Sorted by date Results 1332 - 1356 of 5553
Passengers onboard Dennis Rogers' charter boat, Northern Song, were treated to a rare surprise last Thursday, Aug. 6, when they witnessed a white killer whale hunting with two other orcas near Kake. "Everyone was ecstatic," said Rogers. "It's always a treat to come across killer whales, and then to have a white killer whale, which is super rare, was an extra treat." Rogers said he looked up the whale in a killer whale catalog produced by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and learned...
Alaska State Troopers continue to investigate a fatal accident that claimed the lives of four seine boat crewmembers sometime after 10 P.M. on Monday, July 27. A Ford Excursion driven by Siguard Decker drove off the roadway near the 27-mile marker of Mitkof Highway at a high rate of speed, according to Alaska State Troopers. Megan Peters, communications director with the Alaska Dept. of Public Safety said Siguard Decker, who was driving, seems to have had lost control of the vehicle and then...
Public Works Director Chris Cotta presented the assembly with a summary of the findings of a recent rate study on the borough's recycling program at their regular meeting on Monday that suggested possible rate increases to go along with four different scenarios for the program. Rate studies for the borough's water, wastewater and sanitation departments were conducted by FCS Group, based out of Washington, and cost a total of $42,000, said Cotta. The borough had been waiting for the results of...
Starting Aug. 11, non-residents entering the state of Alaska will have to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test result that was received within 72 hours prior to departure or proof that test results are pending. Pending test results that were taken within 72 hours prior to departure, will require the traveler to quarantine until receiving the results, according to Alaska's COVID-19 website. In addition to a negative or pending test result, non-residents can also pay $250 for a COVID-19 test upo...
The Petersburg Borough assembly passed a resolution at their meeting on Monday that transfers $778,000 from the borough's Coronavirus Aid, Revenue, and Economic Security Act special revenue fund to the Petersburg School District. As the school district prepares to reopen under a split in person and distance learning education schedule, the funding will go towards COVID-19 related expenditures, such as personnel costs, personal protection equipment and technology. "Implementing both the systems a...
Alaska Airlines announced on Wednesday that starting Aug. 7 all passengers ages two years and older must wear a face covering at all times while in the airport and onboard their aircraft, according to an Alaska Airlines press release. If a guest is unwilling or unable to wear a face covering while at the airport, they will not be permitted to travel, according to the press release. If a passenger on board a plane refuses to wear a face covering, that person will be suspended from future...
Petersburg Medical Center may receive a second cepheid testing unit that would increase the hospital's capacity to test for COVID-19 onsite from two tests per hour to six tests per hour, according to PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter at the PMC Board of Directors Meeting on Thursday, July 30. Because the rapid testing machine had yet to arrive at the hospital as of last week's board meeting, Hofstetter declined to go into detail about the machine or say definitively PMC would receive the machine. The...
Petersburg Medical Center ended its 2020 fiscal year with a gross operating revenue of $20,325,510, which is one percent over what the hospital had anticipated at the start of the fiscal year, according to PMC Controller Rocio Tejera at the PMC Board of Directors meeting on July 30. When deductions from revenue adjustments and allowances are made to the gross revenue, PMC still has a net operating revenue of $17,072,677 for the fiscal year. That number was two percent higher than what PMC had or...
The borough assembly agreed at their regular meeting on Monday to hold a remote town hall meeting on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 4 P.M. to inform the public on the details of the civil emergency provisions ordinance and allow members of the community to ask questions about the ordinance and suggest changes to it. The assembly was expected to pass ordinance #2020-19 at their regular meeting on Monday, July 20, which would have made the temporary civil emergency provisions a permanent part of borough...
King Salmon The entire Petersburg and Wrangell area is now open to marine king salmon fishing. King salmon bag limits were increased as of July 15th. The following regional king salmon regulations issued are in effect from now until August 15th: Alaska resident: • Daily bag and possession limit of 4 king salmon, 28 inches or greater in length. Nonresident: • Daily bag and possession limit of 2 king salmon, 28 inches or greater in length. • Annual limit of 6 king salmon. Anglers are remin...
Four individuals died in a car crash that occurred late Monday night or early Tuesday morning on Mitkof Island when their SUV drove off the roadway near the 27 mile marker of Mitkof Highway at a high rate of speed, according to a press release from the Alaska Department of Public Safety. Two of the passengers were Wrangell citizens Siguard Decker, 21, and Helen Decker, 19, according to the ADPS press release. Another passenger was identified as 29-year-old Ian Martin of Petersburg, according to...
With the retirement of one long time postal employee and the resignation of another, the Petersburg Post Office has been left short staffed, causing shorter window hours and longer wait times, according to James Boxrud, a spokesperson with the United States Postal Service. The local post office is normally staffed with four employees, including Postmaster Kim Aulbach. Recently, all the postal duties have fallen on Aulbach and one other employee while USPS prepares to send two employees from...
