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"I want to thank the crew serving today, and all who served aboard Anacapa over these many years, for their dedication and service to our country," said Rear Admiral Charles Fosse, commander of United States Coast Guard District 13, during the decommissioning ceremony for USCG cutter Anacapa on April 26 in Port Angeles, Washington. Commissioned in 1990, Anacapa spent 32 of its 34 years homeported in Petersburg, and the last two years in Port Angeles. The 110-foot Coast Guard Cutter carried a... Full story
The Associated Teachers of Petersburg (ATP) and Petersburg School District are negotiating the next labor agreement that will take effect in the fall of 2024 and span three school years through spring 2027. Past negotiations between the teachers union and the district, which occur every three years, have largely focused on updating the contract language. This year, however, ATP and PSD are focusing more on when, where and how to allocate what limited money the district has to work with. ATP is...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration introduced legislation on Wednesday that would criminalize unpermitted street protests and other activities that block passage through public places. Certain types of protest could be counted among the state’s most serious crimes. Dunleavy said the proposal is aimed at increasing public safety. Civil rights advocates say the potential infringement of Alaskans’ First Amendment rights is concerning. House Bill 386 would impose penalties for obstructing highways, navigable waterways, airport runways and other pu... Full story
Between April 2019 and December 2021, State and Federal Investigators conducted a lengthy investigation of Rocky Point Resort and its fishing guides and owners after receiving a complaint alleging that Rocky Point owners and guides committed a number of sport fishing violations including not reporting halibut under the Guided Angler Fish (GAF) program, and taking over limits of fish, according to charging documents filed by the Alaska Attorney General’s office at the Petersburg District Court on November 14, 2023. This investigation resulted i...
Nikita Chase doesn’t have a Christmas tree yet this year. She said she is more worried about staving off an electricity shutoff notice than getting into the holiday spirit. Her food stamps, known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, were nearly two months late. “I am pretty much tapped out going into Christmas. That’s not a great place to be,” she said. She ran up debt on her credit card to pay for heat and electricity after she spent all her cash to feed her family. She paid significantly higher prices for piecemeal groceri... Full story
Ashley Lohr's newest art show opens at the Clausen Museum this Friday, November 3, with a reception from 5 - 7 p.m. Her digital paintings, works on canvas and enamel earrings will be on display through November 14. This is Lohr's 14th solo exhibit at the museum since moving to Petersburg in 2008 to work as Petersburg High School's art teacher. Like getting married, earning a masters degree, and having two children - Rosie, 8, and Finn, 5 - her solo exhibits serve as mile markers in her life....
As the first practical measure taken by Petersburg’s Early Childhood Education Task Force, the PIECE program is nearing the mark of its first year in action. So far, eight childcare provider employees across three services in Petersburg have received a first round of fiscal incentives under the program. For some, the extra benefits have given them a positive boost toward higher education; for others, the bonus check has not provided enough of a platform to launch from. PIECE, short for Petersburg Incentive Education for Childhood Employees, i...
In September 2022, Superior Court Judge Amy Mead presided over the State of Alaska v. Brandon “Andy” Burrell jury trial. Burrell was acquitted of Burglary in the first degree and Sexual Assault in the first degree; however, the jury found the defendant guilty of Criminal Mischief in the third degree and guilty of the lesser charge of Sexual Assault in the second degree. Judge Mead conducted the sentencing proceedings for those convictions on Wednesday, August 9, 2023. For the conviction of Sexual Assault in the second degree, Burrell was sen...
When U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg's flight from Juneau to Haines was rained out on Wednesday, he changed plans and did what Alaskans have done for decades: He boarded a ferry. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, traveled with Buttigieg and said the last-minute switch in travel plans "was a typical Alaska jump ball." It was an appropriate capstone to Buttigieg's three-day Alaska visit: a trip intended to emphasize the benefits of the Biden administration's infrastructure law,... Full story
Between 2019 and 2021, state and federal law enforcement conducted a lengthy investigation into Petersburg area sport fishing charter lodge Rocky Point Resort, according to charging documents filed with Alaska Trial Courts last month. The investigation has resulted in four sport fishing guides being charged with over 50 counts related to halibut sport fishing violations. Current halibut charter bag limits for Southeast Alaska allow guided charter vessel anglers to catch and retain one halibut...
The company behind the controversial Pebble Mine in Southwest Alaska has agreed to pay nearly $6.4 million to a group of shareholders who claim they were misled by corporate leaders. Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. reached the settlement with the named plaintiffs, according to documents filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The settlement is the product of two lawsuits, later consolidated, alleging that Northern Dynasty and the Pebble Limited Partnership had defrauded investors through... Full story
This year's sac roe herring fishery in Sitka Sound held unusual challenges for the fishing fleet, with vast schools of fish on their annual run settling in places tough for purse seiners to operate in during that critical period just before spawning, longtime seine skipper Jamie Ross told the Sentinel. Ross, whose home port is Homer, has fished for more than three decades in Sitka's seasonal herring fishery. This year's fishery was possibly his last. "This was a very complex year; the fish were...
