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The Petersburg High School National Honor Society and Junior National Honor Society inducted 16 new members on Wednesday at a candlelight ceremony. The induction ceremony was held at Wright Auditorium in front of classmates and family members. “The National Honor Society is more than just a scholarship organization,” Principal Rick Dormer said adding the tenets of the society include Scholarship, Service, Character and Leadership. “If you think about it, it goes against human nature to conti...
Tribal Administrator Will Ware handed in a letter of resignation this weekend after two years of service at the Petersburg Indian Association. The 38-year-old father of four boys, was unavailable for comment, but he did offer an explanation to the Pilot via email. “After ten years of work within the Tribe, in a variety of different capacities, I have decided to move on to a new chapter in my life. In Tribal governments, as there is in any government, there is the element of politics that must b...
Forrest Cole, Tongass National Forest Supervisor, last week announced the decision to allow the Tonka Timber Sale on Kupreanof Island to proceed. Now an official appeals process will take place for those opposing the sale. For those in favor, a planning process will begin. According to the Forest Service the sale will provide an estimated 38 MMBF (millions of board feet of timber) of timber, and create up to 183 jobs. These jobs will include stevedoring, road construction, barging and transportation, fuel delivery and mill jobs, said...
Nolan the Colon, a 30-foot-long, 15-foot-high and 12-foot-wide inflatable colon, covered in polyps and tumors, was the star of Saturday's Health Fair. This was Nolan the Colon's first visit to Petersburg. The display was on loan by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium in Anchorage, and it travels around the state educating people about colon health. Visiting surgeon Dr. Eric Llorens Garcia was on hand to give folks tours of the inflatable colon, as well as answer questions about...
The Alaska Redistricting Board will once again appeal a Superior Court Judge's decision to redraw district lines. Alaska Redistricting Board Executive Director Taylor Bickford said an appeal will be filed on Friday. Judge Michael McConahy issued a decision last week in the 2011 Redistricting Cases v. Alaska Redistricting Board case, saying that “The Board did not comply with the directive of the Alaskan Supreme Court to draw and provide support for a Hickel [v. Southeast Conference] plan. The ...
Mild weather and a high tide welcomed this year's annual Blessing of the Fleet on Sunday. The event was hosted by Petersburg Ministerial Association, Petersburg Vessel Owners and the Sons of Norway. The event, which took place in Fishermen's Memorial Park, included a selection of prayers and songs to bless the dozens of fishing boats, tenders and recreational boats expected to leave out of Petersburg's three harbors. The prayers also included the U.S. Coast Guard cutters that serve Southeast...
A dozen proposed capital budget projects were promised funding at the close of the 27th Alaska Legislature, but only one is wrapped in controversy. Petersburg projects on the fiscal year 2013 Capital Budget include a commercial dock drive down for $5.6 million, the North Harbor rebuild for $3.5 million, crane dock upgrade for $800,000, dry (unheated) storage building replacement for $400,000, new police station planning and design development for $350,000, hospital roof replacement for $275,000, Sons of Norway Hall upgrades for $250,000, Sandy...
Rock-N-Road started to remove the Romiad building on Monday to make way for construction of the new City library....
Petersburg's attorney on Monday filed a response in Superior Court regarding the city's inclusion into the newly formed House District 32. “Today, we filed our request that the court take another look at District 32 and reverse the decision it made last year,” City Attorney Thomas F. Klinker told the City Council via phone. The 25-page brief, which names Counselors Mark Jensen and Nancy Strand as plaintiffs, claims the Alaska Redistricting Board “failed to take the required 'hard look' regarding what districting of Southeast Alaska best met t...
City Manager Steve Giesbrecht focused on the many downtown and harbor construction projects that are underway this spring and summer in his report to the City Council on Monday. Giesbrecht led off his report with an update of the North Harbor project. “We are continuing working with the Army Corps of Engineers on coordinating the North Harbor dredging as well as the construction project,” Giesbrecht said. “Public notices have gone out announcing upcoming Federal projects and final bid documents are forth-coming,” he added. Giesbrecht spoke w...
Second Street and cross roads are closed to through traffic due to a large-scale project. According to Public Works Director Karl Hagerman, the Water and Sewer Reconstruction Project will replace old water and sewer mains on Second Street, as well as Noseeum Street, Gauffin Street and Odin Street. The contract, for $1,050,000, was secured through loans from Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC). The ADEC Division of Water secures grants and loans for municipal water and sewer...
A mound of mud has been making its way down Hammer Slough since a mudslide near the Public Works office last fall. On Saturday, at an extreme low tide of -3.6, the silt lifted a privately-owned float and at least one boat right out of the water. “Our best guess is that it's 600 to 1,000 cubic yards.” said Harbormaster Glorianne Wollen. The problem with the mud is that when the tide is extremely low, property that should be afloat, sits on mud instead. City Councilman Rick Braun also took a loo...
Norwegian songs and toasts filled the air and meatballs and fish cakes filled bellies on Saturday night at the Sons of Norway Hall. Lodge members, visiting dignitaries and members of the community gathered to celebrate the Hall's 100th Anniversary. Fedrelandet #23 is the oldest Sons of Norway Lodge in Alaska, the weekend's celebration was the culmination of several weeks of preparation. SONS member Sue Paulsen served as Master of Ceremonies for the event with SONS President Jill Williams...
