Sorted by date Results 151 - 175 of 208
"I would like to make a motion to stop the acquisition of this land," said Mayor Mark Jensen during the Nov. 6 Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting. Those words spelled the beginning of the end for the Petro 49 building acquisition process that started in 2018. Five years ago, the borough sought to acquire the old Union Oil building and property at 703 S. Nordic Drive from Petro 49, Inc. with the intention to establish a Harbor Department maintenance facility and storage area there in the future....
Late Monday night, a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Sitka crashed on Read Island in Farragut Bay during a search and rescue mission for a nearby fishing vessel -leaving four helicopter crew members in need of urgent rescuing, as well. The prompt response from Petersburg's emergency services played a crucial role in the successful rescue operation that resulted in the survival of all four helicopter crew members. Two members were discharged from the hospital Wednesday morni...
“The Municipal Harbor Facility Grant is the single most significant funding tool available to Alaskan Harbormasters to plan, maintain, and recapitalize port and harbor infrastructure,” states the resolution passed at the Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting on Nov. 6. The assembly voted in support of the resolution to urge the Governor and Alaska Legislature to increase the amount of money made available to municipalities in the state’s harbor match grant program in order to adjust for inflation. According to the Alaska Department of Trans...
The borough’s human resources department provided a progress report about the municipality’s newly implemented safety measures during the Borough Assembly Meeting Nov. 6. In September, Alaska Public Entity Insurance (APEI) representatives presented a safety review of the Petersburg Borough during a regular assembly meeting. Assembly members and human resources staff left that meeting with actionable recommendations to address safety concerns within the borough. Part of that was the establishment of a formal Borough Safety Committee. Becky Reg...
The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) named Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter as Alaska's 2023 "Community Star." Hofstetter is being recognized by the national organization for his dedication to enhancing rural healthcare and addressing the health needs of the Petersburg community through wellness and prevention activities, education, collaborative partnerships, and accessible at-home care. "Phil and PMC have advanced local healthcare through numerous...
The Petersburg Borough and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) agreed to increase wages for union workers in the most recent ratified contract approved by the Petersburg Borough Assembly on Nov. 6. The Petersburg Municipal Power & Light department (PMPL) has struggled for over a year to hire an Electrician/Operator and a Journeyman Lineman, which burdens the few workers that are there. Sam Caulum spoke at the Nov. 6 borough assembly meeting, representing himself and a majority of IBEW members at PMPL. He said the prolonged...
An investigation by the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs task force (SEACAD) led to the indictment and arrest of six Petersburg residents last week. A press release from the Juneau Police Department reported that a Juneau Grand Jury indicted Petersburg residents Palmer Thomassen Jr., Gabriel Volk, Dazzlin Frentz, Edward Rayborn, Amanda Loucks, and Austin Strickland on Oct. 26, 2023 for various counts of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the Second and in the Third Degree....
During a regular meeting on Nov. 6, the Petersburg Borough Assembly passed a resolution in its first reading to approve an application for Skylark Park LLC to purchase borough land. The purchase includes five lots on Odin Street, of Skylark II Subdivision, and one parcel, Government Lot 21, near Skylark Way. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the assembly approve the application during the commission's most recent meeting on Oct. 10. Skylark LLC requests to purchase the six...
From atop the helicopter pad at Five Finger Lighthouse station, visitors experience a nearly unobstructed 360-degree vista of Alaska's Inside Passage. The air is rich with the scent of saltwater, the calls of the island's abundant birdlife, and echoes of humpback whales breathing and breaching in Stephens Passage throughout the summer feeding season. A narrow path leads between the station's 120-year-old boat house and carpenter shop and gently traverses the less-than-three-acre island's green... Full story
After a yearlong public process, the U.S. Forest Service has announced eight potential sites for new recreational cabins in the Petersburg and Wrangell Ranger Districts. After considering the environmental impacts and accessibility of hundreds of sites suggested by members of the public or identified by staff, the district picked the ones that are most likely to see substantial traffic and compete for federal funding, and announced them in a draft decision published Thursday, Oct. 19. There are...
The final report of the Petersburg Borough Housing Needs Assessment was completed on Sept. 30. In January of this year, the Borough Assembly contracted consulting firm Agnew::Beck to conduct this assessment and determine the housing needs in Petersburg, at an estimated cost of about $55,000 with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. The assessment took place from February through September. Information was gathered from 366 community survey responses —about 10 percent of the population, which the project team considered a good response r...
The air in town is crisp, leaves continue to fall and the mornings are turning frosty. Even with the bright sunshine seen in Petersburg this week, the season is certainly shifting. The transition of summer to winter brings more than a change in weather; seasonal industries shift, and the change prompts reflection. How did this summer go? Several of Petersburg's new tourism businesses look back on their 2023 season. VIKING TRAVEL James and Madeleine Valentine are the owners of Viking Travel, a...
Hunters harvested a total of 141 moose in the 2023 RM038 moose hunt, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This overall number is much higher than the 118 total in 2022 and exceeds the high 2021 harvest, as well. "This was a high for the RM038, 141 is a high. The previous high was 132 and it was in 2021," said ADF&G Wildlife Biologist Frank Robbins. The RM038 moose hunt began mid-September and ended October 15. Twelve of those 141 total moose were harvested illegally. Kupreanof...
