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An arrest has been made for the recent string of burglaries of downtown Petersburg businesses. Zachary Bray, 27, was taken into custody by Petersburg Police Department (PPD) on Nov. 22. According to charging documents filed with the court by PPD, an initial warrant to search a package was issued after USPS Postal Inspectors received a report from the Petersburg Post Office of multiple suspicious contacts with Bray seeking to collect a suspicious package, followed by a break-in at the post office. PPD Officer Jared Popp executed that search...
A series of landslides hit Sitka more than eight years ago during heavy rain, with the largest striking a new subdivision and killing three workers. It prompted the community, led by the Sitka Sound Science Center, to set up a landslide warning system. The system includes rain gauges and soil-moisture sensors spread around town, with a website that advises people of the risk level of a landslide. It took about four years to develop the system — and a lot of federal grant money. “We started when we had our landslide. We started calling sci...
At the Fire Hall on Dec. 2, PMC's Community Wellness Specialist, Becky Turland, and Youth Program Coordinator, Katie Holmlund, will instruct a free Youth Mental Health First Aid training course where members of the Petersburg community can become certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid. "It's a free training that has potential to save a life," Holmlund told the Pilot. This year, Turland and Holmlund completed a Youth Mental Health First Aid Facilitator Course - a three-day course offered... Full story
Thank you To the Editor: Thank you to Hammer & Wikan for re-establishing the footpath from the grocery store to the post office. Right now, the path is better than it ever was. Good job!, Sam Bunge Change the ferry LeConte’s name To the Editor: Do you believe in equality? Do you believe in human rights? Please sign the petition in the link below asking the Alaska Marine Highway System to change the name of the ferry LeConte. Joseph Leconte was a slave owning Georgian who believed in racial superiority and never once stepped foot in the state of...
With high oil prices driving up state revenues, Southeast legislators say to expect a larger capital budget next year for public works projects, more money for deferred maintenance and another attempt to boost state funding for public schools. That’s assuming oil prices stay elevated as the state works its way through the fiscal year that will end on June 30 and remain high in the forecast for the next year. Lawmakers will return to work at the Capitol on Jan. 16. With oil prices last week 30% higher than assumed in this year’s spending pla...
Three Alaska Public Entity Insurance (APEI) staff members from Juneau presented the findings and recommendations from their recent review of safety and human resources of the Petersburg Borough to the Assembly on Sept. 18. Earlier this year, the borough agreed to engage an outside organization, later selecting APEI, to help evaluate and make improvement recommendations regarding the safety and human resources practices of the borough, the review arose from a community demand that an effort be made to prevent a situation like the fatal 2016 car...
Do we really need a new hospital? To the Editor: When I first heard about the hospital project, like many of you, I had a lot of questions. Do we really need a new hospital? The clinic, which is the part I mainly visit, looks great. And, how in the world would we pay for an $85 million facility? Phil Hostetter and the hospital board informed me on both questions. First, they started with a study of the current hospital. The original hospital, where Long Term Care is located, dates to the 1950s and is failing rapidly due to poor plumbing and...
Stan Hjort Why have you chosen to run for Public Safety Board at this time? I have chosen to run for the Public Safety Board again because I am familiar with safety issues having been an engineer officer on AMH. What personal and professional experience do you bring to this role? As an engineer on AMH, I was supervisor of a crew of up to 6 employees. What do you define as the role of the Public Safety Advisory Board in Petersburg? The role of the Safety Board is to stay in touch with citizens co...
In the middle school where I teach, it’s now commonplace to have two or three classes report to the gym each day where they play basketball, read books, or do nothing, because there is no substitute to cover for absent teachers. How can our schools improve outcomes like grades, test scores, and mental health if they can’t afford adequate staffing? The Legislature has a constitutional obligation to maintain a system of public schools. This year, the legislature approved a one-time $175 million increase in school funding. Our schools need a rel...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted to implement a new pay schedule for the borough’s 14 department heads based on their longevity during last week’s meeting. The assembly voted 4-1 in favor of the change, which will cost approximately $139,000, with Assembly Member Donna Marsh opposed. The new schedule mirrors the longevity pay schedule that was introduced for borough employees as part of the recently approved collective bargaining agreement between the Petersburg Municipal Employees Association and the borough. The change aims to incentiviz...
NOAA Fisheries whale experts were on the water near Juneau most of Monday, July 17, disentangling a well-known humpback whale calf from a crab pot line. Biologist John Moran, Auke Bay Laboratories, discovered the entanglement while he was out on the water conducting research last Monday morning. Marine mammal experts Suzie Teerlink and David Gann from the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Regional Office and Fred Sharpe with the Alaska Whale Foundation were shuttled out by a local whale-watching company to...
