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A Ketchikan woman faces a felony charge of first-degree arson after allegedly setting several small fires in her apartment before leaving the multi-unit building located on the 100 block of Inman Street on Saturday afternoon. Firefighters responded quickly to a report of smoke coming from the eaves of the building and were able to contain the fire to the one apartment, according to Ketchikan Fire Department information. There were no injuries. Belinda Nelson, 42, was taken into custody later in...
The U.S. Forest Service approved six new recreational cabin sites in the Petersburg and Wrangell Ranger Districts for development in a final decision notice signed on Jan. 17, 2024. Out of eight potential sites proposed in the October 2023 draft decision, the final decision approved all three sites in the Petersburg district -Keex' Kwáan, Blind Slough and Woodpecker Cove Road- and three of five sites in Wrangell district - Fools Pass, Little Lakes and Mustang Lake. The USFS has already...
Unless the Legislature decides otherwise by mid-March, Gov. Mike Dunleavy will take over appointment of the entire nine-member Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board. State law reserves four of the seats for appointment by legislative leaders, but Dunleavy on the first day of the legislative session Jan. 16 introduced an executive order that changes the law so that the governor would control all of the appointments. The change will take effect 60 days after the order was issued — unless a majority of the 60 legislators vote in a joint s...
Western Marine's dredging operations in South Harbor are expected to reach completion this week. Access for harbor users has been partially blocked as crews push through the winter weather to dig the final shoreline areas. The next step will be a survey of the most recently dredged areas, and if all looks good Petersburg Harbormaster Glo Wollen can sign off on the work and the US Army Corps of Engineers can close out the administrative details of the project. The dredge work began in early...
The Alaska Legislature’s big education funding bill will reach the floor of the Alaska House of Representatives by next week, a leading Republican lawmaker said Monday. “We’re going to get it out. It’s not going to sit anywhere,” said Rep. Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage and chair of the House Rules Committee. On Saturday, members of Johnson’s committee heard more than seven hours of public testimony, mostly in favor of a large increase in Alaska’s funding for public schools. The committee declined to fulfill that request before advancing Sen... Full story
The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA) will offer a Fishing Vessel Drill Conductor Course in Petersburg, Alaska, on February 10, 2024, 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., in the Petersburg Parks and Recreation Activity Room. The cost for the class is $125.00 for commercial fishermen and $225.00 for all others. Interested mariners may register online at www.amsea.org or call (907) 747-3287. The class will cover cold-water survival skills; EPIRBs, signal flares, and mayday calls; man-overboard recovery; firefighting; flooding and damage c...
The Medicare reimbursement program for Critical Access Hospitals was a key topic at the Petersburg Medical Center Hospital Board and Petersburg Borough Assembly annual work session on Jan. 30. PMC is a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) — the designation was created by Congress in the late 1990s to reduce the financial vulnerability of smaller hospitals in isolated rural communities. Facilities that are recognized as critical access hospitals must meet certain qualifying criteria, and they get to participate in a beneficial Medicare r...
Robyn Taylor spent the first six years of her career in the Alaska education system teaching in Petersburg, and the next 18 years elsewhere in the state as an administrator. Currently on year 24, Taylor is excited to return to the Petersburg School District as the next superintendent, in place of Erica Klut-Painter who will depart from the role at the end of this school year. "I'm just so appreciative of the opportunity," Taylor said. "Right timing, right place." Originally from Idaho, Taylor...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved to send a letter to Gov. Dunleavy asking that a fisheries disaster be declared for four fisheries in Southeast Alaska, citing low abundance and financial hardship. If a disaster is declared, the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission would distribute funds to applicants to provide relief. For fishing seasons from 2018 through 2022, disaster declarations were issued for 14 fisheries off the interior coast for salmon, red king crab, Tanner crab and cod, according to the letter. Now, the...
Elsie Marie Broschat was born in Sitka on January 5, 2024 at 3:30 a.m. Her parents are Andrew Broschat, a police officer with the Petersburg Police Department, and Elle Broschat, bookkeeper and owner of Southeast Bookkeeping. Being confirmed as the first baby of 2024 born to Petersburg residents, the family are entitled to receive the many gifts from local businesses published in the January 4th edition of the Pilot. The Broschat family moved back to Petersburg from Sitka in November 2023. They...
The Petersburg Police Department released its annual report for 2023, reflecting a continued trend of low crime in Petersburg. Compared to 2022, last year resulted in increased jail time and bookings, dispatch calls for service, charged offenses, arrests, and total calls for service. However, most of those 2023 totals are still lower when compared to 2018 through 2021. In the overall picture, the low crime rate in Petersburg continued in 2023 after the five-year-low seen in 2022. PPD Chief Jim Kerr attributes this outcome to invested police...
WRANGELL — Cruise ship operators that lighter their passengers to shore will pay higher port fees starting this summer in Wrangell. The borough assembly unanimously approved the new rate structure Jan. 9, following a port commission recommendation. The rates had been set at 40% of the cost of tying up to the dock, with the new fee structure raising that to 60%. The increase in lightering fees is intended to encourage more ships to tie up at the dock rather than anchor offshore, Interim Borough Manager Mason Villarma told the assembly. Wrangell...
