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The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously voted to create a task force focused on addressing child care challenges in Petersburg and finding sustainable solutions during Monday's meeting. The creation of the Early Childhood Education Task Force came as a result of the ongoing discussions of child care needs in the community which identified issues with retention and recruitment of employees and the lack of availability of child care for families. Assembly Member Jeff Meucci opened by saying...
With the first statewide use of ranked choice voting in Alaska on the horizon, the Petersburg Borough Assembly discussed holding an information session to inform community members on how the new voting system works. The upcoming special election will use ranked choice voting, which was approved by Alaska voters in 2020, to determine who will fill the late Rep. Don Young's seat in the U.S. House of Representatives until the term expires in January 2023. During Monday's assembly meeting, Assembly...
A woman crashed off Mitkof Highway near Scow Bay Loop Road Saturday around 8:30 a.m. after losing control of a truck according to Assistant Fire Chief David Berg. The driver and her dog were uninjured in the crash but the truck was totaled. According to Berg, the woman said she was driving toward town when she discovered that she could not stop the vehicle. She pulled into the ferry terminal parking lot and made a couple of turns, but did not stop the truck, and got back on the road headed away...
The unified command of the U.S. Coast Guard, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and Western Towboat continues to lead the response efforts to the grounding of the tugboat Western Mariner which ran aground in the Neva Strait on March 21. According to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, the incident occurred at 2:55 a.m. on March 21 when a temporary steering failure onboard the tugboat caused the 286-foot freight barge Chichagof Provider in tow to collide with the...
The Alaska Board of Fisheries adopted a revised king salmon management plan during its March meeting in a compromise which will see sport fishery limits set prior to the start of the season based on a tier system instead of changing in-season. The hope is that the 80/20 split between the commercial troll and sport fisheries will be maintained while allowing all non-residents who travel to Alaska to catch king salmon the opportunity to do so. "In this plan the caveat there is when we're at those...
Alaska Marine Lines has announced increases to its general rates and fuel surcharges in Southeast as fuel prices continue to rise. On November 4, 2021, a release signed by Director of Pricing Margretta Grace announced that AML had filed with the Surface Transportation board to increase the general rate for shipments into, out of, and within Southeast by 4.8% effective January 30. The release cited inflation, rising costs, and the labor shortage as reasons for the increases. "Southeast Alaska is...
The Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery has seen multiple openings over the past week which have resulted in approximately 7,300 tons of herring harvested as of Tuesday according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. After four days of two-hour notice, the first fishery opening was held on March 26. Though there was no herring spawn observed in the aerial survey that day, department and industry vessels observed herring in the sound. The opening occurred from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and...
The Petersburg Medical Center hospital board hosted Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium CEO Charles Clement at its meeting on March 24 to give the public an opportunity to hear from him about SEARHC's current plans and opportunities for collaborations between the two entities. The assembly chamber was packed during the meeting and even more people logged in on Zoom to hear Clement answer questions sent by board members and hospital staff regarding the future of health care in... Full story
Assembly Member Chelsea Tremblay gave a report to the Petersburg Borough Assembly on March 21 about a meeting which discussed housing needs in Petersburg and what organizations are doing to support those experiencing homelessness. Representatives from the borough, Humanity In Progress, Working Against Violence for Everyone, the Petersburg Medical Center, the Petersburg Indian Association, and other local organizations were in attendance at the March 10 meeting. "The goal of these meetings is to...
The Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs hosted a ceremony Tuesday in the Petersburg High School gym to welcome home and remember Vietnam veterans. The event marked Vietnam Veterans Day which falls on March 29 and was originally scheduled for 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Forrest E. Powell III with the DMVA opened the ceremony and introduced Chamber of Commerce President Jim Floyd who welcomed attendees. Floyd spoke on the history of Petersburg and of the...
To some people springtime means the start of outdoor projects, tending to the garden, or doing some overdue house cleaning, but to one group of Petersburg High School students it can only mean one thing-time for baseball. The team has been hard at work for the past month preparing for the upcoming season, not on fresh-cut green grass or turf but on the gravel field they call home. Jim Engell is returning for his 15th year as the head coach of the Vikings and is joined by Ethan Bryner, a former...
Things around the track will look a little different this time around for the Petersburg High School track and field team which hopes to compete in its first full season in two years. James Valentine, who also became the wrestling coach this season, is the new head coach of the Vikings, taking over the reins from Tom Thompson. For Valentine, this is completing a full lap since he participated in track and field under Brad Taylor's coaching for all four years as a student, running the 110...
The tugboat Western Mariner ran aground Monday morning while towing the barge Chichagof Provider through the Neva Strait according to the U.S. Coast Guard. At 2:55 a.m. watchstanders in the Sector Juneau command center received a radio call from the Western Mariner stating that the 286-foot containerized barge in tow had collided with the tug, causing the tug to run aground. According to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, a temporary steering failure onboard the tugboat caused...
Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium President and CEO Charles Clement is set to answer submitted questions from Petersburg Medical Center Board members and staff during the hospital's board meeting on March 24. Clement will give a presentation to the board which will include information on SEARHC's mergers and affiliations with other health care providers and then answer additional questions from the board. With discussions of the need for a new medical facility in Petersburg and how to...
Vessels have been flocking to the Sitka Sound in preparation for the sac roe herring fishery which went on two hour notice Tuesday morning. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, no herring spawn have been observed during aerial surveys but the R/V Kestrel, which has been surveying the sound since Tuesday, has recorded sightings. On Wednesday, the Kestrel spotted large biomasses northwest of Bieli Rocks, north of Middle Island, and southwest of the Siginaka Islands. During...
Alaska Airlines will start sending a Boeing 737-800 southbound to Petersburg this summer, helping more people travel during one of the busiest times of the year according to Scott Habberstad, Alaska Airlines' director of sales and community marketing in the state. Habberstad was the guest speaker at the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Banquet last Saturday night where he discussed how Alaska Airlines navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic, development in Petersburg, and the airline's growth goal...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly hosted a work session Wednesday evening to discuss child care needs in the community and ways the borough could be involved in helping find sustainable solutions for providers and families. Child care challenges have been discussed recently at the assembly level, a Community Café hosted by the SHARE Coalition, an ARPA work session, and other public meetings with issues including child care staff recruitment and retention, availability and costs for families, and...
Hammer & Wikan and the Petersburg Pilot were both awarded Business of the Year at the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce banquet Saturday night. Hammer & Wikan received the 2021 Business of the Year award which they were due to receive at last year's banquet before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Will Ware, the vice president of the chamber, recounted the history of Hammer & Wikan from its beginnings as the Petersburg Dairy Company in 1921 to the opening of the new grocery store...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously passed Ordinance #2022-03 in its third reading on Monday, finalizing increases to harbor fees. Harbormaster Glo Wollen said the change in rates, which is the first increase since 2018, was needed to keep revenue aligned with the harbor's operational costs and account for inflation. The increase drew the support of the Harbor and Ports Advisory Board and passed in the assembly unanimously in its first two readings. Annual moorage fees and transient...
During Monday’s meeting, the Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved two resolutions authorizing the sale of two borough owned parcels on Sandy Beach Road by outcry auction. The resolutions set the time of the outcry auctions at the beginning of the assembly meeting on May 2 at 12 p.m. The resolutions also set the minimum bid price for both parcels. For 700 Sandy Beach Road, which measures 84,942 square feet, the minimum bid price is $77,500. For 1015 Sandy Beach Road, which measures 14,925 square feet, the minimum bid price is $...
After a packed schedule which took the Vikings to some of the toughest courts across the state, the Petersburg High School boys basketball team ended its season with a sixth-place finish at the Alaska School Activities Association 2A State Tournament in Anchorage last weekend. Though they did not fly home with a championship trophy, Head Coach Rick Brock said he was proud of his team's performance this season and the grit they showed in their final tournament of the year. The trip to state was n...
The Alaska House of Representatives will lose a familiar face next January when Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins completes his term. Kreiss-Tomkins announced last Friday that he would not be running for reelection after serving in the House for nearly a decade. The representative of District 35, which includes Sitka and Petersburg, has decided it’s time for a change of pace as he shifts his focus to his personal life. “Having a meaningful personal life and a relationship and a family, these are all really important life priorities for me, not to...
The Petersburg High School boys basketball team booked its ticket to Anchorage last weekend after winning the 2A Region V Tournament second state berth game against Wrangell. Though the Vikings lost in the regional championship game to the Metlakatla Chiefs, they regrouped and reset to earn their spot in the state tournament in last Saturday's rivalry matchup. "I just think our guys showed a lot of grit and they just battled," Head Coach Rick Brock said. "I've said that a trait of our team is...
During a conference call with reporters on Monday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski spoke on the recent passage of the Fiscal Year 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden after the call on Tuesday. The spending bill includes congressionally dedicated spending allocations for Alaska projects including $8 million for the construction of a new Petersburg Medical Center facility. PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter has previously said that those funds will help get the project...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game started performing aerial herring surveys in the Sitka Sound last week in preparation for the upcoming sac roe herring fishery. Aerial surveys are conducted by Fish and Game to search for herring spawn and, if spotted, map their location and take aerial photographs. Though no groups of herring spawn have been recorded yet, surveyors have recorded sightings of herring predators in the area. On Tuesday, 65 sea lions were spotted off of Inner Point while a...
