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Abbey Jackson Ferree – who grew up in Petersburg, swam for the Viking Swim Club and now lives in Fairbanks – swam across the Catalina Channel off Southern California on Sept. 11. The crossing made her the third Alaskan ever to complete the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming. She entered the water off Santa Catalina Island at about 11 p.m. on Sept. 10 and reached the mainland shortly after 11 the next morning. Her official time was 12 hours, 2 minutes and 55 seconds, for a crossing of about 21....
The Petersburg Borough Assembly took two steps toward regulating data centers on Oct. 5. In a 6-0 vote, members directed Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht to draft an ordinance establishing a nine-month moratorium on certain data center development. In a second 6-0 vote, they directed him to begin drafting amendments to Title 19, the borough’s zoning code, to address data centers specifically. Neither vote puts rules in place yet. The moratorium and any zoning changes must each come back to the Assembly as ordinances and pass three readings. The...
Petersburg certified the official tally of votes for its municipal election on Oct. 9, finalizing the results. When the polls closed on election night, there were two questioned ballots and two mail-in ballots outstanding. The questioned ballots were invalid. The outstanding ballots did not arrive before the Petersburg Borough Assembly met as the canvass board to certify the results on Friday. But those potential votes would not have changed the outcome of the preliminary results - at least not... Full story
The Petersburg Medical Center has received a three-year grant from the state health department to offer free case management services to seniors in Petersburg and Wrangell. Brandy Boggs, PMC’s hospital patient navigator, explained the new program during KFSK’s PMC Live show in late September. “Case management services under this grant would be for anybody 60 and older,” Boggs said. “Or if you’re under 60 and you have Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia or something similar.” Boggs said the purpose of the program is to help connect elders... Full story
The weather station atop Five Finger Lighthouse is operational again after more than two months offline, and it came back this fall instead of next spring thanks to the insistence of the volunteers who care for the lighthouse. Three NOAA technicians replaced the station's tower and instruments Oct. 3 and 4. They teamed up with the Five Finger Lighthouse Society for the haul of gear and transportation of techs to and from the island. The new and improved weather station "is up and running, and...
By the time Petersburg's polls closed on Tuesday night, 1,120 ballots had been cast and counted. That's about 160 fewer than last year. The preliminary results remain unofficial until the election is canvassed. Ballot propositions Three questions were on Petersburg's municipal ballot this year. Proposition 1 came from the Borough's power department, and authorizes a $3.3 million revenue bond for a diesel generator project south of town in Scow Bay. Unofficial results show Prop 1 passed by a...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly on Monday overturned the Planning Commission's denial of a minor subdivision at 1200 Haugen Drive, moving the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska a step closer to buying the borough lot next to the fire hall where it plans a broadband tower. Sitting as the Board of Adjustment, the Assembly voted 6-0 to grant Tlingit & Haida's appeal and approve the subdivision, Assembly Member Scott Newman was excused from the meeting. Tidal Network, a t...
Alaska Timber and Truss has secured a $2.5 million financing package to modernize its sawmill on Falls Creek Road, connect it to Petersburg's hydroelectric grid and install an additional mill built to process young-growth timber. Co-owner Brett Martin said the goal is to have the expanded operation running well by the middle of next summer. "We're taking a gamble," Martin said. "We're obtaining a couple of loans to expand our mill, or essentially retool our mill to bring it up to modern...
Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor will ask the Petersburg Borough Assembly on Monday to begin work on a borough-wide moratorium to prevent data centers that would use on-site power generation. The proposal would leave room for a smaller, grid-connected project like the one Mazzella Alaska has proposed for the former Ocean Beauty plant. At their meeting on Sept. 21, the assembly deadlocked 3-3 on a Planning Commission recommendation that was broader in one way and narrower in another. The commission had asked the assembly to start a one-year...
For the second year in a row, the Wrangell-Petersburg area has the lowest rental housing vacancy rate among 11 areas covered in the state’s annual survey. The combined vacancy rate for single-family rental homes and apartments in the two communities in March 2026 was 1.1%. That is far below the statewide median of 5.4%, and a lot lower than the 4.1% in Juneau, which is chronically short of housing. Fairbanks had the highest vacancy rate at 10.1%, followed by Ketchikan at 8.4%. This year’s Wrangell-Petersburg vacancy rate was much tighter tha...
Sarah Fine-Walsh Sarah Fine-Walsh moved to Petersburg six years ago, to her husband's hometown, and said she still feels lucky to live here. "I pinch myself a lot, especially on a beautiful sunny day when it's flat calm," she said at the candidates forum. That feeling is why she is running for one of two three-year seats on the Petersburg Borough Assembly. "When you feel really, really lucky to live somewhere, the least you can do is give back using the skills that you have to contribute and mak...
Jeigh Stanton Gregor Jeigh Stanton Gregor is seeking another three-year term on the Petersburg Borough Assembly, where he said he has served "a little over a decade now, in total." "I think I'm easy to work with. I'm approachable," he said at the assembly candidates forum. "If re-elected, I will work hard for everyone, whether they vote for me or not." He and his wife, Lea, have been married 19 years and own True North Counseling and Consultation, a private counseling practice. They have two...
A recommendation from the Petersburg Borough Planning Commission to place a one-year moratorium on data center development failed on a split vote at Monday’s Borough Assembly meeting. Assembly Members Scott Newman, Rob Schwartz and Jeff Meucci voted in favor of the moratorium; Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor, Member Bob Martin and Mayor Bob Lynn voted against. Member James Valentine was traveling and excused. Without a majority approval, the motion failed. The Planning Commission asked the assembly to initiate an ordinance establishing a t...