Small publishers all across the country got some tough news this fall when Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced a substantial postage rate increase set to arrive in January. While postage is increasing for everybody, the class of postage facing the highest increase is the in-county periodical postage rate newspapers pay to distribute local papers to subscribers through post offices. That rate will jump by 7.6% next month, and the increase is coming hot on the heels of a 7% hike in July of...
WASHINGTON — The Department of Education announced last month it is extending the pandemic-era pause on federal student loan repayments until June 30 while legal challenges to the administration’s student debt relief program are fought over in the courts. The agency said if the student debt relief program has not been put in place by June 30, and if litigation is still tied up in the courts, student loan payments will begin 60 days after that. “Payments will resume 60 days after the Department is permitted to implement the program or the litig...
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Monday issued a nationwide injunction indefinitely blocking the Biden administration’s student debt relief program in response to a challenge by six GOP-led states. The unanimous ruling by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis came after the six states — Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina — argued that the loan relief program threatens those states’ future tax revenues and that the plan by the Biden administration overrode congressional authority. “The injunction...
Saturday morning a group of concerned Petersburg residents met at the Wright Auditorium to participate in the second Childcare Community Café to address the childcare crisis affecting the local workforce, businesses, families, and economy. The meeting, hosted by the SHARE (Supporting Health Awareness, Resilience, and Education) Coalition, began with a viewing of a 23-minute video entitled "Voices for a Better Future: Community Impacts of Childcare in Petersburg," followed by a community... Full story
James (Buddy) W. Mortensen was born on June 29, 1930 in Dillon, Montana and died peacefully from lung cancer at his home in Bend, Oregon on May 4, 2021. Jim Mortensen grew up in Petersburg and was a graduate of Petersburg High School where he was the smallest member of the band and played the largest horn: a sousaphone. After graduation he and some friends went off to explore the Pacific Northwest. His father shook his head and wondered if the kid would ever amount to anything. Jim attended... Full story
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he will cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for Pell Grant borrowers and up to $10,000 for all other borrowers with an income of less than $125,000 for an individual and $250,000 for a household. Biden also announced his administration is extending a pause on student loan repayments until Dec. 31. The decision comes one week before the expiration of a pause of student loan repayments put in place at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. “Here’s the deal, the cost... Full story
To some people springtime means the start of outdoor projects, tending to the garden, or doing some overdue house cleaning, but to one group of Petersburg High School students it can only mean one thing-time for baseball. The team has been hard at work for the past month preparing for the upcoming season, not on fresh-cut green grass or turf but on the gravel field they call home. Jim Engell is returning for his 15th year as the head coach of the Vikings and is joined by Ethan Bryner, a former...
While most high schools may take a field trip to the local museum or zoo, a select group of Petersburg High School students get to go somewhere a little bit cooler-LeConte Glacier. Each year, students set out to survey the glacier and record how it has moved over time. They're taking what they have learned in the classroom and are applying it in the field. The survey began in 1983 with high school teacher Paul Bowen's surveying class as an opportunity for the top students to get real world... Full story
The commercial Pacific halibut fishing period is set to begin on March 6 as determined during the 98th session of the International Pacific Halibut Commission and will last until December 7, 2022. This season, the overall Total Constant Exploitation Yield (TCEY) limit was increased by 5.7% compared to last year, bringing the 2022 limit to 41.22 million pounds. For all areas in the United States, the total 2022 limit of 33.66 million pounds is up 5.2% from 2021. The largest percentage increase...
This year's mature herring biomass in the Sitka Sound is expected to be the largest ever with a forecasted 225,820 tons according to Sitka Area Management Biologist Aaron Dupuis of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The high forecast has also resulted in the highest guideline harvest level (GHL) ever set for the annual sac roe herring fishery of 45,164 tons or 20% of the sound's total mature herring biomass. Dupuis said the biggest factor impacting the forecast is the "very large" class of...
Doris Gregg Smith passed away from Covid on December 25, 2021, Christmas Day, at North Cascades Health & Rehabilitation Center in Bellingham, WA. She was 101 years old, just a month shy of 102. Doris was born Doris Ruth Gregg in Oak Park, Illinois on January 26, 1920. She graduated from Denison University as a Registered Nurse, then served in the Army in France as a nurse in WWII. She was a Lieutenant. She met her future husband in France, Tarleton (Tee) Smith, also a Lieutenant, from Waco, Texa... Full story
January The assembly approved of a COVID-19 dashboard which tracked cases in the community. Local businesses received a total of $15.08 million in aid in the first round of COVID-19 aid released through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. PMC vaccinated approximately 350 residents aged 65 or older at a vaccine drive in the community gym. PMC was given permission by the borough to apply for a second PPP loan totaling $1.8 million. PMC applied and received a loan of...
Pacific halibut stock appears to be on an upswing and could result in increased catches for most regions in 2022. At the interim meeting of the International Pacific Halibut Commission last week, scientists gave an overview of the summer setline survey that targets nearly 2,000 stations over three months. The Pacific resource is modeled as a single stock extending from northern California to the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea, including all inside waters through British Columbia and Alaska. The survey showed that coastwide combined numbers...
