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Petersburg is set to receive an 87-foot Marine Protector Class coastal patrol vessel that will serve the Inside Passage with search and rescue patrols, fisheries enforcement, drug smuggling interception and other missions. The vessel will be home ported in Petersburg after the 110-ft. Anacapa is removed from service in 2021. Mayor Mark Jensen told the Pilot Wednesday, "It's a done deal." This was discussed in D.C. this winter when he made a personal visit with the Alaska Congressional...
The Borough Assembly deliberated over the first draft of the fiscal year 2019 budget presented Friday afternoon by Finance Director Jody Tow. Tow told the assembly the property tax mill rate decreases this year from 11.6 mills to 11.38 mills. The millage rate is the amount per $1,000 used to calculate taxes on property. Absent voter approved levies for the school, aquatic center, assisted living and library debt, the mill rate is below the required cap (10 mills) at 9.2 mills. Tow said the mill...
Michael P. Heiser, attorney for the Hanson Class, plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Kake Tribal Corporation, is seeking a court order forcing Attorney Fred Triem to render a full accounting of the Hanson Class funds being held in his trust account. In the early 1990s, Triem represented the "Hanson Class" of shareholders who were plaintiffs, bringing suit against Kake Tribal Corporation. The court awarded judgment to the plaintiffs in the amount of $2.7 million, plus costs, attorney fees and...
April 26, 1918 Notice Is Hereby Given, That all owners of lots situated within the corporate limits of the Town of Petersburg must have all rubbish cleared from their property by Friday, May 10, 1918. Any rubbish remaining on lots after that date I will have removed and the expense of such work will be taxed to the property. It is further ordered that no tin cans or other rubbish shall be placed on the beach or tideflats, but must be dumped from the docks or floats below low tide. Hans Wick, Health Officer. April 23, 1943 In a previous Student...
The Borough’s Enterprise Funds are all solvent and to keep it that way, some rate increases will go into effect this fiscal year. Enterprise operations are carried out by the harbor, water, wastewater, sanitation, elderly housing and assisted living departments, which largely pay their own way from revenue they generate from people using their services. Finance Director Jody Tow noted that the Assisted Living fund is being subsidized by the General Fund for both Bond Debt ($179,606) and Operating Fund transfer ($150,000) this year. That a...
Automated External Defibrillators will be added and old units replaced as a part of the 2018/19 Borough budget. The line item will cost $30,200 for 16 units and 5 training devises used to train EMS providers and lifeguards. The defibrillators cost $1,700 each and are placed in Borough vehicles and public buildings. According to a budget proposal the units will be placed in two ambulances, the PVFD administration vehicle, four in public access buildings, the pool, gym, the PMP&L offices and line truck, in four police patrol vehicles and in the...
Reverend Bob Carter and Boy Scout Jakob Wikan prepare a wreath in memory or those who have passed away the previous year. The Blessing of the Fleet was held Sunday, April 22 and is sponsored by the Petersburg Ministerial Association, Petersburg Vessel Owners and Sons of Norway....
The Petersburg Pilot and Wrangell Sentinel each received two awards from the Alaska Press Club for work completed in 2017. Pilot publisher Ron Loesch received two awards. Second place was for a story about local attorney Fred Triem representing his client for months following her demise. The story was published Sept. 7. Judges noted in part: “A grim tale from which the reader reaps great benefit. A fascinating case well worth the front page for complexity and original subject matter…” Placing third was an editorial appearing in the July 6 edi...
Thomas Durkin skirts a pitch to catcher Louden Sandhofer during last weekend's games hosting Ketchikan. The Kings handily won their three games with the Vikings, finishing Friday's game 13-0, Saturday's first game 11-1, and then the afternoon game 17-6. After that start to the season, the Vikings head next to Juneau-Douglas for another three games this weekend, then host Sitka the following week....
We are ecstatic that the U.S. Coast Guard will operate another cutter out of Petersburg after the Anacapa is taken out of service. True, it’s a smaller vessel than the Anacapa, with a smaller crew, but we’ll take it. The Coast Guard’s Petersburg operations make a huge impact on our economy. The payroll alone is significant. Then start adding in lease payments to the borough for the mooring facilities, housing for families, supplies and goods — often purchased locally, fuel purchases and all manner of repairs and the sum starts to become...
After a chilly start, Petersburg High School’s track and field team was well on its way into the new season with its meet in Ketchikan over the weekend. Scoring 140 points, the school’s girls finished the invitational in second place, with 28 personal records set over the course of two days. Junior Gillian Wittstock took first place in the high jump, while sophomore Kianna Kivisto led the board in the varsity long jump. Kivisto also took first in the triple jump competition, setting a personal best in the process. Seniors Erin Pfundt and Shy...
