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  • Funding for new hospital project left out of state capital budget

    Olivia Rose|May 30, 2024

    The multi-million dollar funding request for the Petersburg hospital replacement project was not included in the most recent state FY2025 capital budget, despite being the Petersburg Borough's top priority capital project and months of advocacy to the legislature. In January, the borough assembly unanimously approved a capital projects list that ranked the Petersburg Medical Center replacement project as the very top priority for funding. In February, individuals from the borough, board and...

  • Twisted Ginger silversmith grows her business close to home

    Olivia Rose|May 30, 2024

    Silversmith Erin Kandoll has always considered herself an artist. When the Pilot visited Kandoll's studio, her ginger-color hair sat atop her head in a hair bun while she sorted out dozens of turquoise stones. Twisted Ginger, the name of Kandoll's silver-and-stone jewelry business, was born from a creative pastime. "Started from a state room on the Kestrel with my tackle box ... then to the garage ... to selling everything, to quitting, and then to this," Kandoll recalled. "Now, I'm just ... liv... Full story

  • PVFD Chief Jim Stolpe is Petersburg's Volunteer of the Year

    Olivia Rose|May 23, 2024

    On Saturday, the Petersburg Community Foundation (PCF) granted over $26,000 to nine Petersburg nonprofits and awarded Volunteer of the Year to Jim Stolpe. The Petersburg Community Foundation formed in 2008 as a local affiliate of the Alaska Community Foundation (ACF). PCF continues to grow its community grant-making endowment fund, thanks to the support of the Rasmuson Foundation, ACF, and generous local charitable giving. Every year, dividends from its investments are used to provide financial...

  • Assembly considers sales tax cap increase

    Olivia Rose|May 23, 2024

    The Petersburg Borough Assembly is considering an ordinance that may increase the local sales tax cap for the first time in over two decades. If passed, the ordinance would appear as a ballot proposition this fall, allowing borough voters to decide the hike. The proposed ordinance seeks to raise the maximum taxable transaction amount from $1,200 to $5,000 by amending code language. Under the current municipal code, any purchase exceeding $1,200 is only taxed on the first $1,200 - capping the...

  • Borough Budget weighs deficit spending, school funding

    Olivia Rose|May 23, 2024

    The Petersburg Borough budget for the next fiscal year (FY25) is nearly decided. Currently, the proposed general fund budget for FY25 anticipates total revenues amounting to $13,009,827 and expenditures of $13,408,975 - spending a deficit of nearly $400,000. This budget includes maximum funding for the Petersburg School District. The borough finance department attributes the FY25 general fund budgeted deficit spending primarily to the school district funding increase request, however the...

  • PSD proposes three different scenarios for activities budget

    Olivia Rose|May 23, 2024

    The Petersburg School District is considering three scenarios to reduce the financial burden of student activities on the district's general fund. The three scenarios each involve different adjustments to activity fees, expenses, or a bit of both. The first proposed scenario is all price hikes for activity fees and no cuts to expenses; the third option does not change activity fees, but cuts expenses significantly. The second scenario tries to balance the other options and does a bit of both....

  • Teacher contract negotiations near agreement, with strings attached

    Olivia Rose|May 16, 2024

    On May 7, negotiating teams for the Associated Teachers of Petersburg (ATP) and Petersburg School District met for a private discussion. The certified teacher contract negotiations have been in a stalemate for months. The situation is constrained by inadequate state education funding that has not adjusted for inflation since 2017. The lack of funding is causing trouble for the district budget to meet the union's expressed need for teacher salary increases. At the May 7 meeting, the district...

  • Seattle's Staxx bros set to perform in Petersburg

    Olivia Rose|May 16, 2024

    Feel like dancing during this week's festivities? Then you're in luck! High energy, multi-genre Seattle-based band the Staxx Brothers are set to perform two fun, riveting and especially groovy shows in Petersburg for the Little Norway Festival. Founded by band lead Davin Michael Stedman in 2002, the Staxx Brothers are a high energy American band from Seattle who play a mixed genre of music, but like to define themselves as "Hard Ass Soul." "The energy you get from the Staxx Brothers show is...

