spoke with senior Tessa Hasbrouck and teacher Nick Popp

Lt. Governor Craig Campbell expressed some of his views on the economy, natural resources development, tourism and transportation in a speech to the Petersburg chamber of commerce last weekend. The Eagle River Republican also took several questions from the audience. Campbell was the featured speaker at the Chamber’s annual installation banquet Saturday.

Petersburg’s city council is asking Alaska’s congressional delegation to postpone action on a Sealaska lands bill. The legislation would allow the regional Native corporation to select its remaining land entitlement from acreage outside of boundaries specified under the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Corporate officials, local shareholders and other members of the public testified before the city council Tuesday night. The council ultimately passed a resolultion calling for public hearings on the legislation in southeast.

The commercial halibut season starts in early March and this is the fifth year in a row that Southeast Longliners will have fewer fish to catch. Stock declines and a change in assessment methods have prompted US and Canadian regulators to reduce the region’s catch limit by a total of roughly 60 percent since 2006. This year’s cut was smaller than proposed, but longliners say the downturn continues to impact their businesses. Matt Lichtenstein produced this economic snapshot:

A team of Petersburg high school students took first place with a research paper they wrote for this years Tsunami Bowl in Seward. Overall, “Team WOAA” took eleventh out of 22 teams in the statewide competition. The Tsunami Bowl challenges students to improve their research skills and knowledge of ocean sciences – from plants and fish to geology and climate. They prepare papers and projects, give presentations, and they try to be the first at hitting the buzzer to answer quiz questions.
This was the second year Petersburg participated, and the school sent two teams to the event, which took place earlier this month. Matt Lichtenstein asked several of the students and their coaches to talk about the Tsunami Bowl experience