SITKA, Alaska (AP) — A Sitka bear sanctuary is getting ready to unveil its new black bear enclosure when it opens for the tourist season. Fortress of the Bear Manager Claire Turner said during a presentation at the Sitka Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday that the new enclosure will add about 10 times the space of its previous habitat, the Daily Sitka Sentinel reported. It expects to open by early May, Turner said. Les and Evy Kinnear opened the fortress in 2002. At the time, they only worked with brown bears. They later added a separate 4...
April 18 — Drywall workers tripped the alarm at Petersburg Medical Center. Police logged a harassment complaint on Lumber St. A subpoena was served. April 19 — Police conducted extra patrols around the schools. A protective order was issued. Keys lost along the Hungerford Hill Rd. trail were turned in to police. A wallet was found at Eagles Roost Park. April 20 — A possible overdose was reported at a S. Nordic Dr. location. Police responded to a report of illegal dumping at Mile 6 Mitkof Hwy. Owners were contacted after a loose dog was found...
Monday, April 23, 7PM Wright Auditorium...
Coast Guard Buoy Tenders Elderberry and Anthony Petit from Ketchikan teamed up to repair the Wrangell Narrows Channel Light #38. The channel light was damaged in January....
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska Native tribe in Kodiak has raised questions about a proposed land exchange between the federal government and a private owner. A representative of the Sun’aq Tribe said its tribal council will discuss the merits of a swap of privately owned Ayakulik Island off southwest Kodiak Island for federally owned tideland in Womens Bay south of the city of Kodiak. Ayakulik Island is valuable habitat but remote, said Thomas Lance, the tribe’s natural resources director. Womens Bay is important for fish and migratory water...
WRANGELL - Wrangell was last week granted a special economic designation by the state along with 24 other Alaskan communities. The Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development named the community as one of its new "opportunity zones," part of a federal program designed to drive long-term capital investment to economically distressed communities. According to the federal Treasury Department, Alaska has 60 low-income communities eligible for the designation. With the creation of the...
WRANGELL — Wrangell Public School District learned last week its secondary school principal, Bill Schwan, will be departing after the current academic year ends. His departure is the latest among the district’s top administrators. At Evergreen Elementary, school principal Gail Taylor tendered notice in January. She took off for Oklahoma earlier than expected, departing this week on Tuesday. Faculty member Therese Pempek will helm the school through the year’s end. After a search for Taylor’s replacement, the district announced it will be hiri...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Legislature on Monday revised its sexual harassment policy to allow for the use of outside investigators in cases involving legislators under certain circumstances. The Legislature’s human resources manager would have the discretion to decide whether to hire an independent investigator, but the presiding officer or minority leader could also make a request for an outside investigator. The policy, adopted by the Legislative Council, also includes an appeals process and formal and informal reporting pro...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Airlines has updated its policy on emotional support animals following an increase in incidents involving them on planes and in airports, including some customers and employees suffering bites. Starting May 1, customers flying with psychiatric service animals must provide animal health and behavioral documents and a signed document from a medical professional at least 48 hours prior to departure. The airline also will stop allowing amphibians, goats and animals with hooves, tusks or horns. Alaska Airlines s...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The University of Alaska Center for Economic Development has designed a competition to come up with renewable energy business ideas. The competition’s organizers assigned a different challenge related to renewable energy in Alaska to four teams across the state. They have had five weeks to solve it, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported Wednesday. Organizer Julia Casey said the competition was born from an exercise called a “design sprint,” common in Silicon Valley. Casey said by forcing teams to develop a renewable energy to...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The process of laying off teachers in what’s known as “pink slip season” — May 15 to the last day of school — attracts most of the attention when education loyalists argue for funding. But there’s another category known as “displaced” or involuntarily transferred teachers that also stems from budget cuts. It involves keeping a teacher in the district but putting him or her up for bid to a different school. Teachers selected to be laid off or displaced are identified by school principals and generally are the latest hi...
Two commercial fisheries open each spring at Upper Cook Inlet that attract little notice and few participants, but each pays big bucks to fishermen. The first is a food and bait herring fishery that runs from April 20 through the end of May. The 150 ton catch quota is small compared to most of Alaska’s other herring fisheries, but the payout is far higher than all others. “They get $1.00 to $1.50 a pound, or $2,000 to $3,000 for a short ton, and the herring goes primarily into the halibut commercial bait fishery or the sport bait fis...
Johanna Grace Mattingly was born April 4, 2018 in Silver Spring, Maryland. She weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. She was welcomed into the family of Nicole and Darby Mattingly....
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Senate has narrowly approved a formal statement supporting a “free and open” internet that’s equally accessible to all consumers. The so-called Sense of the Senate also calls on Congress to overturn a Federal Communications Commission decision to end net-neutrality protections. It passed 11-7. The FCC in December voted to gut U.S. rules meant to prevent broadband companies from exercising more control over what people watch and see online. Sen. Bill Wielechowski (wil-a-KOW-skee), an Anchorage Democrat who spo...
