Sorted by date Results 201 - 225 of 417
Petersburg Borough voters may get their chance to have a say on whether or not commercial cultivation and retail sale of recreational marijuana is allowed later this year. Last Wednesday, an initiative petition was filed with the borough, saying the community should have a local vote to determine the fate of the marijuana industry in Petersburg, according to a resolution received by borough clerk Debra Thompson. The initiative and referendum application, sent to the borough on June 22, asked, “Should Petersburg Borough prohibit the c... Full story
Two females are deceased after an early morning one-vehicle crash, and a community vigil will be held tonight before the fireworks. Two others in the crash were taken to the local hospital, but their names have not been released. Fourth of July organizers canceled day-time events after it was discovered Molly Parks, 18, and Marie Giesbrecht, 19, had passed away as a result of the crash. Petersburg Police Department received notice of a car over the guard rail and in a ditch near the South Harbor parking lot around 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. The... Full story
Navigating the Wrangell Narrows can be tricky, if not treacherous, depending on the vessel size and time of year. On June 14, Britta Adams of Ketchikan became the first known individual to swim the body of water from south to north. "I just knew that I had a tide, and I had six hours," she says. "My goal was to get from Marker 1 to Marker 42, the end of Pinball Alley, and everything beyond that was just a bonus." The water was 48 degrees when Adams jumped in at 4:45 a.m., and 15 minutes later... Full story
The Petersburg Lutheran Church pastor Mike Schwarte and his family are leaving town this week to pursue a new life in Alabama. He was assigned to Petersburg's Saint Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in 1999 and later was employed with the Petersburg Police Department and worked as a commercial pilot for Pacific Wing. Most recently he's pastored the Petersburg Lutheran Church for over 7 years. Schwarte's wife Ying was accepted into a highly competitive Ph.D. program at the Auburn University...
Petersburg is hosting the largest gathering of Nordhavn yachts ever seen in an Alaska harbor. The Nordhavn Northwest Rendezvous will take place July 8-10, and the event is attracting yacht owners from as far away as Australia, according to rendezvous organizer Douglas Cochrane. "When we first dreamed it up we were hoping we might get six or eight boats together," he says. "And right now, I think the count is 33 and almost 100 people." Last fall, Cochrane decided to set a rendezvous in the...
On January 18, Southeast Cities Against Drugs Task Force (SEACAD) arrested 28-year-old Marvin Jackson on charges of possession of heroin with the intent to distribute. Jackson was detained at the Petersburg’s James A. Johnson per a search warrant. After a search of his belongings it was discovered that he transported approximately 19.69 grams of heroin from the Seattle area to Petersburg. The search also produced multiple unused hypodermic syringes. During the investigation, local SEACAD and FBI Task Force investigators discovered that Jackson...
Generally Fourth of July events happen on July 3 and 4, but this year, with the Fourth falling on a Monday the committee was looking for options to extend the weekend fun. This year, there will be events held on Saturday through Monday, with an entire new slate of activities scheduled to take place on Sunday, according to Petersburg Chamber of Commerce manager Mara Lutomski. "If we didn't have any events on Sunday the momentum would have been lost," she said. "But the Lighthouse church, Nathan...
The Planning and Zoning Commission held nine public hearings at its meeting last week, with one concerning a conditional use permit to operate a home occupation involving firearms. At the meeting last week, Marcus Hom, who resides at 1309 Gjoa Street, sought approval for a conditional use permit to operate an internet-based gun sale business. The arguments against allowing the permit were similar to those made last December, when Gjoa Street resident Gregg Townsend applied for a similar permit to operate a gun repair business. Townsend’s p...
The Petersburg Medical Center board heard of steps being taken to set guidelines for allowing service animals and therapeutic animals in the facility. The policy is awaiting policy committee approval, and PMC chief nursing officer Jennifer Bryner spoke with the board about why the policy would be helpful. “The therapy animal is just exploding across the nation, you are seeing dogs, mostly dogs, everywhere,” she said. “They are on the plane with people, not in a carrier, and they are not true service dogs. So I think we will be seeing more...
The recent addition of two bird cages filled with feathered friends for Petersburg Medical Center's Long Term Care (LTC) residents is all about combating loneliness, helplessness and boredom. The positive impact of the birds is noticeable, according to Susan Ohmer, executive director of Petersburg Mental Health Services. Ohmer started the process of bringing birds into LTC about three months ago, after getting the green light from PMC Chief Nursing Officer Jennifer Bryner. Ohmer immediately... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly continued to hear public opinion on amendments to the Smoke Free Air Act ordinance at its meeting Monday. The discussion was the second reading and ended with the assembly removing any wording that would have permitted licensed marijuana retail stores to allow on-site marijuana smoking. “It sounds like the town has spoken, that they would prefer not to have smoking in a retail establishment and I feel that sounds like a solid plan,” said assembly member Eric Castro. Castro said he wanted to separate the com... Full story
The bail has been raised for a man involved in the latest drug bust in Petersburg. On June 6, police searched 214 North Nordic Drive Apt #5 and found Sovanmony “Mony” Mao, 43, hiding in a closet after the Petersburg Court issued a warrant. “In the closet where Mao was hiding, a knife was found, multiple baggies, a scale and more packaged suspected methamphetamine,” a criminal complaint states. “The total weight of methamphetamine recovered was approximately 60.00 grams. Officers recovered approximately 45 baggies of methamphetamine along with l...
