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U.S. Forest Service leadership is in flux as the agency takes sweeping actions in managing the 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest and making regulatory and administrative changes at all levels, Alaska-based officials reported last week. At the beginning of a four-day federal subsistence Regional Advisory Council meeting in Juneau on March 10, Tongass Supervisor Monique Nelson spoke about shifts in the agency since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025. Nelson said staffing on the Tongass is down 30% from this time last year....
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously Monday to formally oppose three proposals before the Alaska Board of Fisheries that would impose broad restrictions on Alaska’s private nonprofit salmon hatchery system — measures that Assembly Member Bob Martin, who brought the resolution forward, called the latest iteration of proposals that fisheries stakeholders across the region have consistently fought off. Resolution 2026-06 directs opposition to Board of Fisheries Proposals 170, 171 and 172, which are scheduled for consideration at the...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly directed Borough staff on March 2 to start rewriting part of its zoning code to be implemented beyond municipal limits. The move follows months of work and deliberation over potentially updating Petersburg’s zoning code as the Borough navigates emerging concerns about constructing new communications towers in the community. Zoning determines how property can and cannot be used. Different types of zoning allow for different uses, and some require landowners to get permission from the municipality for certain p... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously Monday to extend the borough’s municipal solid waste transportation and disposal contract with Republic Services for one more year, buying time while a regional study examines longer-term alternatives for Southeast Alaska communities. Petersburg’s garbage is baled at the local baler facility and shipped via container to the Roosevelt Regional Landfill in Washington state, with Republic Services handling transportation and disposal. The contract extension runs from September 1, 2026 through the e...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly authorized an agreement with Axon Enterprise Inc., earlier this month, which provides the equipment and services that Petersburg’s Police Department uses. Under the agreement, the Borough would pay a $378,897.58 quote gradually over the next decade. Police Chief Jim Kerr said Monday that they typically do shorter contracts with the company. But this extended version that AXON offered includes some perks, especially for routine equipment replacement. “If they have a new technology that comes out, since we hav...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously Monday to extend the Petersburg Economic Development Council’s lease on the community cold storage facility for another five years, while also removing language from the lease that had prohibited seafood processing at the site. The lease extension runs through January 31, 2031, and maintains the $1-per-year rental rate that the assembly has held steady since the original agreement between PEDC and what was then the city of Petersburg was signed in February 2006. At each five-year interval s...
Two Petersburg poets took the stage at KTOO studios in Juneau earlier this month, as state finalists in the Poetry Out Loud recitation competition. Freya Tucker and Mette Miller had both memorized and recited poems in front of their high school English class as a required assignment from their teacher Tim Shumway, then for extra credit they performed in front of the entire school. Then they submitted recordings of their recitations to the statewide competition. "We were thinking, it would maybe...
School funding has long been a balancing act, but now Petersburg stakeholders have been invited to weigh in on the Petersburg City School District budget by using the Balancing Act budget simulation tool. At the annual joint work session between the borough assembly and the school district, Shannon Baird, Director of Finance for PCSD, gave a walkthrough of the school budget situation for fiscal year 2027 and how the public can learn more about it and provide their suggestions through the balancing act tool. Balancing Act is an interactive...
The head of the Alaska Division of Elections will not share legal advice that led to the state’s decision to send an extended voter list to the U.S. Department of Justice. Director Carol Beecher told state senators last Wednesday that she will not waive attorney-client privilege as state lawmakers examine last year’s decision to give the Trump administration a detailed list of Alaska voters. Alaska is one of 12 states that have either turned over their voter lists or have said they plan to comply with a nationwide request, according to rec... Full story
Petersburg’s fire and emergency services department is heading into this spring’s borough budget planning cycle with several additional funding needs: a replacement of breathing equipment used by every firefighter entering a burning building, a forced relocation of the department’s training tower, and a push to update emergency plans that have gone largely untouched for more than a decade. Fire and EMS Director Aaron Hankins laid out the challenges at last month’s Public Safety Advisory Board meeting, where he was joined by a contrac...
Petersburg Medical Center will hold its 2026 health fair, “Thriving at Every Age & Stage,” on Saturday, March 14, at the Community Gym. Resource booths will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with presentations and fitness class demonstrations running throughout the day beginning at 9:30 a.m. PMC nurse practitioner Angela Menish has a presentation titled “Understanding Your Health Fair Blood Draw Results,” scheduled for 11:30 a.m. in the Parks and Rec Activity Room. The talk is designed to help community members interpret results from the discoun...
“It’s got a boat, it’s got crazy characters, it’s the perfect play for Mayfest,” said Tiffany Glass, director of the Mitkof Mummers. The play is centered around a singles’ cruise on an old schooner, the SS Flounder, which may or may not be on her last voyage. The captain is trying to make sure it’s all smooth sailing, but the owners have disguised themselves among the guests to decide the Flounder’s fate. Then there are the stowaways, a couple of hoods hiding from their nefarious boss, who of course has followed them aboard, disguised as we...