Two positive cases of COVID-19 have been identified among non-residents who arrived in the community on July 20, according to a joint-statement between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center on July 23. As of Wednesday morning, the borough was still reporting both positive cases of the virus as active. Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said on Friday, July 24 that the two individuals submitted test samples upon arrival at the James A. Johnson Airport and immediately got onto...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly extended the borough's temporary civil emergency provisions emergency ordinance for a third time at a special meeting on Friday, July 24 after three amendments were made to the document. The temporary civil emergency provisions ordinance lays out how the borough would respond to an emergency and the authority that the borough manager and incident commander have in an emergency situation. "I hope everybody on the assembly and the community can see the pandemic is...
In last week’s paper, the Petersburg Pilot published a story titled, “SEAPA awards bid for submarine cable,” which cited SEAPA Board Chairman Bob Lynn as saying SEAPA had awarded the submarine cable bid to Sumitomo, a Japanese firm. The Pilot was contacted on Thursday, July 23 by SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson after the paper was printed. He said SEAPA had only issued an intent to award the bid for the submarine cable and had not officially awarded the bid to Sumitomo. Acteson also corrected Lynn’s statement that the project was expected to cost be...
Since 1984, the building that houses the Petersburg Courthouse has been painted white with brown trim running along the top edge of the building and down the front, but the colors have been inverted in a recent paint job leaving residents to question the decision to paint a large downtown building brown. One might blame the owner of the building, Jesse Olson of Blue Glacier LLC, for the choice of paint, but he said he didn't pick the paint color. The Alaska Court System did. Olson bought the...
The Southeast Conference released the results of a business survey the organization conducted in June that shows all responding businesses, including those in Petersburg, reporting significant financial losses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. "It's basically a snapshot where businesses in the region think the economy is going," said Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Board Vice President Dave Kensinger. "We see the survey, and it's pretty grim." A total of 460 businesses from 23 communities in...
Beth Flor has been accepted in the 85th Cooperstown National Juried Exhibition. The oil painting Pie Day was selected by juror Emma Golden. The exhibit will be online this year due to Covid 19, running from July 10 - Aug. 13. The painting Red Door, Light-play was also chosen for inclusion this spring in The International Guild of Realisms Exhibit. It was Flor's first acceptance from the organization....
The United States Coast Guard transported two people, and two dogs, to Petersburg after their skiff became stuck underneath an overhanding tree in Kah Sheets Bay on Sunday, according to a USCG press release. Coast Guard Sector Juneau received a report from a Good Samaritan of a man overboard in Kah Sheets Bay, according to the press release. The owner of the skiff had fallen into the water when the vessel became wedged underneath an overhanging tree, according to the press release. The man...
At 12:27 P.M. on Saturday, power went out in parts of Petersburg. Three minutes later, downtown Wrangell was also left in the dark, leaving Petersburg and Wrangell officials to think that the two incidents were related. "The issues in both communities seem too close together to be considered a coincidence, but no one has been able to explain why the cutout failure in Petersburg caused a feeder in Wrangell to drop out," said Petersburg Utility Director Karl Hagerman in a statement to the...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted on Monday to postpone the third reading of the civil emergency provisions ordinance to Sept. 21 with a public hearing to be held before the final reading. Ordinance #2020-19 updates language in the civil emergency provisions of municipal code to reflect the conception of the Petersburg Borough. Additionally, the ordinance adds language that isn't present in the municipal code that establishes actions the borough manager or incident commander can take during...
Petersburg is currently experiencing its fourth wettest summer, with the potential of becoming the wettest summer on record, according to data from the National Weather Service in Juneau. From June 1 through July 18, Petersburg had 12.42 inches of rain. According to NWS data, Petersburg had 15.74 inches of rain in 1945, which set the record for the highest amount of rainfall in one summer. In June, Petersburg experienced 7.55 inches of rain, according to NWS data. It was the rainiest June since...
There have been zero active cases of COVID-19 in town since Thursday, July 16 when the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center first announced that all cases of the virus have since recovered. "It's a nice place to be," said Borough Incident Commander Karl Hagerman at the COVID-19 community update on Friday, July 17. "That's a nice number. Zero active cases is the perfect number for Petersburg." Hagerman confirmed on Friday that cases of COVID-19 that were reported locally, from both...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency Board of Directors has awarded a bid for the replacement of a damaged submarine cable to Sumitomo, a Japanese firm, according to Board Chairman Bob Lynn. Lynn updated the Petersburg Borough Assembly on the project at their meeting on Monday. SEAPA received three bids for the project, and while Sumitomo’s bid wasn’t the lowest, the company has made a name for itself in the United States. Lynn said the project is expected to cost somewhere between $9 and $11 mil...
After the expiration of an emergency ordinance on April 30 that allowed the borough assembly to set a quorum telephonically, the assembly continued to hold remote meetings throughout May and June, but the action taken during those meetings is valid, said Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson in an interview with the Pilot on July 8. Although the assembly didn't extend emergency ordinance 2020-07 to allow them to continue meeting telephonically, they did extend emergency ordinance 2020-08 on May 18. The...
