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The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously adopted the property tax millage rates for fiscal year 2027 at its May 18 regular meeting, slightly raising the rate for Service Area 1 property owners to 10.93 mills and introducing a new area-wide general purposes levy that for the first time charges all borough property owners for services the borough charter has always authorized charging borough-wide, but which Service Area 1 taxpayers have been covering since borough formation. For Service Area 1 residents the new rate of 10.93 mills - an...
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The "Kéet Yaakw" – or the killer whale canoe – launched from Petersburg on Sunday morning and reignited a tradition of canoe-based transportation – the first such departure in at least 100 years. Traveling by canoe to Celebration – the biennial gathering of Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian tribes in Juneau – has been a tradition for tribes in the region. This year Petersburg joins the paddling tradition for the first time since Celebration became an event. ShaaL'aanee Brandon Ware is Petersburg...
In last week’s edition of the Pilot, in the story about Desi Burrell being named the Petersburg Community Foundation Volunteer of the Year. The Pilot misspelled the last name of Dorothy Enge, and we apologize for that mistake. In a story about Chris Weiss retiring from our local library, published on April 23, 2026, the Pilot wrote that Library Director Tara Alcock “arrived in Petersburg 23 and a half years ago with no library experience.” It was, in fact, only Petersburg’s library that she did not have experience with, finding herself quickly... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly gave first-reading approval last Monday to an ordinance raising sewer utility rates by 20 percent for fiscal year 2027, the latest step in a multi-year effort to cover the costs of aging infrastructure and heightened state and federal environmental compliance requirements. Ordinance #2026-11, which passed 7-0 and will require two more readings before taking effect, would increase the base residential monthly service charge from $56.79 to $68.15 for a standard mete...
"How many of you have ever played with sounds from outside? Like rocks and sticks, pinecones, shells, water?" asked Alexis C. Lamb, of a circled crowd at Sandy Beach. A percussionist, composer, and educator, Lamb came to Petersburg as part of the Devil's Thumb Chamber Music Festival. Not only did she perform as a percussionist and showcase her work as a composer, but she also wore her educator hat at the festival. The crowd at Sandy beach had gathered to be a part of Lamb's "Forest Orchestra" wo...
“Petersburg is straight-up beautiful,” said State Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, pausing to appreciate the labrador tea and the muskeg wildflowers while walking the Hungry Point trail after a community potluck last Saturday. After the close of the 34th session of the Alaska Legislature, Himschoot visited Petersburg – part of House District 2, which she has represented for the past two terms. On the walk she reflected with the Pilot on the legislative session – it’s highs, lows, and painful vetoes. Three major bills — two vetoed Himschoot identified...
Canadian men Neil Warrington, Liam Gilchrist, and Ryan Van Horne left Petersburg on Friday, May 22 for an expedition with the goal of summiting Devil's Thumb. The plan is to ski up the Baird Glacier, then, if conditions allow, climb Devil's Thumb. Their bags were packed with three-weeks' worth of supplies. With the notorious weather of the area, the climbers approach the expedition with an open mind. "The objective is to go climb Devil's Thumb, but really we're just going for a walk in the wilde...
After more than a year of mounting community pressure over the locations of wireless broadband towers in Petersburg, the Borough Assembly voted unanimously Monday to advance a comprehensive wireless communications zoning ordinance on its first reading, encouraging the public to submit written comments during the two weeks before a scheduled public hearing June 1. The ordinance - 17 pages of amended municipal code accompanied by a seven-page explanatory memo from Community Development Director...
Two years after Petersburg voters rejected a sales tax cap increase by an incredibly narrow margin, the Borough Assembly voted 6-1 Monday to send the question back to the ballot this October. The ordinance, approved on its first reading, would ask borough voters at the October 6 municipal election whether to raise the maximum taxable amount on a single purchase from $1,200 to $5,000. If approved, the maximum sales tax collectible on any single transaction would rise from $72 to $300. The borough’s sales tax rate would remain at 6 percent. T...
A high-stakes quid pro quo deal fell apart in the Alaska Capitol on Monday as legislators failed to approve a tax break for the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline and Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bill that would have restored public pensions in the state. The failure leaves public employees with a 401(k)-like retirement system and legislators likely to head into a special session for further work on a gas pipeline bill. Rep. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage and the Legislature’s lead negotiator on the planned deal, said on Monday night that ... Full story
Viking and Valkyrie couple Don and Julie Spigelmyre have announced that, after 26 years, they are retiring from their iconic roles. For decades, the Spigelmyres have been a large part of the Little Norway Festival tradition of fur clad, armor-wearing, weapon-wielding vikings and valkyries rampaging through Petersburg. The couple decided that this year's "Little Norway" festival would be their last as Vikings and Valkyries. The town's notorious party group is known for having fun and giving back...
In last week’s story about the Mitkof Mummers play, a quote was misattributed to LeeAnna Lucas. It was in fact Tatum Hagerman who said, laughing and in character as the villain of the play, “I just do it because I love the attention and applause....
