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The U.S. Forest Service has received approval to resume aviation operations in Southeast Alaska after a flight moratorium that halted much of the forest management work across the region's remote federal lands. "The Tongass National Forest has recently received approval to move forward with securing aviation support for its work," Paul Robbins Jr., Public Affairs Officer for the Tongass National Forest told the Petersburg Pilot on Friday. "Due to the geographic layout of Southeast Alaska and...
When Petersburg School District switched to science-based reading instruction three years ago, the results were nothing short of remarkable. At Stedman Elementary, kindergarten reading proficiency soared from 10% to 89% in a single year. First grade jumped from 24% to 74% proficient, while second grade improved from 38% to 61%. These dramatic gains – which significantly outperformed state and national averages – caught the attention of education researchers nationwide. Petersburg is now being fe...
Petersburg's police chief sued his employer, the Petersburg Borough, and the two parties have officially resolved the matter with an out-of-court settlement. That means the remaining claim about the chief's First Amendment rights will not go to trial this summer. Police Chief James Kerr testified against enforcing a masking mandate during a fall 2021 borough assembly meeting. He said he was speaking as a private citizen. This ultimately snowballed into a multi-year legal battle between Kerr and...
The recently passed budget reconciliation bill, signed into law by President Donald Trump last week, does not include U.S. Senator Mike Lee's (R-Utah) withdrawn proposal that could have potentially sold off areas of the Tongass and Chugach National Forests and parts of the Interior in Alaska. But even so, the Petersburg Borough is going on the record against selling public lands. At a meeting on Monday, assembly members and community members voiced support for the borough resolution that formall...
Rikki McKay is the new executive of Petersburg non-profit Working Against Violence for Everyone. Since its inception in 1982, WAVE has worked to provide compassionate advocacy, empower survivors and prevent violence within our communities. Like many non-profits the pandemic was hard on WAVE. Since Executive Director Everett Bennett left their position in May 2024, keeping the doors open has been a challenge. "With the transition between Everett leaving and then hiring someone and losing them,...
After years of planning and months of craftsmanship, Petersburg Indian Association has installed a traditional dugout canoe at Sandy Beach Park, marking the completion of the Hutli Plaza portion of their broader cultural and recreational project. The 10-foot children's canoe, carved by Juneau-based artists Herb Sheakley Jr. and his brother Samuel Sheakley, now sits on a sandy foundation near the 3,000-year-old fish traps that mark the site as a historic fish camp. The canoe, called a "yaakw" i...
For years now, Organized Village of Kake President Joel Jackson has had a dream: a cultural healing center that can reintroduce people looking to heal from alcohol and drug addictions and intergenerational trauma to their culture. For the last couple of years, that dream has been moving toward reality. Fifty-two miles from Kake and twelve miles from Petersburg, in Portage Bay, is an old Forest Service administration bunkhouse. For decades, it has sat empty. The first time he saw it, Jackson...
Significant cuts to Medicaid alongside impacts to Medicare are included in the budget reconciliation bill signed into law by President Donald Trump last week. Alaska is second only to New Mexico in the highest rate of people using Medicaid. About 38% of Alaskans are on it, according to the state's Department of Health. Medicaid is a health insurance option for low-income people, and Medicare is a federal program providing health insurance for eligible seniors and people with disabilities. Much...
For the past few years, the Petersburg Borough has been working to bolster its fleet of diesel generators to be better prepared for power outages when the hydropower system fails. On Monday, the Borough Assembly took one step closer by awarding a contract to GD Partners to manufacture a new generator part for up to $274,000. The part is crucial for Petersburg’s in-progress Scow Bay diesel generation project. The borough already bought the new diesel generator and is storing it in Texas right now. But for the generator to work properly, it n...
Petersburg welcomes two new Salvation Army officers this month. Lieutenant Joe Duran and Captain Ashley Duran, married just weeks ago, have taken up residence above the Salvation Army Petersburg Corps Center at First and Fram Streets and are eager to get to know the community. The newlywed couple's love story began in an unexpected way-through a homework assignment. While Joe was in training at the Salvation Army's college program, he wrote a mock press release that featured himself as "Major...
After five weeks of theater games, character development, and intensive rehearsals, 26 young performers are ready to take flight in two back-to-back performances of Peter Pan this Friday evening at the Sons of Norway Hall. The PMC Youth Program's Theater Camp, now in its third year under the direction of Brad Younts, has grown to accommodate its most participants yet - splitting into two groups of 15 and 11 students, ranging in age from 7 to 13 years old. Connected to the Kinder Skog Nature...
Friends, family and community members gathered near the Petersburg Indian Association's Hallingstad-Peratrovich Building on June 28 to celebrate the town's first annual Amy Hallingstad Day, honoring a Tlingit woman who shaped Petersburg's history in the 20th century. Nicole Hallingstad, Amy Hallingstad's granddaughter, flew in from Anchorage to welcome attendees to the event, which was organized with PIA. She said her grandmother's decades of activism for Alaska Native rights inspired her to...
