Sorted by date Results 1 - 18 of 18
If it passes its final reading at the next Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting, a ballot proposition this fall will ask borough voters to authorize $19.3 million in new debt for the Water and Wastewater utilities. The loans would come from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation revolving loan fund, which provides municipal water utilities with loans for capital projects at 1.5% interest, 20-year repayment. The authorization of the debt would sunset after five years, meaning the util...
While the king salmon struggling to get upstream are benefitting from the past week of heavier-than-normal rainfall, the townsfolk of Petersburg are finding the weather less enjoyable. A resident heads down to check the bilge pump on his boat moored at "poor man's float" in North Harbor, where, according to harbor staff, a 16-foot jet skiff was sunk by the rain on Wednesday....
An ordinance was introduced at Monday's Assembly meeting to adjust the FY25 budget for known changes. The top item was for Harbor Department disposal of derelict vessels, increasing the budgeted amount from $10 thousand to $250 thousand dollars. The budget increase is described as necessary to take care of removing two large derelict boats currently in the harbor. The budget request coincided with another ordinance introduced on Monday which would amend Petersburg Municipal Code to add a...
July 18, 1924 – Two men, one masked, held up Ole Jackson aboard the gasboat Jiggs shortly after midnight in Auke Bay at Pelton Cove, and made their escape with $500 ($9,186.40 today) which Jackson had in a sack to purchase fish. Ole Jackson, who is a buyer for H.R. Thompson, of Juneau, left on the Jiggs from City Dock the same evening, going over the bar to Pelton Cove where he anchored for the night. About seven o’clock, Jackson turned in to make an early start in the morning for Hoonah and adjacent places to buy fish from trollers. Som...
Petersburg pays some of the lowest electricity rates in Alaska - 12 cents per residential kilowatt hour compared to the average in Alaska of 24.36 cents - thanks to the abundant renewable energy produced at the Swan Lake and Tyee Lake hydroelectric projects run by the Southeast Alaska Power Agency (SEAPA). SEAPA hydro continuously powers the communities of Petersburg, Wrangell and Ketchikan, except once each year when SEAPA schedules a ten-day shutdown at each project to work through a flurry...
Request for support of Kake Fireman’s Tournament To the Editor: The Kake community is busy preparing to host our 42nd annual Kake Fireman’s Tournament, which will be held from July 31st to August 2nd, 2024. We greatly appreciate the past and present support of those who made this event happen. We are reaching out for donations to make 2024 the best year yet! We are anticipating a Men’s Open Bracket, a Women’s Open Bracket, and, with significant enough numbers, a Men’s 35-and-older Open Bracket. We also showcase kid’s games, shooting co...
The melting of one of North America's largest icefields has accelerated and could soon reach an irreversible tipping point. That's the conclusion of new research colleagues and I have published on the Juneau Icefield, which straddles the Alaska-Canada border near the Alaskan capital of Juneau. In the summer of 2022, I skied across the flat, smooth and white plateau of the icefield, accompanied by other researchers, sliding in the tracks of the person in front of me under a hot sun. From that...
July 10 – An officer assisted a citizen with concerns. A cell phone was found on Sing Lee Alley and turned in to the Petersburg Police Department (PPD). An officer removed debris from the roadway on Mitkof Highway. Andrew Bergen, 33, was cited for driving without a valid driver’s license. July 11 – An officer helped a porcupine out of the roadway near Libby Straits. An officer observed music and lights on, as well as an open door, at a business on Mitkof Highway and notified an employee. An officer responded to a parking complaint. PPD recei...
A 35-year-old Juneau man was shot and killed after a confrontation with police and Alaska State Troopers on a busy downtown street Monday afternoon. Officers with the Juneau Police Department were following up on a report of an assault involving Steven Kissack when he “produced a knife and refused to follow orders,” the troopers wrote in a statement online Monday night. An Alaska wildlife trooper and additional Juneau police officers showed up on Front Street around 1 p.m., shooting bean bag rounds at Kissack as they negotiated with him to dro...
Federal disaster aid is on the way for some commercial fishing permit-holders in Haines and throughout the state, though many may be too wrapped up in the current season to apply for it right away. Applications for crew and subsistence users are currently available online. Unique applications for permit-holders and processors from the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission were mailed out on June 26 and are due August 24. The commission says those who have not received a hardcopy...
Fishery managers overseeing Alaska’s faltering salmon runs should be able to rely on a more comprehensive and holistic approach to science that considers all habitat, from the middle of the ocean to freshwater spawning streams far inland, according to a task force report on salmon research needs. The report was issued last week by the Alaska Salmon Research Task Force, a group established through a 2022 act of Congress to identify knowledge gaps and research needs. The task force comprises close to 20 members and includes scientists, f... Full story
The Chinese warships weren't showing up on civilian radar. But the American commercial fishing fleet could still tell that something strange was happening in the Aleutian Islands on July 6 and 7. Crew on the fishing vessels picked out a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, the Kimball, steaming through the area at 21 knots, or nearly 25 miles an hour. It turned out the Kimball was in hot pursuit of four Chinese ships, including a destroyer and a guided-missile cruiser. When the Coast Guard cutter...
Former photographer and current sketcher and painter Ron Hall is having his first big art show called "Colors Speak To Me," on display July 22 through July 31 at the Clausen Memorial Museum. Ron began his art career as an aerial photographer. "I took aerial photos for the Forest Service in Southeast Alaska, California and Florida," said Hall. After moving into Petersburg Medical Center's Long Term Care several years ago, Hall took up sketching and eventually painting as a hobby. Hall has been...
After days of heavier-than-normal rain in Petersburg, the Rainforest Festival is taking advantage of a potential reprieve from the weather over the weekend to bring wildflowers into the spotlight with their Mountain Meadow Wildflower Walk at the Twin Creek this Sunday. Hosted by Mary Clemens, the event will bring participants on a "slow meander" through the muskeg in front of the Twin Creek Shelter with Clemens pointing out local flora and answering questions along the way. "It's not going to...
King Salmon: The majority of king salmon should have now exited saltwater and be heading further up into the freshwater systems to spawn. Still, a potential remains for catching a late spawner at the tail end of the run or a feeder king which are in our area throughout the year. The Wrangell Narrows Terminal Harvest Area (THA) near Petersburg remains open with a 1 king (any size) bag and possession limit for all anglers through July 31st. For a nonresident, this applies to your annual king salmon harvest limit. Anglers are reminded that when...
Former pastor and current minister Bob Carter preaches during the Presbyterian Church's 100th anniversary on July 13, 2024, in Petersburg, Alaska. Carter was the church's pastor from 1982-2019 and has returned to serve in the role for summer 2024....
Patric Drewe Curtiss was born on August 28, 1947, in Kirkland, Washington, to Ruby and Glenn Curtiss and welcomed by his two sisters, Karen and Linda. After graduating from Lake Washington High School, Pat attended Everett Junior College where he met and fell in love with Patricia Crouch, a Seattle girl rooming with some girls from Petersburg, Alaska. Following their advice, Pat started spending his summers working at Petersburg Fisheries Inc. to earn money for college. Inspired by his older sis... Full story
This aerial view shows a paddle boarder exploring Spurt Cove during Saturday morning's calm, foggy low tide....
