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State troopers arrested a Kake man last week after he sat in a Chevrolet pickup truck and allegedly sprayed semi-automatic gunfire into a construction site trailer with eight people inside, leaving no one hospitalized or shot. Jacob Hallingstad, 46, was arrested on Thursday in connection to the shooting in Kake. Nine charges were doled to him at a felony first hearing in Petersburg over the weekend, to which he teleconferenced from the Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau. Sgt. Nicholas Zito with the Alaska State Troopers filed a report...
The summer months in Petersburg were cool and packed with nearly 30 inches of rain, leading into a winter season that forecasters are hard-pressed to calculate. Petersburg felt the third rainiest summer on record, placed behind 2014 and 2015, according to the National Weather Service in Juneau. The average temperatures ranked toward the middle, with cooler highs and warmer lows – a perfect recipe for about 28 inches of rainfall from June through August. As for winter, and predicting its weather, forecasters say it could be warm, cold, snowy o...
WRANGELL — Eleven Wrangell high school students took part in a two-day workshop, enabling their certification to conduct fishing vessel drills. Secondary schools principal Bill Schwan explained the 18-hour instructional course was provided through a grant with Alaska Marine Safety Education Association, a Sitka-based organization which provides marine safety training for a variety of nautical activities across the country. Its Coast Guard-approved fishing vessel drill conductor trainings focus on safety issues pertinent to commercial f...
WRANGELL - Finalized designs to replace existing facilities at Shoemaker Bay Harbor have been greenlighted by the Wrangell Assembly. Built by the state in 1977, management of the harbor and responsibility for its upkeep were devolved to the city in 2003. The wood-and-iron floats have since reached the limits of their useful life, and plans to replace them with a more modern design have been in the works for several years. A design for new floating facilities and a dredging of the harbor was put...
Standing in front of nine fourth graders and a lettuce patch, Christina Sargent began her instructions: "They are tools, not toys," she said, signaling to a pair of garden scissors. "May I please use the big, fat scissors?" asked one fourth grader, who took a black pair and began snipping lettuce from the elementary school garden in Petersburg. It was close to noon on Wednesday, the middle of National School Lunch Week, and K-5th graders were about to participate in "Harvest Soup Day." They had...
An Alaskan campaign to protect fish from harmful mine runoff is not anti mining, it just wants a seat at the table, and the Petersburg Assembly agreed last week. The assembly approved a resolution in support of the enforcement of the Boundary Waters Treaty in the Southeast Alaska and British Columbia transboundary region. Salmon Beyond Borders has been touring Southeast Alaska, coaxing local governments to support a resolution to protect against pollution from mines, said Melanie Brown, a coordinator with the group. Brown said the organization...
An electrical component on the Pilot printing press failed on Thursday morning, causing a delay in delivery of the paper to our customers this week. This week's paper will be printed by a Seattle printer on Thursday afternoon, and is expected to arrive on the morning Alaska Airlines flight to Petersburg on Saturday. Thank you to our customers for your patience as we deal with this unexpected delay... Full story
Mark Jensen, who resigned in May over a distaste for borough decisions, was unofficially re-elected as mayor on Tuesday, beating his opponent by 135 votes. Jensen received 631 votes, and his opponent, Cindi Lagoudakis, received 496. After Jensen resigned in May, then vice mayor Lagoudakis filled the role. They both were hesitant to run. Jensen spent about four years as mayor when Petersburg was a city and when it became a borough. A disagreement with the proposed restructuring of Power & Light...
Fluoride will remain in the Petersburg water supply and ATVs will remain prohibited to drive on borough streets, two of the many decisions made after 1,159 ballots were cast in the election on Tuesday. Propositions #6 and #7 were struck down handily by voters in Petersburg. The question that asked whether to keep fluoride was voted against 692 times, with 430 in favor. Phil Beardslee, a retired dentist in Petersburg who is pro fluoride, was wary of the voter turnout before the election, until he noticed about 43 percent of the population...
Jeff Meucci and Brandi Marohl were added to the borough assembly Tuesday night, unofficially deciding the six-person race for two vacant seats. Meucci, who was appointed to the assembly in June, regained his seat and led in votes with 528. “I want to thank Cindi [Lagoudakis] and Bob [Lynn] for their time and efforts as our mayor and assembly member,” Meucci said after the election. “I want to thank the people who voted for me. I am humbled by their confidence in me.” Meucci said he will focus on developing Scow Bay, finishing an evaluat...
Barry Morrison, 38, was named President and General Manager of The Trading Union, Inc. at a shareholder's meeting in April of this year. Morrison succeeds A. Ken Slavin who has managed the company since 1975 and was named President in 1979. Morrison said he purchased a majority of the shares from Slavin. Slavin passed away last month. Morrison visited from his home in Sitka 10 years ago and offered to help out at the store for two weeks. He never returned to Sitka and has worked in every...
The waitlist to get into the only state licensed children’s center in Petersburg is decreasing in some places and remaining high in others, despite a second expansion in two years, said Heidi Cabral, the director. “I don’t know if I’ve improved it,” Cabral said, after which a board member interrupted to praise her for managing another prolonged licensing agreement. “I’ve kept it running,” Cabral commented. Heidi Cabral has directed the Petersburg Children’s Center for nearly three months. She is the third director in a year, and she was met w...
The five propositions that didn’t ask about fluoride or ATVs all passed except one, and 15 board members were added to Petersburg leadership after the uncertified municipal election brought out 43 percent of the voters. The school board had a contested race between two write-in candidates, which was too close to call Tuesday night. Janine Gibbons took the seat with 211 votes and Meredith Evens 180. Gibbons will serve a three-year term. Sarah Pawuk Holmgrain ran uncontested to fill a two-year term and received 925 votes. Meanwhile, voters decide...
