Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 7099
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Begich visited Petersburg last week, holding a community meet and greet and sitting down afterward with the Pilot and the KFSK radio station. Begich, a former state senator from Anchorage, is running for governor on a platform centered on education funding, affordable energy, fiscal accountability, and a governing style he says is defined by dialogue rather than division. The meet and greet drew a roomful of Petersburg residents and discussion touched on...
Every day the Petersburg wastewater plant handles between 300,000 gallons to 1.8 million gallons during heavy rain, but there have been some changes in how they do that in an attempt to meet new EPA requirements. While the wastewater staff have been able to greatly improve the water quality discharged by the plant, it's going to take more equipment to fully meet the disinfection requirements. That's going to mean either chlorination and dechlorination equipment (as discharge of both bacteria...
In last week’s story “Petersburg High School poets recite on KTOO,” the English teacher for the students Freya Tucker and Mette Miller was incorrectly identified as Tim Shumway. Jill Lenhard is actually their teacher this year in AP Language & Composition where they did the initial assignment in class and received extra credit for performing in the school-wide competition. The Pilot apologizes for that inaccuracy.... Full story
Petersburg’s elementary school will be getting new accessible playground equipment next school year as part of a $173,000 grant from the Hurst Wood Education Foundation, a nonprofit that supports special education projects in schools. The current playground at the Rae C. Stedman Elementary School has swings, slides, monkey bars, and a variety of climbing equipment. For students in wheelchairs or with limited mobility, playing on that equipment can be challenging. Special Education Director Cyndy Fry said having a playground that’s ina... Full story
Two drivers have been transported to the Petersburg Medical Center after a collision around 10 a.m. Tuesday on the Mitkof Highway near Petersburg's cemetery, about two miles south of town. "There was a car heading southbound, and as he was accelerating into the 40 mile an hour zone, he ran into a patch of ice and lost control of the vehicle," said Dave Berg, a spokesperson for the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department. "He crossed the center line and hit another vehicle." Berg said when the two... Full story
June 1 will be the golden anniversary of Alaska Airlines jet service to Wrangell and Petersburg, marking when the first scheduled Boeing 727 passenger flight touched down in the communities in 1976. Before the arrival of the 104-passenger jets, which provided daily same-plane service to and from Seattle, travelers had to take a plane with one-fifth the passenger capacity and catch a connecting flight in Ketchikan or Juneau. "It would be nice to get on a jet at Wrangell and relax all the way to...
The Alaska Senate approved a measure to boost state taxes on oil and gas production on Wednesday. Lawmakers tacked it on to what would have been a routine renewal of a state oil royalty agreement. Sen. Forrest Dunbar, D-Anchorage, sponsored the amendment to House Bill 194, saying it would close a corporate income tax loophole and potentially capture more than $100 million in new state revenues each year — at a time when Alaska is in dire need of revenue to pay for state services. “Can we afford this loophole while we close schools? Can we aff... Full story
The Alaska House of Representatives approved a resolution urging the Trump administration to waive a steep visa fee for international teachers. The vote comes amid a growing teacher shortage throughout the state. Lawmakers are calling for the Trump administration to waive the fee for teachers hired through the H-1B visa program, which allows employers to recruit highly-skilled workers from overseas. The federal government raised the fee from $5,000 to $100,000 for each new applicant to the H-1B visa program in September. The House passed the... Full story
A federal judge in Alaska has rejected a lawsuit that sought to reinstate a management plan that would allow heavier logging in the world’s largest temperate old-growth rainforest. The result leaves an Obama-era management plan in place, but it could be short-lived: The administration of President Donald Trump is already at work on a new plan that could allow more logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. In an order published Friday, Judge Sharon Gleason dismissed the lawsuit filed by Viking Lumber, Alcan Timber and the Alaska Forest Ass... Full story
Subscribers can use the link below to access this week's PDF Edition, or use the E-Editions button on the homepage for all of our current and archived PDFs. Click here to view this week's PDF. Thanks for subscribing!... Full story
U.S. Forest Service leadership is in flux as the agency takes sweeping actions in managing the 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest and making regulatory and administrative changes at all levels, Alaska-based officials reported last week. At the beginning of a four-day federal subsistence Regional Advisory Council meeting in Juneau on March 10, Tongass Supervisor Monique Nelson spoke about shifts in the agency since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025. Nelson said staffing on the Tongass is down 30% from this time last year....