WRANGELL — The Wrangell Borough Assembly on Jan. 9 unanimously adopted an ordinance to institute a $300 fine for illegally cutting down trees on borough land. No one from the public spoke on the ordinance at the public hearing held before the assembly vote. In addition to the ordinance setting the amount of the fine, the assembly also unanimously approved an ordinance adding trespass to the borough code, which prohibits “cutting down, injury or removal of trees or timber from borough property without written permission.” Borough offic...
Dear Friends and Neighbors: Greetings from Juneau! The 2nd session of the 33rd Legislature started this week. It is thrilling to be back, and I hope everyone in House District 2 is enjoying a healthy and prosperous new year. During this year's second regular session of the 33rd legislature I will continue to serve on the Education, Community and Regional Affairs and Fisheries committees. Please watch for updates on the committee work in this columnas the session progresses. Fisheries: Trident -...
When Scott Roberge was in college, he made his way to Petersburg in the late 70s and worked at the cannery, then Icicle Seafoods, with a friend. With a beat up, old aluminum canoe and a couple of days off from work, the pair of pals paddled out from Petersburg and made their way to LeConte Glacier. "It was incredible - to be that close and really immersed into it," Scott recalled. "I love being out there. I didn't want a nine to five job." They camped, something Scott loves to do, in a couple...
In a major hit to Southwest Alaska’s fishing industry, Peter Pan Seafood Co. will keep its huge plant in the village of King Cove shuttered this winter, meaning that the company won’t be processing millions of dollars worth of cod, whitefish and crab. “It’s one of the most difficult days of my life,” Rodger May, one of the company’s owners and a longtime player in the seafood industry, said in a brief interview Thursday. “It’s just a devastating time for the industry.” The closure is the latest sign of the widening turmoil in Alaska seafood ma...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska lawmakers opened a new legislative session Tuesday, with the House failing to support an attempt to override Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of $87 million in additional education funding last year. Under the state constitution, the Legislature has the first five days of the regular session for a veto override attempt. If a joint session were held to consider a veto override, three-fourths of lawmakers — or 45 members — would need to vote in favor of an override for it to be successful. House Minority Leader...
Tribal members cast over 100 ballots in the annual Petersburg Indian Association election held on Monday - a voter turnout around four times higher than last year. Four candidates challenged council incumbents for seats, running on a united ticket and winning the race by a large margin according to the unofficial election results. Debra O'Gara received 74 votes and will be the new council president, serving a one-year term. Incumbent president Cris Morrison received 33 votes. When the vote for...
In Sitka, an academic institution called Outer Coast is expanding into a two-year college - marking a major milestone for both the institution and higher education offerings in Alaska. For the last handful of years in operation, Outer Coast has offered post-secondary and gap year programs for highschool graduates, as well as summer seminars for high school students to earn college credit. While the year-long academic year programs and summer seminars cultivated Outer Coast's values and... Full story
This fall’s energy relief payment, which would go out along with the annual Permanent Fund dividend, is looking smaller than expected several months ago. The “bonus” on the 2024 dividend would come from state revenues in excess of what is needed to cover the spending plan approved by lawmakers and the governor last spring. The Legislature included a provision in the state budget that said half of any surplus would go into savings and half into an energy relief payment to Alaskans. The latest projection for the fall payment is about $175, Alexe...
The Boeing jetliner that lost a door panel inflight over Oregon on Jan. 5 was not being used for flights to Hawaii after a warning light that could have indicated a pressurization problem lit up on three separate occasions over the past month, a federal official said Sunday, Jan. 7. Alaska Airlines decided to restrict the aircraft from long flights over water so the plane "could return very quickly to an airport" if the warning light reappeared, said Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Trans...
WRANGELL — The port commission has recommended to the Wrangell Borough Assembly approval of an ordinance that would require owners who moor their vessels at a reserved spot in Wrangell harbors to either provide proof of marine insurance or pay a monthly surcharge on their moorage fee. Officials have been considering since 2022 adding the new requirement to municipal code to help shield the borough from the cost of raising and disposing of boats that sink in the harbors. “The cost of recovering sunken vessels has significantly increased, and...
Almost 110,000 Alaskans applied for the fall 2024 Permanent Fund dividend in the first eight days after the application period opened on Jan. 1. Applications close in 11 weeks, on March 31. Last year’s dividend was $1,312. This year’s amount will be determined as part of annual state budget deliberations, which will begin next week when legislators reconvene in Juneau. The annual dividend is paid from the state general fund, which gets most of its money from investment earnings generated by the $78 billion Alaska Permanent Fund and from oil...
The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority recently sold a prized lot at the mouth of Blind Slough near Blind River Rapids in the Trust's Fall Land Sale Auction. The Lot 37 parcel is located at a popular recreation site for sport fishing about 14 miles south of downtown Petersburg. It is one of the many properties on Mitkof Island that the Trust Land Office plans to sell by 2025. In response to what the Trust's plans are for selling the dozens of lots near the mouth of Blind Slough, Allison...
On Tuesday the borough assembly reviewed capital projects needs in Petersburg. Out of 81 requested capital projects across the borough, new and continued, 11 ranked top priority for state funding. The top two priorities are continuing projects for the Petersburg Medical Center replacement. The first is for Phase 4, Main Hospital Construction, seeking $37 million in funding to cover the cost in full. The second is for Phase 5, Main Hospital Interior Build out, seeking $30 million. Hospital project Phases 1 through 3, in the amount of $29...
