Sorted by date Results 1410 - 1434 of 5553
Since the mid-80s, Pacific Wings has been offering air taxi service for tourists and locals alike throughout Southeast Alaska, but economic hardships that the company has been facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the business to shut its doors. "This COVID thing hit us pretty hard," said owner Tyler Robinson. "Between the COVID thing and all the travel mandates, we pretty much lost all our springtime visits." Pacific Wings had been anticipating a busy spring and summer this yea...
For 33 years, Cole Rhoden has been flying for Pacific Wings, but due to a loss in business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company is shutting down. After his last flight on Friday, Rhoden said he was forced into retirement. About 30 people gathered at the Petersburg Airport Friday afternoon to greet Rhoden as he completed his last flight with Pacific Wings. While those in attendance cheered as Rhoden got off the Cessna 185 aircraft, for Rhoden, the moment was a bittersweet end to his...
Ocean Beauty Seafoods LLC and Icicle Seafoods, Inc. will be merging their wild salmon and Gulf of Alaska groundfish operations effective June 1, the two companies announced in a joint-statement on Friday, May 29. Both companies will each own a 50 percent stake in the new company, which will be called OBI Seafoods LLC. The company looks to modernize processing facilities and combine marketing product expertise. The merger has been in the works since the fall of 2018, said Mark Palmer, president a...
The borough assembly approved the Emergency Operations Center to answer a survey from the Alaska Municipal League regarding the presence of cruise ships in Alaska and also heard concerns over cruise ships arriving in port. The assembly had the option to hold a special meeting to provide input on the survey, but the assembly members felt comfortable with the EOC answering the questions. Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said the communities at a recent AML meeting were cautious and showed...
With the upcoming expiration of the state's health mandate that requires anyone arriving in the state to quarantine for 14 days, Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said at the COVID-19 community update Wednesday that the borough hasn't received much information from the state on what will happen next. Last Friday, Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced plans to change state health mandate #10 in a press conference. He mentioned that the Petersburg and Wrangell airports would be supported by state...
Nels Nielsen spent last Friday at the Petersburg Post Office like it was any other day. He helped customers retrieve long awaited packages and mail letters. The only thing that was different were the balloons hanging throughout the lobby congratulating him on his retirement after 28 years with the United States Postal Service. Originally from northern California, Nielsen arrived in Petersburg in 1978 to work at Petersburg Fisheries. After 14 years working at the cannery, he began working at the...
The borough assembly passed the borough's fiscal year 2021 operating budget in its third reading on Monday, which has $9,702,871 in both total revenues and total expenditures. The first draft of the budget showed expenditures for the general fund totaling $9,838,846, but was balanced out equally by $9,838,846 in revenues. The total amount of revenues and expenditures change throughout the three readings of the budget as a result of the seven amendments made to it. The most recent amendment was...
Petersburg Medical Center has spent about $430,000 in costs related to COVID-19, as of Friday's Board of Directors' meeting, according to PMC Controller Rocio Tejera. Tejera said much of April was spent dealing with COVID-19 related activities and searching for financial aid. In April alone, PMC spent $321,000 in COVID-19 related expenses, such as overtime, supplies and equipment. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to cover 75 percent of the hospital's COVID-19 related costs,...
A lack of skilled trade workers has caused both the borough and businesses in town to struggle to fill open positions, which can result in a loss of income and an increase in the time it takes to get a project done. Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said when the borough advertises a job it first looks in-house for anyone who wants to move up to another position. After several weeks, the borough will advertise city wide, before advertising the position throughout the state. Despite the borough...
Petersburg Medical Center has begun operating under a red, yellow and green format that correlates to the risk of COVID-19 in the community and state which guides the hospital in its operations, according to PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter in his report to the PMC Board of Directors at their meeting last Thursday. "It does allow us to be more dynamic and flexible based on what we see in the community," said Jennifer Hyer, chief of staff at PMC. On Thursday, May 28, PMC was operating under a green state...
The Reduce Plastic Use Petersburg Group got together last week to talk about what its members have done to promote awareness of the problems of plastic usage. "Our goal has been to increase the awareness of the problems of plastic and the marine plastic in particular and try to influence behavior, which is a challenge," said Sunny Rice at the virtual meeting last week. Gina Esposito began the presentation with a talk on plastic items that have escaped the waste stream and made its way into the e...
King Salmon King salmon regulations for areas where Alaska hatchery produced king salmon will be returning have now been announced. Starting June 1, king salmon will be open to retention inside the Wrangell narrows terminal harvest area and within the Anita Bay terminal harvest area. The City Creek release site will open to king salmon retention on June 15. Please see the link to emergency orders at the bottom of this page for boundary lines along with bag and possession limits. This information is also posted at boat harbors and launches....
