Sorted by date Results 1 - 19 of 19
The Petersburg Police Department received over 30 calls in the past week from residents reporting bears in garbage cans or on their property. Petersburg Area Biologist Frank Robbins, with the Alaska Department of Fish and Games, said the bears could be venturing into town in search of food due to a scarcity of salmon and a poor berry crop. "In the absence of natural foods, the bears are foraging in the neighborhoods on garbage, chickens and other human sources of food," Robbins said. Every...
The Petersburg School Board approved schedules for Mitkof Middle School and Petersburg High school at their meeting on Tuesday that includes alternate days of in-person instruction at the start of the school year beginning Aug. 31. The students at both secondary schools will be split into two groups, the blue group and the white group. The blue group will have in-person class time on Mondays and Wednesdays and the white group will be in class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. During a day when a...
A traveler tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 4 after previously testing negative for the virus, according to a press release from the Petersburg Operations Center. The traveler arrived in town at the Petersburg Airport on July 20, but tested negative upon their arrival, according to the release. A test that was taken on Aug. 4, the day the individual left town, recently returned positive for the virus. According to the press release, the person is no longer in Petersburg and is considered...
Starting Aug. 31, students will return to Rae C. Stedman Elementary School under a schedule that splits the student body into two groups to avoid the possible spread of COVID-19 among students and staff. The Petersburg School Board approved the new schedule at their regular school board meeting on Tuesday in a 4-1 vote. The schedule follows recommendations from the state's Smart Start plan. Discussion on the school district's schedule began at a special school board meeting on Thursday, Aug. 6,...
This year's municipal elections will be held in person at the Parks and Recreation Center on Oct. 6 and some residents have already filed for candidacy. Twenty-six public office seats are up for grabs, including two 3-year term spots on the assembly. So far, only eight residents have registered to put their name on the ballot. The first day residents could apply for candidacy was July 28, and the last day to file is on Aug. 25. As of Monday, Aug. 10, the candidates in the Petersburg Borough...
Alaska is ranked last among the 50 states in its response to the 2020 United States Census, as of Tuesday, Aug. 11. Only Puerto Rico is behind Alaska in its response to the census, according to Jeanette Duran Pacheco, media specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau regional office in Los Angeles. According to data from the United States Census Bureau, as of Tuesday, 50.1 percent of Alaskans have completed the 2020 Census. Petersburg residents are aligned with the state's participation rate, with...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors agreed to request $1,004,638.50 at a special board meeting on Friday from the Petersburg Borough's COVID-19 fund should grants from the state fall through. About $800,000 of the requested funds can be covered by grants the hospital has applied for from the state for COVID-19 relief, said PMC Controller Rocio Tejera. The hospital should be notified in the coming weeks on whether or not the state will release the grants. "This is in case we don't...
Passengers onboard Dennis Rogers' charter boat, Northern Song, were treated to a rare surprise last Thursday, Aug. 6, when they witnessed a white killer whale hunting with two other orcas near Kake. "Everyone was ecstatic," said Rogers. "It's always a treat to come across killer whales, and then to have a white killer whale, which is super rare, was an extra treat." Rogers said he looked up the whale in a killer whale catalog produced by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and learned...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A DNA match has solved the strangulation murder of a teenager in southeast Alaska, a case that was cold for 24 years and saw another man acquitted of the crime after confessing, Alaska State Troopers said Tuesday. DNA obtained from Steve Branch, 66, of Austin, Arkansas, at an autopsy matched that of a sample left at the scene where Jessica Baggen, 17, was sexually assaulted and killed in Sitka in 1996, troopers said. Troopers interviewed Branch at his Arkansas home on Aug. 3, when he denied involvement and refused to v...
Unless you fished for salmon this summer at Bristol Bay, it’s been slim pickings for fishermen in other Alaska regions. Salmon returns have been so poor that communities already are claiming fishery disasters. Cordova’s City Council last week unanimously passed a resolution asking the state to declare disasters for both the 2018 Copper River sockeye and Chinook salmon runs and the 2020 sockeye, chum and Chinook runs at the Copper River and Prince William Sound. The resolution also urges the state and federal governments to declare a “condition...
August 13, 1920 Colonel W. B. Greeley, National Forester for the U.S. was a Petersburg visitor late last week and spent the greater part of one day and night here inspecting the local mill, going over the town and conferring with local people about the water power and pulp possibilities of this section. “I am greatly surprised at the timber resources of Alaska. I had always been led to believe that the timber was in comparatively small stands along the coast, but when I see the entire coast heavily timbered I have to revise my opinion. The s...
A curious river otter watches as a pair of kayakers make their way up the slough. The river otter followed the kayakers, while keeping an eye on them and making funny noises....
Roman Robert Cardenas was born to Robyn and Daniel Cardenas on July 11, 2020 in Juneau, Alaska. He weighed 7 lbs.,10 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long....
A milky white quartz vein sits close to Sandy Beach Trail....
The F/V Kennicott travels north through the Wrangell Narrows on Monday. According to a press release from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, the F/V Kennicott could be making intermittent stops in Wrangell and Petersburg as tides permit beginning in October....
Michele (Mickey) Karen Rover, 72, died on June 17, 2020 in Petersburg, Alaska. She was born on March 30, 1948 to Fern and Daniel "Pete" Rover, in Seattle, Washington. She lived mainly in the Pacific Northwest during her younger years, but the place where she spent most of her adult life was in Petersburg. She was known as a loving person with a sense of humor and a flair for decorating some of the things and life around her, such as the panels on the entrances to some of the businesses in Peters... Full story
Dennis William Hopkins, 65 passed away in Petersburg, Alaska, on July 23, 2020 after a long battle with cancer. He was born in Middletown, Ohio and spent most of his youth in Cocoa Beach, Florida. The latter part of his life he spent in Vermont and then, in Alaska where he found that he loved it more than anywhere else; especially Petersburg. He played hard and he worked hard. He loved fishing, riding his motorcycle, and was proud of the work he did as a "Flooring guy; laying carpet and vinyl.... Full story
August 5 — A black bear killed a chicken at a location on Vesta St. Two other bears were reported walking around the neighborhood. A bear was spotted on Excel St. August 6 — A bear at the 1.1 mile mark of Mitkof Highway was chased away by authorities using non-lethal rounds. A bear was reported at a location on Rambler St. Authorities responded to a report of a bear on Vesta St. A bear was seen going through yards and trash cans on Vesta St. Authorities deployed non-lethal rounds to scare the bear away. August 7 — A bear was damaging prope...
