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Earlier this month the buzz around a monster halibut caught by local commercial fishermen in Thomas Bay went crazy after news of the catch spread through social media sites. Many of the comments expressed amazement for the monster catch, but some talked about sadness because another "breeder" was taken out of the reproduction equation. Multiple people talked about the cruelty of killing such a remarkable fish or simply said, "Should have put it back." No matter what your stance is, there are... Full story
The local Rotary club is known for sending students on its year-long exchange program to study abroad, but this summer a PHS student took part in the club's short-term program. Gillian Wittstock spent four weeks with a family in Germany and the two girls who hosted her there recently traveled to Petersburg to stay with the Wittstocks. Gillian is the first local student to participate in the program. She says getting to know Svea and Vilja Zahnke in Germany really made it easy for everyone to... Full story
August 26, 1916 – The probable establishment of a new freight service to Southeastern Alaska was announced last week by the Washington Tug and Barge Company. The plan is to handle the freight on covered scows, to be towed north, and to make a specialty of calling at places off the regular steamer lines, as well as Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, and Juneau. August 29, 1941 – A fifteen minute blast of the whistle of the PAF cannery was the signal last Tuesday night that the last can had come off the line for this year. It has been a good season...
Two employees at Petersburg Children's Center (PCC) recently received their child development associate credential. For Rocky Peeler and Theressa Phillips, both mothers of two, the achievement means looking toward the future with fresh training and knowledge to put into practice. "You see them bringing all that training and information into their classroom," says PCC director Brandi Heppe. The certificate included 120 hours of training, taking an exam in Juneau and being observed in a classroom... Full story
EDITOR’S NOTE: The police department is implementing a new media reporting system. For the past three weeks, no arrest or citation information was provided to The Pilot. This week, arrest, warrant and citation information included names, but not the charges made against the individuals. We will continue to work with the department to obtain more complete information in next week’s paper. August 17 There was a call concerning an intoxicated individual at the hospital. There was a call concerning an intoxicated individual at North Harbor. The...
August 19 Terry Hasbrouck appeared before Magistrate Judge Burrell for a change of plea hearing. Hasbrouck entered a guilty plea to DUI 2nd offense. Hasbrouck was sentenced to 30 days in jail, with 10 suspended, and fined $3,000. Hasbrouck must have an ignition interlock device for one year. Hasbrouck must also pay for the cost of imprisonment, which is $1,467, in addition to $125 surcharge fees. Hasbrouck was placed on probation for two years and required not to violate any laws, also required to contact and be evaluated by a substance abuse...
The Planning and Zoning Commission met Tuesday for their rescheduled meeting, and talked in length about an application from the Petersburg Borough to vacate a portion of a public easement at 919 Sandy Beach Road. “Now I understand we’ve received a request from an adjoining property owner to postpone this item,” said chairman Chris Fry, to start the public hearing. The property owner could not attend the meeting, because of it being rescheduled. The commission continued with the public hearing, however and the matter was ultimately postp...
Alaska’s 2016 pink salmon fishery is set to rank as the worst in 20 years by a long shot, and the outlook is bleak for all other salmon catches except sockeyes. “Boy, sockeye is really going to have to carry the load in terms of the fishery’s value because there’s a lot of misses elsewhere,” said Andy Wink, a fisheries economist with the Juneau-based McDowell Group. The historical peaks of the various salmon runs have already passed and the pink salmon catch so far has yet to break 35 million on a forecast of 90 million. That compares...
When it comes to the low voter turnout of last week's primary election, House District 35, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tompkins says it might be an all time record. "If so, it's kind of shocking," he says. He believes some of the reasoning is the lack of initiatives on the ballot, while the last cycle had multiple initiatives drawing high interest like marijuana and minimum wage. Kreiss-Tompkins visited Petersburg last week to attend the funeral services of Al Dwyer. Kreiss-Tompkins is seeking...
WRANGELL – Local shellfish gatherers are advised to steer clear of the beach near Shoemaker Bay, after specimens tested positive for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). The alert was posted to the Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research website at www.seator.org/data on Monday. A sampling of butterclams collected by the Wrangell Cooperative Association’s Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (IGAP) staff and sent in to Sitka for testing turned out to have more than twice the state’s threshold for saxitoxin, the cause of PSP. The s...
WRANGELL – Last week the City and Borough of Wrangell announced emergency measures no longer needed to be taken to conserve its treated water supply. The announcement came on August 18, nearly a month after a state of disaster was declared by Mayor David Jack. The decision had been prompted by Public Works warning it could not treat water quickly enough to meet demand, due to problems with its 17-year-old plants filtration system. The Assembly and city officials had met with local seafood processors – which together make up around half of ove...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A brown bear mauled two wilderness guides who were leading a hiking excursion in Alaska after the group came between the female animal and her cub in the Tongass National Forest, state troopers said Friday. The guides a man and a woman were rescued by the Coast Guard after being injured Thursday on a trail on Chichagof Island about 30 miles north of Sitka in southeast Alaska. Troopers said the bears left the area after one of the victims used pepper spray. Authorities said they have no plans to hunt down the bear, and t...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – Jeff King, a four-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, is changing political teams when it comes to Alaska’s U.S. Senate race, pulling his endorsement of Republican incumbent Lisa Murkowski and backing independent candidate Margaret Stock. King earlier this year appeared in a radio ad with two other mushers supporting Murkowski. But King told The Associated Press on Friday that he has changed his mind and is endorsing Stock. Stock sees herself as Murkowski’s main competition for the general election. King...
KENAI, Alaska (AP) – The public now has access to new reports detailing the work involved in creating Alaska’s proposed liquefied natural gas project. Project managers submitted the resource reports to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last month. The reports are a second draft and come after three years of geotechnical and geophysical work as well as public meetings and feedback. They provide a wide range of information from a general overview of the project to where potential workers’children would attend school, The Peninsula Clari...
