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On February 13, Petersburg and its law enforcement officers appeared in the season finale of Alaska PD, a new reality show that follows police departments in four Alaskan communities. The episode focused on Officers Carl Tate and Eric Wolf as they patrolled the town, helped an injured eagle and spoke to residents who were under the influence. When the Petersburg Police Department was first approached by Engel Entertainment, the production company that filmed Alaska PD, Tate said he was opposed...
NSRAA is forecasting a total run of 222,000 chum salmon in the Thomas Bay fishery. This year’s return will be the second return for this project and will be comprised of 3-year and 4-year old fish. A portion of the run may be harvested in common property fisheries in Chatham Strait and Frederick Sound....
Utility Director Karl Hagerman and Public Works Director Chris Cotta submitted a letter to the borough assembly at their meeting last week recommending the borough postpone discussions on rate increases and bond issuances due to financial uncertainties in the community amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "We were attempting to answer a question that hadn't been asked yet and to put the community at ease that rates are still under consideration for projects that need to be completed, but that rate increa...
The Board of Equalization, which is made up of the borough assembly, voted in favor of property valuations made by the borough's contract assessors on two properties that were brought before them at a meeting last Wednesday. Twenty-two appellants made a combined total of 30 appeals on their property valuations, and 28 of the appeals were resolved and withdrawn outside of the BOE meeting. Ivar Enge was set to make an appeal on parcel 01-007-672, but the matter was settled prior to the meeting,...
The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce has officially cancelled this year's Little Norway Festival due to uncertainties over how long state health mandates to shelter in place and maintaining social distancing will remain in place. Chamber Administrator Mara Lutomski said the choice to cancel the 62nd Little Norway Festival was a hard decision for the chamber board. "No one wants to cancel a festival that has been such a rich part of Petersburg history," said Lutomski. The chamber of commerce and...
Several hand washing stations have been set up throughout town to provide residents with basic hygiene needs at a time when the public is urged to wash their hands regularly to prevent the transmission and contraction of COVID-19. Ashley Kawashima, of the borough's incident command team, said the stations were set up for the growing local population of individuals who don't have access to running water. They would use the Parks and Recreation Center and Petersburg Public Library, for their...
Last week’s issue of the Petersburg Pilot featured Noelle McPherson of Petersburg Medical Center’s Long Term Care facility on page 3. The photo was taken several weeks ago, before PMC staff began wearing face masks. This information was not mentioned to the Pilot when we received the photo....
Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan held an electronic town hall meeting last week to talk about the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and what kind of aid it provides to small businesses. In their town hall meeting, the senators focused on several key provisions. One was the Paycheck Protection Program. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, the program offers a loan designed to provide an incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on payroll in...
The borough assembly established a local emergency disaster fund in response to the COVID-19 outbreak at their meeting on Monday and moved funds to the Petersburg Economic development Council to help businesses who have been financially affected by the virus. The local emergency disaster fund was created by an emergency ordinance, which requires only one reading to be passed and lasts for 60 days. Because the borough anticipates the local emergency disaster fund being needed past the 60 days,...
In a 4-3 vote, the borough assembly passed an ordinance in its third reading that would establish a new Parks and Recreation Advisory Board at their meeting on Monday. Ordinance #2020-05 allows the assembly to begin accepting letters of interest from the public and then appoint five members onto the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Those appointed to the board would serve until the borough election in October wherein duly elected members will serve on the board. A sunset clause was added...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish announced today that opportunity for slope rockfish species will be open April 3, 2020 through January 31, 2021. Resident and nonresident anglers: • The daily bag limit, and possession limit, is one slope rockfish. No annual limit. • When releasing any rockfish anglers must use a deepwater release mechanism to return the fish to the depth it was hooked or to a depth of at least 100 feet. • All vessels must have at least one functional deepwater release mechanism on board and readi...
As of Wednesday afternoon, Petersburg Medical Center has submitted 39 COVID-19 testing samples to state and commercial laboratories, 26 of which have come back negative and the remaining 13 tests are still pending, according to PMC's Laurie Miller at Wednesday's daily COVID-19 community update. "We're relieved everyday that we don't have a positive test, but we know they are coming," said PMC Chief Nursing Officer Jennifer Bryner. On Wednesday evening, the Alaska Department of Health and Social...
The Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) vessels, M/V Columbia, M/V Kennicott, and M/V Tustumena were scheduled to leave the Ketchikan Shipyard and resume service in mid-April and early May 2020. For the safety of AMHS employees and to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19 at the Ketchikan Shipyard, AMHS reduced shipboard crew levels on March 25, to the minimum necessary to safely care for assets. Vigor Ketchikan Shipyard expects to complete overhaul work for the Columbia, Kennicott and...