Two hatchery release sites near Petersburg will continue allowing nonresident anglers to harvest king salmon even after a broader regional closure takes effect July 7. The statewide closure announced this week prohibits nonresident anglers from retaining king salmon in most Southeast Alaska waters starting July 7. However, the restriction does not apply to the two terminal harvest areas near Petersburg. City Creek will remain open to nonresident king salmon fishing until July 14, when special regulations for that area expire. The Blind Slough...
Rick Brock has opened the Petersburg High School gymnasium doors before dawn for 35 years, offering students a quiet place to work on their basketball skills before the school day begins. "I'm an early riser, so I've had the gym open in the mornings pretty much since I started coaching - hour to 45 minutes before the day begins," Brock said. It's a routine that reflects his belief about what can drive student athletes to succeed: "The ones that show up every morning and shoot baskets," he said,...
Middle school students will have the chance to test water samples under microscopes, hike creek beds with a hydrologist, and learn forest management techniques from a U.S. Forest Service forester through a new science education program launching this summer. The Petersburg Public Library has partnered with Alaska Sea Grant to offer “Wonder Camp,” a series of five separate day-long programs designed to introduce students entering sixth, seventh, or eighth grade to real-world science careers in...
Two men arrested by law enforcement during a sting operation last month in Petersburg have pleaded not guilty. A third suspect remains at large. Petersburg police arrested Shubaum Patel, 24, and Harshilkumar Patel, 22, on June 9 with assistance from the FBI, as suspects allegedly connected to an elaborate phone scam that stole over $100,000 from an elderly resident. A grand jury indicted the suspects on June 18 in Juneau. Both men face federal charges for theft and scheme to defraud - along...
Last month, after nearly 25 years of running Glacier Laundry, Carrie Peterson handed the laundromat keys to new owner Laura "Lu" Holder – who has renamed the business Viking Laundry. Holder realizes that she is taking on more than just a place to do laundry – Peterson is passing along relationships, routines, and a community institution that has served Petersburg well. "Today I helped somebody, and I was telling her like, where to put the soap," said Holder, "she turned to me and said, 'I'...
This Saturday marks a historic milestone for Petersburg as the community celebrates the first-ever Amy Hallingstad Day, honoring the Tlingit civil rights pioneer who transformed education and social justice for Alaska Natives. "This is the first year we are having Amy Hallingstad Day. We had it formally proclaimed by the borough as an annual holiday now, and it's to commemorate Amy Hallingstad, who lived in Petersburg most of her life and was a huge proponent in a lot of civil rights matters,...
Petersburg’s school district approved a budget last week that will draw down nearly $700,000 dollars from its reserves to make up for school funding vetoed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy reduced education funding for school districts statewide with a line-item veto on June 12, just weeks before districts start their next fiscal years. The Legislature originally approved a $700 increase in per-student funding, known as the base student allocation (BSA). It was the first substantial increase since 2017. Dunleavy didn’t approve enough money to fu...
Southeast Alaska broke records for rainfall this spring. And for the Blind Slough hydroelectric plant near Petersburg, more rain means more power. Sometimes, however, there is such a thing as too much rain, according to Petersburg Borough Utility Director Karl Hagerman. "This year, there was just too much water to deal with," he said. The hydro plant uses water from a dam at Crystal Lake to generate power. But the record-breaking precipitation Mitkof Island got in May caused Crystal Lake to...
Three teachers from the Petersburg School District are state finalists for awards in excellence – Hannah Smith and Alice Cumps, math and science teachers at the middle and high schools respectively, are two of the finalists for a Presidential Excellence Award, and Becky Martin, a third grade teacher, for the Alaska Teacher of the Year Award. The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) is the highest honor a K – 12 math or science teacher in the U.S. can...
In an effort to generate money for essential services, Petersburg voters will be asked this fall whether to impose income limits for the community's senior sales tax exemption. That's after the Petersburg Borough Assembly approved the proposal on Monday, June 16. The change would limit the decades-old exemption to only low-income seniors who qualify for the state's Senior Benefits Payment Program, with annual incomes below $34,213 for individuals or $46,253 for couples. Revenue from...
The Petersburg Parks and Recreation facility reopened Monday after completing its annual two-week maintenance shutdown, with Parks and Recreation Director Stephanie Payne describing the closure as highly successful. "We did a lot of work that we've been wanting to get done for a long time," Payne said of the annual maintenance period that began in late May. The closure began with the facility's perennially complex project: coordinating the resurfacing of the gym floors. "Gym and racquetball...
Teri Toland was preparing breakfast one morning when she heard a loud crash. When she walked out of her kitchen, she found a full-grown eagle in her living room. The eagle had crashed through a nearby double-paned window, shattering the glass. Toland was used to seeing eagles fly around her house; she even enjoyed watching them race through the nearby trees, but they'd never come inside before. This eagle had also brought something extra: an orange rockfish that it left on the carpet alongside...
Construction will be happening all summer long at the Petersburg School District. Two major projects are underway to increase safety at the schools, inside and out. The first project is a complete remodel of the high school office. The office has been entirely gutted, and will be rebuilt for visibility and safety. "The office area was such that the folks working in the office really didn't have a good, clear view of who was coming to the door," said Superintendent Robyn Taylor. In 2023, threats...
