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The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved an ordinance in its first reading on Monday that would amend the charter to allow borough employees, including those at the school and the hospital, to serve on certain borough boards. The ordinance proposes allowing borough staff to serve on boards and commissions except for those that directly administer their employment. For instance, under the new ordinance a Petersburg Medical Center employee could run for the borough assembly or the school board...
Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced a bill Tuesday that would increase the amount of parental permission needed to teach sex education and change students’ names or pronouns in school. If passed by the Legislature, students would need their parents’ permission before taking a sex education class or joining a program or club related to gender and sexuality. “There should never be a case where a parent sends their kids to school, and the child comes back having discussions about things they’ve learned in school that may be a sensitive issue or an affr... Full story
Icicles bristled from the eaves outside the Elks Lodge on Saturday night, but the atmosphere in the ballroom was balmy, tropical, even. The walls sprouted jungle vines, leaves, and bright flowers, and the dancers sprouted bright feathers, leis, and sunglasses. Even the elk heads on the wall wore sunglasses. Over 200 people bore witness as bodies bounced to Latin rhythms, and whiffs of salt and lime and street tacos wafted. That was Hannah Flor's vision, "A transition from one world to another,...
The Alaska Marine Highway System is working faster to hire more crew, trying to fix problems that slowed the process so much the past four years that the state failed to keep up with retirements and resignations. The hiring process was so cumbersome and excessively choosy that the state brought aboard just a few new workers out of 250 applicants forwarded by a search agency over the past year, according to a January report from the recruitment contractor. “Since 2019, AMHS has lost more staff annually than recruitment efforts can replace. F...
A state House committee last week held its first hearing on a bill intended to settle the Legislature’s biggest annual political battle: The amount of the Permanent Fund dividend. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Dan Ortiz, who represents Ketchikan, Wrangell and Metlakatla, would amend state law so that 75% of the annual draw on Permanent Fund earnings goes toward paying for schools and other public services, with 25% designated for the PFD. “Tonight, we’re going to open a can of worms,” Chairman Ben Carpenter, of Nikiski, said at the March 1 meeti...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board voted unanimously to pursue a final site plan for the new hospital facility based on the Knob Hill and Creek View conceptual designs during its meeting last Thursday. The Knob Hill and Creek View concepts are both located at a site along Haugen Drive and behind the Elizabeth Peratrovich building. The decision to continue designing the new facility based on the Knob Hill and Creek View concepts was also unanimously recommended by the project's steering... Full story
In a change of plans from just a few weeks ago, the Alaska Marine Highway System reports it lacks enough crew to operate the Kennicott this summer. The loss of the Kennicott from the schedule likely would mean dropping service to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, and the loss of two additional port calls in Petersburg each month, May through September. It also could jeopardize state ferry service to Yakutat on the cross-gulf route, and abandoning plans to run the Kennicott to Bellingham, Washington, once a month to help move the heavy load of su...
COVID-19 cases have dropped at the Petersburg Medical Center's Long-Term Care facility after it faced its biggest outbreak of the pandemic last week. During the PMC Board meeting on Feb. 23, LTC Manager Helen Boggs reported that the facility had seen eight positive cases among residents as well as a few staff members. She also said residents had all been treated prophylactically with either Paxlovid or Remdesivir and were doing fairly well. On Wednesday, Boggs wrote that all of the COVID...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved comments for decisions on land selections that could be conveyed to the borough during its meeting on Feb. 21. The comments were for a modified final decision regarding conveyance of lands at Thomas Bay and a preliminary decision on 3,283 acres of municipal selections across the borough, both issued by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. The Thomas Bay selections would see approximately 550 acres of state-owned land be conveyed to the borough....
Part of last week's cover story headline was changed for the online edition of the Pilot to correct an oversimplification. The first line "Trading Union sold" was changed to "Petersburg IGA replaces Trading Union grocery operation." This clarification was called for because, at the time of this correction, "Trading Union, Inc," the company which owns the buildings and formerly operated the grocery store on North Nordic Drive, is still owned by its current shareholders. The newly formed...
The Petersburg School District Board approved the calendar for the 2023-24 school year during its February meeting. Though some draft calendars that had been presented at a previous board meeting saw some significant shakeups in the schedule, the calendar that ultimately passed is generally similar to previous years. The school year will start on Aug. 29 and finish on May 30 and will have 172 student days. Some of the changes to next year's calendar include giving students Nov. 1 off instead of...
A car crashed off an embankment near 210 Mitkof Highway at around 5:50 p.m. on Monday, according to Assistant Fire Chief Dave Berg. The lone occupant in the vehicle, a woman in her 70s, was uninjured in the crash but was taken to the Petersburg Medical Center for observation. According to Berg, the woman lost control on a straight stretch of road while driving her SUV northbound on Mitkof Highway. The car went off the road onto a snow-covered embankment, which gradually sloped down about 15...
WRANGELL - Ferry service resumed mid February, with the Columbia pulling in on its northbound run. But it had been over a month with no service, and during that month privately operated water taxis have been filling even more than before, responding to an increased need for passengers and cargo looking to get to Banana Point at the southern end of Mitkof Island, or all the way into Petersburg or to Coffman Cove and the road system on Prince of Wales Island. Not only have companies like Muddy...