The Local Emergency Planning Committee held its third meeting last Friday as a weekly effort to update local businesses and borough officials on how the community is reacting to and taking precautions against COVID-19. Since the previous week's LEPC meeting, Petersburg Public Health Nurse Erin Michael said she has begun conducting contact investigations for people in the state who have been exposed to COVID-19. Some of her investigations have also included local residents who have potentially...
The United States Census Bureau has suspended all field operations until April 15 amid the growing COVID-19 pandemic, according to a statement made by the Census Bureau on Saturday. While some Petersburg residents may have already found a questionnaire left on their doorstep with instructions on how to complete the 2020 census, others have not. According to Desi Burrell, a local enumerator with the Census Bureau, residents who received a questionnaire were also given a 12-digit census ID that...
Activities at the Petersburg School District and other school districts across the state have been cancelled for the rest of the academic year as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. PSD Activities Director Jaime Cabral said the decision to cancel activities came from the state. On March 20, Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a health mandate that closed public and private schools through May 1 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Following the announcement, the Alaska School Activities Association...
For the month of February, Petersburg Medical Center saw its net operating revenue and total operating expenses come in over what was budgeted, according to PMC financial statements presented at the PMC Board of Directors meeting last Thursday. The net operating revenue was at $1,571,660 at the end of February, which was 12 percent above the budgeted $1,391,250 for the month. While the total operating expenses also came in over budget, February's revenue was able to offset the difference. PMC...
It took Maura Sullivan about a week to return to Petersburg when the United States Peace Corps began pulling its volunteers out of Zambia on March 16 as COVID-19 was spreading around the world. In the weeks leading up to her forced departure, Sullivan and the other Peace Corps volunteers in Zambia were keeping up with the news on COVID-19, but they weren't aware of how serious the virus was getting. "When you're living abroad, it's kind of hard to grasp the severity of the situation when you're...
Sunday, March 29, started out with a blanket of snow on the ground with more falling from the sky. It wasn't ideal weather but that didn't stop the residents of Petersburg from getting outdoors and going on a "bear hunt." "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" is not only the title of a beloved children's story book by Micheal Rosen and Helen Oxenbury, but also a song that kids are often taught in elementary school and the inspiration for this social media idea. With kids at home from school for over two...
Meg Litster was appointed to the Petersburg School Board in a special meeting on Tuesday. Litster is filling a vacant seat left by Board President Mara Lutomski who stepped down in February. Litster, who had previously served on the school board for two years, will remain on the board until the municipal elections later this year....
Incident Commander Karl Hagerman signed public health mandate #3 Friday afternoon to temporarily suspend in-person participation during borough assembly meetings or any other public meeting of a borough board and commission effective immediately. “Due to the ongoing public health emergency caused by the COVID-19 crisis, it is in the best interest of public safety and health that public gatherings be avoided,” wrote Hagerman in the health mandate. Hagerman notes in the mandate that the con... Full story
The borough assembly unanimously passed public health mandate #1 at a special meeting on Wednesday that orders residents to shelter in place amid the increasing number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state. The mandate goes into effect at 11:59 P.M. on Thursday, March 26. The health mandate comes three days after the assembly passed a public health alert at another special meeting on Sunday that urged the public to shelter in place. Following an outpour of community support for a mandate...
Longtime Petersburg resident Delbert (Pete) Erickson, 77, died on March 16 in Federal Way, Washington. His is the first recorded death caused by the COVID-19 virus in the State of Alaska. Even though he died in Washington, his death is recorded in Alaska, his place of residency. According to his family, Erickson was being treated for congestive heart failure, COPD and poor kidney function at a hospital in Everett, Washington. His son Pete wrote in an email, "If he had not contracted the virus, w...
As the first cruise ships are expected to arrive in town on May 12, it is still too early to tell how COVID-19 will affect the cruise ship industry in Southeast Alaska, according to Dave Berg, co-founder of Viking Travel. One issue affecting large, foreign cruise ships is the closure of the Vancouver cruise ship port, said Berg. The closure was a result of COVID-19, and the cruise ship port isn't expected to reopen until June 30. While most of the ships that port in Petersburg are small,...
Local canneries are in the beginning stages of developing a plan to prevent the possible spread of COVID-19 brought into town by cannery workers that will be hired for the upcoming fishing season. “We have a tremendous responsibility to the communities that we bring workers into,” said a representative from Icicle Seafoods who asked not to be named. The representative said Icicle Seafoods has been screening workers in the past, but the company has stepped up their procedures in light of the COV...
