Week of October 15, 2026
Week of October 15, 2026
Abbey Jackson Ferree – who grew up in Petersburg, swam for the Viking Swim Club and now lives in Fairbanks – swam across the Catalina Channel off Southern California on Sept. 11. The crossing made her the third Alaskan ever to complete the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming. She entered the water off Santa Catalina Island at about 11 p.m. on Sept. 10 and reached the mainland shortly after 11 the next morning. Her official time was 12 hours, 2 minutes and 55 seconds, for a crossing of about...
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The Petersburg Borough Assembly took two steps toward regulating data centers on Oct. 5. In a 6-0 vote, members directed Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht to draft an ordinance establishing a nine-month moratorium on certain data center development. In a second 6-0 vote, they directed him to begin drafting amendments to Title 19, the borough’s zoning code, to address data centers specifically. Neither vote puts rules in place yet. The moratorium and any zoning changes must each come back to the Assembly as ordinances and pass three readings....
Getting rid of solid waste - trash, in a single word - is expensive in Alaska, particularly in Southeast communities that lack road access to haul and dump garbage in a nearby landfill. "It's a problem that's never going away," said Tom Wetor, director of Wrangell's Public Works Department and a board member of the Southeast Alaska Solid Waste Authority, or SEASWA. The collection of nine Southeast municipal governments, in conjunction with the Southeast Conference and a consultant, has been...
Petersburg certified the official tally of votes for its municipal election on Oct. 9, finalizing the results. When the polls closed on election night, there were two questioned ballots and two mail-in ballots outstanding. The questioned ballots were invalid. The outstanding ballots did not arrive before the Petersburg Borough Assembly met as the canvass board to certify the results on Friday. But those potential votes would not have changed the outcome of the preliminary results - at least not... Full story
The Petersburg Medical Center has received a three-year grant from the state health department to offer free case management services to seniors in Petersburg and Wrangell. Brandy Boggs, PMC’s hospital patient navigator, explained the new program during KFSK’s PMC Live show in late September. “Case management services under this grant would be for anybody 60 and older,” Boggs said. “Or if you’re under 60 and you have Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia or something similar.” Boggs said the purpose of the program is to help... Full story
The weather station atop Five Finger Lighthouse is operational again after more than two months offline, and it came back this fall instead of next spring thanks to the insistence of the volunteers who care for the lighthouse. Three NOAA technicians replaced the station's tower and instruments Oct. 3 and 4. They teamed up with the Five Finger Lighthouse Society for the haul of gear and transportation of techs to and from the island. The new and improved weather station "is up and running, and...
Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, site of the world’s biggest sockeye salmon runs, produced a total harvest this year that was a bit smaller than the 20-year average but fetched more dollars for fishers, according to a state summary. The 2026 sockeye salmon run totaled 45.7 million fish, making this the first year since 2014 that the run was below 50 million, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game preliminary summary, released last week. While the total run was 4% above the preseason forecast, the total catch of 30.1 million... Full story
October 15, 1926 – Alaska Day, celebrating the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867, will be observed here Saturday night when the local Igloo of the Pioneers of Alaska will stage a dance and entertainment in Pioneers Hall. The affair is expected to be one of the jolliest social events of the season and a large attendance is expected. Music for the dance will be furnished by the Merry Makers. Although Alaska Day falls on Monday this year and will be observed as a legal holiday by the local banks and other business institutions, it was...
The Petersburg High School Wrestling team is set to begin their 2026 campaign with newness. The team this year boasts the most athletes the program has had since pre-Covid. There are 15 wrestlers on the squad this year. "There have been people that have been working to get pee wee's going, which then kind of funnels into the middle school, which then funnels into high school," head coach James Valentine said. "It's cool to see now, with this being my sixth year, seeing what the community has...
The Petersburg High School Volleyball team, bump, set and spiked their way to a 4-0 start, sweeping their first conference tournament of the season this past weekend against Skagway and Wrangell. The Vikings first game of the tournament was against the Skagway Panthers. The Vikings won a close affair, 26-24. The Vikings tied the game up at 24, getting the ball back. Freshman setter Savina Pawuk dished up two back-to-back pristine serves to give the Vikings the win. "I didn't think my serves...
Keep ‘dark money’ out of our elections To the Editor: ‘Outside money’ and ‘dark money’ are two labels often used interchangeably to discredit or cast doubt on a politician or political campaign. These terms, however, do not mean the same thing and this distinction is incredibly important as the latter is on the ballot this November and will proliferate in our elections if Ballot Measure 2 passes. ‘Outside money’ refers to campaign contributions from outside of the state, be that national advocacy groups, large corporations, or...
October 7 – Jimmy Barbuch was arrested on a warrant. A found wallet was turned in to the Police Department (PD) and returned to its owner. An officer responding to a reported dangerous driver on Hungerford Hill Road was unable to locate the described vehicle. A driver on Mitkof Hwy was issued a warning for inoperable tail lights. A driver on S Nordic Dr was issued warnings for inoperable head and tail lights. An officer responding to a reported possible water leak on Haugen Dr determined it was unfounded. A reported runaway dog was later...
Petersburg Pilot... Full story
Notices published in the Petersburg Pilot and all of Alaska's... Full story