At the Petersburg Community Foundation annual award reception Saturday, Desi Burrell was named 2026 Volunteer of the Year. Representing PCF, Glorianne Wollen, said the board's decision was unanimous and easy, citing Burrell's lifetime of community service. "She sees things that need doing, then she does them," Wollen said. Wollen described how the previous Saturday, Burrell was spotted at Sandy Beach with a shovel and a five-gallon bucket, cleaning up after other people's dogs to prepare the...
The Petersburg Community Foundation distributed grants totaling nearly $50,000 to nine local organizations at its annual award reception Saturday, highlighting during the event that the local foundation's invested endowment has officially crossed $1 million for the first time. Board chair Glorianne Wollen opened the ceremony by tracing the milestone back to the foundation's founding in 2008 as an affiliate of the Alaska Community Foundation, when its initial fundraising goal was $50,000. "It is...
The camera watches an old man in wet raingear staring at dark clouds and gray sky from his fishing boat in the waters of Southeast Alaska - behind the camera is Ketchikan-filmmaker Emilio Miguel Torres who has toured his film, "The Ladder," to film festivals across North America. This Saturday, May 23, it will be showing at the Northern Nights theater. The sci-fi story set in Ketchikan, will be screened twice - at 4 p.m. and at 7 p.m. The independent film has yet to be released to stream. Instea...
Inside a small booth with a large glass window, Petersburg Medical Center Radiology Manager Sonja Paul was running Petersburg’s new MRI machine through a quality control test. “These machines can get pretty loud,” she explained, turning up the volume on a nearby speaker. “It sounds like a lot of knocking, hammers, ticks, things like that.” An MRI is a medical device that takes images of soft tissues in your body – like your tendons or your brain – using powerful magnetic fields. Those images can help diagnose joint and back injuries, tum... Full story
The first reading of an ordinance that would raise Petersburg electric utility rates by 4% starting on July, 1, 2026 came before the Petersburg Borough Assembly at last week’s meeting. The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted 7–0 to advance Ordinance 2026-08, which updates electric utility rates and charges for fiscal year 2027. The increase was identified through the borough’s Waterworth financial forecasting software, which Utility Director Karl Hagerman implemented last year in place of the previous rate study process. For a typical residential...
The 68th year of Little Norway Festival opens Thursday, May 14, for four days of parades, smørbrød, live music, competitive herring-tossing and all manner of communal revelry that could only happen in this town. The celebration runs through Sunday, May 17. "I love that everybody comes to town," said Kelli Slaven, who coordinates the festival schedule for the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce. "I love seeing all the people downtown - the kids running, familiar faces and new ones. It just kind of mak...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved the first-reading of an ordinance increasing the borough’s marine passenger fee by $3 per passenger, from $5 to $8, effective January 1, 2027. The fee is assessed once per cruise on marine passenger vessels upon first entry into any borough port. The borough has collected the fee since March 2018, using it to offset costs tied to cruise traffic — including restroom cleaning, janitorial services, library operations during the tourist season, and bridge and trail maintenance. The ordinance cites substantia...
After 36-years leading Petersburg's Séet Ká Kwáan Dancers, Kash Kaaní Jeanette Ness is retiring and passing leadership of the group to veteran dancers Kalxeich Kayla Perry and Xáay Sháawát Laurel McCullough, both of the Wooshketaan clan. In 1989, Ness was on the parent committee for the Johnson O'Malley (JOM) program for Native students. The committee decided to hold a Potlatch in March 1990, inviting over 300 JOM students from Southeast Alaska to Petersburg. "Ruth Demmert of Kake came over t...
Petersburg is home to skilled quilters, knitters, and other textile artists, but it's been years since the island town had a dedicated craft store. That changed on Wednesday, May 6, when Olivia Martinsen opened Tangled Thread. The bright, colorful craft store is tucked into the first floor of the Petersburg Indian Association's Hallingstad-Peratrovich building. Martinsen has a little bit of everything: yarn, fabric, embroidery supplies, weaving materials, felting options, and lots of crafty... Full story
WRANGELL – Free public Wi-Fi is available at Shoemaker Harbor thanks to a partnership between the borough and Tidal Network, a program of Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. The wireless internet service, which covers the general area of the harbor, has been operating successfully for more than two months and sees new users daily, according to Chris Cropley, director of Tidal Network. “We wanted to come up with a system that would provide a meaningful service to the people of Wrangell and anybody who’s coming into...
WRANGELL — Officials from the Southeast Alaska Power Agency and the Wrangell borough are working on a plan to bring a solar farm and battery storage system to the island, a move aimed at stabilizing the power grid. The regional power provider is looking for federal funding to pay most of the cost. The solar panels and batteries are estimated at $6 million. The project was the centerpiece of a town hall meeting May 6 at the Nolan Center, where roughly 25 residents gathered in person and online to hear about the future of their utility s...
This year's Little Norway Festival is bursting with music. Local acts take the festival's downtown main stage across Friday and Saturday this year, spanning jazz, classic rock, Appalachian folk and everything between. Evening shows at Kito's Kave and the Harbor Bar keep the live music rocking and the dance floor bumping into the middle of the night. And the weekend closes with a classical music piano concert at the Lutheran Church. "I absolutely love it," said Robyn Cardenas, who curated the...
