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On May 29, a 39-foot canoe of Wrangell paddlers will start the week-long, 150-nautical-mile journey to Juneau for Celebration, the biennial Native culture festival. This year marks the first time Wrangell will have its own canoe making the journey since 2014, signifying a return of enthusiasm for canoe culture in town. Canoes from other communities will make the journey alongside Wrangell, including Juneau, Kasaan, Metlakatla and a veterans' canoe - all beginning in Wrangell. Up to seven other...
May 9, 1924 – When asked about the shortage of bait at Petersburg for halibut fishermen, Earl N. Ohmer said, “The shortage of bait is due to the fact that there is at present no plant here in which to freeze the bait, or to keep it frozen. What is needed is a cold storage plant.” Mr. Ohmer knows whereof he speaks. He is a member of the firm Alaska Glacier Seafood Company, which packs and ships shrimp meat. He is a buyer and shipper of salmon and halibut and other varieties of fish, a member of the City Council, Chamber of Commerce, and knows...
Irene June Nichols was born in Port Alexander, Alaska, to Anna and Arne Iversen on August 7, 1928. Her parents immigrated from Norway to fish out of Port Alexander and moved to Ketchikan when she was five. After graduating from Ketchikan High School Irene attended Pacific Lutheran College in Seattle, Washington, for a year before returning home to marry her high school sweetheart, Carl Anthony Manzoni, a bush pilot. They enjoyed ten happy years before Carl was tragically killed in a plane crash... Full story
May 2, 1924 – Herman Papke, rancher and homesteader on Wrangell Narrows just below Scow Bay, is doing wonders in propagation and crossing of species of small fruit, berries and vegetables. He has some apple and cherry trees which seem to be doing well. He has successfully raised loganberries and some of the finest raspberry bushes yet seen in Southeastern Alaska. The soil is dark loam with a blue clay subsoil and just enough sand admixture to let the air through. It was necessary to clear away trees and stumps and then to run deep drainage d...
April 24 – The 3rd Street pump station alarm activated. Water Wastewater (W/WW) was notified and responded. An officer spoke to an individual on 2nd Street concerning a civil issue. Found property was returned to its owner. An officer assisted a citizen. Concerned children called the Petersburg Police Department (PPD) to request assistance for an individual on South 2nd Street. An officer responded and spoke with the children. An officer responded to a parking complaint on Scow Bay Loop Road and found the vehicle had left the area. An o...
April 17 – Petersburg Police Department (PPD) received a report of an individual sleeping at a business on haugen Drive who woke up and left the area. An officer conducted extra patrols. An officer assisted a citizen. An officer responded to a report of suspicious activity on South Nordic Drive. PPD received a report of a disabled vehicle. PPD received a report of found property and notified the owner. April 18 – An officer assisted a citizen. An officer assisted Emergency Medical Services (EMS) on Kiseno Street. A vehicle parked illegally on...
This Friday, the Petersburg Police Department and the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department are turning up the heat for the annual Guns and Hoses Chili Cook-off fundraiser. This will be the third year Don and Julie Spigelmyre have hosted the cook-off. The event was dreamed up by the couple on an airplane ride from Michigan to Petersburg. "We got to talking about how much we appreciate the volunteerism with the fire department," Don told the Petersburg Pilot. The Spigelmyres decided they wanted to...
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....
April 10 – An officer provided a courtesy transport on Dolphin Street. An officer responded to a report of suspicious activity on Excel Street and determined it was unfounded. An officer conducted extra patrols on North Nordic Drive. April 11 – Kylene Hedlund was remanded for violating conditions of release. Officers conducted a welfare check on Chief John Lott Street. A driver on Mitkof Highway was issued a warning for failure to maintain their lane. A driver on Excel Street was issued a warning for failure to stop at a stop sign. An officer r...
April 3 – An officer responded to a report of a vehicle parked for an extended period of time. The owner was contacted and the vehicle moved from the area. Papers were served. An officer responded to a report of suspicious activity and determined it was unfounded. A driver was issued a warning for tail and headlight requirements. April 4 – An officer conducting a welfare check found the individuals of concern were okay. A driver was issued a warning for tail light requirements. An officer assisted Emergency Medical Services (EMS). April 5 – A...
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 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...
Petersburg is closer than ever to developing the infrastructure at Scow Bay. Congress passed an appropriations package on March 1 that combined six funding bills for FY2024 - including $4.1 million in Congressionally designated spending (CDS) for a vessel haul out project at Scow Bay Harbor. The money will fund roughly half of the Scow Bay boat haul out project, which is one part of a larger plan to develop the port and harbor infrastructure at Scow Bay. The plan for this project is, primarily,...