Wrangell’s borough assembly on Feb. 24 unanimously approved a three-year lease with JAG Marine Group, giving the company time to decide if it will proceed with development of a shipyard at the 6-Mile Mill property. The shipyard would be the foundational component of a larger redevelopment plan for the former mill property, which also includes a new barge ramp and freight yard and a privately operated small data center. Wrangell Borough Manager Mason Villarma told the assembly that the short-term lease is a strategic necessity to ensure the p...
Last year’s inaugural event went so well that organizers have booked a return flight for the Milk Run Music Festival to land in Wrangell on May 1-2. “Most of the plans are locked in,” said lead organizer Olivia Strano, which is not to say the festival is on auto pilot. Volunteers started planning this year’s event last August, she said, running raffles, soliciting donations and lining up music and vendors and games to make this year’s festival better than the first time. The two days will include visiting and Wrangell musicians giving fr...
Petersburg, like many small towns, has increasingly been under attack by scammers. One of the newer schemes showing up locally is the rental scam, in which fraudsters create fake listings and advertise them on platforms like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. Recently one of those scams went further than most. Matt Duddles and his wife had listed their Hungerford Hill home for sale with Petersburg Properties realtor Sarah Holmgrain when someone lifted the listing photos, posted them to Craigslist, and advertised the property for rent at...
Petersburg homeowners who heat their homes with oil, propane, or wood may soon have an increased financial incentive to make the switch to electric heat pumps. Alaska Heat Smart’s Accelerating Clean Energy Savings program — known as ACES — is now accepting applications from eligible residents, and a regional energy advisor is in town this week to host a pair of public information sessions at the Petersburg Public Library. Aaron Blust, an energy advisor with Alaska Heat Smart, will hold sessions on Friday, March 6, from 4 to 5 p.m. and Satur...
The executive director of Petersburg’s domestic violence prevention nonprofit will be leaving her position this summer. Rikki McKay was hired to lead Working Against Violence for Everyone last May. She plans to step down from the position in July after just over a year in the role. The director before McKay was in the position for less than a year. McKay said she’s leaving to finish a double master’s in public health and social work — she’s been working full time at WAVE on top of being a full-time student. “I would like to become licensed as... Full story
Two state lawmakers introduced legislation this month that aims to crack down on a major source of water pollution from cruise ships in Alaska waters. Sen. Jesse Kiehl and Rep. Sara Hannan, both Democrats from Juneau, each introduced bills that revolve around the type of fuel ships use. The bills vary slightly, but they do essentially the same thing: require ships to use fuel with lower levels of contaminants, including sulfur. “There is a growing trend around the world toward requiring cleaner fuels that don’t have as much sulfur and met... Full story
The Petersburg School District is wrapping up a lengthy roof replacement project and moving into the security upgrade phase of campus improvements funded through a 2024 voter-approved bond. CBC Construction, the contractor handling the roof replacement at Mitkof Middle School and Petersburg High School, is in the final stretch of that project. As of last week, Superintendent Robyn Taylor said the contractor is waiting on a shipment of 20 remaining vents before completing installation. “Once they arrive, [and once the roof is cleared of snow] i...
The murder of Sing Lee was never solved. The Petersburg merchant was found dead in his apartment in November 1930, and despite a community that demanded answers, the investigation went nowhere. Clausen Memorial Museum has spent months digging through the evidence and, on March 2, opens an exhibit on his life and death. The museum's exhibit, "The Sing Lee Mystery," will run throughout the month of March. Clausen Museum Director Sarah Pederson says the exhibit doesn't solve the case, but works to...
The U.S. Forest Service announced in the Federal Register Wednesday, Feb 18, that it is preparing to update the Tongass National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan to align with executive orders that President Trump issued when he took office last year. Also on Feb. 18, the Forest Service opened a 30-day public comment period on the planned update. The current Tongass plan has been in place since 1979, and the last major revision of the management plan for the 16.7-million acre national forest was in 1997. Amendments to the plan in 2016...
The Alaska Marine Highway System has been struggling with less than full staffing since 2019, with last month’s numbers showing the state ferries were short 59 workers to fill jobs as masters, mates, engineers, seaman and stewards. The shortage grows by about three dozen crew when measured against what would be needed to cover for workers out on personal leave, or due to injury or illness, according to a presentation by the Marine Highway System Director. “Attention to employee recruitment and retention strategies is core to this sta...
A 25-year-old Haines man has been hospitalized in Fairbanks since a Feb. 13 collision with an 18-wheeler that left him with several broken bones and extensive internal injuries. Seth Waldo was headed to Anchorage for a new job, his Toyota pickup crammed with his belongings, when he collided with a Lynden Transport truck about 15 minutes from the Beaver Creek border crossing. Troopers got a report of the collision just after 1:20 p.m. His truck was demolished and, at first, it was assumed that...
Katie Holmlund didn't quite believe it at first. "When they called about this 40 Under 40 thing, I was like, that seems like a trick," she said with a laugh, recalling a piece of junk mail she'd received months earlier promising similar honors. "I'm like, this isn't real." But it was. Holmlund, Petersburg Medical Center's Youth Programs Development and Advocacy Coordinator, has been named to the Alaska Journal of Commerce's 2026 Top Forty Under 40, a statewide honor recognizing professionals und... Full story