  • Ruptured pipe causes flooding on Fram Street

    Olivia Rose|May 16, 2024

    Fram Street flooded Tuesday evening when thousands of gallons of water poured out of the ground and created a stream after an old part of a water main ruptured. First-hand accounts said the ankle-deep water flowed out onto Fram Street, above 8th Street, and mostly flowed into the ditches. According to the borough utility department, nearby site work for the new hospital project is not believed to be responsible for the rupture. The problem section of the pipe was isolated without any loss of ser...

  • Assembly considers transient room tax increase

    Olivia Rose|May 9, 2024

    Assembly members voted on the proposed FY25 borough budget for the first time on Monday, as well as two additional ordinances related to revenue — unanimously passing all of them in their first readings. Alongside the first draft of the next Petersburg Borough budget for fiscal year 25 (FY25), two ordinances regarding the borough’s transient room tax were introduced. One clarifies the uses of the fund, and the other would raise the 4% TRT rate to 7%. Transient room tax is essentially a “bed tax” paid by patrons of hotels and lodges. “This i...

  • U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Anacapa decommissioned after 34 years

    Olivia Rose|May 9, 2024

    "I want to thank the crew serving today, and all who served aboard Anacapa over these many years, for their dedication and service to our country," said Rear Admiral Charles Fosse, commander of United States Coast Guard District 13, during the decommissioning ceremony for USCG cutter Anacapa on April 26 in Port Angeles, Washington. Commissioned in 1990, Anacapa spent 32 of its 34 years homeported in Petersburg, and the last two years in Port Angeles. The 110-foot Coast Guard Cutter carried a... Full story

  • Forest Service wants to hear community priorities for Tongass management

    Olivia Rose|May 9, 2024

    The USDA Forest Service is starting the process of revising the Tongass National Forest Land Management Plan, which will shape local and regional management for years to come. Over the past 27 years since the Forest Plan was developed, the land and lifestyle in Southeast Alaska has changed significantly. As a result, the Forest Service is seeking input from the public to ensure that the revised plan reflects the evolving needs and concerns of the community. The current Forest Plan was developed... Full story

  • Blind Slough hydroelectric powerhouse turns 100

    Olivia Rose|May 9, 2024

    Petersburg Municipal Power and Light invites the public to celebrate 100 years of hydropower in Petersburg by attending an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Blind Slough Powerhouse this Thursday, May 16, from 1 to 3 p.m. "As part of the Mayfest celebration, we're going to ... show the community the new plant," Utility Director Karl Hagerman told the Pilot. At the open house, visitors get to see the revitalized facility -complete with a new turbine and generator- and learn about the...

  • Hospital site work

    Olivia Rose|May 2, 2024

    "Progress on the new facility site is steady and going well," PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter reported to the Hospital Board last week. "The new site is steadily being backfilled with rock from the city quarry with good progress." Workers encountered a substantial amount of bedrock when excavating the area for both the Wellness, Education & Resource Center (WERC) building and the Main Hospital and Long Term Care building. In order to position the two buildings and utilities as planned, blasting at the...

  • Pole fire knocks out power in Petersburg, Wrangell and Ketchikan

    Olivia Rose|May 2, 2024

    A brief regionwide blackout across Ketchikan, Wrangell and Petersburg last week started with a spark. When a power pole in Ketchikan caught fire due to a failed insulator, the line was isolated so the fire could be extinguished - but removing the large load of Ketchikan's power from the grid overloaded two major hydroelectric facilities in Southeast, causing them to go offline and resulting in a complete loss of power in all three communities. Ketchikan, Wrangell and Petersburg get much of...

  • School district drafts budget; teachers' union contract still in negotiations

    Olivia Rose|Apr 25, 2024

    There were more attendees than usual at the Petersburg School District Board meeting last week as over a dozen teachers observed discussion about critical issues surrounding district finances. A few attendees testified before the PSD School Board, expressing shared concerns related to the district's tight budget and ongoing certified teacher negotiations between PSD and the Associated Teachers of Petersburg (ATP) union, which have struggled to reach an agreement on a three-year contract amidst... Full story

  • A rezoning ordinance could help develop 'desperately' needed child care facility

    Olivia Rose|Apr 25, 2024

    To free up preschool classroom space, Petersburg Children's Center (PCC) hopes to build a parking lot and a new building to house the Eagle's Nest after-school program. The Petersburg Borough Assembly is considering a rezoning ordinance proposed by PCC, passing it in the first of three readings April 15. If approved by the assembly two more times, the ordinance will rezone four lots that are currently leased by PCC, changing the zoning for the areas from residential to public use. PCC wants to b...

