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The popular custom benches began years ago, when Karen Hofstad and Sue Paulson approached Josef Quitslund with the idea of creating something that could be at the center of Cannery Park. The women both had an interest in establishing the space to showcase the local history of the town and pay tribute to their loved ones that had a hand in that history, Quitslund says. "A memorial bench is a nice way to honor someone's memory," he says. "It's a place for the ones left behind to reflect and other...
Tens of thousands of Alaskans will lose access to expanded food stamp benefits in September after the state ended its public health emergency in July. The end of certain additional benefits under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program comes as food aid groups say need is reaching previous pandemic highs while prices are soaring. Plus, other pandemic-era benefits, like the child tax credit and rental assistance, are expiring too, said Cara Durr, director of public engagement at the Food Bank of Alaska. “We know families are s...
8,832 passengers and 2,515 vehicles boarded the ferry in Petersburg in 2011, and 9046 passengers and 2,434 vehicles arrived in town. In 2021, the ridership into Petersburg was 829 passengers, a decrease of about 90 percent from a decade before. Vehicles dropped 75 percent to 595, according to statistics provided by the Alaska Marine Highway System. And 2021's numbers are up from the pandemic-worst travel year. In 2020, just 409 passengers and 313 vehicles disembarked in Petersburg. But...
The state will receive about $36 million less in federal funding than expected for this year’s Alaska Marine Highway System operating budget, requiring the use of state dollars to cover the gap. No reduction in service is expected because of the budget shuffle, state officials said. But it could mean that legislators next year will need to approve additional state funds to fully make up for the loss of federal aid, exposing the ferries to another vote in the political process. The governor had looked to federal infrastructure money to r...
For the first time in a decade, the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., source of more than half of Alaska’s general-purpose state revenue, posted negative investment returns for an entire fiscal year. As of June 30, the last day of the just-ended fiscal year 2022, the fund reported having earned minus-1.32% over the preceding 12 months. The decline will not have an immediate effect on state finances, but continued losses over multiple years would reduce the amount of money available each year for state services and the Permanent Fund dividend. B... Full story
Democratic candidate Mary Peltola left election day leading Alaska's special election for U.S. House, but the state's new ranked choice voting system may leave Republican candidate and former governor Sarah Palin the ultimate winner. As of Wednesday afternoon, with 395 of 402 precincts reporting, Peltola had earned 38.03% of first-choice vote in a race that will determine who fills Alaska's lone U.S. House seat until January, completing the term left unfinished by the death of Congressman Don... Full story
Special General Election: In Petersburg 725, or 24.22%, of the precinct’s 2,993 registered voters turned out. The preliminary numbers for Petersburg show Sarah Palin in the lead by a single vote. Sarah Palin: 256 Mary Peltola: 255 Nick Begich: 192 Absentee ballots postmarked by election day will still be counted until August 31st, at which time the ranked choice tabulations will determine the winner of the US House seat. Primary Election results in Petersburg U.S. Senate Lisa Murkowski: 312 votes (44.44%) Kelly Tshibaka: 258 (36.75%) U.S. H...
A pre-construction conference for the South Harbor dredge project was held on August 2 to review the contract requirements and proposed schedule as the project nears its start date. The conference was attended by contractor Western Marine, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project team, and Harbormaster Glo Wollen. "Everybody's feeling pretty good about this project and the Corps has worked on many projects with our company as well," Wollen said. "Everybody in the room knew each other which is a...
Alaska voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, August 16 to mark their ballots in a couple of firsts: The first election under the state's new ranked-choice voting system and the election of Alaska's first new member of the U.S. House in 49 years. The three finalists for Congress selected in the July special primary election are Republicans Nick Begich, a Chugiak businessman, and former Gov. Sarah Palin, and former Bethel state legislator Democrat Mary Peltola. At a recent candidate forum in...
The U.S. Forest Service is looking at potential sites for new cabins in the Petersburg and Wrangell Ranger Districts in hopes of increasing accessibility for cabin users. According to the project's pre-scoping letter, the weather, tides, and the need for boat or plane transportation have limited people from reaching many of the current cabins, while demand for cabins that are more accessible has increased. Because of this, the project seeks to accommodate users current needs by building cabins...
Bikers and paddlers gathered at Scow Bay Saturday morning to participate in the annual Paddle and Pedal Battle fundraiser, which raised about $15,000 according to Community Wellness Coordinator Julie Walker. The donations will go toward continuing education for Petersburg Medical Center staff and scholarships for Petersburg High School graduates. "I think our goal this year was to revive the event and it really felt like we did that," Walker said. About 70 participants made it out to the event... Full story
During its meeting on August 1, the Petersburg Borough Assembly approved an ordinance in its first reading which would increase the purchasing power authorization limits to $10,000 for administrative officers of the borough and $75,000 for the borough manager. All five assembly members present voted in favor of the ordinance while Mayor Mark Jensen and Assembly Member Thomas Fine-Walsh were excused. The current limits, put in place by the City of Petersburg in March 2004, allow department heads to approve purchases up to $5,000 and allow the...
