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September 7, 1923 – The Petersburg schools, with the exception of the first and second grades, opened for the winter term on Tuesday. The two lower grades are closed for a time on account of whooping cough, which has been going the rounds of the younger children this summer. To limit as much as possible the further dissemination of whooping cough, the School Board, in consultation with the Health Officer, has ordered Principal Earl Shaeffer to issue the following edict: – “The contagious disease known as whooping cough is a serious disea...
June 29, 1923 – Leonard Martins suffered a cracked bone in one of his legs and Leif Mathieson suffered a severely bruised foot last Thursday night, week, when a large wheel of an engine being installed at the West Lumber Company mill was tipped over and caught the boys as it fell. The two boys, with several others, were playing around the mill site and in some manner the wheel, which had been removed from the engine and set to one side, was pushed over and caught the two boys. Young Martins was removed to the hospital where his leg was d...
June 22, 1923 – Newt Casperson, well known business man of Ketchikan and Cordova, was shot three times by a prohibition officer at Ketchikan recently and is in the hospital recovering from wounds to his right chest, leg and hand. The shooting affair occurred about one o’clock Sunday morning when D.W. Flanagan, prohibition enforcement officer, attempted to raid an apartment above Otto Soberg’s store which the government alleges was the location of Casperson’s bootlegging joint. Dr. R.V. Ellis, who is attending Casperson, says his chances...
October 27, 1922 – The steam boiler in the Knutsen Brothers Sawmill at the mouth of Petersburg Creek, across Wrangell Narrows from town, exploded at ten minutes past six o’clock Thursday night. No one was hurt in the accident as the Knutsens were in the house just finishing their evening meal. The boiler and fire room, the dry kiln and one lumber shed were wrecked, most of the windows in the big residence house were blown out and lumber, bricks, rocks, iron roofing, and bits of the boiler were scattered for hundreds of yards in every dir...
October 6, 1922 – On the evening of September 30th practically everyone in Petersburg was a guest of the Petersburg Igloo, Pioneers of Alaska at the big house warming held in the new hall. The hall was filled with dancers the entire evening and a delicious luncheon of beans, stew, and other things was served at midnight, it being necessary to reset the tables three times. In all, over two hundred people were served. During the evening Miss Edna Osten, daughter of Chaplain and Mrs. C. D. Osten entertained with several numbers on her violin. T...
September 15, 1922 Probably Mrs. John Vanderbilt, who is a guest at the Goddard Hot Springs, is the only woman who ever entertained a big brown bear in its native haunts with a repertoire of songs. Wynn Goddard, Billy Wilson, and Mrs. Vanderbilt visited Eva Lake, Peril Straits to fish. The two men started to fish up the stream and Mrs. Vanderbilt stayed on the beach. Billy struck out for the falls a short distance away and Wynn started in at the first turn. Mrs. Vanderbilt saw a movement where Wynn had been fishing and thought it was him, but d...
Lori Roberts celebrated her last day of work at OBI Seafoods on December 10 after a 42 year career which saw her work in pretty much every spot in the plant. Roberts began with what was then Petersburg Fisheries in 1974 after being talked into coming up to Petersburg by a few friends. She attended Highline Community College in Washington and worked at the plant during the summers until she eventually decided to stick around. "I was downstairs for 16 years," Roberts said. "I did herring, I did...
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...
Tanya Lee Roundtree, 65, now rests in peace. She passed away Nov. 16, 2021 after living with ALS. She was born April 27, 1956, to Juanita (Arthur) and Charles Deffenbaugh Sr., in Lebanon, Oregon. Growing up one of five siblings, Tanya was always hard-working, helping take care of her older sister Cathy and whatever was needed of her. In 1974, she graduated from Sweet Home High School in Sweet Home, Oregon, leaving the very next day with two of her friends, Carleen (Lyons) and Lori (Roberts),... Full story
OBI Seafoods announced the production of 100,000 cases of pinks on Monday at about 11:30 a.m. by blowing the steam whistle at the OBI plant in Petersburg. "It's a morale boost for the employees and it lets the town know that the fish are coming through," said OBI fleet manager Don Spigelmyre. Spigelmyre complimented Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game managers for working with the processors by opening-up good areas for fishing. "We'll likely get to the numbers predicted by ADF&G and we hope to even...
Since the fall of 1989, Patrick Wilson has been the plant manager for Icicle Seafoods, later OBI Seafoods, but this summer he'll be leaving Petersburg to enjoy a retirement split between the Bahamas and Washington state. Originally from the greater Seattle area, Wilson got his start in the seafood business in 1975. He took a job working for Cossack Caviar in Seattle, because he heard the company sent workers to Alaska during the summers. "I thought that was pretty exciting," said Wilson. "It...
Nikolai Wendel has taken over as plant manager at OBI Seafoods, bringing 13 years of cannery experience with him. He arrived in town in late January, and following a two week quarantine, began transitioning into the role of plant manager. Wendel is taking over from longtime plant manager Patrick Wilson who will be retiring this summer. Wendel first experienced Southeast Alaska on a cruise through the Inside Passage after graduating from high school in 2007. It was then that he discovered that th...
