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Harbormaster Glo Wollen recently returned from this year’s harbormaster conference held in Dutch Harbor. It was the first year holding the Alaska Association of Harbormasters and Port Administrators (AAHPA) in Dutch Harbor. Wollen announced that next year Petersburg will play host to the conference of around 100 harbormasters, engineers and people in the industry. The conference rotates constantly, with one year in Southeast then one year up north, so people attending get the opportunity to experience a variety of harbors. Wollen’s been to Sea...
PORTLAND – The United States is trying to broker an agreement between a host of nations to prohibit unregulated fishing in the international waters of the Arctic Ocean. Such an agreement would expand on a non-binding agreement that the U.S. entered into with Norway, Denmark, Russia and Canada last year to avoid fishing in the area. The latest proposal would be binding and would include more countries. Adm. Robert Papp, the U.S. special representative for the Arctic, says a binding, multinational agreement would prevent fishing in the Arctic h...
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities proposed Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) schedule pattern for summer 2017 is now available online for public review. The documents can be accessed through a link on the AMHS homepage at FerryAlaska.com or directly through the following web address: dot.alaska.gov/amhs/share/schedule/considerations.pdf This is an opportunity for communities to review and comment on the proposed schedule in consideration of community events. Written comments will be accepted prior to Oct. 24 via...
JUNEAU – Researchers are recommending other states look to Alaska’s Permanent Fund to learn how to grow funds supported by natural resource extraction. The Pew Charitable Trust recently released a national study focusing on seven states that have funds from extraction revenue, which the report describes as “sovereign wealth funds”' KTOO-FM reports. The report said Alaska is one of only two state funds with a purpose well-defined by state law. It also identified Alaska as one of only three states that don't allow withdrawals from the fund pr...
When it comes to restoring an early-1900s house to its original condition finding fixtures can be tricky, not to mention time consuming. Greg Katason's love for the Buschmann house at 407 South Nordic Drive is obvious in the way he speaks about it and the countless hours he's spent planning its restoration. "I wanted to keep it as original as possible," he says. "Roger Heimdahl sent me pictures of the house when he was growing up." The Heimdahls owned the house in the early 1900s, years after...
Petersburg voters spoke loudly in favor of supporting marijuana in the Petersburg Borough. Moving forward, the product will be taxed and potentially bring much needed funds to the borough during tough fiscal times in the Last Frontier State. The unofficial results showed a landslide victory with 701 no votes to 414, on the only ballot initiative for this year's municipal election. The polls were busy Tuesday, with 1120 people taking the time to cast their ballot at the Community Center, in...
Over 75 community members gathered in the Wright Auditorium last Wednesday to watch and discuss a documentary about opiate addition called “Chasing the Dragon.” The film lasted 45 minutes, was co-produced by the FBI and DEA, and it’s available on YouTube. The night was filled with a variety of audience questions about how prevalent the issue is in Petersburg, physical and mental health impacts and warning signs. One young man in the film said opiates made him do things he was raised not to do. “It made me a monster,” he said. A middle-ag...
The moose season is past the halfway point, with harvest totals appearing nearly on par with last year’s. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported 50 moose had been harvested by Sept. 30. The season began Sept. 15, and is set to wrap up next weekend on Oct. 15. At the halfway point last year hunters in the Wrangell, Petersburg and Kake areas had put away 54 moose, which at the time led ADFG to anticipate an average season. An unexpectedly solid last couple of weeks ended up bringing the season total to the third-highest on record, howeve...
ANCHORAGE – A Texas petroleum drilling company announced Tuesday it has made a large-scale oil discovery off Alaska’s North Slope. Dallas-based Caelus Energy Alaska LLC announced a find of 6 billion barrels of light oil on its state leases in the Arctic Ocean waters of Smith Bay about 450 miles northwest of Fairbanks. Chief Operating Officer Jim Musselman called the discovery exciting for the state, which receives a majority of its revenue from the oil industry. “It has the size and scale to play a meaningful role in sustaining the Alaskan oil...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly listened to an appeal for a conditional use permit on a newly constructed waterfront building near South Harbor and Cold Storage, but ultimately decided to wait on making decision. Bill Menish is the property owner and he wants the permit for a two-family residential building on industrial land. Menish attended the meeting telephonically. In order to win the appeal, Menish had to point out evidence supporting the planning and zoning commission made a mistake, an...
Repairs to the Alaska Marine Highway System’s M/V Columbia are going to take longer than anticipated and it won’t return to service this year, according to Jeremy Woodrow, Alaska Department of Transportation spokesman. The ferry headed for dry dock in Oregon at the end of September to be looked over after divers in Wrangell reported a bent starboard propeller. After arriving in Oregon, the damage turned into much more, and the vessel will take around six weeks to repair, Woodrow says. “Up...
WRANGELL – A judge ruled last week that the city will not have to enter arbitration with its public workers union during an ongoing labor grievance, pending further decision. After hearing oral arguments on Sept. 21, Superior Court Judge Trevor Stephens approved the City and Borough of Wrangell’s request for a stay of interest arbitration between it and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1547 on Sept. 28. The union had filed a motion to compel arbitration the preceding week, as part of an ongoing dispute over a new col...
