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A long-delayed project to replace Petersburg's downtown streetlights is finally underway, with the first new poles installed last week and the rest expected to go up over the coming weeks, Utility Director Stephan Harbour told the assembly Monday. The borough is installing 13 new LED poles downtown and purchased two more as spares for accident replacements - 15 in all - at a cost of about $138,000. Two were already standing as of Monday, one in front of the federal building and one across the st...
Mitkof Island, like much of Alaska, is home to black and brown bears. Living in bear country, securing trash is a vital management procedure in the fall. This was seen last year, when, due to bears entering town and going through trash cans, several were killed by local law enforcement. Petersburg has time now to prepare for the fall season. Wildlife Biologist at Fish and Game Frank Robbins stresses that keeping trash secured is the most important thing for residents to manage the bears coming to town this year. “The solution is not p...
Hunters, recreational users and people who just want to enjoy the quiet and lake view should be able to reserve the new U.S. Forest Service cabin at Little Lakes, near the Long Lake trailhead in the middle of Wrangell Island, by this fall. Construction started in May - a little later than planned, due to heavy snow at the site - and the Forest Service is looking forward to completion by the end of September, Tory Houser, Wrangell District ranger, said last week. The Áax'w Sáani Cabin - Tlingit f...
WRANGELL — The Wrangel borough spent just over $1 million responding to the deadly November 2023 landslide that killed six people and is still owed about $346,000 after last month’s federal approval of reimbursement for debris removal costs. Last month’s approval of almost $638,000 in federal and state disaster funds is in addition to about $72,000 already paid to the borough to reimburse for utility repair costs and temporary shelter expenses. “Although the reimbursement wait is long, the borough has sufficient reserves and the delay is not...
Tausani Ieremia, of Sitka, was setting the net aboard the Petersburg seiner Odin on the morning of Sunday, July 26, when the boat's own purse line snared his ankle and dragged him over the stern and into the water near Saint Joseph Island, west of Prince of Wales. In the minutes that followed, the 22-year-old fisherman was pulled under by the net, lost consciousness and stopped breathing. The Odin's crew pulled him back, revived him with CPR. He was helicoptered by the Coast Guard to Sitka then... Full story
A citizen initiative that would exempt Petersburg residents 70 and older from borough sales tax will go before voters Oct. 6. In the local election last fall, Petersburg voters chose to eliminate the senior sales tax exemption that applied to all qualified residents over 65 and replace it with an income-based senior sales tax exemption. Petersburg residents will now be asked to restore the sales tax exemption for all seniors, regardless of income, with the minimum age increased to 70 years old....
After nine months of public meetings and hours of public testimony, the Petersburg Borough Assembly adopted its wireless communication facilities ordinance last Monday. Ordinance 2026-14 passed its third and final reading. Mayor Bob Lynn and Assembly Members Jeff Meucci, Bob Martin and Scott Newman voted for it. Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor and Assembly Members Rob Schwartz and James Valentine were excused from the meeting. The ordinance creates a new chapter of borough code governing wireless communication facilities and other towers and...
Alaska Airlines will add four more converted Boeing 737-800 freighters to its fleet, raising to nine the number of all-cargo aircraft the company operates. The additional freighters will be dedicated to serving Alaska and Hawai'i, not any specific route, Tim Thompson, the company's director of public relations, said in an email July 22. Alaska operates a weekly cargo flight into Petersburg on Wednesdays, using a Boeing 737-700, which is slightly smaller than the 800 series but capable of...
Alaskans will decide whether to overhaul the state’s elections system with a ballot measure that would repeal ranked choice voting, reinstate closed primaries and repeal campaign disclosure rules established in 2020. Ballot Measure 2, which will appear on the ballots as 24ESEG, is one of two ballot measures that will appear on the general election ballot in November. Ballot Measure 1, which would impose campaign contribution limits, will be on the primary ballot on Aug. 18. Officials with the Alaska Division of Elections held the first of t... Full story
Tidal Network’s application for a minor subdivision at 1200 Haugen Drive, near the Fire Hall, was halted at last week’s Petersburg Planning Commission meeting on July 14 when no commissioner seconded the motion to consider the application. Last month, the Petersburg Borough Assembly approved the sale of the land — a 10,036-square-foot lot carved out of a much larger borough-owned property next to the fire hall, where Tidal Network plans to build a communication tower. The contract was signe...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously Monday to authorize the borough manager to apply for and execute two state revolving fund loans, each of up to $150,000, to pay for a pair of wastewater studies the borough is required to complete under its federal discharge permit by Nov. 1. Both loans would come through the Alaska Clean Water Fund. The first would fund a wastewater disinfection study to evaluate disinfection alternatives, develop preliminary engineering recommendations and identify improvements needed to meet current and futur...
