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About 160 residents showed up for a vigil on Sunday outside of the Petersburg Courthouse for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who allegedly died during encounters with police, to show their solidarity with protests and movements across the country. Both Floyd and Taylor are African-American. Chelsea Tremblay, one of the organizers of the vigil, said she wanted to create a safe space for people to come and reflect on their thoughts. During the vigil, those in attendance stood in a circle around...
Construction on the Kake Access Project is expected to begin in mid-July and depending on conditions in the upcoming year, the project should be completed by late summer 2021, according to Joseph Kemp, engineering manager for the project. The Alaska Department of Transportation's contractors for the project, Kiewit Infrastructure West, will be arriving in Portage Bay in early July and will start construction on the road in the following weeks, said Kemp. The contractors look to have the project...
An updated version of Gov. Dunleavy's state health mandate #10 took effect early Saturday morning and set new guidelines for residents and visitors who are entering Alaska from the lower 48 or another country. According to the revised mandate, travelers into the state will have to meet one of four requirements upon arrival to avoid having to self quarantine for 14 days. They can be tested for COVID-19 before traveling, or they can be tested in Alaska when they arrive. If the individual has...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved an ordinance in its third reading at a special meeting last week that creates a new special revenue fund for the first distribution of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funding to the borough in the amount of $2,216,502. The borough received the first distribution of CARES Act funding on May 1, with two more distributions expected on July 1 and on October 1. The borough will receive a total of $3,978,894 in CARES Act funding. The third...
The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department responded to a trailer fire at the 5.3 mile mark of Mitkof Highway just before 8 A.M. on Saturday. Assistant Fire Chief Dave Berg said as of Monday afternoon, the cause of the fire was still under investigation, but the fire started in the ceiling directly above the bathroom. By the time the fire department had responded to the scene, the fire had made its way out of the bathroom, through the house and out the front door. Berg said there was also thick...
Following the retirement of the previous local magistrate judge in May, Rachel Newport has taken on the role after serving as clerk of court for two years. Newport began working at the Petersburg Courthouse in April 2018 as the clerk of court under Magistrate Judge Desi Burrell. After Burrell retired in May of 2019, the deputy clerk also retired shortly after. Newport has since been assuming both duties as clerk of court and that of the deputy clerk. Debra O'Gara became the next magistrate...
Outdoor activities will possibly resume at Mitkof Middle School and Petersburg High School on July 13, said Activities Director Jaime Cabral at the Petersburg School Board meeting on Tuesday. School districts throughout Southeast Alaska put together a document with guidelines from the Alaska School Activities Association and the state on how activities can safely resume. While some schools throughout the region have already resumed activities, others haven't, said Cabral. The reason the Petersbu...
Precautions being taken To the Editor: The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department is continuing to enforce its protection measures for its members and the public at the Fire Station. This is to maintain a safe working environment during the current health concern caused by Covid-19. The public and department members have been encouraged to minimize their visitation to the station to lessen the potential spread of this virus to department employees and volunteers. An infection of a member could... Full story
June 3 — A disturbance was reported at a location on Chief John Lott St. June 4 — A vehicle was abandoned at a location on Surf St. Extra patrols were requested at Sandy Beach. Authorities responded to a disturbance at Fram St. and 4th St. June 5 — Suspicious activity was observed at a location on S. Nordic Dr. A disturbance was reported at a location on Lake St. A vehicle accident occurred on S. Nordic Dr. An officer spoke with an individual about an ongoing issue involving a boat. Authorities assisted a citizen with a civil issue. Authorities...
Wrangell dog Thorton is home safe and sound after a multi-week disappearance upriver. Thorton, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, and his owner Brandon Kenfield were up the Stikine River about three weeks ago. Their boat scraped against some rocks, Kenfield said, and both he and the dog jumped out to get the boat loose. By the time he had the boat cleared, Kenfield said Thorton had disappeared into the woods. Kenfield said he and others made regular trips back up the river to look for Thorton over two...
June 11, 1920 The Prueschoff Brothers, who are known as being among the most successful loggers of Southeastern Alaska have just delivered a raft of logs containing 150,000 feet to the Petersburg Lumber Co. mill. Included in this raft were ten large logs of red cedar. There has been demand for red cedar lumber here for boat work and hunters, trappers, fishermen and loggers will now be able to secure this lumber from the local mill. On account of the great amount of sunshine which we have had this summer in Petersburg it is expected that there...
Erin Pfundt and Joshua Thynes were named to the Provost’s Honor Roll for the Spring 2020 semester at Whitworth University...
A killer whale breaches in Frederick Sound near Sandy Beach on Monday....
Surveys of Alaska's fish, crab and halibut stocks in the Bering Sea have been called off or reduced due to constraints and dangers posed by the coronavirus. In what they called an "unprecedented" move, NOAA Fisheries announced in late May that five Alaska surveys will be cancelled this summer "due to the uncertainties created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the unique challenges those are creating for the agency." NOAA said in a statement that they found "no way to move forward with a survey plan...
WRANGELL - On Sunday evening, June 7, the first positive case of COVID-19 was announced in the community of Wrangell. A joint press release from the city and SEARHC reports that the patient is an unnamed female. She is a resident of Wrangell, according to the press release, and is asymptomatic. Contact tracing, trying to determine who might have come into contact with the patient and may potentially be at risk, is currently ongoing. "SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC)...
WRANGELL - The Wrangell Borough Assembly met last Wednesday evening, June 3, for a special meeting. City administration was wanting to enter a Memorandum of Understanding with SEARHC to provide COVID-19 testing for Sea Level Seafood employees. The total cost for the proposed memorandum, according to the meeting's agenda packet, comes out to $60,000. This amount provides some padding in case of emergency, the actual cost of the memorandum is anticipated to be $52,500. "In order to ensure an...
Woven hats Woven hats are a hallmark of indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Bear grass and carved wood are materials sometimes incorporated into Tlingit headwear. Tsimshian weavers favored spruce root, with Haida using woven cedar strips. According to the Canada Museum of History, this preference dates back thousands of years. Catherine (Kitty) Young, born in Craig and of Haida heritage, has woven baskets and this cedar hat that is part of the Clausen Memorial Museum...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Forty-one crew members and passengers of an Alaska state ferry will undergo testing for COVID-19 before disembarking the Tustumena in Homer later Monday after another crew member tested positive over the weekend. The crew member on the 198-foot ferry began exhibiting symptom and tested positive Saturday in Dutch Harbor. The ferry set sail for Homer that night after 21 passengers who boarded in Dutch Harbor were put back ashore. No other tests on crew members or passengers were conducted on Saturday. In all, 35 crew m...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska Department of Administration audit has found that the state’s National Guard units improved the handling of sexual assault and sexual harassment since 2014, but some problems remain. The administration department’s oversight unit said the National Guard increased sexual assault and prevention training, set up new procedures for addressing complaints and created a new military judicial system under laws passed by the Alaska Legislature, The Anchorage Daily News reported Sunday. Citing the results of anony...