The 47th annual Oktoberfest Art Share event will return to Petersburg once again this Saturday, Oct. 28. When the doors of the Petersburg Community Gym open at 10 a.m., attendees can explore the variety of homemade food, handmade crafts, and much more until the event concludes at 3 p.m. The Muskeg Maleriers have facilitated the event for about 41 years, taking over for the Petersburg Arts Council, the original founders. As for what Saturday's event will offer, Muskeg Maleriers member Sally...
Petersburg's Clausen Memorial Museum has a new museum director. Maureen Floyd was hired this week for the role long-held by Cindi Lagoudakis. "I've got big shoes to fill, [Lagoudakis] was a great director before me ... I'm hoping that I can learn through her and different people ... I am open and eager," Floyd told the Pilot. Floyd moved to Petersburg about four years ago. This August, she walked in the doors of the museum hoping to learn more about Norwegian pioneer Peter Buschmann, who had...
On the north end of Blind River Rapids, a large boulder stands amidst the rushing water - long used by the public for a popular spot to sport fish for hatchery salmon. The fishing rock is located on the banks of a parcel of land owned by the Alaska Mental Health Trust Land Office, which the state created to fund mental health care in Alaska through selling the trust's property. On Sept. 13, the 4.46 acre parcel was put up for sale at a minimum bid of over $102 thousand. During the Borough...
The garden in front of the Petersburg Public Library has the first stage of a new art installation in the works - blending into the background, awaiting the focal pieces. Josef Quitslund welded an intricate fence last month, just "putting up the framework" for what will soon become a school of salmon swimming up Haugen drive. Around a hundred salmon-shaped pieces of colorfully painted plywood will hang from the rebar structure - moving with the wind and swimming through the garden midair....
The ordinance to rezone Skylark Park property Lot GL 14 from Public Use to Single-Family Mobile Home (SFMH) was unanimously approved by the Borough Assembly once again in its second reading of three on Oct. 16. However, before the roll call, the assembly agreed to amend the ordinance. Assembly Member Thomas Fine-Walsh proposed the amendment that added a condition to the rezoning and dictates a definition for manufactured homes. This does not codify an official definition or alter any rezoning...
Bystanders in downtown Petersburg watched through the windows of Petersburg IGA as wildlife troopers and police captured a young bear inside the grocery store on Tuesday afternoon. Alaska State Wildlife Trooper Sgt. Cody Litster told the Pilot that he received an urgent call from staff at the downtown grocery store and left promptly, notifying the Alaska Department of Fish and Game along the way, with the Petersburg Police Department following close behind. Trooper Josh Spann and Sgt. Litster...
On Monday, Clerk Debbie Thompson and Deputy Clerk Becky Regula opened and counted the final votes for Petersburg's 2023 municipal election, as candidates and their supporters anxiously watched in assembly chambers and listened via the live broadcast on KFSK radio. A total of 12 out of 24 uncounted absentee ballots reached the clerk's desk before the election was certified on Monday, Oct. 9. The four questioned votes were determined invalid by the state and did not count toward the election. This...
At the regular Planning & Zoning Commission meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 10, the commission considered the rezoning and sale of five lots on Odin Street and one parcel near Skylark Way at the request of Rock'n'Road Construction and Skylark LLC owners Sig and Ambre Burrell. The Burrells put forward the request for the borough to rezone and sell the properties with the intention to purchase and develop them. "If we can buy these lots, put the utilities in, turn around and sell them, put the utilities...
At the Alaska Hospital and Health Care Association (AHHA) conference in Girdwood last month, Petersburg Medical Center Long Term Care received the top award of Excellence in Quality for the 2023 Nursing Home Quality Awards. The Alaska Nursing Home Quality Achievement Award was bestowed to PMC by Mountain Pacific, a nonprofit corporation that oversees the quality of care for Medicare and Medicaid members through federal and state contracts, as a Gold Pan award for the quality of care delivered... Full story
Commercial salmon fishing in Southeast is mostly finished for the year and the volume of salmon caught far exceeded expectations, but due to low prices, the value of the harvest fell short of recent years. Troy Thynes, Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s (ADF&G) regional management coordinator for commercial fisheries, told the Pilot that this season was “actually a pretty good year” in terms of total number of fish. The preliminary total estimated number of fish currently stands at 65,737,799 salmon for the region, most of that being 47,64...
The unofficial results of the Petersburg 2023 Municipal Election are in. When the voting window closed at 8 o'clock Tuesday night, 1250 voters had cast their ballots. The preliminary results amounted to a strikingly close race for positions in the Borough Assembly and Public Safety Board - with a difference of five votes between assembly candidates and nine votes separating public safety board contenders. 24 absentee ballots remain uncounted, along with four questioned ballots. Borough Clerk...
Local fishing industry representatives met with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) in Petersburg last week looking for a Golden King Crab compromise. The department acknowledged frustrations voiced by the fishermen this year regarding management hindering the golden king harvest. King and Tanner Task Force (KTTF) meetings were organized to brainstorm and come to a common understanding. In the latest KTTF meeting held at the Petersburg Public Library on Sept. 28, the industry and the...
