Sorted by date Results 1 - 22 of 22
The 2024 golden king crab fishery for the East Central management area -which includes the waters around Petersburg- closed after only four days when area fishermen caught more crab than the season's total guideline harvest level set for all of Southeast. Last year, fishermen reportedly observed a golden king crab population boom in parts of Southeast, but the ability to harvest crab was constrained by harvest levels based on earlier years when the population was very low. Meetings in 2023...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly decided to move forward with Island Refrigeration's application to purchase borough-owned tidelands during the assembly meeting April 1. Details for the potential sale will be outlined in a resolution and reviewed by the assembly in an upcoming meeting. Island Refrigeration, owned by Brock Snider, is a young business that does marine refrigeration and electrical services for the Petersburg fleet. Much of the refrigeration work is done aboard vessels, but the...
April 4, 1924 – H.R. Thompson, fish buyer of Ketchikan, who passed through on the steamer Admiral Rogers said: “Petersburg is bound to become a large city. It has the best fishing radius, a fine harbor and the hydro-electric plant will give it other needed facilities. My previous faith in the possibilities of the town is being rapidly confirmed.” April 1, 1949 – The dial equipment proposed for installation by Lloyd Swanson of the Telephone Exchange, if awarded the franchise by the city, would be of Stromberg-Carlson manufacture, a name of worl...
The Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery continued Tuesday, with purse seine boats making sets in Neva Straight and Salisbury Sound to the north, and in Deep Inlet, Redoubt Bay and a stretch of outside waters to the south, the Department of Fish and Game said. Until Fish and Game closes it, the commercial fishery will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in those areas, which include a stretch of the outer coast south of Povorotni Point and north of Cape Aspid, but excluding Whale and Necker bays....
Youth education in shooting sports To the Editor: The weekend of March 22-24 three Petersburg students with Devil’s Thumb Shooters participated in the Western Regional Junior Target Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hannah Slaven, Marcus Anderson, and Cayden Turland joined ten Anchorage area students on the ALASKA YESS state team. The tournament in Las Vegas had many teams from all over the midwest and AKYESS team placed third over all in the trap shoot. All students shot 350 targets in four different events: 50 international skeet, 100 A...
Dear Friends and Neighbors: After a lovely and restful Easter weekend the House is continuing to debate the operating budget. The House Finance Committee is working through nearly 100 amendments, but so far very few have passed. After the committee finishes the amendment process, they will vote on whether to pass the operating budget out of committee. After the bill moves from the House Finance Committee it will be another opportunity for members to offer budget amendments on the House Floor before the budget package is debated and voted on....
If you read the mainstream papers and blogs and spend just a little bit of time on social media these days, you will see, read, and be told that the education sky is falling. The people promoting this narrative might be right, but not just because of funding. Education in Alaska needs reform. I’ve been very transparent in my conversations with the Legislature, school district administrators, the education lobby establishment, and the public. My message – yes, there needs to be additional funding for education, but we also need some changes to...
Unfortunately, the campaign for increased funding for public education has reached an impasse with the governor’s insistence on reforming the charter school approval process. This reform would allow charter schools to bypass the approval of local school districts and instead go directly to the State Board of Education. It is the first and most significant step in a plan to reduce the power of local authorities and provide opportunities for private and religious schools to access public funds. AASB strongly opposes this reform through its r...
March 27 – An officer responded to a report of suspicious activity and determined it was unfounded. Kylene Hedlund, 31, was arrested on charges of allegedly violating conditions of release. A caller reported that someone wrote in the dust on a work vehicle. An officer responded to a report of theft. Petersburg Police Department (PPD) received a report of a single vehicle accident. A warning was issued for an expired registration. March 28 – An officer responded to a report of theft and determined it was unfounded. PPD received a report of a w...
March 21, 2024 At arraignment, defendant Dazzlin Frentz entered a not guilty plea to the charge of Violating Conditions of Release. A $500 performance bond was added to the previous imposed conditions of release. At arraignment, defendant Gaberiel Volk entered a not guilty plea to Violating Conditions of Release. A $2,500 performance bond and a reassessment of substance abuse evaluation with proof provided to pretrial enforcement were added to the previously imposed conditions of release. March 27, 2024 At arraignment, defendant Kylene Hedlund...