In Alaska, only a third of children meet the state’s goals to be ready for kindergarten. But the state’s share of funding for Head Start, a mostly federally funded child care and health program that promotes school readiness specifically for low-income families, is lower than it was a decade ago. This year, the Legislature earmarked $5 million for an increase so the state’s Head Start programs could match federal contributions, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed most of it, slashing the increase to $1.5 million. It’s left program directors like Ma... Full story
The St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church caught fire Thursday afternoon, leaving much of the building in ruins and covering Petersburg in smoke. There were no serious injuries reported and the fire did not spread to the surrounding buildings, however smoke from the blaze caused the Petersburg Medical Center and multiple businesses downtown to close. According to Fr. Jose Thomas, the parish priest at St. Catherine of Siena, a few people were attending a prayer service in the chapel when they... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously during Monday's meeting to accept a proposal from Alaska Public Entity Insurance (APEI) to perform a review of the borough's hiring practices and safety programs. APEI, which is also the borough's insurance carrier, will conduct the review free of charge and will report its findings back to the assembly in 60 days. The move comes after community members pushed for a third-party investigation into the borough's policies in an effort to prevent...
The U.S. Forest Service is still seeking volunteers to fill out seats on the South Tongass Secure Rural Schools Resource Advisory Committee (SRS RAC), but with the deadline to apply fast approaching the committee is at risk of not having enough members to hold meetings. According to the Forest Service, RACs review proposals for projects on National Forest System lands, provide advice to the department, and vote on recommendations for the allocation of federal Secure Rural Schools Act funding to...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved an extensive resolution during its last meeting that will move the Petersburg Medical Center new facility project one step closer to shovel-ready status. The resolution, passed in a 6-1 vote with Assembly Member Donna Marsh against, approved the North Haugen site as the location of the future hospital and authorized the PMC board to proceed with a preconstruction services contract with Dawson Construction. The new facility project was made the borough's...
Brad King, the current principal at the K-12 school in Gustavus, visited Petersburg over the weekend as a candidate for secondary school principal. He's lived in Southeast Alaska ten years, serving as principal in Hydaburg and then Gustavus. Before that he was the district curriculum coordinator in the Fairbanks school district. A teacher for 14 years before turning to administration for the last 19, King still tries to teach a class at every school he works at. He's taught social studies, Germa...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly chambers were filled during Monday's meeting with members of the community there to request a third-party investigation into the July 4, 2016 van crash that killed Marie Giesbrecht and Molly Parks and to hear a report on the practices and procedures instituted by the borough's HR Department in its aftermath. Along with those who spoke at the meeting, many Petersburg residents wrote letters to the assembly in favor of a third-party investigation into the borough's...
In light of the recent ruling issued by the Alaska Supreme Court in the case filed by the family of Molly Parks, I think it is important to provide an update to our community about what has been done in the time since the tragic events of July 4, 2016. I know this is very much on everyone’s mind right now and I have given it a great deal of thought myself trying to figure how best to help. I have spoken with the Parks family, I have met with and interviewed borough administration, and I have reached out to municipal administrators in neigh...
Thanks for going above and beyond To the Editor: I want to take a moment to recognize someone who went above and beyond for the youth of our community. Mike Corl was the driving force behind the newly formed Mitkof Yggdrasil Wrestling Club. Mike, with the help of Levi Entz for the K-2nd grade kids, and Bill Schroepfer and Eldon Walker for the 3rd - 5th grade kids, along with James Valentine filling in while Mike was traveling with the Middle School wrestlers, all gave up their evenings three days a week to teach our children the fundamentals...
Knocking Down the Berm To the Editor: When I had lived in town for 17 years Sue Paulsen introduced me to someone as a long term resident of Petersburg. I have lived here 37 years now. In all those years, whether new to town or “a long-time resident” there have always been boys on four-wheels, young men in jeeps, neighbors with pick-ups and the guys from the city, happy to knock down the snow berm in front of our home. It took four separate guys today. Thanks to all the guys over the years and the community of Petersburg. Sincerely, Bill Moulton...
In a change of plans from just a few weeks ago, the Alaska Marine Highway System reports it lacks enough crew to operate the Kennicott this summer. The loss of the Kennicott from the schedule likely would mean dropping service to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, and the loss of two additional port calls in Petersburg each month, May through September. It also could jeopardize state ferry service to Yakutat on the cross-gulf route, and abandoning plans to run the Kennicott to Bellingham, Washington, once a month to help move the heavy load of su...
An ongoing shortage of crew is the “No. 1 risk factor” for the Alaska Marine Highway System, Transportation Department Deputy Commissioner Katherine Keith told legislators. As of a Feb. 2 presentation to the Senate Transportation Committee, the ferry system was short just over 100 crew for full staffing to efficiently operate the winter schedule, about a 20% vacancy factor for onboard employees. The ferry system, however, is able to run its schedule with crew members picking up extra shifts and overtime to cover the work, and with man...
Less than five years ago, prospects appeared bright for Bering Sea crab fishers. Stocks were abundant and healthy, federal biologists said, and prices were near all-time highs. Now two dominant crab harvests have been canceled for lack of fish. For the first time, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in October canceled the 2022-2023 harvest of Bering Sea snow crab, and it also announced the second consecutive year of closure for another important harvest, that of Bristol Bay red king crab. What has happened between then and now? A sustained... Full story
A joint House-Senate committee of the Alaska Legislature voted against accepting $20 million in federal aid to seafood processors, with lawmakers saying that a new state law prevents them from accepting that much money outside the normal state budget process. The 3-4 vote came Wednesday during a meeting of the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee, which makes financial decisions on behalf of the Legislature when lawmakers are not in session. The failed vote means seafood processing companies in Alaska will wait several more months to receive... Full story