During Monday's meeting, the Petersburg Borough Assembly voted 4-1 to establish a new task force to address the housing crisis in Petersburg. Assembly Member Jeff Meucci said the task force would work with the assembly's backing to look at housing needs in the community and he equated it to the Early Childhood Education Task Force which the assembly created earlier this year. "Like child care, I think this is one of the most important issues facing Petersburg," Meucci said. "Every person that...
Utility Director Karl Hagerman recently provided an update on the Blind Slough hydroelectric refurbishment and Scow Bay standby diesel generation projects which voters approved to fund with $7.8 million in electric utility revenue bonds during the 2021 municipal election. The current focuses for the hydroelectric refurbishment are on equipment procurements and design. The borough has a contract with Gilkes Hydro to provide components including the generator, the main turbine inlet valve, and...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted 5-0 to approve a list ranking its top capital projects for FY24 during Monday’s meeting. Mayor Mark Jensen and Assembly Member Thomas Fine-Walsh were excused. The priority list was organized by Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht who presented it to the assembly to amend and approve it. It originally featured the 15 highest priority capital projects for FY24 but was decreased to 13 projects after the assembly removed the Blind Slough hydroelectric refurbishment and the South Harbor dredging projects, which a...
At 8 a.m on Saturday, Andrew Simmonds, 60, entered the chilling waters of Sandy Beach, setting out to prove that age has not slowed him down one bit. His goal-to swim across Frederick Sound to the mainland over six miles away. Though his swim began on Saturday, his journey to that moment began much earlier. Soon after arriving in Petersburg in November, Simmonds, who is a physical therapist at the Petersburg Medical Center, visited Sandy Beach to gaze out over Frederick Sound. There he admired t... Full story
SITKA (AP) — A bear going through trash has been killed by authorities in Sitka, a community that experienced a record number of bear incidents last year. The weekend shooting of the male brown bear by Sitka police was the first bear shooting this year in the southeast Alaska city, the Daily Sitka Sentinel reported. Last year, 14 bears were killed in and around Sitka, which the newspaper reports was a record for the community. Steve Bethune, a wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said four shots were fired, at l...
Garbage is in season for bears on Mitkof Island who are finding it as an easy, accessible source of food. From July 27 to August 2 there were 15 reported bear sightings according to Petersburg Police Department reports and Petersburg Area Biologist Frank Robbins says the "common thread" is garbage. "I think people come out of the winter where you don't really have to worry so much about managing their garbage and in the spring and early summer where we generally don't have many bears in town... Full story
WRANGELL — In November of last year, Tlingit & Haida Community and Behavioral Services opened a healing center in Juneau to provide care to tribal citizens and other Alaska Natives. At the time, care was provided through Zoom Health or over the phone. The center was able to open its doors this year for in-person appointments but still relies on telehealth to reach a greater number of patients who might not have access to such services otherwise. Healing center staff provides a mix of wholistic healing and western treatment for crisis and ac...
WRANGELL — Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it’s putting $29 million toward connecting just over 1,200 people, a school and 45 businesses in Craig and Klawock on Prince of Wales Island and also Hyder to high-speed internet. That funding is part of Alaska’s $116 million slice of $401 million in grants to improve internet access in 11 states. It’s part of an initial round of the more than $90 billion the federal government has committed to spending on bringing affordable, high-speed internet to communities across...
WRANGELL — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is moving ahead with its review of the borough’s wetlands fill permit application to develop the former Wrangell Institute property for residential lots. The borough hopes to start ground-clearing work next year, Carol Rushmore, the borough’s planning and zoning director, said last week. Permit review work had been on hold while state and federal agencies and the borough coordinated an archaeological records and ground survey of the property that had been used as a Bureau of Indian Affairs Nativ...
Words of advice have been running through Joseph Tagaban's mind ever since meeting his NBA idol Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors. "Take small little steps, test yourself and you'll eventually make it," the five-time NBA All-Star and four-time champion told the 15-year-old boy from Petersburg. The advice takes on new meaning since Tagaban recently found out that his fight with cancer is not over as was previously thought. What started as a routine checkup in Seattle last week... Full story
The window to file for candidacy in this year's municipal election opened on Tuesday. According to Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson, this year's election will look similar to previous years' except for the voting location, which will be moved from the gym to the community center's activity room so it does not conflict with the school's use of the space. The municipal election will be held on October 4 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the activity room while absentee voting will run from September 14 to...
HAINES-Not every day does a wild wolf mate with a domestic dog. But a handful of local puppies born in February might be the product of such an occurrence, which biologists say is rare but not impossible. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) is investigating at least nine pups born at 35 Mile Haines Highway that might be wolfdogs, which are illegal to breed or possess in Alaska. "Somebody contacted me and said they were under the impression there were some dogs running loose in an area...
The top employees of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. are some of the highest-paid public workers in Alaska, but with wages rising across the country and employers competing for skilled labor, even the $80 billion Permanent Fund is struggling to keep employees from leaving. Nine of the corporation’s 66 employees have quit this year, including the manager of the corporation’s highest-earning investments and the entire three-person team in charge of finalizing trades. Seven other positions are new, and filling them is expected to be dif... Full story
