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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday that a state Senate district pairing part of east Anchorage and the Eagle River area by the board tasked with rewriting Alaska’s political boundaries constituted an “unconstitutional political gerrymander.” The court said it was affirming a finding by Superior Court Judge Thomas Matthews regarding Senate District K. Two House districts equal one Senate district. The Senate district at issue pairs a House district that includes part of Anchorage’s Muldoon area with an Eagle River are...
The tugboat Western Mariner ran aground Monday morning while towing the barge Chichagof Provider through the Neva Strait according to the U.S. Coast Guard. At 2:55 a.m. watchstanders in the Sector Juneau command center received a radio call from the Western Mariner stating that the 286-foot containerized barge in tow had collided with the tug, causing the tug to run aground. According to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, a temporary steering failure onboard the tugboat caused...
Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium President and CEO Charles Clement is set to answer submitted questions from Petersburg Medical Center Board members and staff during the hospital's board meeting on March 24. Clement will give a presentation to the board which will include information on SEARHC's mergers and affiliations with other health care providers and then answer additional questions from the board. With discussions of the need for a new medical facility in Petersburg and how to...
Vessels have been flocking to the Sitka Sound in preparation for the sac roe herring fishery which went on two hour notice Tuesday morning. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, no herring spawn have been observed during aerial surveys but the R/V Kestrel, which has been surveying the sound since Tuesday, has recorded sightings. On Wednesday, the Kestrel spotted large biomasses northwest of Bieli Rocks, north of Middle Island, and southwest of the Siginaka Islands. During...
WASHINGTON - Alaska Rep. Don Young, the longest-serving Republican in U.S. House history, will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, March 29, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Monday. Young, 88, a blunt-speaking politician known for his brusque style, died last Friday. He was first elected to the U.S. House in 1973 He was reelected in 2020 to serve his 25th term and was running this year for another term. A special election will be held this summer to fill the seat. Pelosi's office...
Alaska Airlines will start sending a Boeing 737-800 southbound to Petersburg this summer, helping more people travel during one of the busiest times of the year according to Scott Habberstad, Alaska Airlines' director of sales and community marketing in the state. Habberstad was the guest speaker at the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Banquet last Saturday night where he discussed how Alaska Airlines navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic, development in Petersburg, and the airline's growth goal...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly hosted a work session Wednesday evening to discuss child care needs in the community and ways the borough could be involved in helping find sustainable solutions for providers and families. Child care challenges have been discussed recently at the assembly level, a Community Café hosted by the SHARE Coalition, an ARPA work session, and other public meetings with issues including child care staff recruitment and retention, availability and costs for families, and...
Hammer & Wikan and the Petersburg Pilot were both awarded Business of the Year at the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce banquet Saturday night. Hammer & Wikan received the 2021 Business of the Year award which they were due to receive at last year's banquet before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Will Ware, the vice president of the chamber, recounted the history of Hammer & Wikan from its beginnings as the Petersburg Dairy Company in 1921 to the opening of the new grocery store...
When Russia invaded Ukraine last month, it didn't shock Serhii Dudnichenko, a proud Ukrainian. Dudnichenko, 40, knows all about Russia because he was born into the USSR. And he would hate to see his fellow Ukrainians go back to that way of life, because he remembers his parents being unable to buy food or basic necessities. Dudnichenko and 25 other Ukrainians are working for OBI Seafoods in Petersburg this season. The war forced them all to make a tough choice: stay or leave? "One part of me,... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously passed Ordinance #2022-03 in its third reading on Monday, finalizing increases to harbor fees. Harbormaster Glo Wollen said the change in rates, which is the first increase since 2018, was needed to keep revenue aligned with the harbor's operational costs and account for inflation. The increase drew the support of the Harbor and Ports Advisory Board and passed in the assembly unanimously in its first two readings. Annual moorage fees and transient...
A state Department of Transportation official told legislators that the ferry system is "burning out our crew" with lots of overtime amid staff shortages, and that the problem jeopardizes tentative plans to bring back the Columbia to service in Southeast for the first time since fall 2019. The Alaska Marine Highway System as of March 16 was down 125 employees from the minimum needed to staff its full online summer schedule plus the addition of the Columbia, according to a department...
During Monday’s meeting, the Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved two resolutions authorizing the sale of two borough owned parcels on Sandy Beach Road by outcry auction. The resolutions set the time of the outcry auctions at the beginning of the assembly meeting on May 2 at 12 p.m. The resolutions also set the minimum bid price for both parcels. For 700 Sandy Beach Road, which measures 84,942 square feet, the minimum bid price is $77,500. For 1015 Sandy Beach Road, which measures 14,925 square feet, the minimum bid price is $...
The Alaska House of Representatives will lose a familiar face next January when Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins completes his term. Kreiss-Tomkins announced last Friday that he would not be running for reelection after serving in the House for nearly a decade. The representative of District 35, which includes Sitka and Petersburg, has decided it’s time for a change of pace as he shifts his focus to his personal life. “Having a meaningful personal life and a relationship and a family, these are all really important life priorities for me, not to...