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously Monday to formally oppose three proposals before the Alaska Board of Fisheries that would impose broad restrictions on Alaska’s private nonprofit salmon hatchery system — measures that Assembly Member Bob Martin, who brought the resolution forward, called the latest iteration of proposals that fisheries stakeholders across the region have consistently fought off. Resolution 2026-06 directs opposition to Board of Fisheries Proposals 170, 171 and 172, which are scheduled for consideration at the...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly directed Borough staff on March 2 to start rewriting part of its zoning code to be implemented beyond municipal limits. The move follows months of work and deliberation over potentially updating Petersburg’s zoning code as the Borough navigates emerging concerns about constructing new communications towers in the community. Zoning determines how property can and cannot be used. Different types of zoning allow for different uses, and some require landowners to get permission from the municipality for certain p... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously Monday to extend the borough’s municipal solid waste transportation and disposal contract with Republic Services for one more year, buying time while a regional study examines longer-term alternatives for Southeast Alaska communities. Petersburg’s garbage is baled at the local baler facility and shipped via container to the Roosevelt Regional Landfill in Washington state, with Republic Services handling transportation and disposal. The contract extension runs from September 1, 2026 through the e...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly authorized an agreement with Axon Enterprise Inc., earlier this month, which provides the equipment and services that Petersburg’s Police Department uses. Under the agreement, the Borough would pay a $378,897.58 quote gradually over the next decade. Police Chief Jim Kerr said Monday that they typically do shorter contracts with the company. But this extended version that AXON offered includes some perks, especially for routine equipment replacement. “If they have a new technology that comes out, since we hav...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously Monday to extend the Petersburg Economic Development Council’s lease on the community cold storage facility for another five years, while also removing language from the lease that had prohibited seafood processing at the site. The lease extension runs through January 31, 2031, and maintains the $1-per-year rental rate that the assembly has held steady since the original agreement between PEDC and what was then the city of Petersburg was signed in February 2006. At each five-year interval s...
Two Petersburg poets took the stage at KTOO studios in Juneau earlier this month, as state finalists in the Poetry Out Loud recitation competition. Freya Tucker and Mette Miller had both memorized and recited poems in front of their high school English class as a required assignment from their teacher Jill Lenhard, then for extra credit they performed in front of the entire school. Then they submitted recordings of their recitations to the statewide competition. "We were thinking, it would...
School funding has long been a balancing act, but now Petersburg stakeholders have been invited to weigh in on the Petersburg City School District budget by using the Balancing Act budget simulation tool. At the annual joint work session between the borough assembly and the school district, Shannon Baird, Director of Finance for PCSD, gave a walkthrough of the school budget situation for fiscal year 2027 and how the public can learn more about it and provide their suggestions through the balancing act tool. Balancing Act is an interactive...
The head of the Alaska Division of Elections will not share legal advice that led to the state’s decision to send an extended voter list to the U.S. Department of Justice. Director Carol Beecher told state senators last Wednesday that she will not waive attorney-client privilege as state lawmakers examine last year’s decision to give the Trump administration a detailed list of Alaska voters. Alaska is one of 12 states that have either turned over their voter lists or have said they plan to comply with a nationwide request, according to rec... Full story
Petersburg’s fire and emergency services department is heading into this spring’s borough budget planning cycle with several additional funding needs: a replacement of breathing equipment used by every firefighter entering a burning building, a forced relocation of the department’s training tower, and a push to update emergency plans that have gone largely untouched for more than a decade. Fire and EMS Director Aaron Hankins laid out the challenges at last month’s Public Safety Advisory Board meeting, where he was joined by a contrac...
Petersburg Medical Center will hold its 2026 health fair, “Thriving at Every Age & Stage,” on Saturday, March 14, at the Community Gym. Resource booths will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with presentations and fitness class demonstrations running throughout the day beginning at 9:30 a.m. PMC nurse practitioner Angela Menish has a presentation titled “Understanding Your Health Fair Blood Draw Results,” scheduled for 11:30 a.m. in the Parks and Rec Activity Room. The talk is designed to help community members interpret results from the discoun...
“It’s got a boat, it’s got crazy characters, it’s the perfect play for Mayfest,” said Tiffany Glass, director of the Mitkof Mummers. The play is centered around a singles’ cruise on an old schooner, the SS Flounder, which may or may not be on her last voyage. The captain is trying to make sure it’s all smooth sailing, but the owners have disguised themselves among the guests to decide the Flounder’s fate. Then there are the stowaways, a couple of hoods hiding from their nefarious boss, who of course has followed them aboard, disguised as we...
Wrangell’s borough assembly on Feb. 24 unanimously approved a three-year lease with JAG Marine Group, giving the company time to decide if it will proceed with development of a shipyard at the 6-Mile Mill property. The shipyard would be the foundational component of a larger redevelopment plan for the former mill property, which also includes a new barge ramp and freight yard and a privately operated small data center. Wrangell Borough Manager Mason Villarma told the assembly that the short-term lease is a strategic necessity to ensure the p...
Last year’s inaugural event went so well that organizers have booked a return flight for the Milk Run Music Festival to land in Wrangell on May 1-2. “Most of the plans are locked in,” said lead organizer Olivia Strano, which is not to say the festival is on auto pilot. Volunteers started planning this year’s event last August, she said, running raffles, soliciting donations and lining up music and vendors and games to make this year’s festival better than the first time. The two days will include visiting and Wrangell musicians giving fr...
Petersburg, like many small towns, has increasingly been under attack by scammers. One of the newer schemes showing up locally is the rental scam, in which fraudsters create fake listings and advertise them on platforms like Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. Recently one of those scams went further than most. Matt Duddles and his wife had listed their Hungerford Hill home for sale with Petersburg Properties realtor Sarah Holmgrain when someone lifted the listing photos, posted them to Craigslist, and advertised the property for rent at...
