Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1706
The first reading of an ordinance that would raise Petersburg electric utility rates by 4% starting on July, 1, 2026 came before the Petersburg Borough Assembly at last week’s meeting. The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted 7–0 to advance Ordinance 2026-08, which updates electric utility rates and charges for fiscal year 2027. The increase was identified through the borough’s Waterworth financial forecasting software, which Utility Director Karl Hagerman implemented last year in place of the previous rate study process. For a typical residential...
The 68th year of Little Norway Festival opens Thursday, May 14, for four days of parades, smørbrød, live music, competitive herring-tossing and all manner of communal revelry that could only happen in this town. The celebration runs through Sunday, May 17. "I love that everybody comes to town," said Kelli Slaven, who coordinates the festival schedule for the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce. "I love seeing all the people downtown - the kids running, familiar faces and new ones. It just kind of mak...
18 – There are no issues in the archive until May 19, 1926. Thank you for your patience. May 11, 1951 – Work is progressing rapidly at Twin Creek Poultry Farm toward completion of a modern, mechanized packing plant for fryers. Using assembly plant methods, Phil Clausen and Bob Schwartz will be ready in about two weeks to turn out a large weekly supply of high class, heavy fryers. Their laying pens are models of efficiency and cleanliness, too, and an increasing number of people are able to get truly fresh eggs of the highest quality from the...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved the first-reading of an ordinance increasing the borough’s marine passenger fee by $3 per passenger, from $5 to $8, effective January 1, 2027. The fee is assessed once per cruise on marine passenger vessels upon first entry into any borough port. The borough has collected the fee since March 2018, using it to offset costs tied to cruise traffic — including restroom cleaning, janitorial services, library operations during the tourist season, and bridge and trail maintenance. The ordinance cites substantia...
WRANGELL – Free public Wi-Fi is available at Shoemaker Harbor thanks to a partnership between the borough and Tidal Network, a program of Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. The wireless internet service, which covers the general area of the harbor, has been operating successfully for more than two months and sees new users daily, according to Chris Cropley, director of Tidal Network. “We wanted to come up with a system that would provide a meaningful service to the people of Wrangell and anybody who’s coming into...
WRANGELL — Officials from the Southeast Alaska Power Agency and the Wrangell borough are working on a plan to bring a solar farm and battery storage system to the island, a move aimed at stabilizing the power grid. The regional power provider is looking for federal funding to pay most of the cost. The solar panels and batteries are estimated at $6 million. The project was the centerpiece of a town hall meeting May 6 at the Nolan Center, where roughly 25 residents gathered in person and online to hear about the future of their utility s...
This year's Little Norway Festival is bursting with music. Local acts take the festival's downtown main stage across Friday and Saturday this year, spanning jazz, classic rock, Appalachian folk and everything between. Evening shows at Kito's Kave and the Harbor Bar keep the live music rocking and the dance floor bumping into the middle of the night. And the weekend closes with a classical music piano concert at the Lutheran Church. "I absolutely love it," said Robyn Cardenas, who curated the...
Sally Dwyer will arrive at Sons of Norway Hall at 5 a.m. this Saturday as she has been doing for the past 50 years. Dwyer coordinates the smørbrød - the traditional open-faced Norwegian sandwiches - served at the Sons of Norway Kaffe Hus, held Saturday, May 16, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Sons of Norway Hall on Sing Lee Alley. Even for those 18 years when she didn't live in Petersburg, she flew home for every festival to continue the traditions. Dwyer's preparations this year include 150 m...
"Anchor's Aweigh!" keeps the cast in constant motion, but not just since it's set on an old schooner, the SS Flounder. Intrigue and misadventure keep the characters coming and going, not to mention the fact that they're aboard for a singles cruise. After a long day at Little Norway, it'll be a treat for the audience to take a seat and watch the Mitkof Mummers work their magic. This magic doesn't make itself though. The Mummers have rehearsed 4-plus nights a week since March, all leading up to...
Mike Corl grew up with softball in his bones. He remembers that there were games practically every night. There was a local softball league. "Back 25, 30 years ago, I'd be in Little League or my mom would be playing softball," he said. "There were lots of teams. Traveling teams." That era wound down eventually, and the league went with it. But the tradition found a way back has been a fixture of the Little Norway Festival ever since, returning this year with six teams, roughly 80 players and...
Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department's EMS and Search and Rescue branches took to the sea for last week's rescue drill when they practiced used the harbor security vessel to respond to an emergency that would require the use of a stokes basket to immobilize and transfer a patient from a boat into the ambulance....
He was known by Johnny until he had a son, and then John. John lived in Petersburg until 1997 when he moved to Juneau until his death. John was a fisherman for 35 years, then he worked for the State of Alaska for 7 years, then drove trucks for various Teamster companies till he retired. He grew up a Catholic in Petersburg with his parents, Francis John Richmond II (Frank) and Phyllis, both deceased, and his older sister, Cherie, also deceased. In 1976 he met Barbara Fraser at the Beachcomber... Full story
18 – There are no issues in the archive until May 19, 1926. Thank you for your patience. April 27, 1951 – In November we may berate the weather. In January we may say, “I’ve had enough of this damn country.” In January more than one man came home to announce, “Yep, I’ve given up fishing.” But as May 1 rolls round Alaska is a thrilling and a good place to be. The fleet’s going out and most of those men who quit fishing are going down the dock with a bedroll on their shoulder, ready to take their chances with their brother fishermen. Here’s...
