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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
New U.S. claims to seabed territory off Alaska have run into an obstacle: an objection from the Russian government. The Russian government, which has staked territorial claims to most of the Arctic Ocean, is challenging the U.S. claims made in December to sovereignty over 520,400 square kilometers of extended outer continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean – an area bigger than California - and another 176,330 square kilometers in the Bering Sea. The U.S. does not have the right to make such claims... Full story
Money to purchase an icebreaker for the U.S. Coast Guard to be based in Juneau is in a pending federal defense bill more than a year after similar funding was dropped at the last minute from another budget bill, members of Alaska’s congressional delegation said on Thursday. The pending Homeland Security Appropriations Act, which is part of a broader federal budget bill, includes $125 million to buy an icebreaker to add to the Coast Guard’s meager fleet, the delegation members said. “This is really good news for Alaska, good news for Ameri... Full story
From atop the helicopter pad at Five Finger Lighthouse station, visitors experience a nearly unobstructed 360-degree vista of Alaska's Inside Passage. The air is rich with the scent of saltwater, the calls of the island's abundant birdlife, and echoes of humpback whales breathing and breaching in Stephens Passage throughout the summer feeding season. A narrow path leads between the station's 120-year-old boat house and carpenter shop and gently traverses the less-than-three-acre island's green... Full story
November 2, 1923 – The big steamer Northwestern of the Alaska Steamship Company stopped at Petersburg northbound this week and landed thirty tons of freight. Under the command of Captain Charles Glasscock she made a perfect landing without difficulty of any kind, although it has been said for years by the commanders of the larger boats that on account of the heavy tides it could not be done. The adding of the Northwestern to the boats calling at Petersburg is the direct result of action taken by the Petersburg Commercial Club over the period o...
Petersburg's American Legion Edward Locken Post 14 held a ceremony at Sandy Beach on June 14 to honor and properly destroy faded and worn flags. Members of the American Legion, Active Duty Coast Guard Service Members, and others in the community were present to see over 150 American, Alaskan, Canadian, British, and POW/MIA flags retired. The Ceremony for Disposal for Unserviceable Flags, typically held on Flag Day, was adopted by the American Legion "to encourage proper respect for the Flag of...
April 13, 1923 – Captain I.M. Hofstad, resident of Scow Bay, has just returned from the south where he bonded his group of nickel claims on Baranof Island to a group of Los Angeles capitalists. The nickel claims were found by the young sons of Captain Hofstad early last summer while on a hunting trip and it is said the ledge is a large one and runs heavily in nickel. These claims are said to be the only known nickel deposits in the United States or its possessions and that practically all of the nickel used in the country has been imported f...
Peter O. Ellert, longtime resident of Petersburg, Alaska passed away on September 22, 2022. Pete was born on November 26, 1959 in Holyoke, Massachusetts and grew up in Blandford, a small town in western Massachusetts. He graduated from Gateway Regional High School in Huntington, Massachusetts in 1978 and immediately joined the United States Coast Guard, serving from 1978 to '81, he was stationed in Ketchikan and Petersburg, Alaska. After serving in the Coast Guard, Pete fell in love with and set... Full story
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...
If you're down on Dock St. and happen to notice a float house moored on the left, before the United States Forest Service and United States Coast Guard, that's just Dan and Robyn Cardenas and their two young boys, Roman and Syris. "It's pretty chill," Robyn says. "We're looking at Piston and Rudder, so we see the boats come in and out that are being worked on, and it's kind of fun because my two-year-old loves it when the float planes land or take off." It's busy, but it's not too loud. More...
Forty-five years ago, Kathi Hammer was helping Carol Hall at a concession booth downtown, during Little Norway Festival. When, all of a sudden, Hammer got kidnapped by Vikings. Shortly after earning her freedom she was holding her daughter, Cari, when a photographer came up and asked who they were. Hammer thought he was just a tourist, until a few weeks later when she saw a picture of them on the front page of the Southeastern Log, a popular publication in Southeast at the time. Under the image... Full story
April 7, 1922 The gas boat Progress, in charge of ‘Spanish Joe’ was captured recently at Ketchikan with the entire crew aboardt. When taken into custody she had some 65 cases of imported wet goods on board. Sometime before midnight officers Moyer Halllson and Van-Zandt took up a position near the roadhouse on the Wards Cove road and acting under instructions from Deputy Marshal Handy kept a sharp lookout for the expected booze runners. Their vigil lasted till shortly after midnight when a boat landed and the crew began unloading the cargo on...
The Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs hosted a ceremony Tuesday in the Petersburg High School gym to welcome home and remember Vietnam veterans. The event marked Vietnam Veterans Day which falls on March 29 and was originally scheduled for 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Forrest E. Powell III with the DMVA opened the ceremony and introduced Chamber of Commerce President Jim Floyd who welcomed attendees. Floyd spoke on the history of Petersburg and of the...