By Patrick Wilson, retiring OBI Seafoods Petersburg plant manager and Nik Wendel, current OBI Seafoods Petersburg plant manager Petersburg Fisheries has been the cornerstone of the community since 1965 when the town pooled their resources and bought the processing plant that was about to go under. It was the partnership of members of the community and commercial fishermen that has helped keep our facility running over the past 55 years. Now under OBI Seafoods, we continue to keep this spirit as... Full story
Although this year's Southeast Alaska salmon season produced a record low run, crabbers enjoyed the second highest summer harvest on record, according to Joe Stratman, lead crab biologist for region one with Petersburg Fish and Game. In Registration Area A, which includes all the inside waters of Southeast Alaska, 5.81 million pounds of Dungeness crab were harvested by 192 permit holders in the 2020 summer season. This year's summer season alone exceeded full season harvests for every previous...
This year's pink salmon harvest came in at around 7 million, which is considerably down from the 35 million ten year average. Troy Thynes, regional management coordinator for commercial fisheries with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said the pink salmon run in Southeast Alaska hasn't been this low since 1976. There are several causes for this year's poor salmon run. In 2018, the parent year for this year's pink salmon, escapement was poor in Northern Southeast Alaska, said Thynes. In...
We have no desire to critique the public radio station's work but last week we had several people ask what we thought of station intern Corinne Smith's story that aired on KFSK. The story highlighted seafood workers' summer employment experiences in Petersburg under the state's Covid-19 mandates. The piece fell far below the level of excellence usually attained by the station's news department. More work was needed to add balance to a story that could have highlighted the achievements of both... Full story
May 7, 1920 Fish handling facilities are to be installed on the Trading Union dock by that concern at once, according to the announcement of manager Carl E. Swanson to the Report editor. A housing engine and ice crusher will be installed and the coolers already on the dock will be put in shape for the use of the fishermen who wish to ship their fish independently or for independent fish buyers. The engine has been ordered and it is expected to have things ready for work within the next three weeks. May 14, 1945 Six girls, five of whom have been...
The borough's sales tax has brought in $2,362,621 for the 2020 fiscal year so far, which is about $90,000 higher than what was brought in this time last year, according to Finance Director Jody Tow. Some businesses in town have been seeing the increase in spending, showing that the borough is in for a prosperous calendar year. The Petersburg Borough has seen a slight upward trend in the amount of money it has been collecting through sales tax since the 2016 fiscal year; however, the sales tax...
Canned salmon from Icicle Seafoods was included in the 25 totes of fresh produce and groceries donated to the villages of Kake and Angoon this week. The Southeast villages have been impacted by the recent lack of ferry service prompting Rotary Club president elect Bennett McGrath and Pastor Nathan Lopez to gather donations of cash and food for the two communities. (Left to right) Toni Rogers, Marva Reid and Delinda Herbrandson hand label half pound cans of sockeye salmon in the Petersburg...
October 31, 1919 Dr. Dickinson, arrived from Ketchikan early this week on the U. S. Forestry boat Than. He was sent to Petersburg by Governor Riggs, who received word that several cases of smallpox had been reported to him. As there has been no physician here for some time it was necessary to get one at once. Dr Dickinson, is a Marine Surgeon, and will be in Petersburg until the epidemic subsides. So far five cases have been reported by the board of health. October 27, 1944 A 4-H Baking Club for the girls was organized this week. The...
This year's salmon harvest came in below expectations in Southeast Alaska with a particularly bad chum salmon run, but the Dungeness crab fishery kept cannery crews and fishermen busy. "It was a below average harvest for all species of salmon," said Troy Thynes, regional management coordinator for commercial fisheries with Alaska Fish and Game. The coho salmon harvest came in at 1,673,000 in Southeast Alaska, while districts six and eight, the two districts around Mitkof Island and north of...
Cannery Park has been taking shape in the past few weeks, but Icicle Seafoods Plant Manager Patrick Wilson said more improvements are still on the way for the one-time storage lot. Wilson has been spearheading the project, which began about five years ago in the downtown area. The lot that Cannery Park sits on is owned by Icicle Seafoods. The Fryer building was eventually torn down after it began to fall apart, and Icicle Seafoods used it as a storage lot. Wilson said he wanted to display the...
Despite the departure of processing workers, Patrick Wilson, Icicle Seafoods manager said they will be able to handle the chums coming in from Crawfish Inlet. “We can still do chums, Wilson commented. “We just wish the run came in two weeks earlier,” before workers were being sent home, he said. Wilson said his staff can still take care of the catch. “Anything to keep the fleet fishing,” he added. September 1 is the release date for the summer workers, but 100 production workers remain and will be able to handle the fish, according to Wilson...
Three of the five commercially harvested salmon species are coming in below Department of Fish and Game forecasts, according to assistant area management biologist Kevin Clark. “Biologically, I think that we’re going to be alright in the long run because for the most part, we’ve been meeting goals or near meeting goals,” said Clark. “That is kind of our charge, the sustainability of the fishery. Not necessarily to make sure everybody makes money every year, but to make sure that there’s fish there for their children and grandchildr...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Legislature on Tuesday rejected Gov. Bill Walker’s nomination of a former Planned Parenthood field organizer to serve on a board that regulates midwifery in Alaska. Kenni Linden was the only one of Walker’s nominees to boards and commissions that failed to win confirmation during the joint session. Lawmakers also confirmed Walker’s Cabinet nominees. Linden, who’s from Palmer, has said that her own midwife encouraged her to apply for the public seat on the Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives. She has said sh...