ANCHORAGE – Authorities say rescuers did not find any survivors after a small plane carrying three people crashed in a remote area of western Alaska. Alaska State Troopers say its helicopter crew located wreckage of the plane near the coastal village of Togiak, about 200 miles northwest of Anchorage. The troopers said in a statement that no survivors were found at the crash site, which was in rough terrain about 12 miles northwest of Togiak. National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Clint Johnson tells KTVA that two pilots and a p...
ANCHORAGE – Yes, you could call it free money. But that doesn’t mean all Alaskans are happy about the $1,022 dividend checks nearly every resident will receive starting Thursday from the state’s oil wealth fund. Folks were looking at getting more than twice that amount. “It’s really putting the hurt on my community,’’ said Joel James, mayor of the tiny Yup’ik Eskimo village of Gambell, which, like many remote communities around the vast state, is plagued by chronic unemployment and astronomical living expenses. “I’m definitely disappointed.’’ E...
WRANGELL — Wrangell Borough Manager Jeff Jabusch announced his retirement last week. Addressing Assembly members from a prepared statement, Jabusch explained he felt the time had come where he was prepared to move on. He has worked for the city since 1977, first as its finance director, then stepping in as manager several times during the 1990s on an interim basis before succeeding manager Tim Rooney after his retirement in 2013. “It’s just time,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed all the hundreds of people I’ve worked with,” from city employees and s...
SITKA – Authorities are warning Sitka residents to be on alert after numerous bear encounters around the city, including one involving a bicyclist who was chased by a bear down a bike path. Police have recently received several calls about problem bears, and they think it may just be one animal causing all the fuss. Reports have varied from a bear getting into a garbage container to one breaking into a parked pizza delivery car, The Sitka Sentinel reported. “This bear has been giving our community a lot of trouble,’’ said Sitka police Lt. Lan...
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The Petersburg High School cross country teams took part in the Region V meet last weekend in Sitka, and the girls team ran away with the team championship. The girls will send seven runners to state in Anchorage this weekend, and they’ll be joined by one member of the boys team. “The girls did awesome,” coach Debby Eddy said. “They were incredible, they ran like a pack.” Kayleigh Eddy put up a personal record (PR) barely edging out teammate Shyla Cook for second place. Less than 30 seconds after Cook crossed the finish line, Melanie Chase fini... Full story
On Saturday September 10, Petersburg Police Department arrested Joshua Hall Blewett, age 28 of Petersburg, for one count of Domestic Violence related Assault. Following Blewett's arrest, officers continued to investigate and subsequently served a search warrant at Blewett's residence. Police determined a female had been assaulted, kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and assaulted with a box cutter or utility knife. The female was transported to Petersburg Medical Center for evaluation and treatment.... Full story
The municipal building renovation project is coming along, and a cornerstone of the finished project will be the new facility for the Petersburg Police Department. Last month, steel jail cells were shipped up from Colorado, putting the facility one step closer to completion. "It looks pretty good," says Chief Kelly Swihart. "I think we have it set up in a way that's really going to ensure safety for inmates and employees." Swihart classifies the old cells as "fairly secure, but I wouldn't say th... Full story
On Sept. 14, Marvin Mitchell Jackson, 24 of Petersburg, pled guilty to the federal charge of Interstate Transportation of Child Pornography. Jackson was originally contacted in Petersburg on January 18 of this year, by a local investigator at the Petersburg airport, and was arrested after a significant quantity of heroin was found hidden in his baggage. As part of the investigation, Jackson’s cellular phone was seized and subsequently searched. When reviewing data from the telephone, investigators located images of prepubescent children e...
The second full week of moose hunting in RM038 will come to a close on Thursday. The count concerning illegal kills remains low with three of 51 moose deemed illegal. Those figures could quickly change with the five-day required check in period, according to Rich Lowell, area wildlife biologist for Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). Lowell says since 2009, when the moose antler restrictions were altered to allow the harvest of bulls with two brow tines on both antlers, the annual moose...
Last week Alaska's Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott delivered the keynote address at Southeast Conference's annual meeting in Petersburg. Mallott talked about the below average pink salmon runs, the Alaska Marine Highway System and transboundary rivers mining issues in Southeast. Mallott in an interview with the Pilot, discussed current issues facing the region, including this year's Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) and the importance of the ferry system. Mallott said he is in full agreement with...
PETERSBURG — With the state fiscal crisis swallowing Alaska's political debate since 2014, the Alaska House races in Districts 35 and 36 are being fought on almost identical grounds. House District 35 includes the northern and more populated half of Prince of Wales Island. While Ketchikan's Rep. Dan Ortiz is an independent, both he and Rep. Jonathan Kreiss Tomkins, D-Sitka, are members of the Alaska House minority caucus. They won their races after unlikely campaigns as political underdogs. Kreiss-Tomkins was first elected in 2012, while Ortiz...
ANCHORAGE - A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a state commercial fishing organization that challenged a decision to move several southern Alaska salmon fisheries from federal to state management. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday overturned the decision by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. The ruling means the case will go back to U.S. Alaska District Court and that federal fisheries policymakers will have to work with state managers on a new management plan, The Alaska Journal of Commerce reported....
