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A major copper-and-gold mining project in the rugged mountains of northwestern British Columbia — upstream from a Southeast Alaska fishing town — is poised for a boost from the Canadian government. Canada's department of natural resources last month announced that it plans to inject about $15 million U.S. into a massive copper and gold development just 25 miles from the Alaska border. The project is perched above tributaries of the Stikine River — a major salmon-bearing waterway that flows... Full story
Faced with increased operational costs from inflation and higher utility expenses, paired with rates that are several years out-of-date, the financial sustainability of Mountain View Manor Assisted Living Facility is under review. A new ordinance brought before the Petersburg Borough Assembly this week would increase and establish certain charges for residents. Among the changes, the ordinance would install a one-time "Community Facility Fee" of $2,000 for new residents moving into the facility...
Hunters harvested 131 moose this season, which according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game was the third highest harvest on record for this area. According to Fish and Game, 45 of the moose were checked in at the Petersburg ADF&G office, 50 were reported to the Wrangell representative and 22 were reported to the Kake representative. The rest were checked in at other ADF&G offices throughout the region. Among the 131 total moose taken this year, 120 were legal harvests and the remaining 1...
Alaskans will vote Nov. 5 on a ballot measure that would increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2027 and require that workers get paid for up to seven sick days a year. To backers who collected signatures to put the question before voters, Ballot Measure 1 is about fairness for workers and overall state economic vitality. But opponents in business groups warn that the measure, if passed, would bring dire consequences. To Sarah Oates, CHARR’s president, the consequences of Ballot Measure 1 would be bad. “This is going to kill small... Full story
October 24, 1924 – Pep, and lots of it, marked the meeting of the Commercial Club held Wednesday night with every member playing strong in the role of “Pepper.” As one member remarked, “It was the peppiest meeting we ever had!” Mrs A. Thomas reported as a delegate to the Alaska Week celebration. She reported a royal good time. J.B. Warrack has said to certain residents of Petersburg that he would subscribe $20,000* toward the building and equipping of a modern community hotel, provided a like amount could be raised among the townspeop...
Artists, foodies and nonprofits: the time is nigh. Petersburg's 49th annual Oktoberfest Art Share returns this Saturday at the Petersburg Community Center. Oktoberfest is sponsored by the Muskeg Maleriers, who have facilitated the event for over four decades. Originally founded by the Petersburg Arts Council, the event is an art-focused opportunity for folks to sell and share homemade crafts with the community. Jewelry, glasswork, woodwork, photography, knit creations, original paintings, toys,...
Josie Sylvan breaks off a piece of a beached iceberg for baby Cannon to teeth on, as Iris helps herself, amidst the first flurry of snow this season at Sandy Beach — Oct. 22, 2024....
Businesses and organizations around the community took part in Wear Purple Day last week on Oct. 17, as volunteers and staff with Petersburg's nonprofit Working Against Violence for Everyone — WAVE — made the rounds as part of a donation drive taking photos with community members Waving for WAVE, a campaign of raising awareness about domestic violence and showing support for survivors in families and in the community. Petersburg Pilot staffers Dasha Contag, Olivia Rose, and Ola Richards gla...
Open primaries and Rank Choice Voting work To the Editor: During election season, have you ever found yourself feeling stuck voting for someone you really don’t support… feeling like you are picking the candidate you dislike the least, or “the lesser of two evils” we might say? Well, a lot of your fellow Alaskans did and in 2020, the Rank Choice Voting (RCV) measure was passed and implemented. This law allowed for open primaries and ranked voting in general elections. How does that affect voters? First, open primaries give us more choices...
October 16 – An officer responded to a noise complaint on Ira II Street and determined it was unfounded. The Petersburg Police Department (PPD) received a report of a bear accessing an outdoor chest freezer on Hungerford Hill Road. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and the Alaska Wildlife Trooper (AWT) were notified. A subpoena was served at the Crane Dock. Papers were served. A driver on Rocky’s Road was issued a warning for operating an offroad vehicle on the highway. An officer conducted a traffic stop at ten mile Mitkof Hig...
On Friday, Oct. 11 Tongass Federal Credit Union hosted a silent auction and fundraiser to support Humanity in Progress a Petersburg non-profit focused on helping people within the community access food and basic needs as well as assisting those experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. "Tongass reached out to us because they said they have a mission of 'people helping people' and were going to be hosting their annual meetings here in Petersburg this year and the local staff in town had...
On a Thursday morning in Petersburg High School's room 206, algebra II students sit around the edge of the classroom, forming a big U. Their teacher, Megan Smith, asks them if it's possible to take the square root of a negative fraction. "Noooooooo" they chorus, "No solution!" Together they work through a series of problems. Then, even though class is only halfway over, she tells them to get started on their homework. She turns to four students who had been ignoring the lesson, curled over...
Nearly 100 high school musicians from Southeast Alaska were in Petersburg to celebrate the 50th annual Southeast Honors Music Festival. It's also the first time Petersburg has hosted the event since 1974. "I think it's really cool that we're bringing it back [honors music festival] for its 50th and I think it's a testament to the music directors and administrators throughout Southeast Alaska that have kept it going," Petersburg High School Music Director Chelsea Corrao said. The festival began...
The PHS Wrestling team got off to a strong start during their first meet at Hoonah over the past weekend. Only four kids took the trip to Hoonah due to the 10 practice criteria, but the Vikings left feeling good about how they performed to start the season. "Overall the experience was really good," Head Coach James Valentine said. "The first tournament of the year – we like to call it getting the bats out of the cage. This is your first match, we're going to make some mistakes and it's going t...
The PHS Swim team is rounding into form with strong performances from several swimmers in Sitka, with the playoffs on the horizon. “Our racing was pretty good and the splits on their [swimmers] races were pretty good,” Head Coach Andy Carlisle said. “I feel like their fitness level is really good – we just need to work on some speed and once they rest, that will come pretty good.” The Vikings are peaking at the right time heading into regions and potentially state. “Everybody was getting closer to best times – we’re going in the right direc...
Weeks after returning from her home state of North Carolina, aiding communities impacted by Hurricane Helene, Petersburg nurse Laura Holder still feels a tightness in her chest — not only from processing the experience, but from the week of breathing toxic dust and mold at the scene. Based out of West Yancey County Fire Department, an ad hoc hub for rescue operations in the region, she spent the week working alongside hundreds of emergency responders, volunteers, and good Samaritans from near a... Full story
Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) officials hear that processors have mostly cleared out their overflowing inventories of Alaska salmon from the 2022 and 2023 seasons, but the problem remains that Americans don’t buy enough seafood to sustain consistently profitable sales, particularly in years of strong salmon runs. And while last year’s problem was an oversupplied market, which pushed prices paid to fishermen to as low as 20 cents a pound for pink and chum salmon, this year’s harvest may come up short of a robust supply, Greg Smith...
