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Sarah Ellen Culbertson Gilliland, 81 of Petersburg, Alaska slipped quietly away from us to be with her Savior, Jesus, on Dec. 2, 2019 in Redmond, Oregon. She was born in Stuttgart, Arkansas on April 10, 1938 and was the loved wife of Harvey Gilliland for nearly 51 years. They became the parents of William C. Gilliland on July 13, 1971 and Emily C. Elam on Nov. 11, 1973. She graduated from Arkansas A&M University with a Bachelor's degree in education. She was a primary grade teacher in Benton,... Full story

The borough is in the process of renewing an agreement with the state to receive $6,200 annually for the maintenance of the Ernie Haugen public use area, according to Public Works Director Chris Cotta at an assembly meeting on Monday. At an assembly meeting last month, the borough assembly approved letters to Sen. Bert Stedman and Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins asking them to inquire into cooperative agreements between the borough and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources for the management...

A resolution supporting alternative one of the draft environmental impact statement for the exemption of the Roadless Rule in the Tongass National Forest will go before the borough assembly at their first meeting in December after the assembly pushed the vote back by two weeks at their meeting on Monday. The United State Forest Service released the findings of its draft environmental impact statement earlier this month that showed the United States Department of Agriculture supported...


The Petersburg Police Department will begin the process of seeking and hiring a police sergeant after the borough assembly on Monday gave Police Chief Jim Kerr authorization to fill the position. In the years that the police department has been short a sergeant, the borough has had to spend a considerable amount of money on overtime, according to Kerr at an assembly meeting in July. In the 2018 fiscal year, Kerr said the borough spent $155,214 in overtime. The police sergeant position, which...
They are certainly cute but the voracious appetites of sea otters continue to cause horrendous damage to some of Southeast Alaska’s most lucrative fisheries. How best to curtail those impacts will be the focus of a day long stakeholders meeting set for November 6 in Juneau. “All of the people who have anything to do with the otters hopefully will all be in the same room at the same time,” said Phil Doherty, co-director of the Southeast Alaska Regional Dive Fisheries Association (SARDFA) based in Ketchikan. A 2011 report by the McDowell Group...

The borough assembly held a discussion at their meeting on Monday on the idea of the borough partnering with the Petersburg Indian Association to take over the maintenance of Greens Camp from the state. Public Works Director Chris Cotta said that the state has paid the borough in the past for the maintenance of Greens Camp, along with Banana Point Boat Dock and Wilson Creek. For the 2019 calendar year, the state cut their funding from $6,200 to $3,000, but the borough still has yet to receive...


William K. Neumann aka 'Swampy Creek Bill' passed away peacefully October 5, 2019 of recently discovered bladder cancer at home in Petersburg in his newly acquired and beloved electric reclining chair surrounded by the echoes of the countless memories in his "Great Story Telling Room" in the house he and his late wife Fran designed and built in 1978 with close friends. Bill was a unique and rare individual who was blessed with a remarkable and full-life surrounded by countless friends and... Full story

Mayoral candidates Jeff Meucci General Information Age: 64 Experience: I served on the Petersburg Park & Recreation advisory board, the Petersburg City council and served two terms as the Petersburg mayor from 1995 thru 1999. I was appointed to my current Borough Assembly seat and was elected to my Assembly seat two years ago. During my time as the Petersburg Mayor I traveled extensively as the number one advocate for the City of Petersburg. Why do you seek public office? I am seeking public...


A forum was held on Thursday to give representatives from KFSK, the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and the Petersburg Pilot the chance to ask the two mayoral candidates questions on local issues. Mayor Mark Jensen and Assembly Member Jeff Meucci were given two minutes to answer each question. Both candidates were asked the same question and the order of the candidates changed with each question. After giving their opening statements, each candidate began answering questions. Some of the...

Rae C. Stedman Elementary School class lists To register a new student, please stop by the office at 303 Dolphin Street by August 23. Bring current vaccination record and birth certificate (legible copy ok). Students currently enrolled do not need to register. Supply lists can be found online at www.pcsd.us. Elementary students attend 8:15-2:45 Monday-Thursday, and 8:15-1:45 on Fridays. Kindergarten attends 8:15-11:15 for the first week, then stay until 1:30 every day If you have questions,...

KFSK radio in Petersburg has a scheduled spring and fall fundraiser, and often an impromptu solicitation each June when the state budget is announced. They've salvaged their state grant from the jaws of budget slashers for many years, but not this year. This week they've announced they intend to make up the $80,000 state grant (or 18% of their total budget of $450,000) that was cut by Governor Dunleavy. It's a mighty task. If they're successful this year, what about next? This year's cuts are...

