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The Petersburg Borough Assembly has taken a stance against the potential listing of Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Assembly members voted unanimously to send a letter of opposition to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in response to a petition from the Wild Fish Conservancy, an environmental group based in Washington state, which requested the ESA listing and designation of critical habitat of any GOA...
As the new owners of Tides Inn hotel and Highliner Car Rental, Petersburg Indian Association (PIA) is now in the local hospitality business. "My sisters and I are very pleased with the conclusion of the sale of the Tides Inn and Highliner Car Rental to the Petersburg Indian Association," Dave Ohmer shared in a written statement. "The Ohmer Family started doing business in Petersburg in 1916, and it is wonderful to now be selling the Tides Inn and Highliner to an organization whose families were...
The certified negotiated agreement between the Associated Teachers of Petersburg (ATP) and Petersburg School District is now official. The contract will serve for the next three years. The contract was ratified by ATP in summer, after the borough funded the district to the maximum allowable cap and the legislature's one-time funding survived the veto pen. With the conditions met, the school board approved the agreement at their meeting Aug. 13. "It's a relief to know that our negotiations have...
Petersburg students return to class this Tuesday, and students and families will experience some changes to Petersburg School District policies this academic year. The local school board reviews the student handbooks for Stedman Elementary School, Mitkof Middle School and Petersburg High School every year and makes updates as deemed necessary. Language in the Stedman handbook about dress code was added to include a "three-finger rule" for tank tops to advise the width of sleeves should be about...
The filing window for candidacy in the 2024 Petersburg Borough Municipal Election officially closed Tuesday afternoon. A total of 14 open seats are up for election this fall, each as a three-year term. The race for Petersburg Borough Assembly is contested, with five people running for the two open seats. Incumbents Bob Lynn and Thomas Fine-Walsh are running for reelection. And James Valentine, Marc Martinsen, and Tony Vinson have joined the contest for the two assembly seats. The race for...
The sound of plucked strings and women's voices singing in unison could be heard at the outdoor Market in Petersburg on Sat. Aug. 17. The performers were a six-person ensemble known as the Uke'a Ladies. The group formed last summer thanks to music lessons offered at Petersburg's music store Bearing Song and Gifts. "I was advertising that I wanted to do a ukulele drop-in group, and [Danielle MacPhee] was my first person to come in for the ukulele class," said Sarah Hofstetter, owner of Bearing...
A sitka spruce from the Wrangell Ranger District was selected to represent Alaska as the 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas tree. "This is the first time the Capitol Christmas tree has come from the Tongass National Forest," Public Affairs and Partnerships staff officer Paul Robbins Jr. told the Pilot in an email. According to Robbins Jr., the tree will be transported over 900 miles by sea and 2,899-mile cross country to Washington D.C. Alaskans have been asked to provide over 10,000 handmade...
A power outage occurred downtown Tuesday morning when an "elbow" near Petersburg Medical Center faulted. The elbow that was damaged is a component used to connect and disconnect a circuit to the town's electrical system. PMPL employees replaced the elbow and restored power in about 70 minutes. Located next to PMC, it was an elbow that had been in service for decades. Utility Director Karl Hagerman noted that it "must have had a crack in it or some other issue as it made a circuit ... and caused...
Be it boating safety classes, courtesy vessel inspections, maritime observation missions or last-minute substituting for chefs on Coast Guard Cutters, members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary provide support to Coast Guard units and promote boating safety in local communities. And now, the Auxiliary in Petersburg will stand up a local Flotilla after years operating as a detachment. The Coast Guard Auxiliary has about 20,000 volunteers nationwide - about 225 in Alaska, which is District 17 for...
Months after Petersburg Close-Up students met with her staffers in Washington D.C., Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola took a tour of the Petersburg Medical Center facilities during her first visit to Petersburg. Also having visited Juneau, Sitka, Metlakatla, Ketchikan, and Wrangell with her reelection campaign staff, Rep. Peltola was on a "whistle stop through Southeast Alaska during the sunniest week of the year," she said with a smile. On a tour of the current Petersburg Medical Center building, Rep....
Fish and deer carcasses, propane bottles, and glass, all of these nonrecyclable items have shown up in the Petersburg Borough Sanitation Department's comingled recycling bins. Commingled means customers' recyclable materials don't need to be sorted into plastic, aluminum, paper, etc. However, the recycling must be clean and free of food and debris. Glass is not recyclable in Petersburg. But there are glass drop-off locations for the public at the baler and at Public Works. "At 303 South 2nd Stre...
Jill Lenhard moved to Ketchikan last August to take a teaching job at Ketchikan High School, but she – and her husband, music teacher Matt Lenhard – both got caught up in this year's teacher layoffs that impacted public school districts across the state. Fortunately for Petersburg, this meant the perfect candidate was unexpectedly available to fill a new teaching vacancy at Mitkof Middle School. Lenhard had spent over 20 years in Petersburg as a vital component of the school district's Eng...
