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The race for mayor on October 3 is between the former mayor who resigned a few months ago and his replacement, who had previously hinted strongly she wouldn’t run but was asked to reconsider by a “number of people.” Mark Jensen is running for the mayor post after an abrupt exit in May. He will contend with Cindi Lagoudakis, the interim mayor and previous Assembly member, said Debra Thompson, the Borough Clerk. Jensen had resigned after expressing contempt for the actions taken by the Assembly and Borough. He left on the heels of a decis...
A Rufous Hummingbird perched on a cable near a home along Libby Straights last week. It is a small hummingbird, about 8 cm long with a long, straight and slender bill. These birds are known for their extraordinary flight skills, flying 2,000 miles during their migratory transits to Mexico....
Rain is expected for the next week in Petersburg, along with the start of school. From elementary on up about 475 students will funnel into classrooms Monday morning. The Petersburg High School and Mitkof Middle School will have a projected 148 and 97 students, respectively, said Principal Richard Dormer. The elementary school will enroll a projected 230. There will be four new teachers this year. Ryan Hayes will teach high school math; Alenna Nilsen will teach social studies in the middle...
There will be eleven candidates running for Borough leadership on the ballot in October, including a contentious run for the mayor post, and a six-person race for two Assembly seats. The folks running for a seat on the Assembly -- there will be two -- include: Bob Lynn, Richard Burke, Ken Hamilton, Brandi Marohl, Jeff Meucci and William Ware. Cindi Lagoudakis will be running against Mark Jensen for the mayor post. The Petersburg School Board is looking to fill two seats in the election but received one submission for candidacy from Sarah Pawuk...
August 17, 1917 – At a special meeting of the council held last night Louis Israelson was engaged as construction foreman for sewer and street improvement work. Besides the sewer to be constructed on E street, the walk on that street is to be rebuilt; also the Main-street walk from the approach to the Packing Company dock north to where it joins the new walk. New walks are to be built on D and G street, as petitioned for. Satisfactory prices for lumber were submitted to the council by the Olaf Arness Company. The cost of the various i...
Mayor Cindi Lagoudakis in an Assembly meeting on Monday said the governor is hoping to visit Petersburg to sign a land selection bill and perhaps stay overnight to view ongoing projects in the community. Mayor Cindi Lagoudakis said in a report that she met with Gov. Bill Walker to discuss Senate Bill 28, which if signed would increase the Borough state land grant from 1,400 acres to more than 14,600. The bill passed the House and Senate on the last day of session in May largely due to the joint...
Alaska department of Fish & Game trapped a black bear on Howkan Street Monday evening, which comes as officials are ratcheting-up outreach to residents about securing garbage cans in residential areas. The Police Department retrieved the trap at about 11:00 p.m. on Monday. Inside the cylinder cage was a roughly 175-pound, "medium-sized" bear, said Captain John Hamilton. The bear will be transported to mainland Alaska and released at the north side of Thomas Bay, he said. This appears to be one...
The highly anticipated total eclipse that swept across much of the country on Monday went viral, prompting some analysts to revel in the moment and others to seemingly mock its brevity as bombastic and uneventful. In Petersburg, minutes before the eclipse began Monday morning, about 100 people viewed the NASA live stream in the library. Some young onlookers adorned eclipse glasses, ready to gaze into the projector, as the moon was about to shade the sun. "It was so nice of the library," said...
To the Editor: What is dental fluorosis? While the right amount of fluoride makes our teeth more resistant to the enamel-dissolving acids made by the bacteria in our mouths, studies have shown consuming too much fluoride while your teeth are forming can cause gaps in the crystalline structure of your tooth enamel, resulting in the white spots known as fluorosis, and in extreme cases of high fluoride intake, brown spots. The CDC says in 1986-87, 22.6% of adolescents aged 12-15 had dental fluorosis to varying degrees; in 1999-2004, 40.7% of adole...
Aug. 16 — Police made a traffic stop at 6-mile Mitkof Hwy. Police received a call of a disturbance at an Odin St. location. Suspicious activity was reported at a S. 2nd St. location. Police responded to Harborway St. on a harassment call. Stephen L. Waddle, 40 was cited for Theft in the 4th Degree. Aug. 17 — Trespassing was reported at a Mitkof Hwy. location. Suspicious activity was reported at Wesley and Odin Streets. Illegal camping was reported at Buschmann Park. Extra patrols were requested on Harborway. An intoxicated person was rep...
The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department responded to a vehicle fire at 503 Ira II St. at 2:40 a.m. on August 18. Fire personnel cut the hood off the vehicle to gain access to the fire, which started under the vehicle, not inside it. Dave Berg with the PVFD said the fire is suspicious in nature and is under investigation. According to the police, the vehicle is owned by Randal K. Long who is currently in jail awaiting trial on Federal Drug Charges....
On Aug. 19, Alaska State Troopers on Prince of Wales Island were notified of a motor vehicle collision which occurred in Coffman Cove near Luck Lake. Details revealed that 32 year old Robert Hull of Craig lost control of his vehicle, a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado pickup while traveling south on Forest Service Road 3030. The crash caused significant damage to Hull’s pickup as well as his 2016 Honda ATV which was in the bed of the truck. Investigation into the crash is continuing. On August 16, Prince of Wales based troopers were conducting an i...
