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April 7, 1922 The gas boat Progress, in charge of ‘Spanish Joe’ was captured recently at Ketchikan with the entire crew aboardt. When taken into custody she had some 65 cases of imported wet goods on board. Sometime before midnight officers Moyer Halllson and Van-Zandt took up a position near the roadhouse on the Wards Cove road and acting under instructions from Deputy Marshal Handy kept a sharp lookout for the expected booze runners. Their vigil lasted till shortly after midnight when a boat landed and the crew began unloading the cargo on...
A note of thanks To the Editor: We’d like to recognize everybody who contributed to the Welcome Back Vietnam Warriors: starting out with Home Health, Petersburg Medical Center for putting on the breakfast on the morning of the 29th. The Moose got into it by doing hamburger night for all veterans. Then after the ceremony the Elks put out finger foods for all the Vietnam Vets. Also thank you to the Petersburg School District for the use of the gym, and Jamie Cabral, Dino Brock, Jim Engell and the baseball team for helping set up the gym and t...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) Sarah Palin on Friday shook up an already unpredictable race for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, joining a field of 50 other candidates seeking to fill the seat held for decades by the late-U.S. Rep. Don Young, who died last month. Palin filed paperwork Friday with a state Division of Elections office in Wasilla, said Tiffany Montemayor, a division spokesperson. Palin, a former Alaska governor who was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, has the biggest national political profile in the packed field that includes c...

Patti was presented as a Christmas gift to her three brothers Bob, Dave and Jim. She was born in Vancouver, B.C. and came home to Petersburg in December with her parents Loyla and Earl Ohmer. Her childhood was a happy one. She traveled to many states visiting family and friends with her mother. Summers were spent at Bum's Retreat near Green Rocks. Her father Earl would join the family there on weekends bringing the mail and groceries from town. Her first business venture at age 12 involved... Full story

WASHINGTON - Alaska Rep. Don Young, the longest-serving Republican in U.S. House history, will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, March 29, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Monday. Young, 88, a blunt-speaking politician known for his brusque style, died last Friday. He was first elected to the U.S. House in 1973 He was reelected in 2020 to serve his 25th term and was running this year for another term. A special election will be held this summer to fill the seat. Pelosi's office...

January The assembly approved of a COVID-19 dashboard which tracked cases in the community. Local businesses received a total of $15.08 million in aid in the first round of COVID-19 aid released through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. PMC vaccinated approximately 350 residents aged 65 or older at a vaccine drive in the community gym. PMC was given permission by the borough to apply for a second PPP loan totaling $1.8 million. PMC applied and received a loan of...

You may have seen these anchors around town without knowing exactly what they were used for. In 1880, the salmon canning industry expanded their floating fish traps to Southeast Alaska, though indigenous stationary traps had been in use long before that time. Strong tidal currents and rocky, deep locations required good anchors to hold floating traps in place, as well as a watchman to keep an eye on the trap 24 hours a day. Floating fish traps were controversial because of their efficiency and...

First responders, veterans, and members of the community memorialized the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on Friday and Saturday. The events commemorated the 2,977 innocent lives that were lost on September 11, 2001 when planes hijacked by members of the terrorist group al-Qaeda crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. A fire truck was parked outside the school with a flag of the United States draped across...

James "Jim" Albert Bodding joined his parents on July 29, 2021 after a valiant battle with lung cancer. He was born in Ketchikan, Alaska on August 8th,1948 to Gerald A. "Bud" Bodding and Dorothy E. "Betty" Bodding (Hofstad). His first love was the sea where he spent much of his life searching for the next productive fishing grounds. The sea was in Jim's veins from the age of 5 when he became hopelessly addicted after catching his first coho salmon on a baitless treble hook while boating with his... Full story

MacKechnie cabin at Blind Slough This photo is of the MacKechnie cabin at Blind Slough--the site of many gatherings and hunting parties. J.L. MachKechnie was a City Councilman, forest ranger and also City Electrician for Petersburg. The cabin's log book contains many enthusiastic notations about the pleasant times had there. Comments such as "I will gladly wash dishes, carry water or chop wood any time I have the good fortune to spend a day as fine as this," were typical impressions. The final...

A new outdoor shelter was completed at the Clausen Memorial Museum with the help of a community challenge grant from AARP. The Clausen Museum applied for the grant after AARP representatives came to the Petersburg Medical Center before the COVID-19 pandemic said Museum Director Cindi Lagoudakis. "I looked at some of the grant opportunities and I put in a request and it was not originally granted, but they contacted us and they were interested in the bench shelter idea," Lagoudakis said. The...

Petersburg will be kicking off three days of festivities on Friday in celebration of the Fourth of July. The Parks and Recreation Center, Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Petersburg Lighthouse Church will be hosting over 20 activities in the downtown area and Middle Harbor, similar to years past. Last year's Fourth of July festival was scaled back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this year's festival is a return tradition. The fun begins at 6 P.M. on Friday when the Parks and Recreation...


