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Petersburg was paid a visit by longstanding United States Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) on Monday, part of a wider tour of Southeast that includes Ketchikan and Juneau. Extra chairs had to be brought into the Borough Assembly chambers to accommodate the audience, and people stood at the room's back and sides. Seated front and center, Young explained the session would be an informal way for people to give input and ask questions. "I'm here primarily to hear what's on your mind and what you'd like to...
January Public Works rolled out the borough's highly anticipated blue cart recycling program. The borough received $820,117.61 from the annual raw fish tax. Dave Zimmerman was hired as the new Tongass National Forest Petersburg District Ranger. The assembly continued discussing the reallocation of the Kake access road funding. Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins took part in a budget crisis presentation at Sons of Norway Hall. The visit was the first of many by representatives throughout the...
The United Kingdom’s recent exit from the European Union – dubbed Brexit — has turned seafood trading on its head. For 43 years the UK has been a major part of the 28 country EU, and what the pull out means for longstanding business arrangements is anyone’s guess. Last year the UK imported over $90 million dollars of Alaska seafood. “It’s still speculative, but anything that has a negative effect on currency values relative to the dollar hurts exports. I do expect we will continue to be strong trading partners with both with the UK and the EU,...
June 3, 1916 – The Border Line steamer Despatch was in port southbound yesterday afternoon, having made the trip north on the west coast. The officers of the steamer reported having had a very interesting and enjoyable trip from Seattle to Port Walter. Because: The principal bulk of the Despatch's passenger list consisted of fifteen Scotch lasses who came to the last named port to work at sardine packing in the plant of the Alaska Herring and Sardine Company. There was also three married women with their husbands in the party. The trip was d...
WRANGELL - A passenger plane based out of Wrangell crashed on Admiralty Island April 8, during a morning flight to Angoon. Of the four onboard the Cessna 206, the pilot and two passengers were killed. A third passenger, Morgan Enright, 21, of Ketchikan, survived the crash. The United States Coast Guard and Sitka Search and Rescue transported her from the scene and she remains in critical condition in a Seattle hospital. Alaska State Troopers identified those killed in the crash as pilot David... Full story
Alaska fishermen can send an SOS call directly to the Coast Guard, but many are not hooking up to the new lifeline. Digital Selective Calling (DSC) instantly signals a distress call over VHF radios to other vessels, and the feature has been a required part of the hand-held units since 1996. In Alaska, the ability for mariners to hook up with the Coast Guard was acquired just last year when transceiver and antenna ‘high sites’ in Southeast and South Central regions came on line (more are scheduled soon). “There was a lot of rumor going aroun...
July Paine & Partners, LLC of San Francisco entered into agreements with two different groups to sell Icicle Seafoods. The Petersburg Public Library expanded its collection by 1.7 million titles after it joined a consortium of libraries across the state called the Joint Library Catalogue. U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Peter Vermeer took command of the USCGG Anacapa, replacing Lt. Kathryn Cry. The Alaska Department of Transportation cancelled the scheduled summer sailings of the M/V LeConte that would hav... Full story
January-June January Petersburg School Superintendent Lisa Stroh resigned from her position citing family medical issues as her reason for leaving although communication between borough staff and student letters indicated turmoil between Stroh and school staff. Two third and fourth grade elementary students published their own class newspapers. Former Petersburg School District Maintenance Director Tye Petersen was sentenced to 12 years in prison for Distribution, Receipt and Possession of... Full story
The Reverend Thomas Lee (Joseph) Weise, Jr., 46, a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Juneau, Alaska, died December 6, 2015, following a cardiac arrest suffered while visiting family members in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Fr. Weise was born January 10, 1969 in South Laguna Beach, Calif. After graduating from Dana Hills High School, he was appointed to the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., graduating in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Science While in the... Full story
WRANGELL - At 2:18 pm on Wednesday, following a search by the United States Coast Guard and Alaska State Troopers, the body of an adult white male was located floating in Earl West Cove approximately 12 air miles southeast of Wrangell. The body was transported and positively identified as Kenneth Trammel by next of kin in Wrangell. The body will be transported to the State Medical Examiner's Office for autopsy. The vessel has not been located. Relatives of 53-year-old Kenneth Trammel reported...
The first seagoing electric powered passenger vessel in the U.S. is set to launch next summer in Juneau. The E/V Tongass Rain is a 50 foot, 47 passenger catamaran designed for eco-education and whale watching tours. Its primary fuel source will be rain, delivered to the boat via Juneau’s hydroelectric power grid and stored in a bank of lithium batteries. The more modern batteries are less than half the weight of a traditional lead acid battery, and they provide three times the power and charge three times as fast, said Bob Varness, president a...
July 24, 1915 – Professor Golder, of the University of Washington, claims to have discovered, through study of the government archives in Petrograd, that Russia's reason for selling Alaska was the fear that, when the country's richness in gold was know, America would rush in and take possession. July 26, 1940 – The story book case of four youthful fish pirates ended last week when the four young men who robbed fish traps at Point Augusta and Hawk Inlet were sentenced to a year in jail by United States Commissioner Felix Gray after they ple...
