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In the main bay of the former Wikan Enterprises building, Mike Corl fabricates a new fuel tank for a customer's Bayliner. On the other side of the wall, in what will soon be a retail space and front office, 19-month-old Charlotte hums happily on a rug, playing with a plastic T-rex. Her mother Ashley keeps an eye on her from her big desk where she is working on the launch of Corls Customs LLC. This is what family business looks like for the Corls, who purchased the Dock Street property last...
As concerns mount over the looming government shutdown which would defund the WIC program that provides food support for pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and young children, along with ongoing SNAP benefit disruptions in Alaska, Humanity in Progress in ramping up its efforts to address food insecurity in Petersburg with their Empty Bowls, Ending Hunger fundraiser this Saturday at the Sons of Norway Hall. The event, taking place October 4 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. offers community members...
Despite a light turnout due to threatening weather on Saturday, a handful of volunteers showed up to finish compacting gravel on the Bike Park's newest trail addition. "Today was basically putting the park to bed," said Pat Blair of Wheelhouse Bikes, a board member of Friends of the Petersburg Bike Park. "I wanted to finish that trail. That was my intent." The newly completed portion of the trail extends the ride through the woods, adding some length with "a lot of slope to it," allowing riders...
The first week of moose season has been relentlessly windy and rainy across Southeast Alaska, but there was a break in the weather on Tuesday, September 16 so Joe Willis pounced on the opportunity and harvested the first moose of the season on Mitkof Island. "When I left in the morning, I told my wife, 'don't expect me back till after dark,'" Willis said. "It was still really wet at daybreak... my enthusiasm level was not what you would call epic," Willis recalled. "The phone says it's going to...
Q: Ideas to increase economic opportunity? "Natural resources, timber, commercial fishing, mining. This town was built on fishing, and whereas some of the problems that the industry is facing, this town alone cannot solve them altogether. But I think we have the people, and I think we have the voice to make a call to action to change some of the legislation ... and capitalizing on the opportunity that we've got: Logging ... the thing is, with trees, they grow back, and we all live in houses...
Q: Ideas to increase economic opportunity? "As always. It's resource extraction, diversify our income base, expand our tax base, more housing. Obviously, we've got to streamline our business opportunities here. We got to streamline, just build a packet to help businesses get through the city red tape. It's really, really, really hard to start business in this town, and I don't understand that. Hopefully ... I can help with that and figure out ways to make it easier for businesses to start here....
Q: Ideas to increase economic opportunity? "The smaller cruise ship tourism ... and the Scow Bay haul-out has potential ... once that facility is created, a mobile, submersible travel lift, to haul boats out ... a new cruise ship dock that would be a partnership between borough and American Cruise Lines ... the more medical treatment we can do in town, those dollars will circulate through here before they leave, those big dollars ... and the act of building the housing will help our economy...
Q: Ideas to increase economic opportunity? "Off the top of my head, I would say, address the housing issue. I think with new construction comes more jobs and more jobs increase revenue and economy. The local economy will spend more than local stores and services and things of that nature." Q: How do you plan to prepare for meetings and make time for this responsibility? "With my extremely long commute to work - across the street - I feel like I have time. And I mean, I guess, especially during t...
Q: Ideas to increase economic opportunity? "For the business owners I've been talking to over the last month, you know that they one of their biggest concerns is there's not enough local tradesmen in town ... maybe a borough school partnership program for scholarships for kids who want to go to become electricians, refrigeration person, or welder, mechanics, and so they come back to Petersburg and work. We need to make sure that we have the basis for the local services in town covered so that...
Bob Lynn's decision to run for mayor wasn't made lightly. "It wasn't an easy decision for me at all."But he sees a need for the community to become more self-reliant as times become more challenging and costs shift from state and federal government to the local level. He says he is willing to listen to and work with all and has demonstrated his ability to help guide decision making: "I have the time to do this, and I have the experience. I'm hoping that I get a chance to try some ideas and see...
Scott Newman decided to run for mayor because he feels "there hasn't been strong leadership, advancing any advocacy towards the big projects in the community like the hospital and in tourism ... I kind of feel like we've had a bit of a dysfunctional process." "We could be advocating more strongly, at a state and federal level for these projects that we have going on, mainly the hospital," Newman told the Pilot in an interview. "I just don't feel like we've been doing enough in that direction....
As wind gusts exceeded 30 knots on Wednesday morning a roughly 180-foot barge broke loose from its moorage around a mile south of Scow Bay in the Wrangell Narrows. The Coast Guard issued a maritime security alert warning vessels in the area, while the harbormasters office contacted residents along the shore of Kupreanof Island, "just to let them know that if it does end up ricocheting down that Narrows, to be aware of it," Harbormaster Glorianne Wollen said, "to potentially pull your outhaul in...
During midday mass on July 6, 2023, an accidental fire broke out at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Petersburg. All parishioners and church staff safely escaped the fire, which burned for nearly ten hours. The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department fought the blaze and successfully prevented the tragic fire from spreading to nearby homes and businesses like the neighboring Petersburg Children's Center. The church building was left in ruins, though firefighters were able to recover some...
