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Heath Whitacre was at home chopping wood when he noticed he had a bunch of missed calls. Whitacre is a trained volunteer for the Petersburg Marine Mammal Center, a local volunteer-run nonprofit that helps rescue and respond to distressed wildlife. His teammates were trying to get a hold of him because there was a two-year-old whale entangled in a gillnet in Frederick Sound near Petersburg. It was about 11:00 a.m. on July 28. "A lot of the members of the team work during the daytime," he said,... Full story
After a few hours, a volunteer group freed a humpback whale that was entangled in a gillnet near Petersburg around 6:30 p.m. A humpback whale was entangled in a gillnet in the Wrangell Narrows near Petersburg. A local response team on the water said the whale is likely two years old and was first spotted yesterday in Frederick Sound, with the net attached to its fluke. The nonprofit Petersburg Marine Mammal Center worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to coordinate a... Full story
Alaska U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski announced last week that her bill allowing five Alaska Native communities in Southeast Alaska to receive land entitlements passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The legislation, called the Alaska Native Landless Equity Act, would allow Haines, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, and Tenakee to form Alaska Native corporations and receive 23,040 acres each — or one township — of federal land. Those communities were excluded from the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, or ANCSA, when it... Full story
Petersburg celebrated its second annual Amy Hallingstad Day on June 28, honoring the life and legacy of the late Alaska Native rights activist. She was known for helping to desegregate schools in Alaska, as well as advocating for better healthcare for Alaska Native people and equal pay for female cannery workers. Amy Hallingstad was a prominent advocate for tribal sovereignty. She helped incorporate Petersburg Indian Association as a federally recognized tribe in 1949. Last year, over 50 years... Full story
