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The Petersburg Arts Council and Petersburg Indian Association unveiled a recently commissioned mural of Elizabeth Peratrovich in front of the Petersburg Courthouse on Monday. PIA Board Vice President Brenda Norheim, Alaska Native Sisterhood Petersburg Camp 16 President Barbara Erickson, Tlingit Scholar Dianne Benson, Local Artist Janine Gibbons, past magistrate judge Debra O'Gara and PIA Administrator Tracy Welch all gave speeches recognizing Peratrovich and her work with Alaska's...
The Petersburg Arts Council and Petersburg Indian Association will be unveiling a mural of Elizabeth Peratrovich on Saturday at 10 A.M. that will hang in front of the Petersburg Courthouse. The unveiling of the mural will coincide with Peratrovich's birthday on July 4 and the release of her 2020 Native American $1 coin. Plans for a mural of Peratrovich first began to form about two years ago when news broke that she would be appearing on a U.S. coin. At the time, Malena Marvin, of the...
Turbulent Times To the Editor: We live in turbulent times. Everywhere in the lower 48 it seems monuments and statues are being toppled. Even in Alaska I've heard talk of removing certain statues of historical figures, and many worry that vandalism or some form of statuary dismemberment may be perpetrated I hope our local constabulary is keeping close watch on our own local statue, that bronze likeness of Bojer Wikan that dominates the Memorial Park. In his lifetime he frequently expressed his...
Anne Lewis, 94, a longtime resident of Petersburg, Alaska passed away on May 7, 2020 at the Petersburg Medical Center. She was born Sept. 5, 1925, in Petersburg, Alaska, the daughter of late Tom and Lucy Kito. She was proud to say she came into this world while her parents were processing their fish at Blind Slough during the late salmon run at their campsite. She graduated from Petersburg High School in 1943. She enrolled in the Armed Forces as a nurse cadet and attended St. Joseph School of... Full story
Police Chief Jim Kerr suggested at Tuesday's borough assembly meeting that the assembly discuss and adopt an ordinance that would put rules in place for parades or events that take place in roadways and impact the flow of traffic. On Sunday, several organizations in town hosted an Elizabeth Peratrovich Day celebration that began with a parade downtown. Kerr said that he spoke to a Petersburg Indian Association tribal leader and was supposed to be informed if the parade grew in size, so that...
The Petersburg Indian Association, Petersburg Arts Council and Petersburg ANB/ANS hosted the first annual Elizabeth Peratrovich Day celebration on Sunday to honor the woman who spearheaded Alaska's Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945. The ceremony began with a march down Nordic Dr. that began at the Trading Union and ended at the John Hanson Sr. Hall where the celebration continued. Master of Ceremonies Nathan Lopez acknowledged the work that Peratrovich and her husband Roy did for civil rights in...
Twenty-one tribal voters elected four incumbents in the Petersburg Indian Association Tribal Council election on Jan. 6, but one 1-year term remains vacant. Incumbent Cristina Morrison was reelected as council president for another 1-year term. Heather Conn, Kayla Perry and Mary Ann Rainey were reelected to serve 2-year terms on the tribal council. All four incumbents ran unopposed. According to Tribal Administrator Tracy Welch, Morrison took over as council president last year after she had...
The borough is in the process of renewing an agreement with the state to receive $6,200 annually for the maintenance of the Ernie Haugen public use area, according to Public Works Director Chris Cotta at an assembly meeting on Monday. At an assembly meeting last month, the borough assembly approved letters to Sen. Bert Stedman and Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins asking them to inquire into cooperative agreements between the borough and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources for the management...
Since spring of this year, Barry Morrison, General Manager at The Trading Union, Inc., has been managing the SOS Value Mart in Kake and hopes to purchase the retail business and its real estate by next year. "It's going pretty well," Morrison said. "We've expanded the variety of offerings and cut costs to allow us to lower prices." Morrison said for example that with some cost cutting on freight they have lowered milk prices from over $8/gallon into the $6 range. Freight costs to Kake are...
Heed vaping warning To the Editor: As of November 13, 2019, 2,172 cases of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury have been reported to CDC from 49 states (all except Alaska), the District of Columbia, and 2 U.S. territories (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands). CDC has identified vitamin E acetate as a chemical of concern among people with e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury. The CDC recommends that people should not use THC-containing e-cigarette, or...
Concern for housing unit To the Editor: I attended the Borough Assembly meeting Monday to pass on some public safety committee support and concerns and my options for paying for the EMT/fire person and police officer. Basically having seniors pay their fair share for community needs. One thing that concerned me was a couple of individuals expressing their concern for a new 15 unit low income housing unit proposed across from the hospital that may serve people with challenges. The individuals app...