The state government risks losing millions of dollars in federal funding because it did not comply with requirements for pandemic relief funds, according to a letter from the United States Department of Education. The state’s education department disputes the claim. The result is a federal “high risk” designation that could cost the state grant funding. Members of the Senate Majority caucus said the state could lose more than $400 million. “Without a plan and quick action, our local schools could be out additional federal resources, and the... Full story
Members of the Alaska House Finance Committee revised their latest budget draft Tuesday to include more money for child care and eliminate funding for an experimental reading institute operated by the state. The committee spent most of the day Tuesday debating amendments to the state’s operating budget, an $11.3 billion document that pays for state services and Permanent Fund dividends during the 12 months that begin July 1. The committee is expected to consider additional amendments through Wednesday at least, and the budget would then a...
The cruise ship summer season is just weeks away - and for Alaska's Little Norway, the harbor is expecting 104 stops from 12 vessels. The first cruise ship is scheduled to arrive in Petersburg on April 27; consistent cruise ship traffic can be expected from May 6 to Sept. 22, with as many as seven port-calls, or stops, in a given week. The cruise ships coming to Petersburg this year are about the same size as recent years - most with a capacity of about 40 to 100 passengers. However, the total...
The Petersburg Indian Association is currently exploring several opportunities to potentially grow housing in Petersburg. PIA is looking at and gathering information on potentially expanding the Airport Subdivision -also known in the community as the Tlingit and Haida subdivision- which is located past Hammer and Wikan grocery in a loop off Howkan Street. Similar to when the Airport Subdivision was first developed, PIA partnered with Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority and are "in talks"...
Everett Bennett is set to serve as the new tribal administrator for the Petersburg Indian Association. PIA announced earlier this week that Bennett was officially hired for the job and will start on May 20. "The council is extremely excited to have them started as the new tribal administrator," PIA Council President Debra O'Gara told the Pilot. "They come with a lot of experience ... I could go on and on..." Born and raised in Petersburg, Bennett is a tribal citizen who has served the community...
Petersburg swimmers Tori Miller and Lexie Tow both competed in a pre-qualifying event in Federal Way Washington from March 21-24. The Viking Swim Club duo along with eight other Southeast swimmers raced against almost 1400 kids from nine different states, all aged from 10 and under to 18, with Miller and Tow both performing well in incredibly competitive events. "A lot of amazing swims took place there, and the Viking Swim Club and the kids should be proud," said Jason Miller, Tori's father....
Petersburg High School's track team is out on the field and ready to get things started this spring as they begin preparing for their first meet of the season. Alongside a larger team this year, the coaching staff has expanded with the inclusion of new head coach Casey Gates, working alongside James Valentine with some additional help from Eva Lenhard. "We've got a lot of kids out for the team right now. We've got 30 athletes or so, so there's a lot of moving pieces [and] moving parts at each pr...
With three months until the deadline, only 16% of Alaska high school seniors have applied for federal student aid. The funding mechanism, called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA, is an indicator of college-bound students. Alaska has the lowest rate of applicants in the nation, which has been true for at least the last decade, said Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education Executive Director Sana Efrid. “The No. 1 reason we hear from students and families that they do not enroll in post-secondary programs is the c... Full story
Clausen Memorial Museum recently acquired 109 hardbound copies of various Petersburg newspapers dating as far back as early 1913. Sue Paulsen took possession of the historic papers when the library began creating a digital archive and has now donated them to the museum. Petersburg's first newspaper was issued on January 18, 1913. The Progressive, published by J.E. Rivard and H. Frederick Johnson, only ran for a year. On December 5, 1914, The Petersburg Weekly Report became the next weekly newspa...
Susan Gail (Wamback) Jennings was born on March 2, 1955, in Saginaw, Michigan. In 1973, Sue moved to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to begin her undergraduate studies at Michigan Technological University (MTU). During the summer of 1975, while working at Isle Royale National Park on Lake Superior, she met her husband-to-be, Rich Jennings. They married on May 31, 1976. In May 1977, Sue graduated from MTU with a Bachelor of Science degree in Fisheries Management. The following year, she moved to... Full story
Maximum payouts from a fund that covers medical costs of injured seafood harvesters would be boosted under a bill that won final passage in the Alaska Legislature on Thursday. The measure, Senate Bill 93, would boost allowable payouts from the Fishermen’s Fund to $15,000 per injury or disablement from the current $10,000 maximum. The Fishermen’s Fund serves as something of a stand-in for workers’ compensation. Commercial fishers in Alaska are not covered by workers’ compensation insurance. The fund, which predates statehood, is adminis... Full story
