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Gov. Mike Dunleavy wants to create a new state ferry system advisory board with one state official and 10 public members to replace an existing advisory panel, similar to a separate proposal from coastal lawmakers. The difference being that the legislative proposal would protect board members from dismissal by a governor, while under Dunleavy's bill the members would "serve at the pleasure" of the governor. The governor would appoint the entire board under Dunleavy's bill, while the Legislature...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is predicting an increase to the total statewide salmon harvest this year thanks to a pink salmon run expected to bring in 63.5 million fish over last year's harvest. According to an ADF&G report, the total commercial salmon harvest in Alaska is projected to be 190.1 million fish. In 2020, 118.3 million fish were harvested statewide. The report states the increase to the state harvest is due to a larger pink salmon harvest compared to last year. ADF&G is pr...
About a week before Christmas, Joseph Tagaban, 13, started experiencing a toothache in the lower left side of this jaw. His parents, Ed and Je Tagaban, made an appointment with a local dentist after the pain continued, but a lump underneath his tooth soon began growing. Ed said he thought the dentist was just going to drain the lump and treat Joseph's toothache, but instead, the Tagaban family ended up traveling to Juneau to see an oral surgeon. The surgeon performed an operation on Joseph and...
Petersburg's COVID-19 case count remained at 10 on Wednesday, as no new cases of the virus were reported and no infected residents were released from isolation, according to a joint press release for the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. Wednesday was the second day in a row that Petersburg had an active case count of 10. In the past week, Petersburg has reported five new cases of COVID-19, but 12 infected residents were released from isolation in that same timeframe. The drop...
March 18, 1921 Four fires occurred within the past week all of which were extinguished by the Fire Department in short order. Only one house, that of Pete Skog was damaged to any extent, the others being confined to the roof. The first fire occurred last Friday when the roof of the big green house in the rear of the Brennans Pool hall caught fire around the chimney. This was quickly extinguished without damage. On Sunday afternoon the Pete Skog house caught fire under the roof. On Monday a spark ignited the roof of the house owned by the...
State health officials held a town hall meeting via Zoom on Wednesday to give an overview of the recent COVID-19 outbreak in Petersburg and answer any questions. Since Feb. 18, Petersburg has reported new cases of COVID-19 nearly every single day, while maintaining an active case count. Since the outbreak peaked at 68 cases on March 3, Petersburg has seen a steady decrease in cases. As of Tuesday, Petersburg has recorded 94 cases of the virus since Feb. 18. State health officials were able to...
After spending almost $1.1 million to keep the vessels out of service to save money and safely tied up the past several years, the state last week sold its two fast ferries - built at a combined cost of $68 million less than 20 years ago - for just over $5 million. Mediterranean-based catamaran operator Trasmapi had offered about $4.6 million for the Fairweather and Chenega. The company serves the Spanish island of Ibiza, about 70 miles off the coast. The state was able to negotiate the final...
The Petersburg Police Department is warning the public to be on their guard as scammers look to swindle residents into sending them money. "Historically this time of year there is an increase in email and telephone scammers trying to convince the recipient to send them money, transfer funds by wire or bank to bank, or even gift cards in lieu of funds," said PPD Captain Randall Holmgrain in an email to the Pilot. "The scammers are equal opportunity but will specifically target the elderly or...
The overall 2020 salmon harvest in Southeast Alaska was down by about 56 percent compared to 2019, as all five commercially harvested salmon species runs came in below recent and long term averages. About 14.6 million salmon were harvested in Southeast Alaska last year, which was down from the 33.5 million salmon harvested in 2019, according to a season report by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Statewide, salmon harvests were down by 14.4 million from the preseason forecast, with 118.3...
The Alaskan Republican Party's censure of U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski for voting to convict former President Donald Trump at his impeachment trial, and now ousting her as a GOP candidate in next year's election displays the worst traits of party politics. It's no wonder that Congress is battling such partisanship and why little is accomplished unless a single party controls both houses of Congress and the White House. If a Senator or Congressman is obligated to vote the party line on every issue, r...
Ferry system needs to be own entity To the Editor: Governor Dunleavy's AMHS Reshaping Work Group did not show the passion, desire, or knowledge needed to recommend a decision for the future of the AMHS. To qualify for the work group, each member should have made a round-trip from Skagway to Bellingham-once in the winter and once in the summer-this also includes a round-trip across the Gulf to Whittier and a round-trip from Homer to Sand Point. They are to make all their own reservations for...
Approximately 250 residents were vaccinated at Petersburg Medical Center's COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Friday, which was the hospital's second vaccination clinic this month, according to PMC Phil Hofstetter at the COVID-19 community update on Friday. A combination of first doses and second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, as well as the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, were administered. Theresa Ruzek, a public health nurse manager with the state of Alaska, said the state and...
March 9— An inebriated female was observed at the 200 block of Haugen Dr. Extra patrols were requested on N. Nordic Dr. March 10— Authorities enforced a curfew on a minor at the corner of Baltic St. and Wrangell Ave. Trespassing was reported at a location on S. 3rd St. Suspicious activity at a location on S. Nordic Dr. brought a police response. Authorities responded to a report of yelling at a location on S. 2nd St. March 11— A resident found an ID at a location on S. Nordic Dr. and turned it over to authorities. A wallet went missing at a...
Six people addressed the Borough Assembly at a work session on March 10 to express their support and opposition to legislation that would transfer 23,040 acres of federal land within the Petersburg Borough to an Urban Corporation. The intention of the work session was to give the public an opportunity to share their opinions with the Borough Assembly on the Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act before the bill is reintroduced to the 117th United...
Three sixth graders at Mitkof Middle School have placed in the statewide 2021 virtual Native Youth Olympic games. Elias Anderson placed first in the Seal Hop with a distance of 81 feet and 10 inches. He also took the bronze medal in the Two-Foot High Kick with a height of 52 inches. Gunner Washke also placed in the Seal Hop and secured himself the bronze medal with a distance of 48 feet and 5.25 inches. Paige Hansen finished third in the state for the girls Kneel Jump and took home the bronze...
Alaska’s salmon harvest for 2021 is projected to be a big one, with total catches producing a haul that could be 61% higher than last year, due mostly to an expected surge of pinks. Fishery managers are predicting a statewide catch topping 190 million fish compared to 118.3 million in 2020. The breakdown by species includes 46.6 million sockeye salmon (203,000 increase), 3.8 million cohos (1.4 million higher), 15.3 million chums (6.7 million more), 296,000 Chinook (up by 4,000) and 124.2 million pink salmon (a 63.5 million increase). In its r...
Each year the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) rewards all persons who return an ADF&G sablefish tag with a tag reward (e.g., hat or t-shirt). Additionally, each tag returned to the department with complete recovery information (fisherman’s name, date of recovery, and latitude and longitude) are entered into a random drawing for a cash prize. A total of 1,183 tags qualified for this year’s drawing. The following people were randomly selected from the list of qualified tags as the winners of the 2021 annual sablefish tag recovery inc...
Petersburg's COVID-19 case count continued to fall on Thursday. With three new cases identified and six infected residents released from isolation, the active case count is at 13 as of Thursday afternoon, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical. Of the three new cases added to Petersburg's active case count, two were identified locally and one was reported outside of the community. Petersburg has seen eight straight days of its decline in active... Full story
