Sorted by date Results 1 - 18 of 18
The Planning Commission voted against recommending that the Petersburg Borough Assembly approve the Petersburg Medical Center's application to rezone 43 undeveloped lots on the proposed site for the new hospital facility at its meeting on Tuesday. The 43 lots are owned by the borough and are located north of Haugen Drive and behind the Elizabeth Peratrovich Building. They are currently zoned as single-family residential, multi-family residential, commercial, and open space-recreational, but the...
A Washington state-based conservation group whose actions have already caused the closure of the Southeast Alaska king salmon commercial troll fishery is now planning to ask the federal government to list several Alaska king salmon stocks under the Endangered Species Act. Last month, the Wild Fish Conservancy formally notified the state of Alaska of its plans to file the ESA petition for multiple populations of king salmon — also known as chinook — in Southeast, Southwest and Cook Inlet, just outside Anchorage. If successful, experts said the...
June 15, 1923 – The Commercial Club party, which visited Juneau to attend the Congressional banquet and to work for the dredging of the Wrangell Narrows, returned on Friday morning and those who went report a successful trip. Mayor Elsemore is reported to have made an excellent impression with his ten minute talk and the others in the party report that the Congressmen present gave him their undivided attention and were seemingly much impressed. It is felt by those who made the trip that excellent results have been accomplished by calling the ma...
Between 2019 and 2021, state and federal law enforcement conducted a lengthy investigation into Petersburg area sport fishing charter lodge Rocky Point Resort, according to charging documents filed with Alaska Trial Courts last month. The investigation has resulted in four sport fishing guides being charged with over 50 counts related to halibut sport fishing violations. Current halibut charter bag limits for Southeast Alaska allow guided charter vessel anglers to catch and retain one halibut...
June 7 – Petersburg Police Department (PPD) received a report of graffiti on South 3rd Street. An officer spoke with a citizen regarding domestic violence. Officers assisted with a residential inspection on Mitkof Highway. Property lost on Howkan Street was reported to the PPD. PPD received a report of a possibly abandoned vehicle in the Middle Harbor parking lot. PPD received a parking complaint on Haugen Drive. The owner later moved the vehicle. A protective order was served. An officer responded to a report of a reckless all terrain vehicle... Full story
On Tuesday afternoon, cellphones across the state beeped with emergency tones as the Alaska State Troopers attempted to find two-year-old Karma Brown, who briefly went missing in Fairbanks. Brown was found safe within 40 minutes, but not before Alaskans from Adak to Metlakatla were alerted via the national Wireless Emergency Alert system. “The Amber Alert was deliberately sent statewide due to family connections of the suspect to multiple areas of the state. In most instances, Amber Alerts are sent within 300 miles of the location of the a... Full story
Petersburg is ramping up preparations for this year's star-spangled celebration as Independence Day draws near. On Monday, it was announced that "Let Freedom Ring" would be the theme for floats participating in the Fourth of July parade, beating out other contenders "Tour America," "Create Hope in the World," and "Celebrate U.S." The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce is organizing the parade and Administrator Mindy Lopez is encouraging any and all local organizations, nonprofits, churches,...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously passed an ordinance that will raise the amount that sewer utility rates will increase by in FY24 during its June 5 meeting. In May 2022, the assembly voted to increase sewer utility rates by 3% annually from FY23-FY26, but this new ordinance will double the planned rate increase in FY24, raising rates for one year by 6%. According to an annual rate review of the utility, the 6% raise is needed to keep up with increased costs and expenses to the...
The Petersburg Borough's annual Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Event is returning at the end of this month after a three-year hiatus. The borough invites the public to deliver their materials to the baling facility on June 24-25 at no cost, encouraging community members to get hazardous substances out of their homes and disposed of in a safe manner. "COVID kind of interrupted our stride, and-you know-it's taken us a couple years to get back to where we need to be, so we fully intend to make...
More than 100 salmon trollers packed a Sitka meeting on June 7 with sharp questions about the future of their fishery, facing what could be an unprecedented full shutdown of this year’s chinook trolling season. “I’m optimistic, but I’m also scared as heck,” said Eric Jordan, a lifelong fisherman and Sitka resident at the standing room-only meeting with federal National Marine Fisheries Service officials. The closure of the king salmon fishery in Southeast would be economically devastating, according to many in the region who rely on the valua...
Up until last year, Southeast Alaska’s Mitkof Island was home to a creek with some unique salmon: They only turned left. Officially, anyway. There is a fork in Ohmer Creek, on Mitkof Island. On the west side, the state’s Anadromous Waters Catalog, or AWC, reported the presence of all five species of wild Alaska salmon, as well as Dolly Varden and cutthroat trout. On the east side of the fork, according to the AWC, there were only steelhead. One afternoon last summer, U.S. Forest Service fish biologist Eric Castro, of the Petersburg Ranger Dis...
The company behind the controversial Pebble Mine in Southwest Alaska has agreed to pay nearly $6.4 million to a group of shareholders who claim they were misled by corporate leaders. Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. reached the settlement with the named plaintiffs, according to documents filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The settlement is the product of two lawsuits, later consolidated, alleging that Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Limited Partnership had defrauded investors through... Full story
Devil's Thumb Shooters (DTS) attended the 2023 Alaska YESS State Championship, themed "Home on the Range" this past week at the Birchwood Shooting Park just North of Anchorage. 11 youth marksmen from DTS spent five days breaking clays in seven different disciplines, partook in a special Sadie Hawkins shoot, and even shot a few hats. Hannah Slaven took second in the discipline of double sporting clay for intermediate females, Trent Kittams took second in male's varsity wobbles, Calden Smith...
WRANGELL — The U.S. Forest Service again this year is making available permits for unguided visits to the Anan Wildlife Observatory, limited to four per day. The permits must be requested in person at the Wrangell Ranger District office, up to one week in advance. Permits, at $10 each, are required for visiting Anan from July 5 through Aug. 25, when the popular bear-viewing site is limited to 60 visitors a day on guided tours. The four unguided visitor permits are in addition to the 60. “These (four) permits are for people arriving with the...
WRANGELL - Competitors made of the toughest stuff have less than a month to train for the Tongass Toughman Triathlon in Wrangell. Triathletes put their endurance, strength and fortitude on display in a contest which covers a combined 72.2 miles of water, pavement and earth. The race, which will unofficially kick off the Fourth of July festivities throughout town on July 1, starts with a swim of 1.2 miles to City Dock from a starting point out in Zimovia Strait. Once athletes reach the dock and c...
Beulah Eleanor Luhr passed away on Sunday, June 11, 2023, at her home in Petersburg surrounded by her children. Beulah was born in Chester, Montana on October 12, 1934, to Robert T. Reid and Vena (Ward) Reid. Her family moved to Petersburg, Alaska in 1939 and she resided there for the last 84 years. Beulah grew up in Scow Bay, graduated from Petersburg High School and married the love of her life, Donald Luhr, on May 31, 1952. In high school Beulah worked for the telephone company, back in the... Full story