Several Coast Guard Personnel are in Petersburg until noon on Fri., June 5 to conduct dockside safety exams on commercial fishing vessels. If interested, sign up at the harbormaster’s office. The exams are free, take about an hour and help ensure vessels are being operated safely and legally. Vessels passing their exam will be issued a decal good for two years. Prior to the exam, go to www.fishsafewest.info, to create a customized checklist of federal requirements for their vessel. Prior to each dockside exam, a COVID19 Risk Assessment form w...
On page 8 of last week’s edition of the Pilot, a photo of Adam Ware in the graduation parade was incorrectly identified as being Tani Hansen....
On April 20, Stacey Dahl left Petersburg and arrived in New York City. She was there to help in the COVID-19 pandemic. Dahl would spend the next three weeks working in "the hot zone" of a lower Manhattan hospital on a designated COVID-19 floor as a nurse. Dahl's journey started three years ago when with some time on her hands she registered to be part of the International Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) with Samaritan's Purse (SP) organization to do some volunteer work. She had...
In an unorthodox graduation ceremony that began with a parade throughout town and ended with the viewing of a video of Petersburg High School seniors wearing their graduation garb and giving speeches, the Class of 2020 completed their high school careers on Tuesday. Thirty-six seniors graduated Monday, and of those seniors, 24 have plans to attend college in the fall or near future. Four students will be learning a trade. Kole Sperl, like his brother before him, plans on attending flight school...
Petersburg Public Health Nurse Erin Michael warned the public that as people's lives change and adapt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they can begin to feel depressed and suicidal. At the COVID-19 community update on Wednesday, May 27, Micheal said the state reported an increase in emergency room visits related to suicide. She said it's not uncommon for people to feel anxious or depressed as they deal with the pandemic. Some specific causes of depression brought on by the pandemic can be a lack...
Since Gov. Mike Dunleavy's phase two and three of his Reopen Alaska Responsibly Plan went into effect Friday, businesses have been able to operate without mandated restrictions. Some businesses, however, are still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic and the state health mandates that followed. One of the first state health mandates that affected businesses restricted restaurants to take out orders only. Papa Bear's Pizza complied and only allowed customers to enter the building to pick up their...
After seven superintendents, five principals, countless teachers and 30 years, Administrative Assistant Irene Littleton is just about ready to retire from the Petersburg School District. It was August 1990 when Littleton first joined the school district. She was born and raised in Petersburg, but she had moved away for awhile and had finally returned home. When she first got back, she briefly worked for a local chiropractor before taking a job as the secretary of Rae C. Stedman Elementary...
State health officials held a virtual work session with the borough on May 27 that updated the community on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in Alaska. Joe McLaughlin, chief of epidemiology in the state, opened the work session with a brief presentation on the virus. He said the state isn't entirely sure what the total number of COVID-19 cases are in Alaska because not everyone has been tested for the virus. It is possible that there might be double or even triple the amount of cases than...
Ocean Beauty Seafoods LLC and Icicle Seafoods, Inc. will be merging their wild salmon and Gulf of Alaska groundfish operations effective June 1, the two companies announced in a joint-statement on Friday, May 29. Both companies will each own a 50 percent stake in the new company, which will be called OBI Seafoods LLC. The company looks to modernize processing facilities and combine marketing product expertise. The merger has been in the works since the fall of 2018, said Mark Palmer, president a... Full story
The borough assembly approved a letter of agreement with the Petersburg Municipal Employees Association at their assembly meeting on Monday that includes a two percent raise that will go into effect on July 1, 2020. The letter of agreement extends the term of the 2017-2020 collective bargaining agreement, which was set to expire on June 30, 2020. Negotiations between the two parties to discuss a new three-year contract were to begin in April, but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The...
American Cruise Lines has 11 stops planned for Petersburg this season, with the first docking taking place at the end of June, according to ACL CEO Charles B. Robertson. ACL's American Constellation is planning to dock in Petersburg on June 21 and June 29, the first of the cruise lines' expected stops in town. The two sailings will begin in Juneau and make their way counterclockwise through Southeast Alaska. Nine more stops are planned in Petersburg through the summer, with the last trip being...
The borough assembly passed the borough's fiscal year 2021 operating budget in its second reading on Monday after making six amendments to it. The first draft of the budget shows expenditures for the general fund totaling $9,838,846, but it's balanced out equally by $9,838,846 in revenues. The first amendment to the budget removes an additional building maintenance position back into the Public Works Department, resulting in a savings to the borough of $117,445. The second amendment increased th...
The borough assembly unanimously approved the extension of an emergency ordinance that allows the assembly and certain staff members of the borough to put civil emergency provisions in place in the event of a civil emergency for another 60 days. Emergency ordinance #2020-08 was first adopted on March 20 and had an expiration date of May 18. The assembly extended that expiration date in emergency ordinance #2020-17 on Monday by an additional 60 days, though the emergency mandate can be repealed...