King Salmon Due to conservation concerns, the retention of king salmon is prohibited in all Southeast Alaska salt waters, including the Petersburg/Wrangell area. This closure went into effect 12:01am, Thursday, August 10, 2017 and will continue until October 1, 2017. After 12:01 a.m. October 1, 2017 sport fishing will open to king salmon fishing in salt water with the following regulations: Residents: ● Bag and possession limit is two king salmon, 28 inches or greater in length. ● Residents may use two rods when fishing for king salmon fro...
The Petersburg-Wrangell area moose harvest seems set to break 100 again this year, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. So far 67 moose have been checked in during the first 18 days of the monthlong hunt. Petersburg ADFG wildlife biologist Rich Lowell explained that generally the larger share of bulls are killed during the first half of the season. Over the past eight years the final two-week average has seen around 45 moose harvested, ranging from a low of 36 to a high of 57. The number of moose taken illegally in the district...
On Sept. 26, at about 7 p.m., Juneau based Alaska State Troopers who were visiting the community of Kake responded to a report of an unconscious male found not breathing in the woods approximately 23 miles southeast of Kake near a logging road. Investigation revealed Ronnie Waggoner, 78 of Klawock, was found unresponsive face down in the woods by his hunting party in an area that he frequently hunted moose. Waggoner was transported to the Kake SEARHC clinic where he was declared deceased. No foul play is suspected and next of kin has been...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP ) — Southeast Alaska was hit hard in 2016 by government job losses and a lull in fishing production, but the tourism industry continues to grow, a state economy expert said. Economic development officials with the Southeast Conference found that the region lost 750 state jobs throughout the past three years, a nearly 15 percent drop, CoastAlaska News reported. Meilani Schijvens, who wrote the report for the conference, said that loss of wages is similar to a large mine being shut down in Southeast Alaska. “It’s actually sligh...
The Norwegian ambassador visited Petersburg last weekend to give presentations on the arctic and global warming, Glo Wollen thought, until the underlying agenda was revealed: presenting her a medal from the King of Norway. Wollen, the Sons of Norway president in Petersburg, organized a visit from Ambassador Kare Aas. Without telling her, Aas flew to town on Thursday and presented her the Saint Olav's Medal that evening at a dinner party. "I am still in shock," Wollen said. "This was a complete...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska state Sen. Mia Costello is trying to repeal a sweeping reform of the state’s criminal justice system that she supported in 2016. In the year and a half since the change, Alaska crime rates have increased, The Juneau Empire reported Wednesday. The new system promotes counseling, treatment and other alternatives to jail for low-level nonviolent crimes. “We need to clear the deck and start from the beginning,” said Costello, a Republican. The reform’s supporters have said it’s inappropriate to link the uptick in c...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The first-ever passenger jet converted for cargo use was unveiled Monday in Alaska, and the arrival spells the end for a unique plane configured for the nation’s largest state. Alaska Airlines spent $15 million to convert three 737-700s to carry diverse cargo — everything from animals to seafood to groceries to tires — to rural hub communities in this state with few roads. The two additional cargo planes are still undergoing the conversion process in Tel Aviv. The new planes increase the cargo capacity load for Alaska b...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —Alaska marijuana grower Mike Emers has been losing sleep with a vote fast approaching that he says could shutter his family’s business and financially ruin them. The statewide initiative that legalized recreational marijuana in 2014 allows local governments to ban pot businesses within their borders. And on Tuesday, voters in two of Alaska’s major marijuana-growing areas - including the Fairbanks area, where Emers operates Rosie Creek Farm - will decide whether to do so. If the proposed bans on marijuana growing, manuf...
Due to a production error, in the assembly candidate questionnaire in last week’s paper, the first and second answers by then-candidate Jeff Meucci were incorrect. Below are Mr. Meucci’s correct answers: 1) Why do you seek public office? A chance to help the community navigate a tough financial climate and to facilitate discussion within the community to find out what are important services and needs to make this a great place to live and raise a family. 2) Borough budgets are tightening. What are the first 3 budget cuts you would favor? I hav... Full story
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska weighed in on the current state of the Republican Party and President Donald Trump, saying she is concerned that the Republican Party might be becoming too exclusive and disjointed. “We seem to be more fractured within our party now than in the big-tent Ronald Reagan days,” Murkowski said. “And I worry about that; I worry about that.” Murkowski said the party used to lean less to the right and was more inclusive of differing views across the spectrum, the Ketchikan...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott has shot down a proposed ballot measure that calls for improved vetting of all projects that affect salmon streams, but supporters are trying to override his rejection. Superior Court Judge Mark Rindner will hear oral arguments in an appeal Tuesday, The Juneau Empire reported. Mallott last month ruled the measure unconstitutional, and thus invalid for the 2018 ballot. The measure is proposed by Mike Wood of the Susitna River Coalition, Gayla Hoseth of Dillingham and Brian Kraft of Anchorage. It c...
Volunteer firefighters in Petersburg received stipend hikes this week amounting to $240 each a year, a decision made unanimously by the assembly in a meeting this week. “Without these leaders in this department, we wouldn’t have a functioning unit,” said Eric Castro, an assembly member. “They should be better compensated for everything that they put forward.” The raise will apply to all volunteers besides the fire chief. There are 13 volunteers who will receive $20 more a month. This will cost...
