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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...
On Thursday, Alaskans will celebrate Elizabeth Peratrovich Day to honor the Tlingit civil rights advocate who pushed for the nation’s first anti-discrimination law, 19 years before the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. During her lifelong campaign for Native rights, she fought segregation and a majority white territorial Legislature to establish a foundation of legal protections that have benefitted Alaskans since 1945. Peratrovich was born in segregated Petersburg on July 4, 1911. She was a member of the Tlingit Raven moiety and LukaaX.ádi cl...
The Alaska Board of Game approved a proposal to extend the deer hunt in the Petersburg Management Area by two months during its Southeast region meeting in Ketchikan last month. The change bumps the start date for the bow hunt up from Oct. 1 to Aug. 1. The bag limit will remain at two bucks and the season will run until Dec. 15. Kaleb Baird, who proposed the change, wrote that he was very glad to see it receive unanimous support from the board. "My goal in opening the PMA deer hunt August 1 was...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly gave approval to the Housing Task Force to continue working on three ideas to potentially expand local housing opportunities during Monday's meeting. With the assembly's support, the task force will continue pursuing the possibilities of creating a Petersburg Land Trust, identifying easily developable lots, and finding a new area in Service Area 1 suitable for manufactured homes. The assembly's decision does not ensure that these ideas are going to come to...
Petersburg's Sons of Norway Hall was bustling on Sunday afternoon as members readied the hall and prepared the featured courses for the annual Lutefisk and Lefse Dinner - a tradition so old no one can say for certain when it started. The dinner is both a celebration of lutefisk and homemade lefse and an opportunity for members to pass down ancient recipes and skills. Lutefisk is fish (fisk) preserved in lye (lut). This year, for the first time, Wendell Gilbert of Tonka Seafoods took sole...
After 42 years of leading Viking Travel, Dave and Nancy Berg are ready to hang up their hats while a familiar young couple takes over the helm. The travel business has changed dramatically since 1981 when Dave and Nancy started their business-from spending hours on the phone with Alaska Airlines and building relationships with the cruise ships to navigating the new world of the internet and persevering through the pandemic. The pair met when Dave made a stop in Ellamar, Alaska while sailing up...
Amid much speculation, it was announced during Monday night's Tribal Council meeting that the Petersburg Indian Association will not be purchasing the two properties owned by the Trading Union. According to Tribal Administrator Chad Wright, Trading Union General Manager Barry Morrison rescinded his offer to sell the properties that house the Trading Union and Evergreen Market Monday morning. PIA had the two commercial properties at 401 N. Nordic Drive and 404 N. Nordic Drive appraised and would...
Last Tuesday Humanity in Progress held the sixth annual Project Connect Resource Fair in Petersburg, an event that takes place in conjunction with the Point in Time Count, a nation-wide survey that happens on the same night each year "...to try and get a community understanding, in a certain point of time, of homelessness and housing insecurity," founding member Ashley Kawashima explains. The data collected from individuals experiencing housing or food insecurity is a vital tool for successful s...
Wolves are social, territorial animals that educate their young, care for their injured and stick with their close-knit family groups — most of the time, that is. In the past few months, a wolf from Petersburg has struck out on its own and taken up swimming, behaviors that are unusual — though not unheard of — for a wolf. The swimming wolf traveled from Petersburg to Wrangell Island to Etolin Island, and its movements could help area scientists learn more about the animals’ lifestyle . The animal was captured on Sept. 14 within Petersburg city...
Two proposals to open Petersburg Creek to black bear hunting failed at the Alaska Board of Game’s Southeast regional meeting in Ketchikan last month. The Petersburg Creek Closed Area, measuring 44 square miles, has been closed to black bear hunting since 1975 in order to provide a recreational bear viewing area near Petersburg and because of public safety concerns, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The area, however, is open to the hunting of other species. One of the f...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took an unusually strong step Tuesday and blocked a proposed mine heralded by backers as the most significant undeveloped copper and gold resource in the world because of concerns about its environmental impact on a rich Alaska aquatic ecosystem that supports the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery. The move, cheered by Alaska Native tribes and environmentalists and condemned by some state officials and mining interests, deals a heavy blow to the proposed Pebble Mine. The int...
The state Board of Game has approved a proposal to reopen an elk hunt on Zarembo Island, though the odds that a local could nab a tag and take a bull will be low — a small number of tags will be available and the drawing will be open to hunters nationwide. The first drawing will likely take place this fall, with the hunt set for fall 2024. There hasn’t been an elk hunt on Zarembo for nearly 20 years, due to concerns about the small population’s sustainability, explained Petersburg-based state Fish and Game biologist Frank Robbins. “The last ye...
Clausen Museum Director Cindi Lagoudakis and local artist Suzanne Fuqua are both participants in the first "Portable Southeast" traveling art exhibition on display at the Clausen Museum through Saturday, February 25th. Lagoudakis was selected to be on a six member curation panel, representing diverse experiences and skill sets, to review submissions from artists around Southeast Alaska. Suzanne Fuqua's painting 'Forest Floor' was selected to be in the show and will be traveling through June for...
The federal ship has come in for the Alaska Marine Highway System, carrying more than $284 million for upgrades to old vessels, money to help pay for a new ferry, dock repairs, additional service to small communities and even a proposed electric-powered ferry for short runs. The Federal Transit Administration announced the awards last week. The grants were awarded under a competitive application process, but Alaska’s congressional delegation wrote the provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2022 with the intent of s...
Alaska’s backlog of untested sexual assault examination kits has all but disappeared after a five-year, multimillion-dollar effort, according to a report presented to the Alaska Legislature. The kits, colloquially known as “rape kits,” are used to collect physical evidence after a sexual assault. Figures published by the Alaska Department of Public Safety and dated Nov. 1 show only 75 untested kits, all at the state crime lab. In 2017, a statewide survey found almost 3,500 untested kits across the state, many held by local police depar... Full story
The Biden administration will ban new logging roads and most development in much of Southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday. The decision, which repeals a 2020 USDA action under the Trump administration, continues a quarter-century of action and counter-action over development in the region, which contains the world’s largest temperate coastal rainforest and is home to more than 72,000 people. “As our nation’s largest national forest and the largest intact temperate rainforest in the... Full story
The Petersburg Police Department released its annual report last week, which includes an array of statistics that give insight into slowing local crime rates. The total dispatch center calls for service, which includes calls for police, fire, and EMS, saw its lowest activity in five years with 3,356 calls-down almost 400 from 2021. That number only includes calls for service and does not represent the total number of calls dispatchers receive, which Petersburg Police Department Chief Jim Kerr...
Washington, DC — U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both R-Alaska, announced Wednesday that the Federal Transit Administration is awarding more than $285 million of investments to improve the reliability and service of Alaska’s ferry system, which serves more than 30 communities across 3,500 miles of coastline. The funding, all awarded to the Alaska Marine Highway System, is designated to replacing an aging vessel, upgrading ferry dock infrastructure in rural communities, modernizing four vessels, procuring an electric ferry, des...