The Wrangell and Petersburg museums are teaming up in an attempt to identify several hundred individuals in a collection of photographs that dates back more than seven decades. The Clausen Museum in Petersburg is hoping to put names to the faces of 1,474 individuals from the early 1940s as part of its ongoing World War Two project. The museum possesses a collection of photographic negatives, originally used for wartime identification. Following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941, the United States entered the war already e...
Alaska claimed the nation’s top three fishing ports for seafood catches last year, and wild salmon landings – 95 percent from Alaska – topped one billion pounds, an all time record and a 70 percent increase from 2012. That’s according to the annual Fisheries of the US report for 2013, just released by NOAA Fisheries. Dutch Harbor topped the list for landings for the 17th year running with 753 million pounds of fish crossing the docks last year, valued at nearly $200 million. The Aleutian Islands region ranked second for landings, thanks to the...
If Russia won't buy seafood from the US, we won't buy seafood from them. That's the gauntlet being thrown down by Alaska's Congressional Delegation to retaliate against Russia's yearlong ban on food products from the US and several nations. In a letter to President Obama spurred on by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the Delegation wrote: "Our purpose here is to ask that your Administration respond to the Russian action with a two-step process. First, we ask that you use all diplomatic means available to...
Two men died Sunday evening after their 18-foot skiff capsized near Level Island 22 miles south of Petersburg According to an Alaska State Troopers press release, a United States Coast Guard (USCG) helicopter found Jonathan Comfort, 45, and Kenneth Rupprecht, 58, dead around 10 p.m. in the water and without life jackets near Douglas Bay on the south end of Kupreanof Island. Comfort called 911 around 5:30 p.m. and told Petersburg Police dispatch their boat had capsized and they were swimming toward Level Island. Petersburg Police notified the... Full story
Last week, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators released a report of the likely cause of last summer's Pacific Wings sightseeing floatplane crash. The flight for cruise ship passengers crashed into a mountain about 14 miles east of Petersburg last June. Of the seven passengers, four, including the pilot, sustained minor injuries, two sustained serious injuries and one passenger was fatally injured. A report on the NTSB website states the pilot, 39, failed to maintain...
The borough manager reported the following during this week’s assembly meeting: The Sales Tax Committee meetings are scheduled for February 4 and February 25. It hopes to formulate a recommendation to the assembly at its February 25 meeting. The January 16 Transient Room Tax meeting to review outstanding grants wasn’t completed. Notices have been sent out to community service organizations that their request for budgeted funds is due by March 15. Annual DARE classes have kicked off. Officer Jared Popp will be administering the program to 5th gr...
January Petersburg residents contributed a record amount to the Salvation Army Christmas program last year-$15,618.17-more than $9,700 than the year before. Jan. 4, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck 58 miles west of Craig and 203 miles south of Juneau prompting a tsunami warning across Southeast. Petersburg Police Chief Jim Agner and Sergeant Heidi Agner announced their intentions to retire. Officer Ben King joined the Petersburg Police Department. The Petersburg Borough Assembly members were... Full story
Two weeks following the change of command ceremony for the USCGC Anacapa, another change of command on Friday, welcomed a new skipper to the Elderberry. The ceremony, held at the Sons of Norway Hall, recognized outgoing Chief Warrant Officer Daniel T. Burke and welcomed Senior Chief Boatswain’s Mate Randall L. Burr. Captain Scott W. Bornemann, Commander for Coast Guard Sector Juneau officiated. Commanding officer Lt. Kathryn Cyr and the crew of the the Anacapa were in attendance as well as s... Full story
The United States Coast Guard hosted a change of command ceremony Monday afternoon to honor the outgoing commanding officer, LCDR Ruben Boudreaux and the incoming commanding officer Lt. Kathryn Cyr. This ceremony is a time honored tradition, which formally restates the continuity of authority to the officers and crew of the command. According to the members of the USCG, the occasion ensures all hands know of the shift in authority and a duly authorized officer is placed in charge. Deeply rooted... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting time will change for the noon July 1 meeting to 1 p.m. that afternoon due to the change of command ceremony for the United States Coast Guard at the Sons of Norway Hall. “We have all been invited to share in the ceremony for the USCG Change of Command Ceremony at noon July 1,” Petersburg Borough Assembly Vice Mayor Sue Flint said. “We are looking forward to being a part of this ceremony to celebrate our USCG personnel here in Petersburg.” The meeting...
The second Annual Senior Senior Prom was a huge success Friday evening with music and dancing for all in attendance. Mountain View Manor staff in partnership with Petersburg Mental Health Services sponsored the event to bring a little bit of the past back to the residents and citizens of Petersburg who are 65 years of age and older. The soulful sounds of Frank Sinatra and old rock and roll classics of the 1950s resounded through the makeshift ballroom. The 2013 Prom King and Queen were...
Between 3:30 and 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon a Pacific Wings deHavilland Beaver, carrying a pilot and six sightseeing passengers, crashed at LeConte Glacier. “I was able to spend about an hour and a half in the helicopter with an EMT,” Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Dave Berg said. “We were trying to find the location of the crash, but had no luck.” Along with Berg, in the Temsco craft, there were two fixed wing planes from Sunrise Aviation of Wrangell out searching as well... Full story