The Devil's Thumb Shooters put on a show and brought home some hardware, including a hat with a bunch of holes in it, from the state competition held in Wasilla June 8 - 11. Three shooters made the trip and were welcomed by sunny, clear conditions, according to coach Larry O'Rear. "They did real well, they did a great job," O'Rear says. "The first couple days of shooting were really nice, you could see Denali in the background." The shooting was tight, Sebastian Davis earned first place in JV...
Back in November, Marissa Nilsen interviewed for the privilege of studying abroad as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. A couple weeks later, she was told she made the cut. In January, Nilsen, 16, found out she will spend her junior year in Belgium. She is excited to say the least, even though she did not have an input to where she would be going. "I could not choose, I didn't really have a say in where I was going," she says. "Which is fine by me because anywhere would be amazing."...
The NOAA Fisheries Marine Mammal Stranding Network is still tracking the adult, well-traveled humpback whale entangled in line and dragging an orange buoy trailing behind about 30 yards. The network became aware of the entanglement on June 1, and is hoping for the right conditions to untangle the mammal or for it to free itself. On Sunday, a second sighting in local water resulted in three volunteer members of the Petersburg Marine Mammal Center (PMMC), attempting to untangle the whale. The M/V... Full story
The Historic Preservation Committee became official after holding the first meeting in Petersburg earlier this week. On Monday, committee members gathered to set goals for the summer. "This is going to, just like history itself, take some time," said Janet Holten, who will serve as committee chair. The responsibilities and duties of the committee are developing a local historic preservation plan for presentation to the borough assembly for consideration and approval. They will work with other... Full story
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA) board held its regular meeting in Petersburg last week, with board members in attendance from Ketchikan, Wrangell and Petersburg. Much of the meeting focused on project updates and approving the company's FY17 budget. SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson asked the board to consider a motion to provide one-year notice to end the contract with Ketchikan Public Utilites (KPU), concerning operations at Swan Lake hydroelectric plant near Ketchikan. For Acteson, the move ma...
The school board met for its monthly meeting Tuesday, and worked its way through a full agenda including the FY17 budget, changes to student handbooks and an activity fee increase. The Petersburg district, like many others in Alaska, is dealing with a tighter budget due to lack of funding. Karen Quitslund, director of finance for the district, presented the budget she’s been working on for months. The board approved the budget with a 4-0 vote, after receiving a summary. “One thing that’s definitely different about this budget, that I’ve...
The first of two sessions for the Sprouts Summer Gardening Program will begin Monday at the garden behind the elementary school. This will be the third summer overseeing the program for Christina Sargent, who typically has around five kids participate. Sargent says limiting the group to a total of 10 allows her to maintain safety for the kids and garden. "The kids do get really enthusiastic about being in the garden they want to know, can I pull this, is this a weed, can I eat this, can I try... Full story
The Alaska Marine Highway System’s fall, winter and spring 2016-2017 schedule is now available online for public review. The comment period opened in May 19 and runs until June 22. Because the AMHS is such an important means of transportation for many communities this time allows the public opportunity to review and comment on the proposed schedule. “There are no major changes from this year to the previous year,” said Jeremy Woodrow, Alaska Department of Transportation spokesman. “There are less service weeks planned and that is because... Full story
The Summer Reading Challenge at the Petersburg Public Library kicked off this week and excited youngsters are already well on their way to earning prizes. So far, over 100 kids have signed up for the event, and anyone interested is welcome to join the fun. The program is open to anyone under the age of 20, and runs through July 24. Program coordinator Jessica Ieremia says participants earn tickets by reading books, magazines, newspapers, and even comic books count. The tickets then get placed in...
A handful of local women took part in the 17th Annual Prince of Wales Island Marathon held on May 28. The women participating in the half marathon placed high, including Jo Ann Day. This year's event marked the fourth time participating for Day, and her finish was her best yet. It was her second year taking on the half marathon. Her previous best was 14th place in 2015. "I was so excited, it'll probably never happen again, so I'm just going to enjoy the moment," she says laughing. "I have...
Soon-to-be PHS senior Izabelle Ith traveled to Kodiak last Saturday to compete against the top track and field athletes in Alaska. Ith, coming off another impressive season, earned the invitation to the event and took home three first place finishes. Ith won the triple jump, long jump and 4x400 meter relay. She also placed third in a tough 100 meter hurdles field. In the triple jump, Ith set a new meet record going 37 feet and 2.25 inches, but the attempt is not even her personal best. Ith's...
Petersburg Chamber of Commerce manager Mara Lutomski was treated to an action-packed ending of the 35th Annual Salmon Derby on Monday night. It was the first year overseeing the derby for Lutomski, who had fished the derby before, but never experienced the final minutes at the weigh station before. "It was nice to see that a crowd of people had gathered, which I had been told would happen," she said. "People wanted to see the last action. But everything had been so slow, kind of trickling in thr... Full story
Petersburg High track and field took 15 athletes to the state meet in Anchorage last week, and the girls team scored enough points to earn third place out of 29 1A/2A/3A teams. The number of competitors was the most head coach Brad Taylor had ever taken to the season finale, and every Viking scored points in at least one event. Taylor said a couple team members managed to break school records and many more achieved personal records (PR). Ethan Cummings earned a PR in the triple jump as did Maria... Full story
