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Six counterfeit $50 bills have been collected by the Petersburg police department in the last month, said authorities. Patrol officer Carl Tate said he has been investigating the counterfeit bills and has created a suspect group. It is still unclear as to whether the bills are being made in town or are being brought in. At least four of the counterfeit bills appear to be made by the same individual or from the same batch, said Tate. "I advise the general public if you get a $50 bill or a high...
Elizabeth Walsh became the new director of the Clausen Memorial Museum on June 1, after a seamless transition from the previous director Kathi Riemer. After hearing about the opening while finishing up her undergraduate degree in sociocultural anthropology at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Walsh, a resident of Petersburg, applied for the position as the new director of the museum. She was then hired by the museum's board of trustees. "Lizzie had a lot of qualifications that we needed," said...
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) is chip sealing in Petersburg to seal cracks and provide a new road surface on Mitkof Highway from Papke’s Landing Road to the end of the road. Depending on weather, chip sealing operations could last between 2-6 weeks. Machinery will be on the road, painted centerline markings will not be present, and speed and other road conditions will be changing. Pay close attention to sign and flagger directions for safety. After machinery is gone and speed restrictions are lifted, g...
Philip Hofstetter became Petersburg Medical Center's new CEO earlier this month and already has plans to bring some improvements to the facility. As he begins his first few weeks as CEO, Hofstetter is taking the time to become familiar with the different departments and how they operate, he said. He is also focused on meeting as many people in the facility and in the community to get a sense of what is done well and what needs improvement. "It seems there's a lot of people from the community tha...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Bill Walker rescinded a judicial appointment for a Juneau defense attorney after reading her comments from an old legal brief. Walker initially chose attorney Julie Willoughby to fill the Juneau Superior Court vacancy, but he later selected municipal attorney Amy Mead, the Juneau Empire reported Monday. Scott Kendall, the governor’s chief of staff, said Walker told Willoughby she had the job but then called back two hours later saying he was going with a different candidate. Between the two calls, a staff mem...
On Monday organizers of the regional business development competition Path to Prosperity announced their 12 finalists for 2018, three of which come from Petersburg and Wrangell. Focused on encouraging entrepreneurship in Southeast Alaska communities, P2P is a programming partnership between Spruce Root Inc. and The Nature Conservancy. The latter is an environmental organization centered in Arlington, Virginia, while the former is a rebranding of Haa Aaní Economic Development and its associated...
The Borough Assembly voted on and approved the Annual Sales Tax Rebate for Qualified senior citizens in its third reading on Monday. Ordinance #2018-16, which replaces a section of the Petersburg Borough Code that exempts all qualifying senior citizens from having to pay sales tax, will now have the opportunity to be voted on by the voters in the Oct. 2 borough elections. "I really think that the seniors are going to stand up and show that they don't want the rest of the community to support them," said John Havrilek, as he thanked the assembly...
The Borough Assembly voted to opt-in on a class action lawsuit against the United States on Monday. The Petersburg Borough is one of the local governments which receive payment from the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Act, according to a noticed issued by the United States Court of Federal Claims. During the 2015, 2016 and 2017 fiscal years, the government did not pay the required full amounts to local governments under the PILT Act. The PILT Act is a federal statute that is designed to compensate local governments that lose tax revenues because...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved additional funding for the upper dam spillway rehabilitation project. The original project bid came in under the $400,000 estimate at $219,720. The requested change order amount of $46,146.82 will still allow the contract to be completed within the original budget at $265,866.82, according to a cost proposal submitted by Larry Young. Since there was money left over in the original budget, borough manager Stephen Giesbrecht said there were some other problems with the dam that could be addressed. “This i...
From an early age, Polly Lee would expose her granddaughter to art. Whenever Lee would visit her granddaughter, Andrea Jordan, in Seattle, she would take Jordan to art museums. When Jordan was in Petersburg, she could be found in Lee's downstairs ceramic studio playing with the clay. Having studied art in college, Jordan has grown up and is a now designer. "I think she really helped me develop an appreciation for art at a young age," said Jordan. From the 1980s into the early 90s in the...
Brian J. Varela, 27, joined the Pilot staff last week arriving from Oxnard, Calif. He earned a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Religious Studies from California State University, Long Beach in May 2018. During his internship, he was a staff writer for the Long Beach 908 Magazine through May 2018 and compiled and wrote about local businesses that were featured in the magazine. Prior to that, he worked for Silver Bay Seafoods in Naknek, Alaska in the summer of 2017....
King Salmon Anglers are finding success harvesting king salmon over the last week although catch rates are slower than average. Anglers should be aware that different king salmon regulations apply depending on the area in which you are fishing: Waters adjacent to the Stikine River King salmon may not be retained in the marine waters adjacent to the Stikine River (district 8 and a small portion of district 7, in Eastern Passage) until July 15. For more information and a map of the area boundaries, please see the news release issued on March 29,...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Coast Guard rescued seven people from a lifeboat Friday morning in southeast Alaska waters after their fishing boat ran aground and sank. Coast Guard officials say the rescued people were in good condition when they were taken by a Coast Guard response boat crew to a pier in Thorne Bay. Officials say a search was launched after an emergency positioning beacon went off and the master of the 58-foot (18-meter) Mystic Lady issued a mayday broadcast reporting the vessel struck a rock and was quickly sinking. The C...
