Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 461
Turning down a request to wait until union members vote on the offer, the Petersburg Borough Assembly on Oct. 20 approved the second reading of an ordinance funding the borough’s last, best and final wage offer to its employees’ union. The final reading likely comes before the assembly next week. Ordinance 2026-22, which adjusts the fiscal 2027 budget to pay for the offer’s first-year raises, passed its second reading 5-1, with Member Donna Marsh opposed. A motion by Marsh to postpone the ordinance to Nov. 16 failed on a 3-3 tie. Marsh, Bob M...
Cyber attackers who locked up Petersburg Borough computers in July demanded about $1 million in Bitcoin, and the borough refused to pay, Borough Manager Stephen Giesbrecht told the Pilot this week. “We got a ransomware notice from an outside bad guy, basically saying if we wanted our computers to work again, we should pay them,” Giesbrecht said. “We’re not going to pay ransomware.” The borough disclosed the July 11 attack in a public notice issued Oct. 16, more than three months later. Giesbrecht said outside experts told the borough to stay q...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will decide at its next meeting whether to make the land beside Fire Station 1 on Haugen Drive the permanent home for the volunteer fire department's training props. The props must leave Scow Bay by Nov. 30 to make way for the borough's boatyard project. At the Oct. 20 assembly meeting, Emergency Services Director Aaron Hankins presented cost estimates for two relocation sites. In the meantime, the three-story burn tower and six-container training prop will be...
Students in Petersburg High School's new Emergency Trauma Technician course spent two days this month learning to cut into wrecked vehicles, then used those skills to free a volunteer "patient" from the cab of an overturned pickup. The training took place Thursday, Oct. 8, and Friday, Oct. 9, at the borough baler facility at the landfill, where several junked vehicles slated to be crushed were held back for the exercise. Six ETT students and 10 students from the high school's Certified Nursing...
Petersburg's newest musical group held its first rehearsal Oct. 14 in the Petersburg High School band room. Matt Lenhard, the school's former band director, is starting the Petersburg Community Jazz Band, an ensemble for adult musicians. Before the first players arrived, Lenhard compared the evening to the start of a school year. "This is weirder than the first day of school," Lenhard said. "Because at least on the first day of school, I have a roster and I have some idea of skill level." He...
The Oktoberfest Art Share returns to the Petersburg Community Gym on Saturday, Oct. 24, for its 50th year, with a full slate of local artists, crafters, nonprofits and food vendors. Doors open to the public at 10 a.m., and the event runs until 3 p.m. The Muskeg Maleriers, Petersburg's longstanding rosemaling group, host the event. Sally Dwyer, one of the Oktoberfest organizers, remembers that a local arts council started the art share 50 years ago, but after four or five years the Maleriers...
Petersburg audiences will get a sampling of four centuries of Western drama later this month, when a cast of local adults and high school students stages a theater revue built from six scenes from six plays. The show runs 7 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, and 7 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, at Wright Auditorium. Tickets are $10 and are available at Lee’s Clothing and at the door. Organizer Elsa Wintersteen, who teaches drama at Petersburg High School, said the format will be new to many local theatergoers, who are more used to full-length productions l...
The Viking Swim Club’s annual auction returns this Saturday. This year’s theme is “The Price Is Right.” “It’s something we’ve been wanting to do for a few years,” said organizer Marlena Newman. “So it’s been really exciting to watch it come together.” The auction will be held Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Sons of Norway Hall. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., dinner will be served around 6:30 p.m. and the live auction will begin shortly after. Tickets are $50 and available at Lee’s Clothing. Jamie Cabral serves again as auctioneer. “His energy is just unm...
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 21....
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. The...
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...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly on Monday overturned the Planning Commission's denial of a minor subdivision at 1200 Haugen Drive, moving the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska a step closer to buying the borough lot next to the fire hall where it plans a broadband tower. Sitting as the Board of Adjustment, the Assembly voted 6-0 to grant Tlingit & Haida's appeal and approve the subdivision, Assembly Member Scott Newman was excused from the meeting. Tidal Network, a t...
Alaska Timber and Truss has secured a $2.5 million financing package to modernize its sawmill on Falls Creek Road, connect it to Petersburg's hydroelectric grid and install an additional mill built to process young-growth timber. Co-owner Brett Martin said the goal is to have the expanded operation running well by the middle of next summer. "We're taking a gamble," Martin said. "We're obtaining a couple of loans to expand our mill, or essentially retool our mill to bring it up to modern...
Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor will ask the Petersburg Borough Assembly on Monday to begin work on a borough-wide moratorium to prevent data centers that would use on-site power generation. The proposal would leave room for a smaller, grid-connected project like the one Mazzella Alaska has proposed for the former Ocean Beauty plant. At their meeting on Sept. 21, the assembly deadlocked 3-3 on a Planning Commission recommendation that was broader in one way and narrower in another. The commission had asked the assembly to start a one-year...
