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Cruise ships are expected to make 85 port calls in Petersburg between May 11 and Sept. 18, according to the current 2021 Petersburg cruise ship schedule. Following the cancelled ports of call in Petersburg and Alaska last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dave Berg said tourists are eager to make their way back up to America's Last Frontier. "We're getting lots of calls from people who want to visit Alaska on ferries or with tours," said Berg, who cofounded Viking Travel. "The number...
During a discussion on the possibility of testing the water quality in the Petersburg Harbor at the Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday, Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said the Department of Environmental Conservation is already scheduled to come to town this summer to do just that. Mayor Mark Jensen said he and other mayors in Southeast Alaska lobbied Sen. Bert Stedman to pass legislation that would test the water quality of the region's aquatic traffic lanes. He said fishermen were complaini...
Predictability and dependability. More than anything else, that's what the communities served by the Alaska Marine Highway System need. The communities need to know the schedules further in advance so that they can plan school sports, scholastic and musical events, regional festivals, and confidently market to tourists in a post-COVID world. Residents need the dependability of ferry service for medical appointments, commerce and shopping, vehicle repair appointments at dealers, and of course...
This year's borough assembly candidates took the stage on Sept. 24 to answer questions ranging from the borough's COVID-19 response to the tourism industry in this year's candidate forum. The candidates answered questions from representatives of KFSK and the Petersburg Pilot. Marc Martinsen, Dave Kensinger and incumbents Jeff Meucci and Brandi Thynes were each asked the same questions and had two minutes to respond. The order of the candidates changed with each question that was asked. The forum...
Vessels arriving in Petersburg Harbor with non-residents onboard will have to continue to seek approval from the borough public health officer before docking through Dec. 31 under public health mandate #5, which was extended in a special meeting on Monday by the assembly. Public health mandate #5 requires interstate travelers aboard vessels, including passengers and crew, be screened to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 prior to arrival. Borough Public Health Officer Mark Tuccillo will...
American Cruise Lines has cancelled their voyages through Southeast Alaska this summer leaving Lindblad Expeditions as the last cruise line with port calls in Petersburg this summer. ACL had originally planned to make about 11 stops in Petersburg this summer, with the American Constellation making the cruise line's first stop at the end of June, according to a statement made to the Pilot in May by ACL CEO Charles B. Robertson. Paul Taiclet, vice president of ACL, said on Monday the decision to...
July 2, 1920 The big party of Shriners who are making the tour of Southeastern Alaska this week on the steamers Jefferson and Spokane were entertained by the people of Petersburg on their way north on Tuesday. The entertainment took the form of a luncheon served at the S. of N. Hall, the main part of which consisted of fresh shrimp salad. For several days before the arrival the men and women were busy decorating the hall with bear skins, goatskins, deerskins, fox skins, mounted heads and when the Shriners were here the hall presented a very att...
The borough assembly approved the Emergency Operations Center to answer a survey from the Alaska Municipal League regarding the presence of cruise ships in Alaska and also heard concerns over cruise ships arriving in port. The assembly had the option to hold a special meeting to provide input on the survey, but the assembly members felt comfortable with the EOC answering the questions. Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said the communities at a recent AML meeting were cautious and showed...
Petersburg Public Health Nurse Erin Michael warned the public that as people's lives change and adapt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they can begin to feel depressed and suicidal. At the COVID-19 community update on Wednesday, May 27, Micheal said the state reported an increase in emergency room visits related to suicide. She said it's not uncommon for people to feel anxious or depressed as they deal with the pandemic. Some specific causes of depression brought on by the pandemic can be a lack...
American Cruise Lines has 11 stops planned for Petersburg this season, with the first docking taking place at the end of June, according to ACL CEO Charles B. Robertson. ACL's American Constellation is planning to dock in Petersburg on June 21 and June 29, the first of the cruise lines' expected stops in town. The two sailings will begin in Juneau and make their way counterclockwise through Southeast Alaska. Nine more stops are planned in Petersburg through the summer, with the last trip being...
WRANGELL — It was a relatively light meeting of the Wrangell Port Commission last Thursday evening, May 7. There was only one agenda item for the commission to consider, a request by GCI to relocate the landing for a submarine cable. The telecommunication company currently has a submarine cable come onto the beach next to the community garden area, near City Park. From there, according to the meeting’s agenda packet, the cable hits aerial lines and goes to its hub building, and also leaves the beach area and runs towards Petersburg. How...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Nearly 70% of this summer’s Alaska cruise ship voyages have been canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with hundreds of thousands of expected passengers staying away from the staple of the state’s tourism industry. Alaska cruise industry representatives delivered the disheartening update to the state’s Board of Marine Pilots, CoastAlaska reported Wednesday. Mike Tibbles of Cruise Lines International Association Alaska told board members that 408 voyages have been canceled so far. “It’s a little over 800,000 pas...