During the February 21 Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting, Assembly Member Dave Kensinger gave a report on his attendance at the 2022 Southeast Conference Mid-Session Summit which included an update on the U.S. Coast Guard's interest in Petersburg, federal funding in Alaska, and other important matters to the assembly. The future of the Coast Guard's presence in Petersburg has been in question since it was announced that only three of the four coastal buoy tenders, the class of ships that the...
The Borough Assembly voted in support of Ordinance #2021-16 Monday during its second reading. The ordinance would allow the borough to place liens on properties for the purpose of securing payment for utility fees and the abatement of nuisances. It serves to update local language based on legislation passed by the Alaska Legislature giving municipalities the power to create liens for such purposes. There was a public hearing for the ordinance during the meeting, but no members of the public spok...
First responders, veterans, and members of the community memorialized the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on Friday and Saturday. The events commemorated the 2,977 innocent lives that were lost on September 11, 2001 when planes hijacked by members of the terrorist group al-Qaeda crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. A fire truck was parked outside the school with a flag of the United States draped across...
Lt. Michael Gagen stands before the United States Coast Cutter Blue Shark on Saturday, June 19. The vessel was in Petersburg for about three days where it stopped on its way north to Juneau to refuel and give its 11-person crew some time ashore. Gagen said every summer the USGC sends three 87 foot Coast Guard cutters from Puget Sound through the Inside Passage to assist Coast Guard units stationed in Alaska with a surge in operations. Gagen, commanding officer of the cutter, said the vessel...
A local Boston Whaler vessel crashed into a Hewescraft belonging to Island Point Lodge in the Wrangell Narrows in front of Trident Seafoods and OBI Seafoods on Wednesday morning, resulting in at least two injuries, according to two eyewitnesses. Al Domon and Joe Pang, two fishermen from California staying at the Green Rocks Lodge, said between 8:45 and 9:15 A.M. on Wednesday, the Boston Whaler was headed south into the Wrangell Narrows in the direction of Petersburg Harbor. The Boston Whaler was... Full story
After last year's festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 62nd annual Little Norway Festival is slated to begin May 13. "I think everyone can't wait for it to happen," said Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Administrator Mindy Lopez. "There's some excitement in the air." Prior to the festival, free transportation across the Wrangell Narrows will be provided on May 8 for the City of Kupreanof Celebration Day from 8 A.M. to 4 P.M. The United States Forest Service is also hosting a...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Department of the Navy released details of a new strategy for operations in the Arctic as competition for resources among nations increases in the region. Members of Alaska’s congressional delegation have expressed support for the increased focus on the Arctic, the Juneau Empire reported Saturday. The Navy statement titled “A Blue Arctic” provides an outline of planned operational changes for the military’s sea services in and around Alaska, including the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps. The services will oper...
The United States Coast Guard medevaced an injured fisherman on board the F/V Magnus Martens 80 miles Northwest of Dutch Harbor in the Bering Sea on Dec. 30, according to a USCG press release. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew based out of Air Station Kodiak was deployed on board the Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley. The fisherman was initially flown to Dutch Harbor for medical care, but it was determined that he was in need of a higher level of care, according to the press release. He was then...
Rae C. Stedman Elementary School brought on board six new teachers this year as the school looks to create smaller class sizes to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 within the building. One of the new teachers is a face some students may already know. After teaching at the Mitkof Dance Troupe, Kaili Swanson decided she wanted to do something to help the community push through the COVID-19 pandemic. She received an emergency teaching certification through the state and started teaching kindergarten....
The United States Coast Guard transported two people, and two dogs, to Petersburg after their skiff became stuck underneath an overhanding tree in Kah Sheets Bay on Sunday, according to a USCG press release. Coast Guard Sector Juneau received a report from a Good Samaritan of a man overboard in Kah Sheets Bay, according to the press release. The owner of the skiff had fallen into the water when the vessel became wedged underneath an overhanging tree, according to the press release. The man...
On February 13, Petersburg and its law enforcement officers appeared in the season finale of Alaska PD, a new reality show that follows police departments in four Alaskan communities. The episode focused on Officers Carl Tate and Eric Wolf as they patrolled the town, helped an injured eagle and spoke to residents who were under the influence. When the Petersburg Police Department was first approached by Engel Entertainment, the production company that filmed Alaska PD, Tate said he was opposed...
The Five Finger Lighthouse Society went into detail on their plans for the future of the Five Finger Lighthouse at a presentation last Thursday and gave an overview of the lighthouse and its history. The non-profit organization, which took over the lighthouse from the Juneau Lighthouse Association last year, looks to preserve the historic value of the lighthouse, make access to the island easier for visitors and educate the public on the lighthouse's significance. The Five Finger Lighthouse was...