Forty miles with no motor, no support, no problem - summed up the thoughts of local resident Jake Hammer, 39, as he rowed a borrowed fiberglass rowboat from Port Townsend, Wash. to Victoria, B.C. in April. Hammer took a swing at his dream with a harried late entry in the Race to Alaska (R2AK), its fourth year in the running. He raced his 13-foot Davis replica rowboat with only a compass for navigation. He would also, because of a time constraint, only be able to do the first 40 miles of the...
WRANGELL - During Sealaska Corporation's annual shareholder's meeting, held this year in Wrangell late last month, the Native organization bestowed ownership of an important local landmark to its hosts. In remarks made during the meeting, corporation director Richard Rinehart explained he had recently put forward a proposal to the board to transfer ownership of Kiks.ádi Totem Park to Wrangell Cooperative Association, the community's federally-recognized tribal government. The Totem Park lies...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska state ferry was evacuated after crew members saw black smoke in a room. State transportation officials say the crew of the Columbia spotted the smoke in the bow thruster room after the vessel docked Friday in Bellingham, Washington. Crew members did not see flames. The crew deployed a carbon dioxide firefighting system. Ferry officials say no one was injured and all passengers were accounted for. They said passengers would be notified if the Columbia’s schedule would have to be modified. The Columbia at 418...
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) —Alaska’s economy should pick up given an increase in military spending and pro-energy policies of the Trump administration, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta said. Acosta toured areas of Interior Alaska with Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan on Sunday, stopping in spots in Fairbanks and King Salmon, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. On Monday, Acosta toured the Cook Inlet Tribal Council Employment and Training Center in Anchorage with U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, also a Republican. “The Lower 48’s economy is doing f...
The Estate of Molly Parks filed a Wrongful Death claim in Petersburg Superior Court on May 18 against the Petersburg Borough and the driver of the Parks and Rec. van, William “Chris” Allen. Parks, 18, was one of two persons killed on July 4, 2016 following a vehicle collision on N. Nordic Drive. The complaint states that Parks death was a result of Allen sustaining a seizure while driving the Parks and Rec. Dept. vehicle. Parks, Allen, Catherine Cardenas, 19, and Marie Giesbrecht, 19, were assigned to set up rest stations for the 4-mile Jul...
Members of the Petersburg Municipal Employees Association will receive a 1% raise each year of their 3-year agreement under the terms of the tentative settlement reached during negotiations with the Petersburg Borough. According to Joe Bertagnoli, a member of the negotiating team, the terms of the agreement are retroactive to July 1, 2017. The increases are applied to the Step C wages paid to employees with 1 year of service with the Borough. Previously the workers had rejected the Borough offer of a 1%-1%-0% wage hike over the three-year...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —Alaska is expected to receive more than $56 million in disaster relief for groups impacted by the drop in pink salmon numbers in the Gulf of Alaska. The Juneau Empire reports the money is part of the $200 million that the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is sending to struggling fisheries across the nation. In 2016, pink salmon runs around Alaska dipped dramatically. In southeast Alaska, revenue from pink salmon dropped 51 percent below a five-year average. Gov. Bill Walker said in a statement issued Thursday that t...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — The presence of risk factors for some chronic health problems was found to be higher in a sample of Alaska gillnetters than the general population, according to researchers. The study by researchers at the University of Washington and the University of Alaska Fairbanks showed that higher risk rates of hearing loss, musculoskeletal disorders and sleeping problems were found in the group of commercial fisherman in Cordova, Alaska, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Thursday. Aspects of the job like exposure to noise, the physi...
First Bank recently presented a check for $1,250 to the Petersburg Veterans Memorial Fund. The money was raised through a special bank-wide promotion during “May Military Appreciation Month.” A total of more than $9,400 was raised by First Bank branches in Petersburg, Wrangell, Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka and Prince of Wales, and distributed to 10 different military organizations in those communities. During the month of May, First Bank donated $25 for each deposit account opened during the month. Depositors were able to designate which org...
As the publicly-funded statewide community foundation, The Alaska Community Foundation (ACF) is proud to celebrate our local Petersburg Community Foundation for 10 years of commitment to strengthening the community through grantmaking, working with donors to help them support the causes they care about, and partnering with other organizations to improve the quality of life for all Petersburg residents. ACF believes that grantmaking and fundraising is managed most effectively at the local level. This is why The Alaska Community Foundation and...
WRANGELL - After 30 years on the bench, Wrangell's district magistrate will conclude her legal career today. Chris Ellis has served as a magistrate judge for First District Court in Wrangell for 14 of those years, with most of her preceding tenure spent in Craig. When she graduated with her bachelor's degree in 1973, law hadn't been on her mind, but Alaska was. "Basically I studied anthropology with a specialty in archaeology, and my goal was to come to Alaska," she said. Ellis found herself dra...