The borough assembly approved two health mandates at their assembly meeting on Monday regarding the use of the borough's harbor facilities by cruise ships and the submission of essential workers' travel plans in the borough. Public health mandate #5 prevents cruise ships from using the borough's harbor facilities and passengers and crew members from disembarking onto borough docks or floats without prior written approval of Borough Public Health Officer Mark Tuccillo. Approval will be given to...
Sen. Bert Stedman has been serving Southeast communities for 17 years. He is the Senate Finance Committee co-chair. It did not take a positive test for the Alaska State Legislature to begin addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and treat it with an urgency the virus deserves. Rather, the Senate acted swiftly on March 11 – one day before the state announced its first confirmed case in Alaska– when it passed the first of five bills in a three-week period. As we communicated with our respective com... Full story
As the first cruise ships are expected to arrive in town on May 12, it is still too early to tell how COVID-19 will affect the cruise ship industry in Southeast Alaska, according to Dave Berg, co-founder of Viking Travel. One issue affecting large, foreign cruise ships is the closure of the Vancouver cruise ship port, said Berg. The closure was a result of COVID-19, and the cruise ship port isn't expected to reopen until June 30. While most of the ships that port in Petersburg are small,...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — State museums and schools are temporarily closed; restaurants, bars and gyms in Anchorage are shuttered for the rest of March and fans are urged not to fly to Nome for the end of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. These are among the responses to concerns with the new coronavirus in Alaska. The COVID-19 illness causes mild or moderate symptoms in most people, but severe symptoms are more likely in the elderly or those with existing health problems. Three people have tested positive in Alaska. Here is a round up of other vir...
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...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A cruise ship turned away from ports in Asia over fears of a new virus will be cleaned to federal standards and carry a different crew when the vessel docks in Alaska, officials said. The MS Westerdam is expected to undergo a cleaning protocol approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before arriving in Juneau, The Juneau Empire reported Sunday. The ship is scheduled to dock in the port around March 22 after being denied permission to enter five ports over concerns about the virus that causes the d...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, seeking to assert calm concerning the new coronavirus threat, said Monday he sees the fall in oil prices as a “momentary issue’’ that with the stock market will work itself out. The virus has affected global energy prices, with North Slope oil prices around $45 a barrel at the end of last week. The state, which has struggled with a long-running deficit, relies on oil revenue and earnings from its oil-wealth fund, the Alaska Permanent Fund, to help pay for government. Alaska Permanent Fund Co...
I am almost a lifetime SE Alaskan and my wife and I are current residents of Wrangell. I moved to Ketchikan in 1943 when I was ten years old and have lived and worked in almost every major Southeast Alaska city including Ketchikan, Juneau, Wrangell and Sitka and played a lot of high school basketball in Petersburg. I continue to invest in institutions that provide services in each of those communities including Haines and Skagway. I cite these facts because I know how sensitive SE residents are to suggestions offered by well-meaning persons...
Vital role of AMHS not addressed To the Editor: Recently I traveled to Juneau to meet with Legislators to discuss the importance of the Alaska Marine Highway. Mayors and administrators from statewide coastal communities teamed up to highlight the importance of the system. We heard stories of food shortages, missed medical appointments, and economic hardship from around the state. I found that the message was received with a sympathetic ear, but our friends from non-maritime communities believe that the ferry system serves too few at too great...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) _ The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit for a cruise ship dock in southeast Alaska, but the dock's opening date is unclear, agency officials said. The permit was issued Tuesday for the 1,300-foot (400-meter), two-berth cruise ship dock in Ward Cove, about 300 miles (480 kilometers) south of Juneau, Ketchikan Daily News reported Thursday. The permit was approved after two months of public comment and four months of review, officials said. The permit was issued to Power Systems & Supplies, owned by Dave and...
January Following the shutdown of the U.S. government on Dec. 22, 2018, the U.S. Coast Guard stated it would continue offering essential services. The borough assembly approved $600,000 for a new baler. The USCG located debris from an overdue medivac aircraft that had three people onboard that was due to land in Kake several nights before. A decrease in air cargo coming into Petersburg affected the timely arrival of residents' packages after the retirement of Alaska Airlines' combi 737-400...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Free to a good home: One newspaper. Not a single edition of a paper but the entire newspaper. Publisher Larry Persily is willing to give away The Skagway News to the right person or couple who are willing to move to Skagway, Alaska, a cruise ship town that once boasted four newspapers during the height of the Klondike Gold Rush days. "The only way this paper has a long-term future, and anything that I've ever seen that works with small town weeklies or bi-weeklies is...
WRANGELL - The Nolan Center opened its newest exhibit on shipwrecks with much fanfare on Friday, Nov. 8. With food, wine, music, and special presentations, many people turned out for the grand opening. The exhibit, "Wrangell Remembers - Shipwrecks Close to Home, 1908-1952," features stories and artifacts of several Southeast Alaskan shipwrecks from the 20th century. Four ships are featured in this exhibit, The Star of Bengal, the S.S. Mariposa, the Princess Sophia, and the Princess Kathleen....
