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Petersburg Borough Assembly members brought up the idea of keeping and expanding the U.S. Coast Guard presence in town after attending the Alaska Municipal League Conference last month. Assembly member Bob Lynn said many coastal communities across Alaska want the same thing. “What I also came away with was everybody right now is scrambling for ways to generate revenues for our communities,” Lynn said. “They would like to have more Coast Guard presence and they’re actually beginning to vie for some of the 154 class vessels in their area....
SITKA — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced this week the preliminary guideline harvest level (GHL) for the 2016 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery is 15,674 tons based on a 20% harvest rateof a forecast mature biomass of 78,372 tons. To forecast biomass, the department uses an age structured analysis model using a long time series of egg abundance and age composition data from department surveys conducted during and following the spring fishery. Herring egg abundance is estimated using aerial surveys designed to map the length o...
Catholic parishioners of Wrangell and Petersburg were disheartened to learn the priest serving both communities has been hospitalized while visiting family in California. Fr. Thomas Weise, 46, was taken ill late Nov. 25 after experiencing cardiac arrest. As of Dec. 1 he remains in intensive care, and is in a critical but stable condition. Weise is the pastor at St. Rose of Lima parish in Wrangell and St. Catherine of Siena parish in Petersburg, splitting his time between both communities. He was...
(Updated November 28, 2015 @ 2:35 p.m.) Amongst the rumors and speculation pulsing through Petersburg’s streets and social media news feeds last weekend, a Johnson Space Center NASA scientist points to data that suggests a falling meteor shook Mitkof Island last Saturday morning, which could mean many Petersburg residents woke up to the flash of a fireball and the blast of a sonic boom. John Havrilek witnessed what he described as a blinding streak of light and the sound of an explosion. ... Full story
Petersburg Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht provided a rundown on the latest details concerning the borough’s boundary dispute along with the comprehensive and waterfront master plans at its November 23 meeting. The plans—documents that guide long-term community planning and growth over the next two decades—are in their final stage and will be formally presented to the assembly in early December. Major additions to the harbor master plan include a condition assessment of the harbor facilities. “That was the big piece that was missing from th... Full story
After last year’s Legislative session, all state agencies are working on reduced budgets due to low oil prices, including Alaska Department of Transportation (ADOT). The agency’s expenses are paid for by the state general funds and that funding goes to maintenance and operations of roads, airports and the Marine Highway System. “When we receive a reduction in our operating, really the only area in the department’s budget that we can make these reductions in, is the operations and maintenance of our roads, airports or ferry system,” says ADOT...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved a letter supporting grant funding towards the Alaska Department of Fish and Game local knowledge study of salmon fisheries in southeast Alaska. “The proposed project is important to our community as a means of archiving and disseminating our cultural heritage as it relates to local salmon fisheries and the stocks that sustain them,” the letter states. “We support the collection of local and traditional knowledge that is held among our community members. Documenting this knowledge and making it avail...
When Kate Smith moved to town she immediately found the community welcoming, and the fact she found a cute cream-colored house to live in just made it that much sweeter. Smith came to Petersburg just over two months ago to take a clinician position at Petersburg Mental Health (PMH). "I really like it a lot, everyone here is so friendly," Smith says. "It's such a wonderful community, everyone is so sweet. It's been great so far." In 2012, Smith graduated with a master's degree in social work from...
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Amidst the more commonplace reports of neighbors playing loud music or callers reporting "suspicious activity" in the Petersburg Pilot's police report, another complaint is making a regular appearance. The complaint, or some variation of it, has appeared in the police report nearly every week for the past several months: "A caller reported religious pamphlets littered along the roadway." The litter or pamphlets, as reported, consist of two tracts, about the size of Monopoly money and around 20... Full story
Hammer and Wikan is attempting to purchase land from the Petersburg Borough in order to expand the square footage of their grocery store. The expansion process would double the size of the back room of the store, and move the receiving dock from the front parking lot of the store to the rear of the building. “It would make it a lot easier to get around, it would give us more room,” says Larry Martin, CEO of Hammer and Wikan. “We would be able to put a lot of Costco products in there.” Martin says the Hammer and Wikan board of directors began t... Full story
The president of the Ministerial Association Bob Carter, is also the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, and he oversees the Samaritan's Purse local Operation Christmas Child program. The annual program brings local churches and community members together to fill up shoe boxes with meaningful gifts for underprivileged children living in poverty. "It's been picking up every year, and the folks in town are very enthusiastic about these boxes," Carter says. "We have some people that go... Full story
Petersburg School District administrators and teachers are wondering what's next after the state released results from the new Alaska Measures of Progress (AMP) testing assessments. PSD students scored higher than the state average, but scores in every grade were below the median level in mathematics. (Note that median is not a measure of average, but the middle number in any list of numbers and is sometimes more accurate than an average score if data is relatively skewed.) Fifty percent of...
