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The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department donated a total of 987 person hours during the first quarter of 2021, according to the Fire Chief Jim Stolpe at the Borough Assembly meeting on Monday. "As always, we stand ready to help the citizens in their hour of need," said Stolpe. "Whether their issue is big or small, we're still here." Between Jan. and March 31, the fire branch of PVFD donated 516 person hours, the EMS branch donated 355 person hours and the search and rescue branch donated 116...
After last year's festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 62nd annual Little Norway Festival is slated to begin May 13. "I think everyone can't wait for it to happen," said Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Administrator Mindy Lopez. "There's some excitement in the air." Prior to the festival, free transportation across the Wrangell Narrows will be provided on May 8 for the City of Kupreanof Celebration Day from 8 A.M. to 4 P.M. The United States Forest Service is also hosting a...
Between Feb. 1 and March 31, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services identified 152 positive cases of COVID-19 among people in the state who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a report from DHSS. About 74 percent of the vaccine breakthrough cases, or 112 individuals, were among people who had received the Pfizer vaccine, according to the report. Thirty-eight percent of the breakthrough cases had received the Moderna vaccine, and one person had received the Johnson &...
Three cases of COVID-19 were identified within a single household over the course of two days this week, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The first two cases were identified on Tuesday by PMC within a single household. According to a joint press release, the two cases were travel related. Then on Wednesday, a third case was identified within the same household as the previous two cases. All three individuals have been directed to...
The Petersburg Pilot earned two awards presented by the Alaska Press Club this weekend. John Havrilek was awarded third place for his photo of a Bald Eagle perched against the backdrop of Petersburg Mountain. The Pilot staff was awarded third place for best weekly newspaper. Judges commented: "Good mix of pure news and advertiser-driven information for a very specific audience (yours). Nicely put together." The judges evaluated the work from three editions submitted from March, July and...
On Tuesday, the state reported 72.94 percent of Petersburg residents had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which was the second highest percentage in the state after Skagway Municipality. The Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard reported 51 percent of Petersburg residents had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday. The Petersburg Borough's COVID-19 Dashboard and the state's COVID-19 Dashboard show two different numbers for the percentage of local residents who have received at...
The Borough Assembly reviewed the proposed fiscal year 2022 budget at a work session on April 21, which has a balanced General Fund. In the proposed budget, the General Fund's total revenues and total expenditures equal $9,741,364 and is an overall increase of .39 percent from the adopted 2021 fiscal year budget, according to the proposed budget. The General Fund also uses a surplus of $231,805 to offset a loss in the state's reimbursement of the School Bond Debt payments. The General Fund's...
A story about updates to local health mandates on page two of last week’s edition of the Petersburg Pilot had a headline that implied all interstate travelers arriving into Petersburg are exempt from COVID-19 testing and isolation requirements. Only interstate travelers who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are exempt from those requirements....
Since January, Petersburg Medical Center has been operating with a negative bottom line, but Controller Rocio Tejera told the PMC Board of Directors at their meeting on April 22 that it's important to look at the year-to-date bottom line. On March 31, PMC reported a negative bottom line of $676,722 for the month, according to financial documents presented to the hospital board. However, the hospital has a positive year-to-date bottom line of $540,192. The bottom line is the hospital's total...
Petersburg High School was ranked the number one high school in Alaska in terms of academic success by the U.S. News & World Report for 2021. Rankings are based on the students' performance on state testing, graduation rates and how well they're prepared for college. Additionally, PHS was ranked 904 among all the high schools in the country, which is in the top 40 percent of schools. Statewide, 71 high schools were ranked by the U.S. News & World Report, and 17,857 schools were ranked...
Hammer & Wikan, Inc. kicked off a year's worth of celebrations on April 17 with their Founder's Day event to commentate the business's 100-year anniversary. The festivities began at the grocery store. Every person who entered the building was given a balloon, which could be redeemed for a gift. Guests were also given cake and coffee in a commemorative mug. They were also given the opportunity to enter a raffle to win a new barbecue. Later in the afternoon, the party continued at the hardware sto...
In 2000, Richard Sprague sold his practice and retired, but two years later he was back in his office practicing dentistry again. Now in 2021, Sprague will again be retiring at the age of 81. Sprague first moved to Petersburg in 1973 after graduating from dental school at the University of Oregon. At the time, Phil Beardslee had recently moved to town from Bethel and was practicing dentistry but was inundated with patients. Beardslee contacted the University of Oregon to see if any of the gradua...
The Borough Assembly approved an amendment to the interstate and international travel mandate on Monday to allow anyone coming into the community from outside of the state who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to forego testing and isolation requirements. The Emergency Operations Center recommended that Public Health Mandate #10 stay in place due to slow vaccination rates in other parts of the country but be amended to do away with testing and isolation requirements for incoming travelers...