WRANGELL - Wrangell emergency responders took part in a search for a missing canoer on the Stikine River earlier this month. Fire Chief Tim Buness reported a call had been received for assistance at around 5 p.m. on August 3. "We had a couple of canoers canoing by the Great Glacier," he said, on the Canadian side of the river about 10 miles from the border. The craft had turned over in the fast-moving water at around 3 p.m., spilling two men into the river. "One of the guys made it up to the...
A soft mist framed a float house in Shakes Slough early Sunday during a brief rain break. The float house is owned by partners Sig and Ambre Burrell, Josh and Rachel Etcher and Eric Larson. Overcast weather conditions continued into Monday, making the eclipse viewing impossible for Wrangell and Petersburg residents. The next eclipse will happen in 2024....
District Governor Harry Kieling visited the Petersburg Rotary Club this week and commended the club for its work in the community and at the international level. "You are doing a great job with Youth Exchange and all the civic projects that make your community better," Kieling told the club at its Wednesday luncheon meeting. The Petersburg Club sends local students to the Rotary Youth Leadership program, hosts inbound and outbound students, provides high school student scholarships and...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Hundreds of Pacific walruses came ashore to a barrier island on Alaska’s northwest coast, the earliest appearance of the animals in a phenomenon tied to climate warming and diminished Arctic Ocean sea ice. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday that several hundred walruses were spotted during the first week of August near the village of Point Lay on the Chukchi Sea. Last week, the number had grown to 2,000, said spokeswoman Andrea Medeiros in an email response to questions. It’s the earliest date for t...
WRANGELL - Project heads for a contaminated site reclamation met with townspeople Monday evening to address concerns with a proposed monofill. The monofill – a landfill meant for only one substance, in this case treated, lead-contaminated soil – would be the second phase of the Byford junkyard cleanup, an operation which was undertaken last year by Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Environmental Protection Agency and various contractors. In use as a private landfill and junkyard s...
WRANGELL — One of Wrangell’s two seafood processors has drawn down production early for the season due to lower than expected returns this summer. Updated twice daily, on Tuesday the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Blue Sheet reported just over 143 million salmon have been harvested statewide, though numbers were not available for the Bristol Bay, Kuskokwim and Aleutian Islands districts. Seventy-four percent of these are pink salmon, with over 106 million already reported in. Coming off of last year’s season – declared a “disaster...
While that may sound like a bad thing, it’s great news for Alaska seafood and anyone doing business overseas. “It’s a good thing for Alaska seafood producers because roughly two-thirds of the value of our seafood comes from export markets. So when our currency is less valuable, the prices are not as high for foreign buyers,” said Andy Wink, senior fisheries economist with the McDowell Group. It’s a turn-around for a strong dollar that has for several years made Alaska seafood very pricey for prime customers of Japan, Europe and the UK. Now t...
A Petersburg woman who owns a retail marijuana shop appears to be in the early stages of expanding her operation into a growing facility as well. Susan J. Burrell, owner of The 420, a cannabis shop located behind The Fisherman's Net Cafe, has officially applied for three marijuana licenses, according to the Alcohol & Marijuana Control Office. The applications focus on growing marijuana near or above her shops on North Nordic Drive. Burrell is applying for a Standard Marijuana Cultivation...
WRANGELL - A Wrangellite had a unique opportunity to take part in some Alaskan history this year, while revisiting her own family history in the process. Johanna Joseph and her sister, Ann Conatser a Walla Walla resident, were invited by the Ounalashka Corporation to attend an event in Unalaska commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Dutch Harbor. The town had been the birthplace of their mother, Theadosia Stepitan Nauska, known as Fanny to friends and family. The battle itself was...
WRANGELL – Public Works changed its summertime water management conservation level back to normal last week, ending a month of minor restrictions. Up until last Friday, users of Wrangell’s water utility have been advised to use less water starting in mid-July, when the city entered the first of a three-stage response status. Better water management has been a key issue with the city this year, with an emergency response plan formally adopted in April. Last summer demand outpaced the water treatment plant’s ability to supply, prompting the b...
Vast sections of the South Boat Harbor sat vacant last week as commercial boats were underway to harvest fish, and visiting yachts moved on to the next port of call....
Women, 29 years old and under, with limited or no access to health care can get exams and reproductive health services on a sliding scale at the Petersburg Public Health Center’s Women’s Health Clinic August 28-30. The clinic will offer exams and reproductive health services, as well as STD testing. All services will be provided by a nurse practitioner with Public Health Nursing, the Alaska Division of Public Health. Appointments are required. No one will be refused service if unable to pay. Screenings for chlamydia and gonorrhea, as well as...
State representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins will be here Fri. August 25, holding public office hours from 9-10 am at the Salty Pantry and 10-11 am at Java Hus. No appointment necessary, just stop on by. If you have any questions or can’t make it to office hours, email rep.jonathan.kreiss-tomkins@akleg.gov or call the Representative’s office at 747-4665....
