Week of March 27, 2025
Week of March 27, 2025
The bell jingles as the door to Kinder Komfort opens, and a customer slips in with a hopeful smile. "Did you find it?" he asks Jenny Cisney, who lights up behind the counter. "I did!" she cheers, retrieving a copy of Code Names, a board game the customer had hoped to special order but couldn't quite remember the name of days earlier. Jenny had put together the clues and figured out the name, found the game and even had her visiting mother bring it from Washington with her luggage rather than... Full story
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The Petersburg School District and its support personnel union reached a tentative three-year contract agreement in less than a day of negotiations, school officials announced Tuesday. The agreement includes a $2.50 per hour wage increase across the board in the first year, followed by 1.5% increases in each of the following two years, according to Finance Director Shannon Baird. Support staff will also receive a $500 matching contribution to a 403(b) retirement plan. This matches a similar...
Alaskans have until 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 31, to file for this year’s Permanent Fund dividend, whether they file online or mail a paper application to the PFD office. But if they mail the application, it absolutely positively must be postmarked by March 31. Anything dropped in the mail after that date will be rejected. Last year’s dividend was $1,702, though this year’s amount — which will be set by legislators during the budget-writing process this spring — likely will be at least several hundred dollars less. The state is...
Total property values in Petersburg Borough increased by more than $30.7 million in the latest assessment cycle, representing roughly 4% growth from last year, with borough-wide assessments reaching $795.5 million, according to a recent report from the borough's assessors. The annual assessment, required by state law, indicates that "the overall market continues to grow despite the high cost of living and rising interest rates," wrote assessors Mike Renfro and Martins Onskulis of the Appraisal...
WRANGELL — Confronted with an engineering report that cited “concern for potential failure of the ramp,” Wrangell borough on Thursday evening, March 13, notified freight haulers that the municipally owned barge ramp downtown was closed, immediately. The borough made arrangements for the weekly freight barge to use the old sawmill dock at the Marine Service Center as a temporary unloading and loading site, Borough Manager Mason Villarma said Friday, March 14. “This should have happened some time ago,” he said of shutting down the...
A rustic Forest Service recreation cabin tucked away on Kupreanof Island will soon get a much-needed sanitation upgrade, according to U.S. Forest Service officials. The Tower's Arm Cabin, one of the Petersburg Ranger District's most remote sites, will have its dilapidated outhouse replaced during a three-day project in spring 2025, the agency announced this month. According to the decision memo, the cabin's existing outhouse is "dilapidated and unsanitary." The new outhouse will feature a...
Musician Seán Dagher will bring his interactive sea shanty performance to Petersburg next week, inviting locals to join in the maritime musical tradition that has experienced a surge of recent popularity. The performance will be "pretty participatory," Dagher told the Pilot it will be fun and easy to take part. "The shanties are like call and response songs, so I'll sing the call part, and people sing the responses," Dagher explained. Dagher's performance, being presented by the Petersburg... Full story
Members of the Alaska Legislature said this week that they’re likely to use the state’s Constitutional Budget Reserve to fix a roughly $173 million budget deficit for the 12 months that end June 30. Lawmakers are confronting another, larger deficit as they craft the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, but it remains possible that some tax increases — on oil, business income and online sales — could offset the need to spend from savings for that year. When it comes to the current fiscal year, things are more certain. Passing... Full story
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to impose a 25% tariff on imported cars and light trucks. Trump, who campaigned on bringing down consumer costs, said during an Oval Office signing event the additional tax on foreign goods would spur U.S. production. Asked if, like other tariffs Trump’s threatened, trade partners could do anything to avoid the fee on cars and trucks, Trump answered no. This tariff will remain in place until he leaves office, he said, and was meant to protect the U.S. industry. “I think our... Full story
The Alaska House of Representatives is asking the Trump administration and Canadian government to step back from a brewing trade war. In a 33-4 vote Monday, the House approved a resolution saying that state lawmakers oppose “restrictive trade measures or tolls that would harm the unique relationship between Canada and Alaska or negatively affect our integrated economies.” If approved by the Alaska Senate, the resolution would be sent to national officials in both the United States and Canada. Monday’s vote comes amid continued threats... Full story
Petersburg seventh-grade swimmer Tori Miller competed in the 2025 Northwest Age Group Championships from March 20-23, in Boise, Idaho. The meet consisted of over 600 swimmers, 68 teams across seven states, including Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Miller competed in six events and exhibited a stellar performance throughout the meet. In Girl's 12 Age Group, Miller placed six out eight in the 50-yard freestyle, with a final time of 26 seconds; sixth in the 50-yard...
Alaska’s two U.S. senators both believe that President Donald Trump’s pro-development administration will be good for the state’s natural resource economy, creating jobs, boosting tax revenues and building long-term prosperity. Both support the president’s initiatives to unlock resources that had been placed off-limits by the administration of Joe Biden and others before him. And both want the federal government to operate efficiently and reduce spending. Beyond those shared beliefs, however, the two came across as worlds apart in...
Securing our Nation To the Editor: This week, our most senior defense and intelligence professionals discussed details of an imminent military attack on their cell phones over an unclassified, commercial chat app. We only know about this grievous conduct because a journalist was accidentally included in the dialog. What is shocking, and should raise grave concerns for every proud American, is the lack of judgment from people in the highest positions of our government. The fact that these leaders used unprotected cell phones, in locations that...
March 27, 1925 – Representative John E. Rankin in a speech before Congress [titled] “Alaska, as I Saw It,” said among other things: “I believe that we should give those people as much authority as possible over the territory and that we should protect them in the enjoyment of life and the pursuits of happiness to the same extent that we do our people here in the states – that the wealth up there may not be used to fill the coffers of a few trusts and combinations, but that the resources of the great territory, with its wonderful...
SITKA — Seiners scooped up sets of maturing herring on Saturday and Sunday as the Alaska Department of Fish and Game opened this year’s commercial sac roe herring fishery in waters off the east shore of Kruzof Island from Shoals Point north to Mountain Point, and extending east to 135 degrees 32 minutes west longitude. Fishing efforts shifted north today. At 9:45 a.m., ADF&G announced that the fishery would open at 10:15 a.m. in Hayward Strait and the southern portion of Krestof Sound. The Sitka Sound guideline harvest limit is 36,720...
March 19 - An officer assisted a citizen with paperwork on Hungerford Hill. An officer requested a driver’s license check on an individual. A lost lab was reported. An individual reported a vehicle losing roofing material off the back of a truck on Mitkof Hwy. An officer assisted the state of Wisconsin with DNA collection on Nordic Dr. An individual came into the Police Department (PD) to ask questions about sex offender registry. An officer investigated a sparking light at the crane dock and deemed the report unfounded. March 20 - An...
Petersburg Pilot... Full story
Petersburg Pilot... Full story