  • Assembly approves tidelands sale to Island Refrigeration for $360,000

    Olivia Rose|Apr 18, 2024

    The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved the sale of a property on borough-owned tidelands to Island Refrigeration, LLC. at the price of $360,000, plus $5,171.76 in procedurally incurred expenses. Island Refrigeration, owned by Brock Snider, is a young business that does marine refrigeration and electrical services for the Petersburg fleet. The parcel is just under 30 thousand square-feet of vacant waterfront property located off Dock Street, behind Wikan Enterprises and the U.S. Coast Guard....

  • Winter troll fishery: 'amazing catch rates at good prices'

    Olivia Rose|Apr 18, 2024

    Days are long and arduous in January and February for trollers fishing Chinook salmon in rough weather conditions. But the "amazing catch rates at good prices" encountered during those months benefitted not only the resident fishermen "out there, grinding away"- but also the overall troll fishery, which harvested over the entire winter allocation of 45,000 king salmon. Grant Hagerman, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) Region I Commercial Troll Management Biologist, told the Pilot that...

  • School Board votes to join coalition likely to sue state

    Olivia Rose|Apr 18, 2024

    The Petersburg School District Board unanimously agreed to join the Coalition for Education Equity of Alaska (CEE) at the board meeting Tuesday night. One reason the district board is joining the coalition is because of its "unique" ability to "use legal avenues to ensure the state and legislature carry out constitutional responsibilities regarding education." Founded in 1996, CEE is a statewide member-based nonprofit that champions access to quality, equitable and adequate public education in...

  • Catholic Church update

    Olivia Rose|Apr 18, 2024

    Last July, Petersburg was covered in smoke when the St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church caught fire. "This fire can consume our building, but not our hearts," parish priest Fr. Jose Thomas had said at the time. The flames ultimately destroyed the building, which was demolished later that fall. While the lot remains empty, the parish of St. Catherine of Siena has continued its church services, which are currently held at First Presbyterian Church. Fr. Jose said losing the former building was "...

  • Petersburg sends proposals to Board of Fish to change the Blind Slough King Salmon management plan

    Olivia Rose|Apr 11, 2024

    The Petersburg Fish and Game Advisory Committee(AC) met on April 8 to generate proposals to the state Board of Fish to change the Blind Slough King Salmon management plan. The need for proposals was driven by public outcry following the announced closure of sport fishing this summer in the freshwater of Blind Slough. The AC agreed on and submitted a proposal that attempts to balance the need to protect the return of broodstock king salmon for the Crystal Lake Hatchery, while also providing...

  • Mental Health Trust Land Office might move on from subdivision plan

    Olivia Rose|Apr 11, 2024

    The Mental Health Trust Land Office (TLO) informed the Petersburg Borough that it will look into a feasibility study for constructing a road in the Trust’s proposed South Mitkof Subdivision on the condition that the plat is approved. If a plat is not approved, the Trust confirmed for the Pilot that work on the South Mitkof Subdivision project “will be put on hold for the foreseeable future” and TLO staff “will need to focus work on advancing subdivision efforts in other areas of the state that will generate revenues for the Trust and its ben...

  • New 3D mammography machine at PMC

    Olivia Rose|Apr 11, 2024

    Last month, a new 3D mammography machine —expected to be up to 60% more effective at detecting tumors— began serving patients in the radiology department at Petersburg Medical Center. Mammography uses x-rays to locate and help diagnose tumors in the breast. The newly installed machine can capture a clear, more in-depth image of a malignancy that may otherwise be missed in a conventional 2D mammogram. “This is a project we’ve been working on for a long time as a department,” said PMC radiology manager Sonja Paul. “We knew the machine we had was...

  • PVFD responds to fake airplane crash scenario in practice drill

    Olivia Rose|Apr 11, 2024

    "Scenario, scenario, scenario. This is only a drill. There has been an airplane crash at the end of the runway," a voice called out from the emergency fire dispatch radio on April 6. "Repeat, this is only a drill." An emergency drill that occurs once every three years took place Saturday afternoon when members of the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department, Emergency Medical Services and Search and Rescue simulated a response to an airplane crash at the Petersburg airport runway. The first unit to...

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