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There are many ideas, books, quotes, videos and even classes on what makes a good, lasting relationship, but all one has to do is ask lifelong Petersburg residents Roald and Jeannine Norheim, married 64 years this July. Their joint response, "doing things together." The Norheims' love story from the beginning was about doing things together, such as both being born and raised in Petersburg by Norwegian immigrants. They both attended elementary and high school together, although Roald is three...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game released the winners of the 2019 Excellence in Service Award earlier this month. Up to five members of advisory committees across the state are given this award each year. This year, David Rak was one of the five recipients for serving as secretary of the Wrangell Fish and Game Advisory Committee, according to the Department of Fish and Game, for "24 plus" years. "I haven't gone back in my records to see how much 'plus' there is," Rak said with a laugh....
As the United States Government shutdown continues into its fourth week, employees of local federal government agencies such as the United States Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Transportation Security Administration are carrying on without pay, while others have been furloughed. On Tuesday, the United States Coast Guard reached its first pay period where personnel did not receive a paycheck. After the shut down began on Dec. 22, those in the USCG that were still working and had not been furloughed received a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A state agency plans to swap land in southeast Alaska for federal land that can be developed for timber sales. The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority board on Thursday approved a land exchange with the U.S. Forest Service that will trade 18,000 acres (7,284 hectares) of trust lands for 20,000 acres (8,094 hectares) of federal land, the Juneau Empire reported. The trust lands are scattered throughout southeast Alaska and the exact amount to be traded must be worked out. Wyn Menefee, director of the trust authority land o...
The Petersburg School District school board accepted the resignation of Rae C. Stedman Elementary School principal Teri Toland on Tuesday. She will be retiring at the end of the school year in June. "I'm appreciative of the opportunity to serve the students and families of Petersburg," said Toland. "I am just really grateful for that. It has been a wonderful experience for me." Toland, 59, first arrived in Petersburg 13 years ago with her husband Kim Toland who had just retired from the...
January The borough assembly received a proposed update to its zoning code that would introduce a new form of affordable housing, an expansion of the historical and industrial districts and the end of a requirement for businesses to include parking downtown. The borough assembly held a work session to discuss a plan to impose restrictions on the senior tax exemption. A possible annual fee to sales tax exemption card holders was agreed upon ranging between $50 and $60. Police Chief Kelly Swihart...
The United States Government shut down at midnight Eastern Standard Time on Dec. 22 after the Senate failed to come up with an agreement on a spending deal, which resulted with interruptions in the operations of government agencies, including the United States Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration and the United States Forest Service. Despite falling under the Department of Homeland Security, one of the agencies that were impacted significantly, the USCG will continue to provide essential services, including search and rescue...
Beginning in January, adrenaline junkies heading to Alaska for heli-skiing can now launch off a boat moored at the foot of untouched mountains in Petersburg. After three consecutive bad winters, Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures (SEABA) has secured a two-year permit with the U.S. Forest Service to operate in Petersburg and partnered with a boat to offer Inside Passage heli-skiing. “It’s a new way to generate interest in the Southeast region,” co-owner Scott Sundberg said. The last few seasons in Haines have been tough because of an incre...
District ranger Dave Zimmerman has taken a position at the forest service regional offices in Juneau working in forest management after serving two and half years in Petersburg. While the United States Forest Serves goes through a competitive hiring process for a new district ranger, Ted Sandhofer is acting district ranger in Petersburg, according to forest service affairs and partnerships officer Paul Robbins, Jr. Zimmerman is the region ten forest product group leader in Juneau, which is a lateral move within the forest service. The position...
The United States Forest Service will be reconstructing two miles of the Raven trail and decommissioning the last mile that leads to the Raven's Roost Cabin. A new Raven's Roost Cabin will be built at the end of the third mile of the trail, just before the decommissioned fourth mile. It will be a brand new design. The second and third mile of the current Raven trail will be reconstructed to address steep, muddy and slippery locations on the trail, according to a decision memo released by the...
WRANGELL - Students at Evergreen Elementary School have spent the past few days making Christmas ornaments. Some students drew pictures of Alaskan wildlife, others made miniature wreaths, and another class made poinsettias. All these ornaments are not only fun projects for students to work on. They will be travelling up to Juneau in the coming weeks to hang on the governor's Christmas tree. Tory Houser, with the Forest Service, said that the Wrangell district of the Tongass National Forest has...
It was clear to Sam Bunge that he was going to Vietnam after he graduated from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1967. He participated in the university's Reserve Officer Training Corps in preparation because he didn't want to join the United States Army as a private. "I wanted to have a little bit of control of what happened," said Bunge. His first year in the army was spent training. He completed his basic training in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. Since he was entering the army as...
Juliette Low, the founder of Girl Scouting once said. "Scouting rises within you and inspires you to put forth your best." That quote was especially fitting on Sat., Nov. 11 as the local Petersburg Girl Scouts gathered to mark their founder's birthday, which is Oct. 31 and to celebrate one of their own, Gold Award recipient Avery Herman-Sakamoto. The Gold Award in Girl Scouting is equivalent to the Eagle Scout Award in Boy Scouts. You must be dedicated, motivated and inspired to achieve it and...