Police Chief Jim Agner described an incident that occurred on Saturday afternoon as something you would see in an action movie. Police were called to investigate a robbery and the theft of a truck on Harbor Way. The alleged robbery victim is someone known to police who comes to town periodically to buy drugs, Agner said. The man had reportedly approached a group of young people on Harbor Way to buy drugs. Instead of selling the man drugs, Agner said, they robbed him of about $125 and ran. The man was able to keep up with them, so the suspects...
When the M/V Christian pulled into Middle Harbor last Thursday all those aboard were greeted with singing and drumming. The boat's passengers, all members of the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood, were welcomed to shore by several ANB/ANS members “singing in” their arrival. Traditional practices for “singing in” visitors dates back to the days when visitors would come by boat to different locations around Southeast Alaska, said Ross Nannauck III. The event was just one sto...
Negotiations have fallen flat regarding funding for the relocation of the 29-year-old Romiad building, and the two-story building will now most likely be torn down as soon as next week. Talks between the Petersburg Economic Development Council (PEDC) and local business-owner Pete Litsheim, who had asked for a loan of $210,000 to move the building from its current location near the corner of 2nd and Haugen to an empty lot next to Scandia House on N. Nordic Drive, have stalled do to a disagreement over collateral and other contractual obligations...
Schools students and public officials participated in a statewide Choose Respect event – with a march downtown and a rally at the Sons of Norway hall. Choose Respect is a campaign sponsored by Governor Sean Parnell to raise awareness of domestic violence, sexual assault, child sexual assault and bullying. The students marched on Nordic downtown and then gathered for snacks and to share thoughts and comments on what 'Choose Respect' means to them. “Sometimes we're a little too polite when we see...
Petersburg will be ready once again to go to court against the Alaska Redistricting Board in order to stay in the district with Sitka, the City Council decided during a regular meeting Monday. The council opposes the plan because they say it reduces, disproportionately the representation of Petersburg voters in the House and Senate District. Also, the district Petersburg would be in with Juneau under the new plan is not compact enough to be lawful under the state constitution. The city last...
The USCG Cutter Hickory last week made a brief stop in Petersburg. The multi-mission cutter was docked in the South Harbor in March. During the brief visit, the crew of 43 enlisted men and seven officers got a chance to explore Petersburg before heading back out to sea. The Hickory is currently stationed out of Homer, and spends much of its time in Kachmak Bay, Cook Inlet and along the Aleutian Islands. The Hickory is equipped as a buoy tender and is responsible for maintaining up to 200 buoys....
Participants in Petersburg triathlons and 5-K runs will soon have the quickest, most-accurate race results than any other area in Southeast Alaska. With a financial gift from the Chamber of Commerce, the Petersburg Parks and Recreation has purchased a Jaguar Cubby Race Timing System from Innovative Timing Systems. The system, which costs about $4,000, uses radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to transmit data from a chip on each of the runners to a computer that tabulates race results. The RFID chips are worn usually on clothing or in...
City official’s pleas for better communication and fewer reduced and dismissed cases from the District Attorneys may see some improvements in the near future. Although the City Manager and Police Chief fear it will not be enough. In a town hall meeting on Feb. 21, the City Council, Police Chief Jim Agner, and community members asked Deputy Attorney General Richard Svobodny why about 40 percent of cases filed with the District Attorney's office are dismissed and a significant number are plea-bargained or reduced. Agner expressed frustration a...
Pending public approval of the plans, the Blaquiere Point boat launch rebuild will be a reality soon. According to U.S. Forest Ranger Jason Anderson, plans for the proposed extension of the Blaquiere Point boat launch, are one step further along in the approval process. “We should be going out with a preliminary design that the Forest Service has cooked up,” Anderson said. Blaquiere Point is located at the intersection of Sumner and Dry Straits on the southeast corner of Mitkof Island, abo...
Schools students and public officials will take to the streets today at 4 p.m. as part of a statewide Choose Respect campaign - bringing awareness to issues such as domestic violence, sexual assault, child sexual assault and bullying. “[This is] about problems in Alaska, as well as making people think about what respect means to them,” said event coordinator Jo Ann Day. A march will go from Trading Union to Wells Fargo followed by a gathering at the Sons of Norway Hall. The event will include several speakers including Police Chief Jim Agn...
The Petersburg Medical Center set plans in motion to expand service to include acupuncture. The Medical Center Board of Directors approved a proposal for acupuncture training for Chief of Staff Dr. Jennifer Hyer. Hyer will study medical acupuncture at the Helms Medical Institute, in Phoenix, Ariz. beginning this fall and wrapping up training in the spring. The Medical Center Board approved the $15,000 proposal in order to bring an alternative treatment to patients. “Acupuncture is widely used fo...
A complaint of a minor who had been tattooed has led police to investigate not only the alleged tattoo artists, but also several other crimes including the theft of $7,000 in flooring. Police served a search warrant at 306 Hungerford Hill #7, where they seized a large amount of tattooing equipment including 13 tattoo machines, a printer, sterilization equipment and ink, said Captain John Hamilton. It is illegal, in the state of Alaska, to tattoo anyone under the age of 18. Police suspect the tattoo equipment could be the property of the late...
