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Musician Seán Dagher will bring his interactive sea shanty performance to Petersburg next week, inviting locals to join in the maritime musical tradition that has experienced a surge of recent popularity. The performance will be "pretty participatory," Dagher told the Pilot it will be fun and easy to take part. "The shanties are like call and response songs, so I'll sing the call part, and people sing the responses," Dagher explained. Dagher's performance, being presented by the Petersburg... Full story
Silver Bay Seafoods and Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation (BBEDC) jointly announced Tuesday a partnership they say "will increase stability for Alaskan fishermen and communities reliant on seafoods processing operations," with Silver Bay acquiring Icicle Seafoods' 50% ownership stake in OBI Seafoods. The acquisition affects many processing facilities throughout Alaska, including Petersburg's OBI plant, one of the community's largest employers. According to the March 18 announcement, S... Full story
The Petersburg Police Department's previously rejected K9 unit proposal has gained significant momentum through community financial support and grassroots advocacy efforts. Reconsideration of the proposal is anticipated at the Borough Assembly's first meeting in April. The Petersburg Indian Association (PIA) has emerged as a major supporter, pledging $14,000 from opioid settlement funds to help cover the unit's maintenance costs. "We received opioid settlement funds from class action lawsuits...
A recent inspection revealed significant damage to Petersburg's wastewater outfall pipe in Frederick Sound, potentially causing the borough to face unexpected repair costs and regulatory challenges. Borough officials discovered that the approximately 65-foot diffuser section of the outfall pipe, which disperses treated effluent from the wastewater treatment plant into Frederick Sound - located around 800 feet offshore at a depth of 60 feet - has become completely detached from the main line. It...
Last month, Petersburg resident Lila Trask's friends received an email saying, "Good Morning, I hope you're doing well. Unfortunately, I'm currently dealing with a serious throat infection that's making it difficult for me to communicate over the phone. Do you shop Amazon? Lila." She was completely unaware that her no-longer-used GCI email account had been hijacked, meanwhile two of her friends, a couple, fell for the scam, at least initially, and responded to the email. "Glad to hear from...
Though a $5 million federal grant to help pay for expanding the generating capacity at the Tyee Lake hydroelectric station is "clearly frozen," the head of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency hopes the funds will be released soon and the project can stay on schedule. The agency's lobbyist in Washington, D.C., and others "feel fairly confident ... that freeze will be thawed," Robert Siedman, chief executive officer of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, or SEAPA, said earlier this month. The Tyee...
A glass cabinet gleams near a big window in the Mountain View Manor Assisted Living apartment of George and Florabelle Rice. The display case is brimming with collected mementos: two small ceramic cats - prizes from a Quaker Oats container - given to Florabelle ninety years ago by her mother, souvenirs from the couple's travels, family photographs, keepsakes spanning nearly a century of memories. "I love this stuff that has a happy memory," says Florabelle, her eyes lighting up. "I get such a... Full story
A Petersburg-based fishing commercial vessel caught fire Thursday near Point Gardner in Chatham Strait where it had been participating in the golden king crab fishery. The fire prompted a coordinated response from nearby Samaritan vessels, the Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department, and the U.S. Coast Guard. The U.S. Coast Guard received a distress call at 1:49 p.m. reporting that the F/V Spicy Lady, a 58-foot steel vessel, was on fire and crew members were preparing to abandon ship into a life...
Kelsey James McCay, age 31, will serve a decade in prison for sexually assaulting a woman in Petersburg in 2019. Complications from the pandemic and backlog at the state's only forensic lab delayed pressing charges against McCay, according to Assistant District Attorney Jessalyn Gillum. "Sexual assault cases can be very difficult," said Gillum. "I think there's a duty on behalf of really everybody to ensure that if [forensic] evidence exists and can be tested, that it be done prior to any...
In Wright Auditorium, tubes of cardboard are being transformed into marble columns. Costumes salvaged from thrift stores are repurposed into Elizabethan finery. And students are grappling with language written over 400 years ago learning how to bring it to life. Petersburg High School's drama program, under the direction of Elsa Wintersteen, is tackling William Shakespeare's comedy "Much Ado About Nothing" this spring, with performances scheduled for March 27-29, including a Saturday matinee....
Over the final weekend in February, Petersburg artists Sunny Rice, and Alec and Nicole McMurren traveled to Astoria, Oregon for the 28th annual FisherPoet Gathering. They were among the more than one hundred people who have worked in the commercial fishing industry and took the opportunity to share the ways commercial fishing inspires their creativity. Since its inception in 1998, the FisherPoet Gathering has celebrated commercial fishing and the people who make it happen through poetry, song,...