WRANGELL – Wrangell community members showed their support for the Churchill family last week after Randy Churchill Jr., 39, was killed by a falling tree in an accident Feb. 22. Parks and Recreation Coordinator Lucy Robinson organized a community walk last Sunday to raise money for the family and about 50 people showed up. “There were a few really close family members there that joined us,” said Robinson. “There were good conversations.” She planned the walk to create an outlet for community members to express their support in-person and provid...
It has been a week of dramatic change for the hundred-year-old Petersburg institution-on Monday the Trading Union was officially renamed Petersburg IGA and by the end of the week new owners Mike Ward, his daughter Caroline Bangs, and her husband Travis Bangs hope to have the grocery store's shelves fully restocked with fresh product. "I got crew over from Wrangell, crew over from Haines, and we're power stocking this place," Ward said. Ward, who is in his 44th year actively managing grocery... Full story
The Petersburg Medical Center Board held a work session with the Petersburg Borough Assembly last Friday where three proposed concepts for the location and design of a new hospital building were discussed. Members from the hospital board and the assembly along with borough and PMC staff heard from Bettisworth North architects who detailed the three site plans. The Excel Site, the Knob Hill Site, and the Creek View Site have some major differences but all feature a two-story hospital with...
The Petersburg Indian Association Tribal Council approved a motion during its meeting on Tuesday to pursue three projects that would open commercial and residential revenue streams for PIA using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. PIA has almost $3.9 million in ARPA funds, of which $3 million is budgeted for capital projects, that they now plan to put toward remodeling part of the PIA building, constructing a new building and parking lot on a PIA-owned lot, and buying two parcels of land...
The Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit is back in Petersburg this week for the first time since it began in 2015. It will take place at the Holy Cross House of the Lutheran Church, and Friday's presentations are free and open to the public. Attendees are just asked to sign in at the entrance, as attendance numbers will help with future funding. Bo Varsano and Marja Smets of Farragut Farm founded the summit as a way for Southeast farmers to connect and learn from one another about producing local...
An ongoing shortage of crew is the “No. 1 risk factor” for the Alaska Marine Highway System, Transportation Department Deputy Commissioner Katherine Keith told legislators. As of a Feb. 2 presentation to the Senate Transportation Committee, the ferry system was short just over 100 crew for full staffing to efficiently operate the winter schedule, about a 20% vacancy factor for onboard employees. The ferry system, however, is able to run its schedule with crew members picking up extra shifts and overtime to cover the work, and with man...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday said he is proposing an additional $8.3 million over two years to help address caseload and staffing concerns for the state Public Defender Agency and Office of Public Advocacy. Budget amendments outlined by Dunleavy in a news conference Wednesday also include funding for positions to help address a backlog in applications for food stamp benefits and to prepare for Medicaid eligibility determinations. In December, Dunleavy released his budget plan for the upcoming fiscal year, and h...
More than 90,000 pounds of canned Alaska pink salmon purchased and donated by the state of Alaska is being distributed as wartime relief in Ukraine. The cans were donated to the nonprofit World Central Kitchen and arrived in Ukraine this month after months of shipping and customs delays. They are the state's biggest contribution to Ukraine's defense against a Russian invasion that's now almost a year old. Though Alaska borders one of the combatants, the war has remained a back-burner issue in...
Community members and guests attended the annual Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Banquet at the Sons of Norway last Saturday night where they heard from speakers and celebrated award presentations under the lights of the historic hall. Much to the delight of the audience, Petersburg's local bookstore, Sing Lee Alley Books and Gifts, was named the 2023 Business of the Year. The bookstore, owned by Nance Zaic, serves as a welcoming place for ship passengers visiting Little Norway and offers a cozy...
The IRS announced last Friday that most temporary relief checks issued by states in 2022 are not subject to federal income taxes, including the $662 energy-relief portion of last year’s $3,284 Alaska Permanent Fund dividend. Alaska legislators last year added the energy-relief money to the annual PFD of $2,622 in a move to help residents hit hard by high prices for gasoline, diesel and heating fuel. The IRS decision provides last-minute tax guidance as returns are starting to pour in. The agency said it will not challenge the taxability of paym...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly prioritized its top three projects to seek federal funding for during its Feb. 6 meeting. After two rounds of voting, the assembly approved ranking the new Petersburg Medical Center project as its top priority followed by the Scow Bay standby diesel generation project and the Scow Bay haul out and wash down pad. The assembly voted 5-2 in favor of putting the new PMC facility at the top of the list with Mayor Mark Jensen and Assembly Member Donna Marsh opposed....
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht received mostly positive marks as part of his 2022 Performance Evaluation, which was approved by the Petersburg Borough Assembly during its Feb. 6 meeting. The evaluation was filled out by assembly members who judged Giesbrecht in various categories. Giesbrecht scored highly-mostly receiving scores of meeting expectations or exceeding expectations-in communication, planning, and managing resources. Assembly Member Donna Marsh wrote that she appreciates the manage...
