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Petersburg Borough Assembly Member John Hoag resigned his position on the assembly Monday. Hoag, a lawyer, said he's stepping down due to a conflict of interest between one of his clients and the borough. "I have found myself with two clients who have adverse interests to the borough," Hoag said during the start of Monday's meeting. "One issue may be resolvable through disclosure and abstaining as a voter. The other represents a potential violation of the charter, which prohibits assembly members from representing persons against the borough."... Full story
A tobacco tax might be the answer to the Petersburg Medical Center board’s future infrastructure funding concerns. The sales tax committee discussed last Tuesday recommending the initiation of a tobacco tax to the borough assembly. PMC CEO Liz Woodyard attended the meeting and said many communities across the country support their hospitals with a similar tax. “That’s a norm,” Woodyard said. “That’s not something that’s unusual. In this case I’m specifically talking about tobacco because we absolutely know we can attribute healthcare diseases a... Full story
The sales tax committee discussed with citizens additional taxes on alcohol and pull-tabs last Tuesday. The mission of the committee is to simplify the sales tax code and collection procedures and to generate an equal or greater amount of revenue so the borough doesn't have to decrease services or increase property taxes. That means it's looking at every option before it makes recommendations to the borough assembly. Many of the Petersburg residents who attended the meeting urged the committee... Full story
February 7, 1914 – Everybody has heard about "fearless hunters," but very few have ever known one. The Petersburgers are fortunate however, in that they not only have heard about fearless hunters, but know two of them, they are Bob and Hans. If there is one kind of animal that those boys hate worse than another, it's the bear. On their last trip it appears that they had a trap set, when another kind of fool animal got its hind legs into it. On their next round from a distance, they saw s...
Petersburg residents who utilize the landfill for commercial salvaging will still be able to take scrap metal after assembly voted down a proposed change that would have eliminated for-profit salvaging. Public Works Director Karl Hagerman made the change as the borough updated its sanitation ordinance. “The department, while we’re very supportive of the salvage program in general, has seen operational problems with commercial salvage for-profit,” Hagerman said during a public hearing on the salvage program last month. “The salvage program was d...
With this edition, the Petersburg Pilot turns 40 years old. Wrangell publisher Jamie Bryson brought this publication into being on February 8, 1974. The Pilot’s predecessor, Petersburg Press folded in January and Bryson stepped up to the plate to make sure Petersburg continued to have a newspaper. He had the equipment and staff in Wrangell to produce the paper and many volunteers and staff member Jean Ellis in Petersburg to write stories, columns and ads. Most important to the operation was Bryson’s airplane, which enabled him to fly back and...
An updated Petersburg criminal code would give officers more discretion when it comes to charging individuals with minor crimes. “What we’re looking at is taking some issues that are minor crimes and giving the officers the option to write a simple borough ordinance violation similar to a traffic ticket,” Police Chief Kelly Swihart said. Officers would determine whether or not to arrest individuals for crimes such as Driving while License is Suspended, Revoked or Canceled, Trespassing and Minor Theft. “If we get a young person, for instanc...
Petersburg Borough Comprehensive Plan To the Editor: The comprehensive plan is an attempt by the Petersburg Borough to look into the future and set forth principles and parameters of actions on the part of the Borough to best serve the citizens. The effort is to be lauded. I feel the plan should incorporate two overriding mandates: 1. The plan should reflect the desires of the majority of the citizens of the Petersburg Borough while respecting the history and culture of all borough residents. 2. The plan must be founded on fiscal realities. As...
January 29 A caller reported an abandoned vehicle on their property. January 31 Police arrested William L. Smith, 42, on a charge of Violating Conditions of Release. A caller reported loud music. February 1 Police arrested Yupin Ohmer, 40, on a charge of Driving Under the Influence. Police issued a citation to William R. Craig, 22, for No Proof of Insurance. A caller reported being harassed for payment. A caller requested assistance for an individual who needed a ride home. February 2 A caller reported finding a syringe near South Nordic Drive...
January 30 Ryan Helmer appeared before Magistrate Judge Burrell on charges of Driving Under the Influence, Assault in the 4th degree Against a Peace Officer and Harassment in the 1st degree Against a Peace Officer. A not guilty plea was entered on the defendant’s behalf and the defendant was ordered to not leave Petersburg among other conditions of release. Palmer Thomassen appeared before Magistrate Judge Burrell for a Petition to Revoke Probation. The court entered a denial and set conditions of release. Kory Birchell appeared before M...
The Lady Vikings dominated its rival Wrangell Wolves last weekend during two away games. The girls squad set the pace during the first quarter with a lead of 16-7 but got into foul trouble early on. "At one point I had all five starters on the bench in the second quarter," Head Coach Dino Brock said. "For the large part of the second quarter most of the starters didn't even play." But the Lady Vikings bench didn't let the momentum linger and kept the lead at 21-17 at the half. Brock said his...
The Vikings brought home two wins from last weekend's homecoming games in Wrangell. Friday night's match was neck and neck as the two teams battled between one or two possessions throughout the night. "One of the keys for us is to be able to control the tempo on the defensive end," Head Coach Rick Brock said. "We weren't able to do that. Wrangell did a nice job of keeping the pace they way they wanted it and spreading us out." With 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter Petersburg lost...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly ironed out language in the ordinance governing the Petersburg Medical Center hospital board and settled on a relationship between the two bodies that is somewhat ambiguous. Despite months of discussion between the two boards, Assembly Member John Havrilek still wasn’t comfortable with that ambiguity. “I’m still concerned this ordinance doesn’t give the hospital or us direction on who does what, when, how,” Havrilek said. Havrilek asked that clearer language be added to the ordinance that would define the borou...
Eleven new seafood products from seven companies are set to be showcased at the upcoming Symphony of Seafood galas in Seattle and Anchorage. In its 21 years the event has introduced and promoted hundreds of new Alaska seafood items to the marketplace. “Developing new products is really hard,” said Julie Decker, new executive director of the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation which hosts the event. (Decker replaces Jim Browning who retired,) “It costs a lot of money, takes a lot of time and attention, and sometimes the products are wonde...
The borough manager reported the following information during his bimonthly report to the assembly. North Harbor main floats one and two are in place. Workers are busy driving the piles to grade as well as laying the waterline so the large fingers can get attached to the north side of float one. Anchor Electric is working long hours and is ahead of schedule. TAMICO, PND Engineers and Harbormaster Glo Wollen attended the pre-construction meeting for the drive down dock. Activity should begin within the next couple of weeks. Sgt. Kerr is back...
This year's Losing Big competition kicked off this week as contestants divided up into two teams led by captains who participated in last year's competition. The competition aims to provide contestants a means to live healthier and more productive lives as they set goals for themselves as the competition progresses. The teams were divided after names were drawn from a hat. Shelly Pope is captain of Team Blue and Christin Fankhauser is captain of Team White. Donnie Hayes, Parks and Rec Director,...
Dawn was born July 8, 1956 in Everett, Washington. She moved to Alaska with her family when she was little, living on Annette Island and Seward before settling in Petersburg where she grew up and attended school. She passed away unexpectedly at her home in Cleveland, Ohio on Jan. 3, 2014. Growing up with two brothers who she loved to get in trouble, summers with her cousins that were her "sisters" and friends who she always kept in touch with, was something she treasured and talked about often.... Full story