Alaska Marine Lines is increasing its fuel surcharge to 22.5% on Sunday, up from the current rate of 16% and a rate of 9.5% in June 2025. The rate increased to 12% late that month, then dropped to 11% in November before spiking to 18.5% in early April — mirroring a large increase in global fuel prices due to the Iran war that started in late February. Fuel prices would subsequently drop — as did AML’s surcharge to 14.5% in late June before rising to 16% in late August — but are again surging, with some predictions they could go much higher....
The Petersburg Borough Assembly on Monday amended and advanced Ordinance 2026-21, the adjustment to the borough’s annual budget for “known changes,” adding $150,000 to replace a failing sewer line on Gjoa Street before passing the package on a unanimous second reading. Monday’s amendment increases the Wastewater Fund by $150,000 to pay for the Gjoa Street Sewer Line Replacement Project. Asked by Member Bob Martin where the money would come from, Public Works Director Aaron Marohl said the borough plans to draw it from wastewater reserve...
Don and Karen Cornelius are a family of local artists, and this summer the Petersburg Public Library hosted back-to-back retrospectives for the two. Don Cornelius walked through the exhibition this week with the Pilot and reflected on decades of art – wildlife and landscape oil paintings from across Alaska, portraits of his children, a humorous and distinctive series of gnome paintings, and his two newest paintings completed this summer – all on display through the end of the month. Cor...
A controversial subdivision request will once again go in front of the Petersburg Borough Assembly acting as the Board of Adjustment in October. That's after Petersburg's Planning Commission rejected the request for a second time on Sept. 8. The Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska's broadband company, Tidal Network, wants to build a tower on borough land near Petersburg's fire hall. The company has already constructed a tower at Mill Road and is in the process of...
Students at the Petersburg School District have seen strong results in last spring’s Alaska System of Academic Readiness statewide standardized test, also known as AK STAR. Students third through ninth grade were tested in English language arts and math. Every tested grade level arrived above the state’s median score in both tests. Districtwide, the amount of Petersburg students who scored “advanced” and “proficient” on both tests was 10% higher than the state average. Superintendent Robyn Taylor said those numbers are great, but she’s focused... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly on Sept. 8 cleared the way for the sale of two more borough-owned lots to Skylark Park LLC, expanding the soon-to-be-developed housing subdivision off Skylark Way. The assembly voted unanimously to advance the application and exempt the sale from public auction, authorizing the borough manager to negotiate a direct sale at appraised value. Any final terms will return to the assembly for approval. The two parcels — Government Lots 26 and 27 in Section 33 — are each about 3.7 acres and are assessed at $82,400 and $...
Five of the six candidates for Petersburg Borough Assembly (left to right) Donna Marsh, Sarah Fine-Walsh, Tom Kowalske, Jeigh Stanton Gregor, and Scott Newman participated in the live assembly candidates forum on Tues., Sept 15 in Assembly Chambers. Don Koenigs was out of town and unable to attend virtually. A recording of the forum can be found in the 2026 Voter Guide at kfsk.org....
Petersburg's Rainforest Festival added a new event last Saturday - a Bear Mini Fair - which drew Fish and Game wildlife education and outreach coordinator Abby McAllister from Juneau to talk with residents about living in bear country. In a follow-up interview, McAllister told the Pilot that her central message for Petersburg is that conflicts with bears are almost entirely avoidable. "All of the interactions that can be perceived as negative - whether it's a bear dumping trash out on the sidewa...
Last weekend, a nine-person team from Petersburg - all of them Medical Center employees or relatives of employees - ran the 175-kilometer Klondike Road Relay from Skagway, Alaska, into Whitehorse, Yukon. And did it dressed, more or less, as pickles. The team called itself "The Big Dills," and "oh my gosh, we had so much fun," said team captain Megan Litster. The Klondike Road Relay is an overnight, 175-kilometer (roughly 110-mile) race that is broken into 10 legs of varying length, from about... Full story
The S.H.A.R.E. Coalition will host its second annual Mocktails and Mingle from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at the John Hanson Sr. Hall, a free, all-ages event built around sober socializing, games and community connection. The gathering is open to the entire community and organized with several community partners, said Ashley Kawashima, a member of the coalition. Food and snacks will be provided, along with a cookie-decorating station for dessert. "Everybody gets to decorate their own cookies," Kawashima said. Activities will include giant Jenga, an ove...
Leaders of Petersburg's Native community were on hand as the specially crafted box transporting the baby Tlingit girl's remains was unloaded from the Alaska Airlines jet and a procession followed it off the tarmac at Petersburg's James A. Johnson Airport on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. Petersburg's Séet Ká Kwáan Dancers sang during the welcome ceremony. Dozens of community members gathered at the airport to bear witness to the historic return of the repatriated remains. Stephanie Aikins of Pe...
Until now there have been no uniform borough road standards beyond the old Petersburg city limits, but on Tuesday the Petersburg Borough adopted its first road-construction standards for public roads and subdivisions outside Service Area One. The Borough Assembly unanimously approved Resolution 2026-23 on Sept. 8. It adopts the 2026 Petersburg Borough Standard Specifications, replacing the City of Petersburg’s 2012 specifications, and for the first time sets minimum road standards for public road improvements and subdivisions outside Service A...
