Author: kfskadmin

An independent federal agency will investigate allegations that the Forest Service retaliated against a whistleblower employee on the Petersburg Ranger District. The Office of Special Council is reopening the case of Glen Ith, a Forest Service biologist who died in 2008.

Alaskan harbors, boat yards and vessel owners may have to make some changes in future years to better comply with environmental rules. Some local officials have been expecting more scrutiny of their port facilities as the state of Alaska assumes control of permitting and enforcement for the federal Clean Water Act. But the regulatory process will be gradual according to state officials who say they’ll be working with communities on the issue.

A national news magazine has ranked Petersburg High School among the top public high schools in the nation. PHS was honored with a silver medal in U.S. News and World Report’s annual ranking of top public high schools in the nation. The magazine ranked schools using test data from the year before. U.S. News and World Report looked at reading and math test scores from state high school qualifiying exams and also at the performance of low-income and minority students on those tests. Schools that performed well enough in those two areas were then rated for college readiness. That number is based on how many students take, and perform well on, advanced placement and international baccalaureate tests. The magazine awards gold medals to its top 100 schools in the nation based on college readiness. No schools in Alaska won gold medals. Another 461 schools around the nation won silver medals for college readiness. Petersburg was the only Alaskan school to win a silver medal. PHS was a bronze medal winner on the magazine’s list the year before. Six other schools in Alaska this year were recognized with bronze medals for student performance on standardized tests. Those six are Cordova Junior-Senior High, Mt. Edgecumbe High, Nikiski Middle-Senior High, Polaris K-12 school in Anchorage, Susitna Valley High and Unalaska Junior Senior High School. District superintendent Robert Thomason says PHS has benefitted from not having a lot of turnover in its teaching staff.

Petersburg police are releasing little information about the January 1 death of a 24-year-old Petersburg man at a Hungerford Hill residence. Police are not willing to say whether they believe Bradley Fletcher’s apparent death by gunshot wound was a suicide, accidental or a homicide and say their investigation of the case might take a month or more. Joe Viechnicki spoke with acting chief of the department, sergeant Jim Agner.

Local residents welcomed the start of 2010 with parties and an icy dip in the waters of South Harbor.