The Alaska Marine Safety Education Association (AMSEA) will offer Fishing Vessel Drill Conductor class in Petersburg on May 4, 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM at The Scandia House. Interested mariners may register online at www.amsea.org or call (907) 747-3287. Instructor Chris Angel, will cover cold-water survival skills; EPIRBs, signal flares, and mayday calls; man-overboard recovery; firefighting; flooding and damage control; dewatering pumps, immersion suits and PFDs, helicopter rescue, life rafts, abandon ship procedures, and emergency drills....
Five cases of COVID-19 were reported in the community in the last seven days, one of which has been removed from the active local case count, according to the Petersburg Borough's COVID-19 Dashboard. The first four cases were reported on April 15. Three of the cases were limited to one household and were travel related, according to a joint press release between the borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The fourth case and fifth case, which was reported on April 16, are thought to have been...
Anyone arriving in Petersburg from another Alaskan community are no longer mandated to test for COVID-19 before and after their arrival in town after the Borough Assembly voted in favor of terminating Public Health Mandate #9 at their meeting on Monday. Instead, the assembly approved Public Health Alert #4. The health alert includes most of the same language as Public Health Mandate #9, but it recommends, not mandates, all intrastate travelers arriving at the James A. Johnson Airport and at the...
The State of Alaska is proposing to convey and reject land selected by the Petersburg Borough in Thomas Bay as part of a general grant land entitlement in a preliminary land decision. The borough has selected 701 acres of land near the Patterson River, according to the state's preliminary decision. The state's Land Conveyance Section is proposing to convey approximately 616 acres of state owned vacant, unappropriated, unreserved general grant land to the borough. Of the total acreage selected...
Since the fall of 1989, Patrick Wilson has been the plant manager for Icicle Seafoods, later OBI Seafoods, but this summer he'll be leaving Petersburg to enjoy a retirement split between the Bahamas and Washington state. Originally from the greater Seattle area, Wilson got his start in the seafood business in 1975. He took a job working for Cossack Caviar in Seattle, because he heard the company sent workers to Alaska during the summers. "I thought that was pretty exciting," said Wilson. "It...
Nikolai Wendel has taken over as plant manager at OBI Seafoods, bringing 13 years of cannery experience with him. He arrived in town in late January, and following a two week quarantine, began transitioning into the role of plant manager. Wendel is taking over from longtime plant manager Patrick Wilson who will be retiring this summer. Wendel first experienced Southeast Alaska on a cruise through the Inside Passage after graduating from high school in 2007. It was then that he discovered that th...
The Petersburg Borough will have to wait until June 2 to see its first cruise ship of the season following a change to the local tour ship schedule. In December, eight ships were expected to make a combined 85 stops in Petersburg. As of April 10, seven ships will be making a total of 66 stops. The Alaskan Dream will be the first cruise ship to stop in Petersburg on June 2. Previously, National Geographic's Venture was going to dock in town and kick off the local cruise ship season on May 11....
The 2021 tanner crab harvest in Southeast Alaska was the fourth largest tanner harvest in the last 15 seasons, according to preliminary data from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. In Registration Area A, which includes the inside waters of Southeast Alaska, the preliminary estimate of harvest for the 2021 tanner crab fishery is 1.26 million pounds of reported landings among 70 permit holders. Additionally, the harvest exceeded the 2020 run by 52,500 pounds, according to preliminary data....
OBI Seafoods employed about 90 local residents for the 2021 tanner crab season in an effort to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19 in the community, according to Plant Manager Nikolai Wendel. Additionally, the production season lasted just 10 days. Any employees who would have been brought into town from outside of the community would have had to arrive two weeks prior to the season to quarantine themselves. "To bring a crew up this early and quarantine them for two weeks for ten days worth...
The local Emergency Operations Center will be presenting the Borough Assembly with recommendations to change some local health mandates at their meeting on Monday. Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said the EOC's recommendations tie into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention move towards loosening COVID-19 protocols for Americans who are fully vaccinated against the virus. The recommendations also come at a time when Petersburg is reporting zero active cases of COVID-19 for the first tim...
The lawns and flower beds around town have been immaculately kept for the last two decades thanks to the Petersburg Borough's groundskeeper, but, at the end of the month, Jesse O'Connor will be retiring. He first joined the City of Petersburg in 1996 as an assistant groundskeeper. Several months later he transferred over to the city's bailer facility where he worked until 2000 when he became the head groundskeeper for the city. "Once I started doing the gardening, I didn't want to do anything...
The Petersburg School Board passed a board policy that outlines professional boundaries between staff and students in its first reading at their meeting on Tuesday. Board Policy 5141.42 identifies boundary invasions that are inappropriate for Petersburg School District staff, volunteers and other members of the community to cross when dealing with a student. Examples include, taking an undue interest in a particular student, using poor judgement in relation to a particular student, becoming...