About 50 people gathered together at the Petersburg Cemetery on Monday for the annual Memorial Day ceremony to honor the approximately 224 local veterans who have been laid to rest in the cemetery, according to local veteran Paul Anderson. The proceedings began with an opening prayer and was followed by a rendition of "America the Beautiful" lead by Pastor Nathan Lopez. He also led the crowd in singing "America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee)" at the end of the ceremony. Members of the Petersburg...

After last year's festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 62nd annual Little Norway Festival is slated to begin May 13. "I think everyone can't wait for it to happen," said Petersburg Chamber of Commerce Administrator Mindy Lopez. "There's some excitement in the air." Prior to the festival, free transportation across the Wrangell Narrows will be provided on May 8 for the City of Kupreanof Celebration Day from 8 A.M. to 4 P.M. The United States Forest Service is also hosting a...

Darcey Ruth (Rhoden) Judy passed away on April 3rd after a courageous fight with cancer; the same day 11 years ago she lost her mom, Ruthie Rhoden. Darcey was surrounded by family and her last days were spent at home amongst people who loved her dearly as they shared favorite stories and photos. Darcey is survived by her husband of 49 years, Rod Judy, brother Cole Rhoden and his wife Charlie, kids Zach and Stacy Tomaszewski, Matt Judy and Andrea Hattan, Donel Judy, and granddaughter Alice Judy.... Full story

Barbara Martin Short, 89 died of natural causes, while eating her favorite ice cream with Wayne's help on January 17, 2021 in their apartment at Mountain View Manor in Petersburg, Alaska. She was born in Waterloo, Iowa on November 4, 1931 and after high school she went to college in Minnesota and graduated with a degree in nursing. She moved to San Francisco, California and immediately started work at Southern Pacific Railroad Hospital, located near Golden Gate Park. She worked in the cardiac... Full story

The Petersburg School Board began discussing the 2021-2022 school year calendar at their meeting on Jan. 12 and looked at three possible calendars. All three scenarios had the school year start on Aug. 24 and end before Memorial Day. They also had the same number of instruction hours. Students in kindergarten through third grade need at least 740 hours of instruction and study periods, according to State Statute 14.03.030. Students in fourth grade through 12th grade must have at least 900 hours...
WRANGELL — Groundwork for the Wrangell Mariners’ Memorial has come to a halt for winter, but progress has still been made recently. Jenn Miller-Yancey, with the Mariners’ Memorial board, reported that work is being done for the memorial’s walls, where plaques will one day be hung to commemorate Wrangell sailors who have passed away. “There will be four walls within the memorial, three walls meant to hold plaques that are 26 feet long, curved and vary in height from 42 inches to 8 feet,” Miller-Yancey wrote in an email. “There will be 1 wall at...

For six days, 25 of Pia Reilly's most recent oil paintings, which were beaming with color, were on display at FireLight Gallery & Framing. Reilly said watching the colors pop out of the canvass in her paintings has been a sort of therapy for her this past year. When she is working on a watercolor piece, she will take the time to visualize an idea and sketch it out. With her recent oil paintings, Reilly said she just let her creativity flow and watched what her art turned into. "I just start in...

Like most people in town, Ashley Lohr's summer travel plans were cancelled this year. Instead, she hunkered down in her workshop and churned out handmade earrings and necklaces at a pace that made her feel like she was an artist in residency. All 70 pieces of Lohr's jewelry, as well as six paintings, will be on display at the Clausen Memorial Museum until Nov. 28 in a solo exhibit titled, Equilibrium. The exhibit showcases how far she has progressed as an artist and jewelry maker in the past...
Charles (Charlie) Max Roesel, 81, passed away August 25, 2020 in Myrtle Point, Oregon after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was born on September 22, 1938 in Medina, New York. He was a jack of all trades. After graduating from the school of Mortuary Science in Los Angeles he worked at a large funeral home there. One day he saw an ad in a trade magazine for a manager for a small funeral home in Alaska. On a whim, he used the couple’s income tax return to fly to Petersburg, Alaska to look at it. The family moved to Petersburg in June 1...

WRANGELL - Last week, four people died in a car wreck in Petersburg. Among them were two Wrangellites, Siguard and Helen Decker, 21-years-old and 19-years-old. Their deaths shook the community, which has come together in a variety of ways to express their grief and support for the Decker family. A GoFundMe page was put together by the United Fishermen of Alaska, to raise money in their memory. As of Tuesday morning, Aug. 4, $161,273 has been raised. "The initial $10,000 in funds raised will go...

About 50 people gathered at the Petersburg Cemetery for the annual Memorial Day ceremony on Monday.The proceedings began with an opening prayer, followed by the reciting of the National Anthem. There were readings from the Book of Psalms and Ephesians, and pastors from various congregations prayed for unity and the healing of the country and thanked those who lost their lives defending the United States of America. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Decoration Day was...

WRANGELL - Over Memorial Day weekend, Muskeg Meadows started up their weekend golf tournaments for another season. This first tournament of the season was sponsored by Wrangell IGA. There were 20 golfers on the first day of the tournament on Saturday. First place went to a team consisting of Kathleen Harding, Wayne Harding, Doug Nelson, and Drew Eyon. Second place went to a team consisting of Spenser Stavee, Aaron Powell, Jonathan Spitler, and Jim Brooks. Brooks had the straightest drive of the...