Petersburg voters will decide October 7 whether to limit the borough’s senior sales tax exemption to only low-income seniors. Proposition 1 would restrict the current exemption — available to all residents 65 and older who qualify for the PFD — to only those who qualify for the State of Alaska Senior Benefits Payment Program. That means individuals earning less than $34,213 annually or married couples making under $46,253 would retain the exemption, while higher-income seniors would lose it. On September 15, KFSK Petersburg hosted call-in show...
Petersburg Medical Center is launching a new cohort of its on-the-job training Certified Nursing Assistant program next Monday, offering people in Petersburg a valuable opportunity to get paid while earning a professional healthcare certification in just five weeks. "We hire people who say they want to become a CNA, and then we pay them while they're taking the class," explained Chief Nursing Officer Jennifer Bryner. "At the end of the class, if it's a good match, then we would offer a... Full story
On the Three Lakes trail system south of Petersburg, hikers can follow miles of mostly boardwalk pathways around lakes and trees that lead deep into the Tongass National Forest on Mitkof Island. Some sections of the trail system got upgraded this summer, with help from seasonal workers contracted by the U.S. Forest Service. Recreation Specialist Tyler Shaw said some of the wooden boards that make up the Three Lakes trail system were installed in the 90s. That style of trail is called...
On a cold, cloudy Friday at Petersburg's Sandy Beach Park, Vivian Yéilk' Mork poured locally picked red huckleberries and water into a blender. Mork wasn't making a smoothie, though, she was trying to do the opposite. "Now, you don't want to turn it full on when you do it," Mork explained, gently pulsing the blender as she inspected the pulp inside. "Because you're just wanting to separate the flesh from the seeds." Mork was teaching a class on berry propagation, a way of growing new plants...
Whether it's online strangers sending kids messages in Roblox, scammers phishing for passwords, or artificial intelligence platforms targeting young people with relationships that can distort how an entire generation views human connection - families with children and teens are facing new kinds of online safety challenges. New digital dangers exist as the results of tools and devices that "were released to the public without long-term studies or clear guidelines, leaving families and schools to...
New York's Manhattan Island is surrounded by the East River, the Harlem River, and the Hudson River - all three are tidal estuaries that create a natural 28.5-mile open water course around the island. In 1915, a lone swimmer first completed this circuit, now known as the 20 Bridges Swim, and since then only around 1,400 endurance athletes have successfully finished the marathon swim. On August 24, Abbey Jackson Ferree, of Petersburg, completed the 20 Bridges Swim in eight hours and 51 minutes -...
A regional tribe wants to buy around 10,000 square feet of Petersburg Borough-owned property near the town's Fire Hall. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, a federally recognized tribe based in Juneau, has applied to the borough to purchase the plot off Haugen Drive. The tribe wants to build a wireless tower there next summer to provide internet service and expand cell coverage in Petersburg. The Petersburg Borough Assembly considered the tribe's application...
After 35 years working in local public radio - 27 years as general manager of KFSK in Petersburg - Tom Abbott has reached retirement. It'll just require a bit more crisis management before he can fully clock out. In an interview with the Pilot, Abbott said he provided KFSK's board of directors a resignation letter last year, with 18 months built in to pass the torch to the station's next manager. He hoped a successor could be hired and would arrive by this summer and the two could work together...
It’s back-to-school shopping season in Petersburg, and for many kids, that means it’s time to try on new shoes. But not every family can afford new shoes every year. That’s where Lee’s Clothing, a family-owned store on Petersburg’s main street, comes in. The business maintains a “shoe fund” for families in need, which helps pay for one new pair of shoes per child. The program started a decade ago, when a woman who wanted to be anonymous came into Lee’s Clothing and asked if any kids in town needed new shoes. Heidi Lee, who helps run the store,...
The window to file for candidacy in Petersburg's upcoming local election closed Tuesday afternoon. In total, 24 people filed for the various positions. There are 20 open seats among several boards slated for the October 7 ballot, including a mayoral race. That race is contested this year, as are the races for Petersburg Borough Assembly and the Public Safety Advisory Board. Current assembly members Bob Lynn and Scott Newman are both running for mayor. Mayor Mark Jensen is not running for...
Petersburg's school buildings and surrounding area were on lockdown for over an hour Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 26, after police received a report of a person with an AR-15 gun and multiple magazines in a school bathroom. The Petersburg Police Department, Alaska Wildlife Troopers and U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement responded and secured the area. Officers found no real threat on the premises and determined it was a false report. "I'm sure people were alarmed, but rest assured it's safe and...
A late-night car crash south of Petersburg on Friday, Aug. 22, landed two people in the local hospital with moderate injuries. The crash happened about nine miles from town on Mitkof Highway near what's known as the "S-curve" in the road, just south of Twin Creek. A four-door truck traveling northbound did not clear the curve and went off the roadway, ending up in the forest brush downhill. Emergency dispatch got a text message around 9:30 p.m. that an accident had occurred within a few miles of...