March 28, 1924 – The Glacier Sea Food Company bought from the Olympic Fisheries a floating cannery on March 15. A scow which is at present located near Johnny Sales’ chicken ranch. The scow is now being painted and repaired. Earl Ohmer says they expect to float it on next month’s high tides. The scow will be used as a floating cannery to pack shrimp. The location for the packing of shrimp is yet undecided. Next door to Glacier Seafood Company Paul Owens of Scow Bay is building a plant for making poultry feed out of shrimp shells. Mr Owens...
Fierce Allegiance officially bought the Ocean Beauty bunkhouse at 18 Harbor Way on Friday, March 15. Owner Andrew Mazzella, 37, confirmed that he is set to buy all property Ocean Beauty has in Petersburg. "Friday was a huge day," he said. "I closed on [the bunkhouse property] and the stipulation to close on this ... was that I wanted to buy everything Ocean Beauty has in Petersburg." Mazzella negotiated with Ocean Beauty for eight months and now has entered into a contract to purchase all of...
March 21, 1924 – Since Petersburg has been having such splendid weather and all of the snow has gone, and the frost is out of the ground, considerable building, improving of land and clearing of lots have started. Chris Wick has enlarged his house and built a splendid basement. Hans Zahl has been assisting Mr. Wick. Jack Matison and Billy Worth have built new houses and are now finishing the interiors. Anton Noried is clearing his lot and laying the foundation for his house. Mr. Noried’s lot is beside the lots of Thomas Lando and Louie Sev...
When the Petersburg Borough Assembly approved the landmark property sale of borough-owned tidelands to Wikan Enterprises last year, it was said that decision opened Pandora’s box. For decades, rather than sell its tideland properties, the borough selectively leased them to businesses involved in waterfront commercial/ industrial uses, with a priority placed on supporting the commercial fishing industry. About 12 years ago, the borough started directing the revenues generated by leased tidelands to the harbor department’s enterprise fund. Wit...
February 21 – An officer responded to a report of a puppy wandering on Mitkof Highway. A protective order was served on Chief John Lott Street. An officer conducted a civil standby on Chief John Lott Street. A report of theft was filed with the Petersburg Police Department (PPD). February 22 – PPD received a report of suspicious activity. PPD received a report of a blown transformer on Kiseno Street. Petersburg Power and Light (PP&L) was notified and responded. An officer provided lockout assistance on Rambler Street. An officer assisted Emerge...
Petersburg became the 19th organized borough in Alaska on Jan. 3, 2013 after the town’s borough vote was certified. In the early 2000s, the City of Petersburg tried to annex all of Mitkof Island after receiving public pushback on forming a borough. This caused an upset outside of city limits for residents who did not want to pay the same taxes as residents inside the city limits. Eventually, after years of mediation and piles of paperwork, a compromise was made and the Petersburg Borough, which encompasses 3,829 square miles of land and w...
Assembly members agreed that a port commission proposal to require boat owners to carry marine insurance — or pay a monthly fee in addition to their stall rental — needs a lot more work. The port commission has been discussing since 2022 the financial risk to the borough when an uninsured vessel catches fire or sinks in the harbor, requiring cleanup and removal. The commission last month voted unanimously to recommend assembly approval of an ordinance requiring boat owners show proof of insurance or pay an additional monthly fee so that the...
February 14 – An officer conducted a welfare check on South 3rd Street. An officer responded to a parking complaint on Dolphin Street and a vehicle was moved at the direction of an officer. Jose Acuna was cited for driving with a suspended license. Robert Brooks was cited for failure to carry proof of motor vehicle liability insurance. An officer provided a civil standby on Haugen Drive. February 15 – An individual requested extra patrols on Lumber Street. Jared Nicholas Burns was charged with probation violation and violating conditions of...
Wrangell borough officials are concerned that Wrangell continues to lose population, while those who stay in town grow older and leave the workforce. As a whole, the state has lost more residents than it has gained in new arrivals every year since 2013, with only the birth rate keeping Alaska from showing a population decline. However, unlike the statewide totals, Wrangell recorded more deaths than births between 2017 and 2022, adding to the community’s overall population decline. The state’s latest estimate for Wrangell’s population, as of las...
February 15, 1924 – Petersburg is a real home town. Home conditions are ideal. Lots for building can be bought from $50 up. There is just the right drainage to the land for sanitation; the water is pure; no better school facilities can be found anywhere; there are many beautiful places for summer picnics and outings; there are churches, social halls, a library and, last but not least, there is the most beautiful and safe harbor in Alaska. Wind storms that rage elsewhere never cause more than a ripple in Petersburg Harbor. Once a boat is tied u...
