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One of Petersburg's biggest construction projects is nearing its end as the other's just beginning. Work on the $8.6 million Haugen-Nordic road project started last week while nearly $3 million worth of runway resurfacing at the Petersburg James A. Johnson Airport is expected to wrap up by the end of next month, Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities spokesman Jeremy Woodrow said. Utility work at the end of Sing Lee Alley, on the south side of Rasmus Enge Bridge, got Phase One... Full story
The Petersburg School District’s financial future is still unknown, but it was looking bleak Monday evening. Governor Bill Walker announced Monday afternoon that he had vetoed parts of the budget packet that were unfunded, leaving Alaska’s schools funded at only 28 percent. The district’s budget for 2016 is at a “stopping point” until legislators finish the budget, Finance Director Karen Quitslund said, but fiscal year 2015 has already been impacted. The school board approved 2015 budget revisions during a special meeting Monday evening at the... Full story
The 34rd Annual Petersburg Chamber of Commerce King Salmon Derby gets underway this Friday at 7 a.m. The derby continues through the Memorial Day Weekend and ends Monday at 5 p.m. Two tagged fish have been released at Frederick Point. The $10,000 fish is about a 15 lb. King, while the $5,000 King is a 28-30 lb. fish, according to Derby committee member Doug Welde who trolled for the Kings for two mornings this week. The $10,000 tagged fish prize is sponsored by Alaska Marine Lines and the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and the $5,000 tagged... Full story
May 22, 1915 – B.F. Watson, traveling agent for the Pacific Alaska Navigation Company, visited about town during the stay of the Admiral Evans in port Thursday morning. Mr. Watson suggests that this would be just the right season of the year to start construction of a cold-storage plant in Petersburg. May 24, 1940 – A group of local women will sponsor a one o'clock dessert bridge (pinochle and court whist party) Wednesday afternoon, May 29 at the Sons of Norway Hall. Those not wishing to play cards may bring sewing or knitting. The adm...
Things should be getting back to normal at the Petersburg James A. Johnson Airport fairly soon. A nearly $3 million rehabilitation project of the taxi and runway is expected to be finished by the end of June, said Jeremy Woodrow, spokesman for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. Airport Manager Dave Booker said they were told planes could start being parked in their usual spots today (Thursday). “We’ve just been pushing, pulling, towing airplanes,” he said. Workers from Knik Construction, of Bethel, have been repav...
Not common for the area, a short-lived thunderstorm caused a minor disturbance in Petersburg on Tuesday. At about 3:10 p.m., a lightning strike hit a tree, transformer line and transformer, putting "the whole island in the dark," Petersburg Municipal Power and Light Superintendent Joe Nelson said. "The tree was kind of hurt bad, the transformer line is OK, the transformer was destroyed and had to be replaced," he added. That work took about an hour and a half before power was back on. The transf...
Discussion about relocating the Petersburg Borough Power and Light building has been under discussion for decades. Often the discussion came to an abrupt end because of finances. Even when Power and Light had the funds to pay for construction of the building, the Assembly nixed it. In these tight fiscal times, new construction may be a tough sell, but there is a valid reason to move Power and Light away from the busiest intersection on the island. Before the discussion about remodeling both the old municipal building and the power and light...
May 13 A caller reported a concern about drunk driving. During a traffic stop, an officer arrested Joseph Scott Hedlund, 25, for a charge of Driving Under the Influence. Police checked on an intoxicated individual male walking to his residence. May 14 A caller reported a loud noise on Fram St., possibly a gunshot. An officer responded but was unable to locate the source of the noise. Suspicious activity was reported to police. The harbormaster reported possible abandoned vehicles in the South Harbor parking lot. An individual reported a...
Facing a Class B felony charge of burglary, 22-year-old Brittany Martin’s trial is set to begin July 21. Martin, of Juneau, was indicted on the felony charge of burglary in the first degree on April 24. According to the indictment document, she allegedly entered a residence in mid-February with the intent to commit theft. Martin, who is still in custody, attended an omnibus hearing Monday afternoon via phone from the jail. Assistant District Attorney Nick Polasky told Judge William Carey over the phone that the trial would likely last two to th...
Petersburg resident Gesabel Rosa, 22, was convicted of six theft charges at a proceeding before Superior Court Judge William Carey on May 18. Nineteen fraud charges, including two felonies, were brought against Rosa following a police investigation in December 2014 and January 2015. Rosa was alleged to have used a stolen credit card number from a Juneau woman who stayed at the Scandia House, where Rosa was working as a housekeeper, to make purchases at several downtown Petersburg businesses. Thirteen charges, including the two Class C...
