Sorted by date Results 1 - 16 of 16
On Monday, Petersburg's Dan Sullivan was deemed ineligible to run for the office of United States Senator by Alaska's Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher. "My determination in this matter is final. Although you have 30 days to appeal this decision." In a letter to Sullivan on Monday, Beecher stated that his filing for Senate "was not filed in order to declare an actual good-faith candidacy for the office of United States Senator, but was instead filed with a purpose to confuse or...
Two weeks after rejecting it, the Petersburg Borough Assembly on Monday approved the sale of a borough parcel to Tidal Network for a wireless communication tower - with all four members who had blocked the deal switching to yes and the resolution passing unanimously. Resolution 2026-16 authorizes the sale of an approximately 0.23-acre borough-owned parcel to the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, doing business as Tidal Network. The resolution had failed 2-4 at the...
On Friday, June 12, botanist Joni Johnson led a "Friends of Raven's Trail" invasive plant walk. She informed attendees what harmful invasive plants look like, as well as what they could do to stop their spread. "I'd like more people with more eyes and more willingness to help pull plants," Johnson said. "It's Whack-a-Mole, it's everywhere... more people that are willing to play Whack-a-Mole, the better we are at preventing the march of invasive plants up the hill." Johnson throughout the hike...
International Children's Day is commonly celebrated outside of the United States and is a cherished holiday in many places. Jose Meza, employee of the Petersburg Children's Center, has a clear vision of it becoming a large day of celebration in Petersburg, too. This past Friday, June 12, Meza began to bring his vision to reality – hosting a celebration for the kids at the children's center. "The kids loved it. It was a really nice, sunny day, we did a bunch of water games, water balloons," M...
A zoning ordinance to regulate cell towers and other wireless facilities — a revised version of one that died on a tie vote two weeks ago — came back to the Petersburg Borough Assembly on Monday. Assembly Member Jeff Meucci reintroduced the ordinance and offered five amendments which the assembly accepted before the unanimously approving the ordinance’s first reading. Ordinance 2026-14 would amend Title 19 of the municipal code to set zoning and permitting standards for wireless communication facilities and other towers. The ordinance requi...
June 14, 1926 – While delving for precious metal at their claim, John Bremer and George Kerr recently had the good fortune of finding a little treasure package of nature which netted the gold seekers more in one lump sum than would a bevy of gold nuggets. The miners chanced to notice a sharp bony projection jutting through the roof of their drift. Both fortune hunters concentrated upon the new discovery, with the result that after a few hours work a fine, large mammoth tusk weighing some two hundred and fifty pounds was picked from the top o...
Petersburg voters will likely decide this fall whether the borough can borrow up to $3,315,000 to finish the Scow Bay standby generation project, after the assembly approved the that ordinance’s first reading on Monday. Ordinance 2026-13 would authorize electric-utility revenue bonds of not more than $3,315,000 for the Scow Bay standby generator, which Petersburg Municipal Power and Light says faces a budget shortfall driven by construction-cost increases since the project began. If it clears three readings, the borrowing question goes on t...
Support for the Landless To the Editor: Sunday, May 24, 2026, was an historic day for Séet Ká Kwáan/Petersburg. The town was abuzz with excitement for the launch of the first canoe out of the community in over 100 years. The canoe journey followed ancestral pathways across our waters between Séet Ká Kwáan and Dzánti K’ihéeni/Juneau. I was excited and grateful to join this journey as a team puller in the Kéet Yaakw (Killerwhale Canoe). With each stroke of the paddle over the next 10 days, it became more and more clear why it is necessary to pass...
June 3 – Jason Hurst was charged with alleged theft in the 4th degree. John Garner, 33, was arrested for alleged felony assault in the 3rd degree. Papers were served. There was a report of lost property. An officer responded to a report of individuals pulling a fishing net across Hammer Slough, but was unable to locate the described incident. The Police Department (PD) received a report of a disabled vehicle at the Petersburg Cemetery and contacted its owner who agreed to move it in the morning. June 4 – Officers conducted foot patrols on Cha...
The Borough Assembly has given final approval this month to raising Petersburg’s marine passenger fee from $5 to $8 per passenger, with the increase set to take effect Jan. 1, 2027. Ordinance 2026-07, which amends Chapter 4.80 of the municipal code, passed unanimously on third reading at the assembly’s June 1 meeting. The fee is assessed once per cruise, on marine passenger vessels upon their first entry into any borough port, and has been collected since March 2018. Finance Director Jody Tow has estimated the increase will generate rou...
Petersburg’s electric utility rates will go up 4% on July 1 after the Borough Assembly approved the third reading of Ordinance 2026-08 at its June 1 meeting. The ordinance raises electric rates across all customer classes — residential, general service, large commercial, harbor and municipal — for fiscal year 2027. For a typical residential customer using 1,203 kilowatt-hours a month, the monthly bill rises from about $163 to about $170. The residential customer charge increases from $16.00 to $16.64, and the energy rate moves from 12.2 cents...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly on Monday awarded the wastewater outfall repair project to Rock-n-Road Construction of Petersburg in an amount not to exceed $222,000. The 6-0 vote followed a short explanation from Public Works Director Aaron Marohl, who was asked by Member Jeff Meucci to describe the project “for the folks at home.” Marohl said a February 2025 dive to locate the outfall found the line broken and separated at some unknown point. The borough reported the deficiency to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Alaska Dep...
The assembly gave final, unanimous approval Monday to Ordinance 2026-11, updating the borough’s sewer-utility service rates for FY2027 through FY2030. Built on the utility’s annual rate review, the ordinance cites rising operating costs, aging infrastructure and increasingly stringent EPA and state environmental requirements. It passed 6-0 on third reading after unanimous first and second readings. In his memo, Assistant Public Works Director Thomas Rummel wrote that critical components — lift stations, piping, pumps, controls and the marin...
Joanne (Joey) Linda Chapman was born on November 10, 1954, in Wiesbaden, Germany, to Donald and Barbara (Grainger) Chapman. When she was ten her mother died from an undiagnosed kidney disease. She and her three sisters were lovingly raised in Burlington, Massachusetts, by her stepmother Evelyn Chapman. She enjoyed a childhood vacationing on Cape Cod and summers full of fun on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. After graduating from Burlington High School in 1972 Joey went to the University of... Full story
Jane Smith reeled in this hefty king salmon this week off the coast of Prince of Wales Island. It weighed in at 42 pounds and was caught from the Helmisu, a boat once owned by Petersburg fishing legend Gordon Jensen. Jane Smith and Scott Roberge bought the vessel from Sue Paulson, daughter of old-time Petersburg icons Gordon and Helmi Jensen....
King Salmon King salmon fishing in the Wrangell Narrows/Blind Slough Terminal Harvest Area (THA) is going well, with many anglers reporting early catches. We have creel technicians both on the docks and out at Blind Slough. A few minutes of your time may be asked for to record your catch and effort. If you caught a fish, it may be sampled by one of our technicians. This information helps support healthy and sustainable fisheries. Harvest should increase over the next few weeks throughout the THA, usually peaking around the third week in June....