April 22 – An officer responded to a reported disturbance on Lumber St. An officer responded to a report of illegal parking on Howkan Street, had the responsible party move the vehicle and issued a verbal warning. An officer responded to a report of suspicious activity on Skylark Way but was unable to locate the described individual. A wallet found in South Harbor was turned in to the Police Department (PD) and returned to its owner. An officer responded to a report of youths with BB guns on the Cabin Creek Trail but was unable to locate them....
Petersburg's Borough Assembly on Monday unanimously approved a highly anticipated lease agreement with American Cruise Lines, a small cruise ship company that frequently stops in Petersburg. It's increasing its summer visits to town, and wants to build a cruise ship dock for its small passenger ships in Petersburg. The Borough will lease part of its tidelands at the end of Dock Street next to the U.S. Coast Guard Dock to the company, which will build a mooring float and gangway there to support... Full story
The Keet Yaakw is the first Alaska Native-designed canoe to be launched out of Petersburg, at least since Petersburg was incorporated as a town in 1910. Petersburg Indian Association Tribal Council Vice President ShaaL'aanee Brandon Ware described the feeling of bringing the new canoe towards shore at Sandy Beach, where it was unveiled to the public. "Coming into the bay, I knew we were seeing the same thing our people have seen since time immemorial... when it was a seasonal fish camp for thous...
18 – There are no issues in the archive until May 19, 1926. Thank you for your patience. April 20, 1951 – One of the most disastrous fires to hit Petersburg in many years occurred early Wednesday when the interior of Ted Reynolds’ Harbor Bar and Liquor Store and of Winnie’s Cafe were gutted by fire. Heavy smoke damage was suffered by Helen’s Shop and there was slight smoke damage to the city office. The alarm was turned in at 5:25 a.m. by Mrs. J.L. MacKechnie who saw smoke drifting by her window in the Coliseum apartments, adjacent to and ov...
The number of cruise ship stops in Petersburg is down again this year, continuing a trend that has seen the town’s port call count slip from around 110 in 2022 to 85 scheduled for 2026. But local travel agents say the picture on the ground is more stable than the numbers initially suggest. The drop in stops this year is due to the closure this winter of Sitka-based, Allen Marine-owned Alaskan Dream Cruises. Its fleet, the Alaskan Dream, Admiralty Dream, Baranof Dream and Chichagof Dream, carried between 40 and 80 passengers each and have b...
April 8 – There was a report of a deceased deer in a yard on Wrangell Avenue. An illegally parked vehicle abandoned on S 2nd St. was impounded. An alarm activated at Pump Station #4. Water Wastewater (W/WW) was notified and responded. An ATV driver on Sing Lee Alley was issued warnings for driving the wrong way on a one-way street and an expired registration and told not to drive the ATV on the streets until properly licensed. An officer responded to a non-criminal disturbance on S 3rd St. An officer responded to a reported disturbance on S 3...
After more than three decades of planning, Petersburg’s Scow Bay marine facility project is approaching construction, and the borough has begun the process of clearing the site — notifying businesses leasing borough-owned parcels at the location that their leases will end this fall. Harbormaster Glo Wollen sent letters April 3 to tenants at the Scow Bay site outlining a schedule that calls for all leases on borough property there to end Sept. 30, 2026, at the earliest. Tenants then have 60 days under their lease terms to remove equipment and...
April 1 – An officer assisted Emergency Medical Services (EMS) on S 2nd St. An officer assisted EMS with a stroke on Mitkof Hwy. An officer provided lockout assistance on Mitkof Hwy. A citizen reported their dog was lost. An officer assisted a juvenile with concerns. April 2 – An activated alarm at a business on Harbor Way was reported. A protective order was served. There was a report of vehicle damage. April 3 – An officer assisted a citizen concerned about a city ordinance. A protective order was served. An officer provided a courtesy trans...
Molly Taiber recently returned from Juneau, where she spent several days this legislative session doing what she has done every year for the past six years: sitting across from state legislators making the case that Alaska’s public employees are heading toward a retirement they will not be able to live on. For most of Alaska’s history as a state, a career in public service came with one of the better retirement packages in the country — a guaranteed pension that rewarded workers for building careers in Alaska. That system was dismantled in 20...
18 – There are no issues in the archive until May 19, 1926. Thank you for your patience. March 16, 1951 – At the Petersburg Health Council’s Monday meeting the health nurse reported a well attended well-baby clinic and, though there are many cases of flu and croupy coughs, there are no contagious diseases reported at the school. The town council is asking to install in the grade school this summer the juvenile plumbing currently in storage. Several complaints of rats in the Coliseum theater have been reported and it was decided to write...
March 25 – An officer conducted extra patrols. An officer responded to a parking complaint on S 3rd St., contacted the owner and the vehicle was moved. March 26 – An officer assisted a citizen on S 3rd St. with a dog complaint. There was a report of a missing package on Excel St. An officer completed a welfare check on S 2nd St. March 27 – An officer responded to a report of loud individuals behind a local business and found they’d left the area. There was a report of a vehicle losing part of its load on Haugen Dr. The owner was notifie...
June 1 will be the golden anniversary of Alaska Airlines jet service to Wrangell and Petersburg, marking when the first scheduled Boeing 727 passenger flight touched down in the communities in 1976. Before the arrival of the 104-passenger jets, which provided daily same-plane service to and from Seattle, travelers had to take a plane with one-fifth the passenger capacity and catch a connecting flight in Ketchikan or Juneau. "It would be nice to get on a jet at Wrangell and relax all the way to...