Hunters had checked in 58 moose from the Petersburg-Wrangell area hunt as of Sept. 29, a pace that has the season tracking with, and slightly ahead of, last year's record harvest, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. "Seems to be plenty of moose," said Frank Robbins, ADF&G area biologist. "Hunters are seeing moose, and the harvest is on par with last year." Last season's hunt, RM038, ended with 147 moose taken, including seven illegal bulls. Robbins said the harsh winter of...
A recommendation from the Petersburg Borough Planning Commission to place a one-year moratorium on data center development failed on a split vote at Monday’s Borough Assembly meeting. Assembly Members Scott Newman, Rob Schwartz and Jeff Meucci voted in favor of the moratorium; Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor, Member Bob Martin and Mayor Bob Lynn voted against. Member James Valentine was traveling and excused. Without a majority approval, the motion failed. The Planning Commission asked the assembly to initiate an ordinance establishing a t...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly on Monday amended and advanced Ordinance 2026-21, the adjustment to the borough’s annual budget for “known changes,” adding $150,000 to replace a failing sewer line on Gjoa Street before passing the package on a unanimous second reading. Monday’s amendment increases the Wastewater Fund by $150,000 to pay for the Gjoa Street Sewer Line Replacement Project. Asked by Member Bob Martin where the money would come from, Public Works Director Aaron Marohl said the borough plans to draw it from wastewater reserve...
Don and Karen Cornelius are a family of local artists, and this summer the Petersburg Public Library hosted back-to-back retrospectives for the two. Don Cornelius walked through the exhibition this week with the Pilot and reflected on decades of art – wildlife and landscape oil paintings from across Alaska, portraits of his children, a humorous and distinctive series of gnome paintings, and his two newest paintings completed this summer – all on display through the end of the month. Cor...
A controversial subdivision request will once again go in front of the Petersburg Borough Assembly acting as the Board of Adjustment in October. That's after Petersburg's Planning Commission rejected the request for a second time on Sept. 8. The Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska's broadband company, Tidal Network, wants to build a tower on borough land near Petersburg's fire hall. The company has already constructed a tower at Mill Road and is in the process of...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly on Sept. 8 cleared the way for the sale of two more borough-owned lots to Skylark Park LLC, expanding the soon-to-be-developed housing subdivision off Skylark Way. The assembly voted unanimously to advance the application and exempt the sale from public auction, authorizing the borough manager to negotiate a direct sale at appraised value. Any final terms will return to the assembly for approval. The two parcels — Government Lots 26 and 27 in Section 33 — are each about 3.7 acres and are assessed at $82,400 and $...
Petersburg's Rainforest Festival added a new event last Saturday - a Bear Mini Fair - which drew Fish and Game wildlife education and outreach coordinator Abby McAllister from Juneau to talk with residents about living in bear country. In a follow-up interview, McAllister told the Pilot that her central message for Petersburg is that conflicts with bears are almost entirely avoidable. "All of the interactions that can be perceived as negative - whether it's a bear dumping trash out on the sidewa...
Last weekend, a nine-person team from Petersburg - all of them Medical Center employees or relatives of employees - ran the 175-kilometer Klondike Road Relay from Skagway, Alaska, into Whitehorse, Yukon. And did it dressed, more or less, as pickles. The team called itself "The Big Dills," and "oh my gosh, we had so much fun," said team captain Megan Litster. The Klondike Road Relay is an overnight, 175-kilometer (roughly 110-mile) race that is broken into 10 legs of varying length, from about... Full story
The S.H.A.R.E. Coalition will host its second annual Mocktails and Mingle from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at the John Hanson Sr. Hall, a free, all-ages event built around sober socializing, games and community connection. The gathering is open to the entire community and organized with several community partners, said Ashley Kawashima, a member of the coalition. Food and snacks will be provided, along with a cookie-decorating station for dessert. "Everybody gets to decorate their own cookies," Kawashima said. Activities will include giant Jenga, an ove...
The Petersburg Borough and the union representing many of its employees are heading into mediation after months of salary negotiations over a new contract reached an impasse. The collective bargaining agreement between the Petersburg Borough and the Petersburg Municipal Employees Association expired on June 30, 2026. PMEA, in a recent communication to the assembly, said the two sides are preparing to enter mediation. Borough Clerk Becky Regula confirmed to the Pilot that negotiations had reached an impasse and both sides agreed to move to...
Until now there have been no uniform borough road standards beyond the old Petersburg city limits, but on Tuesday the Petersburg Borough adopted its first road-construction standards for public roads and subdivisions outside Service Area One. The Borough Assembly unanimously approved Resolution 2026-23 on Sept. 8. It adopts the 2026 Petersburg Borough Standard Specifications, replacing the City of Petersburg’s 2012 specifications, and for the first time sets minimum road standards for public road improvements and subdivisions outside Service A...