The Muskeg Maleriers donated a sign to the Petersburg School District's garden that sits next to the high school track. Founded in 1974, the group tries to make one donation a year. The members spent about a week and a half painting the aluminum sign, which comes just in time for the summer garden program that will begin later this month. According to garden coordinator Chris Sargent, the produce grown in the garden is used by the school cafeteria. Back row from left to right: Rhoda Gilbert,...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — One of the most powerful Republicans in the Alaska Senate is bucking the Senate president’s call to meet in Juneau on Monday, as legislative factions barrel toward trying to hold special sessions in two different cities, hundreds of miles apart. Senate Majority Leader Mia Costello, in an opinion piece published by her hometown Anchorage Daily News, said Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a legitimate call for lawmakers to convene in Wasilla and she will heed that call. “It doesn’t matter how we feel about the governo...
The Alaska State Legislature adjourned last week, but before adjourning, the most significant accomplishment was the agreement to transfer $10.5 billion from the Earnings Reserve Account (ERA) to the Corpus of the Permanent Fund. For the majority of legislators, including Senator Stedman and myself, it is a top priority to protect and enhance opportunities for the Permanent Fund to grow so that there will continue to be PFDs for Alaskans well into the future. The Permanent Fund is comprised of the Corpus (also known as the Principal) and the...

The Petersburg School Board approved the district's fiscal year 2020 operating budget at their monthly meeting last week. "This is a solid budget," said Finance Director Karen Quitslund. "It's fiscally conservative." The district's budget ignores uncertainties in Gov. Mike Dunleavy's proposed 2020 fiscal year state budget. The district did not believe a state budget was going to be passed before it had to submit the district's budget to the state by July 1. Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter...

Borough unfairness To the Editor: I moved here 30 years ago and fell in love with this community. Everyone helped each other and the city government was run quite well and fair. But as time has gone by the government has gotten bigger and created a borough that costs us lots more than it's worth in my opinion. I understand that the people that got swallowed up by the borough needed to pay for some of the benefits like school and such, but in most cases they are paying taxes for little to no...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Senate failed Monday to revive a bill that would pay residents a full dividend of about $3,000 from the state’s oil-wealth fund this year, a sign of the struggle lawmakers are having in reaching agreement on one of the special session’s last issues. Instead, senators narrowly voted to create a working group with the House to make recommendations on future use of Alaska Permanent Fund earnings. The House approved the measure Sunday. Some suggested existing committees could buckle down on the issue and quest...

Outliers feel like second class citizens To the Editor: The Pilot must have misquoted the Honorable Councilmember Jeff Meucci. "I just don't think community members should be paying for roads that aren't part of the borough". I cannot think of a more divisive, condescending or astonishingly uninformed comment by a community official. Just extrapolating from that comment; all of us outside service area one are not community members even though we pay taxes to the borough? The roads outside...

This past May was not my first visit to Petersburg as a Senator, but it was my first time attending the Little Norway Festival. And what a weekend it was! Little Norway is giving "Big" Norway a run for its money. I felt right at home from the moment I got off the plane. The Vikings and Valkyries were quick to whisk me away in the Grog Van and get the festivities and fun underway. I was sure to grab a Dale sweater at Lee's before the parade to fit right in (and avoid a second visit to Viking jail...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —The Alaska Senate on Tuesday narrowly voted down a full dividend payout from the state’s oil-wealth fund this year, with a prominent supporter of the proposal absent. The 10-8 vote came after the Senate, by the same tally, adopted an amendment calling for a full payout with checks to qualified residents estimated to be around $3,000. The initial bill proposed $1,600 checks. At least 11 votes were needed for the bill to pass. Sen. Mike Shower, a Wasilla Republican who has supported a full payout, posted on Facebook Sat...
May 30, 1919 C. A. Arness, president of the Arness Lumber Company arrived Friday with the new tug boat which was purchased in the south. The boat is called the Wanderlust and is equipped with a 60 h.p. Speedway engine and makes an average of 12 knots and better. The boat will furnish a speedy means of communication between Petersburg and various camps and do the lighter towing. May 26, 1944 Roy Otness, our new fire chief, has taken on his responsibilities by asking different students what they would do if our school was on fire. Here are a few...

The Petersburg School Board approved the hiring of Heidi Cabral as Rae C. Stedman Elementary School's newest fourth grade teacher at their board meeting last week. Cabral has been an instructional aide with the district for the past year, but has experience teaching sixth grade and English as a Second Language in Kansas. There is a large class of about 44 students coming into the fourth grade next year, so the district had to hire a second fourth grade teacher. Cabral said there will likely be...