May 7 Carlee Wells and Glenn Wells appeared before Superior Court Judge William Carey for a divorce and custody trial. Judge Carey granted the divorce and joint and legal custody arrangements and took child support arrangements under advisement. May 15 Magistrate Judge Desiree Burrell granted a 20 day ex-parte order for Gail McGowan against John Weber. May 18 Austin Strickland pled guilty to a charge of Criminal Mischief in the 2nd Degree during a Change of Plea hearing in front of Superior Court Judge William Carey. He was sentenced to pay a...
Two Alaska high school students won top honors in a national competition for original scientific research. Ian Fleming, of Petersburg, earned first place and a $12,000 scholarship for his research on the negative effects of a common herbicide on coho salmon eggs. Michael Kaden-Hoffmann, of Fairbanks, won fourth place and $300 for a poster detailing research that supports the recognition of three and not just two species of the plant dwarf rosebay (Therorhodion), which grows in Alaska. Both...
Petersburg High School's (PHS) Track and Field team took a small but mighty subsection of runners, jumpers and throwers to Ketchikan last week where another four school records were broken. After breaking three records at the Juneau Invitational two weeks ago, sophomore Izabelle Ith earned herself another top spot in PHS history for the 100 meter hurdles. Also adding to his record-breaking streak was River Quitslund who set a new record for the boys 800 meter run. Senior Ben Zarlengo took first...
The Assembly unanimously passed, on second reading, an ordinance that would create a special revenue fund to house Transient Room Tax (TRT) revenues. Those funds currently go into the General Fund, and Finance Director Jody Tow said moving them to a special fund will increase transparency during future budget decisions. Passing the ordinance will also result in the dissolution of the TRT committee and grant process they once oversaw. Assembly Member and Chamber of Commerce Director Cindi Lagoudakis said the Chamber board explained, “the T...
Assembly members at Monday’s regular meeting took swift action on a small agenda of items. The item garnering the most discussion was a request for long-term camping authorization at Sandy Beach Park by Parks and Rec Director Donnie Hayes for a visiting group. The New Olde Time Chautauqua Group will be touring Southeast Alaska from June 18 to July 13, visiting Ketchikan, Wrangell, Juneau, Hoonah, Haines and Sitka. The Petersburg stop is scheduled for June 28–July 2. The group’s mission is to bring live entertainment and quality arts educa...
Nowhere in the world do people have as much opportunity to speak their minds to fish policy makers as they do in Alaska. As decision day approaches, a groundswell of Alaska voices is demanding that fishery overseers say bye-bye to halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea. They are speaking out against the more than six million pounds of halibut that are dumped overboard each year as bycatch in trawl fisheries that target flounders, rockfish, perch, mackerel and other groundfish (not pollock). The bycatch levels, which are set by the North Pacific...
The Petersburg High School baseball Vikings fell to Juneau-Douglas in a three-game matchup last Wednesday and Thursday at Juneau. Though Juneau is one of the top teams in the conference, Head Coach Jim Engell said his team is capable of beating them. “We played pretty well against Juneau,” he said. “But not as well as I’d hoped.” In game one of a double header on Wednesday, starting pitcher Colby Bell pitched 11 strikeouts but gave up three earned runs. Engell said Bell and the other starting pitchers had less time than normal to rest befo...
Eleanor Bergen will be graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University on May 21, 2015. She has earned a Bachelors of Arts in Public Health. After graduation she will be working as a research program coordinator at Hopkins studying treatment of drug resistant TB. She will live in Baltimore with occasional trips to work sites in South Africa....
The Chief Shakes Hot Springs Recreation Area is scheduled for work from mid-July to mid-August including foundation repair to decaying cedar posts on the indoor tub and roof replacements to the indoor tub and outdoor changing room. The indoor tub and outdoor changing room will be closed to the public during construction. This work is necessary to ensure that these facilities are available for the public well into the future. The outdoor hot tub will remain open to the public. The Wrangell-Petersburg-Kake Resource Advisory Committee obtained...
Maximilian Worhatch III was born to Mary Josephine Gola and Maximilian Worhatch II on September 2nd, 1933 in Callery, Butler County, Pennsylvania. He was born at the height of the depression in an old farmhouse on the property where his father managed a fireworks company. In 1933 jobs were scarce and living conditions so dire that when the doctor was paid in dollars for his maternity services he broke down and cried, for it had been nearly a year since he had received actual money for his... Full story