The Petersburg Rotary Club is leading fundraising efforts to replace the playground at Sandy Beach Park with a larger, more modern playground that would appeal to children of all ages. The goal is to raise about half of the money for the playground, and then apply for grants to cover the rest of the costs, said Glo Wollen, one of three women who are spearheading the fundraising. The project has an estimated cost of about $120,000 and so far, they have raised $28,200 in less than two months. The...
The borough assembly held a discussion at their meeting on Monday on the idea of the borough partnering with the Petersburg Indian Association to take over the maintenance of Greens Camp from the state. Public Works Director Chris Cotta said that the state has paid the borough in the past for the maintenance of Greens Camp, along with Banana Point Boat Dock and Wilson Creek. For the 2019 calendar year, the state cut their funding from $6,200 to $3,000, but the borough still has yet to receive...
To the Editor: As someone who appreciates smoke-free indoor workplaces and public places, I want to say thank you to everyone in our community for supporting the Alaska Smokefree Workplace Law in our beautiful town. I am thrilled to see that our community is free from secondhand cigarette and marijuana smoke as well as aerosols from electronic smoking devices. There are a lot of things one can do to save lives but smoke-free indoor spaces are one of those things that quickly improve the health of our community. I am thankful that our community...
The Petersburg Indian Association will begin offering a paratransit service to all seniors and those with disabilities to fill a need in the community starting this fall. "I'm excited because Petersburg doesn't have this kind of service," said Tribal Council President Cris Morrison. "This will be new and open for everybody." The details of the paratransit service are still in the preliminary stage, but the free door-to-door program is expected to start off with a service area spanning between...
A well-intended new Alaska law has gone awry from a botched roll out that has turned thousands of Alaskan fishing vessel, tender, barge and sport fish operators into lawbreakers. Since the start of 2019, all vessels over 24 feet are required to be registered with the State at a Department of Motor Vehicles office. Previously, vessels that were documented with the US Coast Guard were not also required to register with the state. The registration costs $24 and is good for three years. “You need to get down to the DMV whether you’re doc...
A photo on page 15 of last week’s issue of the Petersburg Pilot showed Public Works employees removing a metal grate from around a tree stump near North Boat Harbor after the trees had been cut down. As a point of clarification, it was the borough’s decision to cut the trees down in anticipation of the Petersburg Indian Association’s plans to work on the sidewalk in the future. PIA did not play a part in the decision to cut the trees down.... Full story
April 3 — Juan Gallardo, 36, was issued a citation for driving without a valid driver’s license. A police patrol was requested on S. Nordic Dr. A vehicle was illegally parked on school grounds. Authorities were requested at a location on Howkan Dr. to deal with an unruly customer. Authorities responded to a civil argument over child custody. Andrew J. Whitethorn, 45, was arrested on charges of driving under the influence, assault in the fourth degree and two counts of criminal mischief in the fifth degree. April 4 — Extra patrols were requested...
The borough assembly held a work session on Feb. 6 where public works director Chris Cotta gave a brief overview of the solid waste and recycling programs and answered questions from assembly and community members. In 2014, the borough started a commingled recycling program using blue bags. The Petersburg Indian Association and later Ruger’s Trucking picked up the bags and delivered them to the baling facility. It was costing the borough $90,000 a year for the Ruger’s Trucking contract, in addition to the $20,000 annual cost of the blue bag...
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...
Although Friday's earthquake in Anchorage was too far away to be felt on Mitkof Island, Petersburg resident John Havrilek and members of the Petersburg Indian Association were in Anchorage when the ground began to shake at about 8:30 A.M. "The shaking was so severe I could barely stand," said Havrilek. He was in Anchorage to visit his daughter Courtney who was hosting an after school conference for troubled youth at the Sheraton Hotel. He was in his room on Friday morning when the earthquake...
Although this morning's earthquake in Anchorage was too far away to be felt in Petersburg, members of the Petersburg Indian Association were getting ready to leave Anchorage after attending a Bureau of Indian Affairs conference when the ground began to shake at about 8:30 A.M. "Oh my gosh, it was just really scary because it just kept going," said Jeanette Ness, a social worker with PIA who was in the airport waiting for the number 64 jet when the earthquake started. Ness said that ceiling... Full story
Context needed To the Editor: Context was missing from the article about the visitor industry information meeting (November 7). For example, we had approximately 9,000 cruise ship visitors this summer, down from a peak of 18,000 in 2006. And now there’s a marine passenger fee. At $5 each, that means an additional $45,000 for our community. Imagine if we had that in place when we had double the passengers we get today. Did you know we already have days where 400+ people are in town when multiple ships are here at the same time? Yes, it can g...