The Petersburg Borough’s in-kind portion of a feasibility study to determine if the United States Army Corps of Engineers will dredge South Harbor and allow smoother egress increased by $50,000, and was approved by the assembly on Monday. “The money stays with us,” said harbormaster Glow Wollen at the assembly meeting on Monday. “We only use it if we spend it for this project. The borough’s in-kind contributions have increased to $100,000, from $50,000, which the borough has paid $32,349.11 of to date, according to a letter from Amber C....
October 18, 1918 Thirty six men from Petersburg are in the armed service of the United States assisting in its effort to down the mad beast of Potsdam and his assistant murderers. These men are many of them Scandinavians, and one of them born in Germany, but they have a love for freedom and personal liberty such as actuated the founders of this great Republic and which makes them ready to lay down their lives for humanity and the country of their adoption. October 15, 1943 Chairman Mansfield predicted today that non-controversial navigation...
A resolution to request the USDA’s inspector general conduct an audit of the Tonka and Big Thorne Integrated Resource timber contracts to determine if Petersburg is owed monies failed in a 2-4 vote by the borough assembly at a meeting on Monday. “This is just my attempt to make sure that specifically Petersburg has all the funds coming to them from these timber sales, and if not, let’s go to the next step and see how we’re going to find out,” said assembly member Jeff Meucci, who request the resolution be put on the agenda. The Washingto...
The 2001 Roadless Rule, covering 58 million acres of National Forest Land, including the Tongass and Chugach National Forests, was pushed through the entire national rulemaking and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes in 15 months. The 2001 Roadless Rule was promulgated by the outgoing Clinton Administration just eight days before President George W. Bush was inaugurated. The Roadless Rule was justified by the Clinton Administration’s claim that a national level “whole picture” review of National Forest roadless areas was neede...
On Sept. 25, a meeting was held by officials from the United States Forest Service to inform the public about the state’s plan to alter the Roadless Rule which prevents the construction of roads in nearly 60 million acres of land throughout the country. About 55 percent of the Tongass National Forest and 99 percent of the Chugach National Forest is subject to the Roadless Rule. The Roadless Rule was put into effect in 2001. In 2003, the Tongass was exempt from the Roadless Rule but reinstated in 2011. The USDA initiated an environment impact st...
MVFS misconception To the Editor: I want to address a small point in Glo Wollen’s letter this last issue. Thanking Glo for her fine support of Proposition 1, which I agree, she referred to a popular misconception as she described our quality of life in Petersburg. Many citizens use the term “Meals on Wheels” when they refer to Petersburg’s Senior dining program. The Mt. View Food Service is not an affiliate of Meals on Wheels. We are an organization in Petersburg which is dedicated to a senior group dining experience. If eligible consume...
WRANGELL — In 2001, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a nationwide regulation on the management of roadless areas in national forests across the country. The “Roadless Rule,” as it’s known, generally prohibits timber harvesting and road construction in roadless areas.The rule affects 58.5 million acres of land across the country, based on information provided by the Forest Service. According to Nicole Grewe, with the Forest Service, about 55 percent of the Tongass National Forest is designated as roadless area. The Roadless Rule ha...
Bill Tremblay General Information Name: Bill Tremblay Age: 64 Experience: My past experience includes 9 years on the Petersburg City Council (1999-2007), and 2 1/2 years on the City Council for Craig, Alaska (1985-1988). In addition to my 36 year work experience with the Forest Service, I have been a part of several groups or organizations that provide a benefit to the Petersburg community. At this time I am the President of the Board of Directors for KFSK Public Radio, a board member for the...
The Nolan Center was littered with maps of the Tongass National Forest Sept. 5. Members of the Wrangell and Petersburg Ranger districts came by to hold a public meeting on the Central Tongass Project, a series of proposed long-term renovations in the area. Dave Zimmerman, with the Petersburg Ranger District, explained that the Central Tongass Project covers both the Petersburg and Wrangell districts, an area that stretches across the Wrangell, Mitkof, Kupreanof, Kuiu, Zarembo, and Etolin islands, as well as a section of the mainland. According...
Clarification To the Editor: Thank you to the Petersburg Pilot for the coverage of the 1st annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Walk/Run. I would like to clarify that while my granddaughter Amalia was correctly identified as Alaska Native, I am not. I am however a proud member of the Seetka Kwann Dance group, founded in 1990 and led by Jeanette Ness. Many thanks to SEARHC, WAVE, PIA and Petersburg Parks and Rec for coordinating this event and to all who participated. Karin McCullough Senior exemption thorny issue To the Editor: The...
Don "Scott" Bagley, 69, went to be with the Lord on August 3, 2018. He was born on July 28, 1949 in Yreka, California to Virginia and Don Bagley. Scott remained living in Northern California and attended Leggett Valley High School where he graduated in 1967. He worked at local gas stations and became a firefighter for the State of California. At age 19, he was in a terrible car accident and broke his back becoming a paraplegic and was confined to a wheelchair. He absorbed this tragic accident... Full story
