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The Petersburg assembly again approved restructuring leadership of two departments in the borough, introducing the ending to a contentious debate since last spring on who should head the electric utility. The assembly chambers in Petersburg on Monday was full, mostly with people in the electrical field waiting to testify against a plan to have the public works director assume leadership of the power and light department. The plan was approved 4-3 in its second reading after eight audience...
The keynote speaker at the chamber of commerce dinner last weekend is the owner of a cruise line that specializes in exclusive trips, and he announced that one of his ships based in Sitka is moving its homeport to Petersburg. Dan Blanchard, owner of UnCruise Adventures, operates a fleet of nine ships, seven of which are in Alaska. Blanchard announced at the Sons of Norway hall on Saturday that the Safari Quest would be homeporting in Petersburg starting this year, and the captain is his...
March 1, 1918 The Town of Petersburg don’t owe a darned cent to anybody! Such was the purport of a report made by the finance committee of the city council at an adjourned meeting of that body held Monday evening. All obligations of the town have been paid, including notes held by the Bank of Petersburg, amounting in principal and interest to $5,026.66. February 26, 1943 While the large portion of the students were in Ketchikan, the few who were left in the English classes spent their time rehabilitating the library. The two bookcases were m...
Three police officers and two citizens in Petersburg were honored at a borough assembly meeting on Monday for their rescue efforts during an apartment fire last year. On May 5, 2017 an apartment fire was reported at the Narrows Inn in Petersburg. Before responders arrived, Petersburg citizens Mandy Smida and Cecilio Escatell entered the burning apartment in search of an injured person inside. "Using brute strength," said Capt. John Hamilton, who presented the awards, "[Escatell] forced the door...
Kristinn Thorsteinson, Senior, Carlson School of Management has been named to the 2017 fall semester Dean’s List at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities....
Heed the letters To the Editor: (As submitted to Mayor Jensen and Assembly Members) I recently became aware of your discussions to reorganize Petersburg Power & Light and appoint Karl Hagerman as a part-time Director of Petersburg’s electric utility. I believe this is a very risky and foolhardy move. Let me explain. Petersburg has been extremely fortunate to have had two very capable and highly qualified Power & Light Superintendents over the past 35 or so years. Dennis Lewis was hired in the early 1980s and was followed by Joe Nelson some 20 y...
Petersburg residents, along with other Alaskans need to participate in the larger debate on gun violence and steer clear of the knee-jerk reaction, to simply restrict gun sales. We suspect that gun violence that could be perpetrated on most Alaskan communities would make use of a privately owned weapon, not one recently purchased from a firearms dealer or merchant. In some gun violence cases, as mentioned by U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, we’re paying a price caused by the, “hardening of our culture,” over the last 40 years from the influence of vi...
Feb. 21 — There was report of overnight parking on Haugen Drive. The owner moved the vehicle. A canine was found in traffic and brought to the police department. The owner was contacted, and the dog was fine. A license was issued and paid. A civil complaint was reported on Lumber Street. A complainant was referred to court regarding property ownership. Feb. 22 — There was a parking in a snow dump complaint. An officer was contacted and the owner is moving the vehicle. An officer provided traffic control for a citizen moving an oversized tra...
Feb. 12 — Melissa Hallingstad entered a Not Guilty plea before Superior Court Judge Carey to charges of Assault in the 4th Degree and leaving the scene of an accident. Bail was set at $1,500 performance bond and other imposed conditions. Curtis Medina appeared before Judge Carey and entered a Not Guilty Plea to charges of Assault in the 2nd Degree D.V. and Assault in the 3rd Degree D.V. After prosecutors dismissed five charges pertaining to rape allegations against Kenneth Lee Birch, the defendant pleaded guilty to a charge of Assault in the 4...
Twelve Petersburg community members were heard at an assembly meeting on Monday opposing the borough's plan to reorganize leadership of the electric utility. The plan, introduced by the borough manager in May 2017, is not to hire an electrical superintendent with experience in the field. Instead, to cut costs and focus on managing a team, the assembly voted Monday to reorganize departments. The public works director, Karl Hagerman, with 25 years as a municipal employee, would assume the role of...
