Petersburg News

Senator Bert Stedman, a Sitka Republican.Hit "more" for additional reports on the Palin-Parnell transition.

Out of all the cruises I have done, Cruise West is one of my most memorable. I really enjoyed the education side of it and the up close and personal.

A cruise ship company will bypass Ketchikan next year in favor of tours out of Juneau and Anchorage.

PETERSBURG, AK A group of chefs from the Lower 48 stopped by Petersburg and Juneau early this week to learn more about Alaska's fishing industry.

Yet another cruise line has announced plans to cut back in Alaska for 2010 -- and in a big way.

PETERSBURG, AK The latest plans for a large hydro electric power plant on the mainland north of Petersburg call for tunneling into a remote mountain in Thomas Bay and siphoning water from the perched mountaintop lake for generating electricity.

Alaska's unemployment rate rose in May to 8.4 percent, up from 7.9 percent the previous month, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

A little over two miles of water separates the Bering Strait islands of Little Diomede and Big Diomede, making the distance between Alaska and Siberia less than the stretch between downtown Juneau and Lemon Creek.

The state ferry Columbia, flagship of the Alaska Marine Highway fleet, is now on its way from Ketchikan to Bellingham, Wash., following delays caused by an engine malfunction.

AK Two Petersburg high school teachers received statewide honors this spring. The Alaska Society for Technology in Education chose social studies and videography teacher Jim Engell as its teacher of the year.

McDowell Group recently hired former Empire Managing Editor Lori Thomson as a senior research analyst in its Juneau office.

Gov. Sarah Palin has made the following appointments to business-related state boards.

A federal ethics and personnel chief urged Tongass National Forest officials to destroy e-mails containing his advice on how to fire a Petersburg whistle-blower to preclude their discovery in a potential lawsuit.

AK LeConte glacier near Petersburg has advanced 300 feet. That's according to the results of this year's glacier survey by Petersburg High School students.

AK A Petersburg City Councilor is suing the city's harbormaster. Councilor Bob Nilson's lawsuit accuses Harbormaster Jim Stromdahl of invasion of privacy and defamation.

Recycling old fishing nets begins this summer at several Alaska fishing ports. Naknek, Dillingham, Petersburg and Cordova received funding via the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission for two years to jump-start net recycling projects.

In 1971, Congress settled the aboriginal claims of all Alaska Natives: It gave them 44 million acres, $1 billion and mandated the creation of 13 regional and more than 200 Alaska Native corporations.

Gov. Sarah Palin has signed two bills, one extending the boating safety program and the other temporarily suspending the experience cap for teachers.

AK Petersburg streets were packed with locals and visitors over the weekend during the 51st annual Little Norway Festival.

AK The University of Alaska is working with commercial fishermen to study how best to keep whales away from fishing gear.