The results of the 2015 School Climate and Connectedness Survey Report are in and have given the Petersburg School District a gauge of how the district is perceived to be operating. It was a survey taken last spring by students and staff. They answered a different set of questions based on multiple categories like peer climate and school safety. Funding for the survey went through the district’s healthy living grant, and was administered by the Alaska Association of School Boards. “The initial reaction is good,” says Principal Rich Dorme...
Viking wrestlers headed to Craig last weekend for three days of nonstop matches with teams including Craig, Ketchikan, Mt. Edgecumbe and Wrangell. Fourteen wrestlers made the trip and many of them got ten or more matches in a scramble style tournament, according to assistant coach Robert Schwartz. “It’s been kind of a rough season, but it was a good weekend,” he says. “Lots of experience and time on the mat.” Israel Collison won most of his matches with pins, and his technique continues to improve. Collison lost to the number one wrestler in th...
WRANGELL - At 2:18 pm on Wednesday, following a search by the United States Coast Guard and Alaska State Troopers, the body of an adult white male was located floating in Earl West Cove approximately 12 air miles southeast of Wrangell. The body was transported and positively identified as Kenneth Trammel by next of kin in Wrangell. The body will be transported to the State Medical Examiner's Office for autopsy. The vessel has not been located. Relatives of 53-year-old Kenneth Trammel reported...
WRANGELL —Wrangell’s power infrastructure may be on the blink if left as it is, according to an electric system study presented in June. Conducted by Juneau-area consultancy Electric Power Systems, the study identified a number of infrastructural needs Wrangell will need to focus on over the coming five years. The two largest problems it identified were the state of Wrangell’s utility poles and its backup power generation capabilities. Most of the borough’s utility poles have reached or surpassed their life expectancy. Fifty percent are mor...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —Alaska is facing multibillion-dollar deficits amid chronically low oil prices and relying on savings to help balance the budget. That's not sustainable, and is leaving first-term Gov. Bill Walker with some tough choices as he drafts the next budget. One of those decisions could reduce the amount of the yearly check nearly every Alaskan receives just for living in the state. The dividend, long seen as political dynamite to anyone who tries to tinker with it, could be affected as state leaders look for ways to close the g...
In a media release last month, the United States Forest Service Alaska Region announced it is proposing a system-wide cabin rental fee adjustments for the Chugach and Tongass national forests. The two forests are managed by 13 ranger districts, which together maintain 184 cabins year-round for public use. For visitors and residents alike, public cabins become the hub for a variety of recreational trips, from nature walks, family gatherings, hunting and sport fishing to subsistence use. Cabins are most regularly booked during the summer and...
The Clausen Museum Board hired Petersburg local Kathi Riemer as the new Museum Director this month. Riemer, retired administrator from the Juneau School District, said she plans to bring her skills from that position to the museum. "I have a lot of experience with the administrative part and the people," Riemer said. "I'm from here and I know a lot of the history. My kids are fourth generation graduates of Petersburg High School." Riemer spent the past several days moving into her new office,...
In the early-2000s, the Alaska National Guard (ANG) relied upon a rural presence. Guardsmen of that rural force were deployed to Iraq in 2005 and 2006, which was the first time ANG members were deployed to a combat zone since WWII, according to Guardsman Matthew Duddles. The ANG rural presence sharply declined after the deployments ended, and the decline continues to this day with the 761st Military Police Battalion of the Guard in Southeast scheduled to be deactivated by the end of 2017.... Full story
Tom Lewis recently celebrated his 94th birthday, it was a Monday, and the fact that it was his birthday didn't change his Monday routine. Every Monday morning, he takes a cake or pie up to the residents at Long Term Care. He refers to the residents as "inmates." The term isn't meant to be offensive, quite the opposite, it's just because he is so active and full of life. Lewis lives on his own, cooks for himself, and still has a driver's license and drives himself around town or out the road to p... Full story
The Petersburg School Board delayed a vote on its new memorial policy so board members can receive more feedback from the public. The policy would, in part, limit the display of student memorials to a two-week period. The memorial policy has sparked a variety of reactions from community members, some of whom expressing frustration because previous Petersburg High School student Jake Madsen’s memorial would be taken down should the School Board approve the policy. Madsen passed away after a hunting accident in 2008 and his friends and basketball... Full story
PSD Superintendent Erika Kludt Painter discussed the Alaska Measures of Progress (AMP) scores—a new state adopted standardized test that students completed for the first time last spring. Kludt Painter said the tests are totally different than what students are used to and they’ve been expecting scores to reflect that. The AMP standards are higher than previous tests and measures English language arts and mathematics for grades 3-10. “It came in pretty much what we thought which is they don’t look the same as they used to,” Kludt Painter s...
WRANGELL — The Alaska Marine Highway System has been taking public comment for its ferry schedule for the coming summer. From Bellingham, Wash., to Skagway, concerned user groups of the regional transportation network participated in a teleconference, hosted in Ketchikan Nov. 4. A draft schedule has been available for review, and patterns in the draft have been based on an assumed funding level for the 2017 fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2016. Reductions in service to some communities over the previous year’s schedule reflect $25 mil...