During a conference call with reporters on Monday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski spoke on the recent passage of the Fiscal Year 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden after the call on Tuesday. The spending bill includes congressionally dedicated spending allocations for Alaska projects including $8 million for the construction of a new Petersburg Medical Center facility. PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter has previously said that those funds will help get the project...
Vakker Sted, the income-based apartment building across the street from the Petersburg Medical Center, is finishing up construction and is expected to begin welcoming tenants on April 1 according to Glenn Gellert of Swell, LLC. The 15-unit building's opening date has been pushed back a few times because of the COVID-19 pandemic and winter weather but its completion appears to be in sight. "It's all just kind of coming together here. Everything is on schedule for this final push," Gellert said....
Folk duo The Small Glories will be coming to Petersburg next week to perform at the Wright Auditorium, bringing with them a Canadian flavor of Americana music. Members JD Edwards and Cara Luft first met at the West End Cultural Centre's 25th anniversary celebration in Winnipeg when they were paired up to perform at the event along with other artists from across the province. Both were raised by the charm of folk music-Luft's parents were folk musicians and Edwards listened to a Bob Dylan record...
St. Patty's Day used to be the perfect excuse for Nicole McMurren to get "bombed," almost as if her Irish heritage was a license to tie one on. She'd have a "bump" before the parade, then after it was over, and singing at Longterm Care had concluded, it was time to head for Harbor Bar and into the night's festivities. But this year, McMurren will be celebrating the leprechaun-loving holiday the same as she's done for the last decade-without beer or whisky. "For me, a really good choice was just...
Lori Roberts celebrated her last day of work at OBI Seafoods on December 10 after a 42 year career which saw her work in pretty much every spot in the plant. Roberts began with what was then Petersburg Fisheries in 1974 after being talked into coming up to Petersburg by a few friends. She attended Highline Community College in Washington and worked at the plant during the summers until she eventually decided to stick around. "I was downstairs for 16 years," Roberts said. "I did herring, I did...
Applications are now being accepted for a federally funded financial assistance program for Alaska homeowners. Applications will be accepted through April 4 by the Alaska Housing Finance Corp., which is administering the $50 million program to help homeowners hurt by income loss the past two years due to the pandemic. The aid can go toward eligible homeowners' monthly mortgage payments, and may also be applied to current and past-due property taxes, insurance premiums and utility bills. To...
The state has started negotiations to sell the Malaspina to a company owned by a business that operates a new multimillion-dollar cruise ship terminal at Ward Cove in Ketchikan. M/V Malaspina LLC and the Alaska Department of Transportation “have agreed to negotiate in good faith on the sale of the 59-year-old vessel,” the state announced Monday. “MVM’s letter of interest outlines a plan to use the Malaspina to showcase Alaska’s maritime history and support a Ketchikan-based tourism business,” the state said. “Among other uses, they propose...
WRANGELL — The owner of the former sawmill property at 6-Mile Zimovia Highway has accepted the borough’s offer of about $2.5 million to buy the 38.59 acres, which the borough sees as an economic development opportunity for the community. Wrangell Borough Manager Jeff Good declined to name the exact amount but said Friday, “we did make an offer, they accepted.” Bennett McGrath, of Anchor Properties, in Petersburg, the representative for property owner Betty Buhler, said the borough initially offered $2.3 million and they “met in the middle” b...
Assembly Member Bob Lynn and Utility Director Karl Hagerman provided a report on SEAPA activities during the Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting on March 7 including details on the Southeast Alaska Power Agency’s updated website and the likelihood of further rate increases. Lynn reported that SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson told the SEAPA board during its February 28 meeting that a 3/4 of a cent rate increase over time is needed to make up for the costs of the debt service for the submarine cable, the 4R improvement plan, the vegetation management p...
The tugboat Western Mariner ran aground Monday morning while towing the Chichagof Provider through the Neva Strait according to the U.S. Coast Guard. At 2:55 a.m. watchstanders in the Sector Juneau command center received a radio call from the Western Mariner stating that the 286-foot containerized barge in tow had collided with the tug, causing the tug to run aground. The Coast Guard has reported no injuries and all four crew members were safely transported from the Western Mariner to a nearby... Full story
The Petersburg School Board unanimously approved a move to optional masking in all buildings during its board meeting Tuesday night as case counts decrease and vaccinations and tests become more accessible. The new protocols will be implemented when staff and students return from spring break on March 21 and while masking will be optional, all other mitigation strategies including quarantine and testing protocols will remain in place. The Petersburg School District has required universal...
While most high schools may take a field trip to the local museum or zoo, a select group of Petersburg High School students get to go somewhere a little bit cooler-LeConte Glacier. Each year, students set out to survey the glacier and record how it has moved over time. They're taking what they have learned in the classroom and are applying it in the field. The survey began in 1983 with high school teacher Paul Bowen's surveying class as an opportunity for the top students to get real world... Full story