After nearly two years of litigation, the public records-related lawsuit filed by Don Koenigs against the Petersburg Borough has reached its conclusion. On June 21, 2024 the Superior Court for the State of Alaska ordered the borough to release around 200 pages of records related to the complaint made by Petersburg's chief of police against two borough assembly members. In March 2022, Petersburg Police Chief Jim Kerr filed a complaint with the borough's HR director which included a five-page time...
The Petersburg Borough will enter into negotiations directly with Island Refrigeration LLC for the sale of borough-owned tidelands, the assembly decided Monday. This property at 107A Dock Street is adjacent to a larger parcel the borough approved to sell to Island Refrigeration in April; it was originally part of the young business' plan for the space, which will serve as their new headquarters, but was left out of the initial application process and applied for separately. Another applicant,...
Skyler DuPont, 29, is officially the new executive director at local nonprofit Working Against Violence for Everyone (WAVE). They are entering the role in succession of Everett Bennett, who stepped down from the position earlier this year to work at PIA. WAVE is a small independent nonprofit that provides support and advocacy for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, and promotes safe relationships and community in the Petersburg Borough. "The work that [WAVE] does, I love that ......
Beth Flor took her first ever drawing class during her sophomore year of college. She had enrolled in the class because she needed one more credit and she had enjoyed drawing when she was little. That first art class made such an impression on her, she considered changing her major from social work to art. Her art teacher from that class confronted Flor with some tough advice that has stuck with her all these years. She remembers him saying, "You'll never be great, but if you work hard, you'll...
Last Thursday evening, two back-to-back productions of Alice in Wonderland were presented on the Wright Auditorium's stage by participants in the Petersburg Medical Center Wellness Program's ORCA Theater Camp. Director Brad Younts, who pioneered the first ORCA Theater Camp last summer, had twenty-three kids sign up this summer, so many that he divided the kids into two camps, ages 6 – 9 and 9 – 15, and brought a colleague with him to help, co-director Amaya Hudson. Welcoming the audience, You... Full story
Last Tuesday twelve Petersburg youth, ages 12-15, paddled away from Blaquiere Point, the southeast tip of Mitkof Island, on a four day, three night ORCA Kayak Expedition with Onward and Upward. Three Onward and Upward instructors traveled to Petersburg to lead the trip along with Katie Holmlund, Youth Program Coordinator for Petersburg Medical Center and the co-founder of Kinderskog. "Amanda Mantovani was our lead instructor. She used to work for Alaska Crossings down in Wrangell and has led...
Last year, Dr. Jennifer Hyer took a sabbatical from her full-time role at PMC as a primary care physician and her family embarked on a global sailing adventure - a "lifelong dream" in the making. And now, despite being thousands of miles away at sea, Hyer is able to continue serving patients in Petersburg through remote telehealth consultations. Petersburg Medical Center is embracing telehealth services so patients can access specialized care in a remote setting. Telehealth appointments are...
Considering the shallow, rocky waters in the Blind River Rapids, SSRAA production manager Bill Gass was unsure of how successful the beach seine operation to hand deliver king salmon broodstock to Crystal Lake Hatchery would be. But the team of 20 folks, including local volunteers and staff from the Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (SSRAA) and Alaska Department of Fish and Game, successfully captured and transported 146 live king salmon during the first two Tuesdays in July,...
10 volunteers pulled on their rubber boots and rain jackets last Friday to search Petersburg's beaches for suspicious crab carapaces in observation of European Green Crab Awareness Day. After breaking into four groups, the volunteers combed the waterfronts of the Wilson Creek camp area, Crescent Beach, Greens Camp, and Woodpecker Cove; they found 33 carapaces in total, none of which were green crab. "I think it went well. I think it's good we didn't find any green crab," said organizer and...
Petersburg's tribe plans to add sidewalks to some streets and build a new trail in coming years. The Petersburg Indian Association approved a four-year infrastructure plan on July 17 after finalizing the project list at a public meeting earlier in the month. The tribe will partner with the Petersburg Borough to add sidewalks along residential streets near the Petersburg Community Center. Debra O'Gara is the tribal council president. "Right now, in the middle of winter, it's really dark back...
The window to file for candidacy in Petersburg's municipal election is now open. Folks in town who meet the qualifications for local office can add their name to the ballot by turning in required paperwork to the Borough Clerk's office before the window closes on Aug. 20. A total of 14 seats will be up for election this fall. Each position is for a three-year term. Among the local elected positions will be two seats on the Petersburg Borough Assembly, currently occupied by assembly members Bob...
If it passes its final reading at the next Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting, a ballot proposition this fall will ask borough voters to authorize $19.3 million in new debt for the Water and Wastewater utilities. The loans would come from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation revolving loan fund, which provides municipal water utilities with loans for capital projects at 1.5% interest, 20-year repayment. The authorization of the debt would sunset after five years, meaning the util...
An ordinance was introduced at Monday's Assembly meeting to adjust the FY25 budget for known changes. The top item was for Harbor Department disposal of derelict vessels, increasing the budgeted amount from $10 thousand to $250 thousand dollars. The budget increase is described as necessary to take care of removing two large derelict boats currently in the harbor. The budget request coincided with another ordinance introduced on Monday which would amend Petersburg Municipal Code to add a...