Alaska U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski announced last week that her bill allowing five Alaska Native communities in Southeast Alaska to receive land entitlements passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The legislation, called the Alaska Native Landless Equity Act, would allow Haines, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, and Tenakee to form Alaska Native corporations and receive 23,040 acres each — or one township — of federal land. Those communities were excluded from the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, or ANCSA, when it... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly gave unanimous first-reading approval Monday to an ordinance that would establish nepotism standards for the borough’s elected officials, filling a gap the mayor said has sat in the borough charter without implementing code. Mayor Bob Lynn said he and Borough Clerk Becky Regula reviewed the borough’s existing provisions earlier this year and concluded they were not sufficient. “We looked at three or four different other ordinances that other boroughs here in Alaska had, and we turned it over after some thought to...
The Coast Guard Cutter Elderberry has a new officer in charge, following a change-of-command ceremony held July 15 at the Sons of Norway Hall. Senior Chief Petty Officer Jacob Pegoda, officer-in-charge of the 65-foot buoy tender for the past three years, turned over command to Senior Chief Petty Officer Craig Campomizzi. The new commander of Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska, Captain Ginny Naldony, traveled to Petersburg for the ceremony. Pegoda received a commendation for his years at the...
WRANGELL - The consultant that put together a feasibility study for a major shipbuilding and repair operation at the former 6-Mile Mill site released its cost estimates last week for a full build-out of the shipyard at $605 million to $726 million. Design, permitting and construction could take at least five years, dependent on assembling enough funding to pay for the ambitious project that could, at full development, create several hundred jobs with the shipyard operating at capacity. The...
A free course in Petersburg taught entry-level disaster response skills from July 10-12. Graduates of the training can join Petersburg's Community Emergency Response Team - a different group from Petersburg's existing volunteer EMS force. The Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT, is a supplemental group that gets called in when emergency responders need more hands. CERT is a national program through the Federal Emergency Management Agency that trains community members in basic disaster... Full story
Bergen Kludt-Painter grew up in Petersburg, graduating high school in 2022. She went to college at the University of Idaho, where she just graduated with a degree in political science. Now she is back in town on a 10-week internship with Alaska Sea Grant. She brings her background to a program called "Sea Grant Community-Engaged Fellowship." Kludt-Painter works alongside Marine Advisory Program Agent Sunny Rice. "Bergen's job is to create a project over the course of the summer that matches both...
Lights, Camera, Action! On July 17 Petersburg's Kinder Skog nature program put on two theater performances. The elementary age group began with a Saturday Night Live-style skit show, then the audience followed the yellow brick road to the middle school-aged kids' performance of The Wizard of Oz. The plays were directed by theater extraordinaire Brad Younts, who has been putting the program on since 2023. Younts has a Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts, and 30 years of experience in the field....
Petersburg’s hospital launched a subscription-based healthcare program on July 1. The Direct Primary Care program gives members access to primary care services for a monthly fee — $125 for adults, and $80 for kids. “It’s a flat monthly rate,” explained Joy Janssen Clinic Director Kelly Zweifel. “It provides services like routine checkups, chronic care management, basic labs, and so it’s access to primary care.” Members can come in as many times as they need for almost all included services, which include sports physicals, simple stitches... Full story
From July 28 through Aug. 25, candidacy forms will be available for Petersburg residents interested in running for elected office. Borough Assembly, Hospital Board, Planning Commission, Harbor and Ports Advisory Board, Library Advisory Board, Parks and Rec Advisory Board, and Public Safety Advisory Board all have seats up for election. July 22 the candidacy packets will be available at the borough clerk office. If running for assembly, school board, or hospital board a certain amount of signatures in support of running are needed. Early...
Rebecca Shatwell has been a teacher for three decades, teaching in Texas most recently. Now she brings her experience to Petersburg High School, where she will teach assigned math courses and has also been entrusted with two courses of her choice starting this fall. Those courses are Petersburg Maritime Math, and Artificial Intelligence Literacy and Ethics. "I just want learning to be something that [students] enjoy and that's truly beneficial, not just something that they're going to go...
Sharlay Mamoe started work as executive director of WAVE on July 1, taking over from Rikki McKay, who departs Petersburg this month to continue her education in social work. Mamoe comes to the job from the Petersburg Children's Center, where she spent eight years, most of them as director. Before that she worked a decade at the cannery. McKay is staying on through July 24 to help with the handoff. The two have been working side by side since July 1. WAVE board treasurer Indigo Hanahan said the...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted last week to accept conveyance from the state of roughly 8.8 acres of tide and submerged land at Papke's Landing, along with the aging public dock and boat launch that generations of down-the-Narrows residents and Petersburg boaters have relied on. Resolution 2026-18, approved 5-0, accepts the parcel - comprising Alaska Tideland Surveys 251 and 921 - from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources under the state's process for conveying tide and submerged...