The borough assembly on Monday finalized two ordinances that plan to generate revenue by charging fees on tax exemption cards and cruise ship passengers who come to Petersburg. Assembly members approved an ordinance to impose a $100 annual fee on senior citizens who qualify and apply for a tax exemption card. The fee is waived to qualified applicants who sign an affidavit claiming they have a combined household income that doesn’t exceed $20,000. Household was defined at the meeting as a tax filer, plus a spouse, plus dependents. The senior s...
The Petersburg Vikings won two games last weekend in Craig, where the Vikings got its first sweep of the year coming ahead of its rival matchup against Wrangell this week. The first half of Friday’s Craig-Petersburg matchup looked promising, said Rick Brock, the head coach. Petersburg was scoring well and holding a steady lead. The halftime score was 26-23. But Craig ran a full court press defense to start the third. “I figured they would make an adjustment,” Brock said. “And their press bothered us, the physicality of it.” Petersbur...
The Petersburg Lady Vikings split its series with Craig last weekend. On Friday, Petersburg held Craig under 25 in its 33-24 defensive effort, picking up its first win against Craig this year. Senior Courtney Fredricksen led the team in scoring with seven. Freshman Allie Davis and senior Katie Brock both had six. “We did a nice job protecting the paint,” said Dino Brock, Petersburg’s head coach. “We just stayed solid defensively.” Petersburg started off slow offensively, only scoring four in the first quarter. “Then Nina [McCay] hit a coupl...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The number of cruise ship visitors in Alaska is primed to make a sizeable jump in the next two years, a cruise industry expert said. John Binkley, the president of Cruise Lines International Association Alaska, said his organization has predicted that the number of cruise ship visitors will jump 19 percent between 2017 and 2019, the Juneau Empire reported Wednesday. Binkley said that would mean 200,000 more visitors in Alaska. About 1.1 million cruise visitors came to Alaska in 2017, which was the most in state history, h...
WRANGELL - With a month left before work is scheduled to resume, discussions continue on the future of a stockpile of contaminated soil excavated from the former Byford junkyard. Heading the cleanup effort that began in 2016, the Department of Environmental Conservation removed over 60 shipping containers of debris and heavily contaminated soils from the yard, which for years had been a privately-run repository for automotive and marine junk. The City of Wrangell had assumed responsibility for...
The most common piece of gear on a seine vessel is also one of the deadliest – the rotating capstan winch used for winding ropes. Anyone who has ever worked aboard a seiner has horror stories of close calls, or worse. “The deck winch is the most powerful thing on the boat. It’s the scariest piece of machinery that we work with. My feeling when I was caught in it was that I was completely helpless. There was nothing I could do,” said fisherman Noah Doncette who participated in a video for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Hea...
The Alaska Marine Highway System announced it has adjusted ferry service schedules for the middle of April in order to help roughly 400 students and chaperones from across Southeast travel to the Region V Music Festival in Juneau. AMHS will be rerouting the M/V LeConte to make a round-trip run through southern Southeast to pick up and return the students. With this service adjustment, students from Ketchikan, Wrangell, Metlakatla and Klawock will be able to attend the annual festival. Students from Sitka and Haines will use a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan said violence in video games and movies should be discussed as part of a larger debate on gun violence and suggested Monday that states should decide whether school teachers should be armed. Meanwhile, Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, who was in Washington, D.C. for a gathering of the nation’s governors, told The Associated Press something must be done in response to the violence. But he said he wants to speak with advisers from within his administration and possibly also hear from outside voices before tak...
The newest eatery in Petersburg was honored with the 2018 Business of the Year Award on Saturday at the annual chamber of commerce dinner. The Salty Pantry opened for business in early April 2017. Its owner, Mindy Anderson, spent a year on the business plan. She attended a baking institute in San Francisco in 2016 where she learned the science of yeasted breads, croissants and pastry doughs and desserts, Angela Christensen said as she introduced Anderson on Saturday. "The place might be small...