Acclaimed taiko ensemble Unit Souzou will bring their powerful blend of traditional Japanese drumming, dance, and storytelling to Petersburg next week as part of the "sunset tour" for their production "Constant State of Otherness." The Portland, Oregon-based group will perform Tuesday, March 18, at the Sons of Norway hall. Tickets are available online and at Lee's Clothing. Unit Souzou, founded in 2014 by co-directors Michelle Fujii and Toru Watanabe, has built a reputation for innovative...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voiced serious concerns that potential federal funding cuts could devastate essential services and potentially threaten the town's viability by approving a strongly worded letter to Alaska's congressional delegation during Monday’s assembly meeting. The letter, approved by all six assembly members present, details how the rural Southeast Alaska fishing community of approximately 3,000 residents could face an existential crisis if federal support is significantly reduced. “Indiscriminate and across the board red...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted 6-0 Monday to adopt a resolution formally approving a comprehensive Visitor Industry Management Plan developed by a local working group in 2019-2020 and updated in early 2025. The plan, created by 17 Petersburg residents including business owners and borough staff, aims to address visitor industry growth while “maintaining the balance between Petersburg's quality of life and the visitor economy while preserving Petersburg's authenticity and sense of place,” states the resolution. Petersburg Har...
When Victoria Moore's son Alex was first diagnosed with autism, she found herself overwhelmed by the volume of information available and the challenge of finding practical, actionable guidance. Now, she's written and published the book she wishes she'd had during those crucial early days – "Parenting Children with Autism Unlocked." "It would have been nice to have that one go-to book that kind of helped at that beginning, crucial stage of early intervention," Moore says of her motivation to w...
Elementary students in Petersburg won’t get as much physical education next year. Rae C. Stedman Elementary Principal Heather Conn said it comes down to limited education funding. Renting Petersburg’s community pool and gym is expensive for the Petersburg School District. So is staffing physical education classes. Conn said the district’s tight budget this year means they will have to reduce hours. “We have been conservatively budgeting but at this time, even we are being affected,” she said. This isn’t the first year the district has had to...
Stikine River property owners and recreational users of all kinds have been without a relied upon tool since around late November, 2024. Several trees came down on the site over the winter. The USGS cabin that stores their equipment and provides shelter for overnight stays is largely intact. The tree put several holes in the roof, but the building is still structurally sound. The tree also took out the solar panel and satellite antenna. When the river is ice free, USGS crew will make a trip up...
A Petersburg-based fishing commercial vessel caught fire Thursday near Point Gardner in Chatham Strait where it had been participating in the golden king crab fishery. The fire prompted a coordinated response from nearby Samaritan vessels, the Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department, and the U.S. Coast Guard. The U.S. Coast Guard received a distress call at 1:49 p.m. reporting that the F/V Spicy Lady, a 58-foot steel vessel, was on fire and crew members were preparing to abandon ship into a life... Full story
The Alaska Board of Fisheries has approved significant changes to the Wrangell Narrows-Blind Slough Terminal Harvest Area Salmon Management Plan, creating new king salmon sportfishing opportunities for resident anglers while working to protect crucial hatchery broodstock. Last year’s controversial closure of freshwater fishing for king salmon in Blind Slough prompted a community driven effort to change the area’s salmon management plan. Proposal 159, developed by the Petersburg Fish and Game Advisory Committee with input from community mem...
This month the Petersburg Indian Association (PIA) was honored at the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet with the Community Impact Award — for transforming local transportation infrastructure through decades of partnerships, generosity, and community engagement. Glowing with pride as she presented the award, Petersburg Parks and Recreation Director Stephanie Payne described the partnership between the borough and PIA “in creating and maintaining trails for the community, along with ro...
Six fathers of Mitkof Dance Troupe students will bravely step into the spotlight this Saturday competing to be crowned Mr. MDT in a male pageant fundraiser to raise money for updates to the dance studio’s facilities. The event, taking place at the Elks Ballroom, features dads who answered the call after some persistent recruitment tactics from the dance teachers. “We literally begged them,” said Kelsey Lambe, MDT dance teacher. “We wrote them letters,” said fellow MDT teacher Olivia Reid. A few seemed willing, but mostly the letters went unan...
Petersburg Police Chief James Kerr presented the department’s annual report to the Petersburg Borough Assembly at last week’s assembly meeting, offering a summary of the department’s past year. Assembly Member Jeigh Stanton Gregor thanked Chief Kerr and Fire/EMS Director Aaron Hankins for “for taking the time to put those [reports] together for us.” And Stanton Gregor encouraged to the public to read through the reports which are included in the 2/18/25 meeting packet on the borough’s website. The Petersburg Police Department reported an increa...
Petersburg’s Emergency Services Director Aaron Hankins presented the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department’s 2024 annual report to the assembly last week. Hankins writes in the report, “2024 gave us a few hurdles to overcome with the resignation of our EMS Coordinator, changes within the officer corps, new regulations and aging equipment. Thankfully, with new leadership and staff in place, new recruits, and with help from the Title 3 USFS receipts we are looking like we are in a little better shape going into 2025.” “Response times remain on...
Budgets are tight for some schools in Alaska again this year, but in Petersburg, the borough budget is also tight. Borough officials are saying it’s going to be tough to get the Petersburg School District the local funding school officials say they desperately need. Last year the Petersburg borough’s budget was nearly $400 thousand dollars in the hole. At an assembly work session with the school board on February 6, Borough Manager Steve Geisbrecht said there will likely be similar problems this year. “I try not to be a downer at every meeting...
