Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 5778
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...
After six years of collecting data using trail cameras, radio collars, and DNA analysis, a deer population research project on Mitkof Island, currently led by Ketchikan-based Alaska Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Biologist Tessa Hasbrouck, is entering its final phase. Historically, deer population monitoring in Southeast Alaska relied on relatively simple methods. Biologists would walk through the woods each spring counting deer pellets, or fly over alpine areas in summer tallying visible...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved moving forward with a $700,000 sewer line repair project at the Petersburg Aquatic Center during its Monday meeting. The vote authorizes the borough to seek bids for replacing approximately 150 feet of sewer lines beneath the slab concrete floors of the aquatic center's locker rooms, where drains have become disconnected from the main sewer system. "We have a few lines, especially in the family locker room, that are plugged completely with...
The new Wellness, Education, Research, and Communications (WERC) building opened its doors this month, marking the completion of the first major phase of Petersburg Medical Center's hospital replacement project. And according to PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter, the success of this facility has already changed how he's thinking about the rest of the project. "This is just step one," Hofstetter told the Pilot on a recent tour of the 15,000-square-foot building. He will be the first to say that the slow... Full story
At the Petersburg fire station, Heather Bauscher sat waiting for an ambulance. She had a fake tourniquet on her arm, representing a lost limb. "I've got a small amount of time before I go into shock," she said. "So as soon as we get there, I'll start a timer, and they'll have a little bit of time to figure out what's going on with me." Bauscher was one of about a dozen Petersburg community members acting as victims in a staged mass casualty drill on Aug. 16. The drill, which was organized by Petersburg Emergency Services Director Aaron Hankins... Full story
A deteriorating baseball dugout that had been gathering moss and rot at Petersburg's ball field has found new life as a much-needed weather shelter at the Banana Point boat launch. Back in March, Public Works employee Martin Odegaard was dropping his child off at Banana Point to catch the boat to Wrangell for a wrestling trip on a typically miserable late-winter day. "It was pissing rain, as it always is this time of year," Odegaard recalled. "And so all these kids are getting soaking wet. I'm...
Part of a wastewater line in Frederick Sound has broken, and the Petersburg Borough must repair it to comply with an upcoming Environmental Protection Agency permit. The pipe, known as the outfall line, discharges wastewater from Petersburg's treatment plant into Frederick Sound. Wastewater Operations Supervisor Justin Haley said that a part of the pipe called the diffuser has fallen off. The diffuser distributes the wastewater at different places in the water, where ocean currents dilute it further in a "mixing zone." Right now, wastewater is... Full story
Three candidates are now vying for two Petersburg Borough Assembly seats as the candidate filing deadline approaches, with incumbent Donna Marsh joined by challengers Raliegh Cook and Bob Martin. Assembly member Scott Newman, whose term is up this fall, remains the only candidate for mayor, seeking to replace Mark Jensen, who announced in June he would not seek reelection after 18 years in elected office. Fifteen candidates have submitted paperwork to Borough Clerk Rebecca Regula since the...
Hatchery managers had hoped that June's steady rainfall would spare them from having to intervene in this year's king salmon run, allowing fish to reach Crystal Lake Hatchery naturally without the stress of human handling. Those hopes evaporated in late July when a few hot days right at the wrong time caused a significant mortality event for king salmon transiting the shallow waters between Blind River Rapids and Crystal Lake Hatchery. On July 20, after observing a hundred or more king salmon...
After 17 years of shaping Petersburg's infrastructure, this has been the final week on the job for Public Works Director Chris Cotta before relocating to Florida, where he'll serve as Public Works Director in Tarpon Springs, a city on the Gulf Coast around the size of Juneau. As Cotta wraps up his tenure, Aaron Marohl-who has deep roots in the community-steps into the director role, inheriting an experienced crew and a long list of ongoing projects. From Florida to Petersburg and back Before...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly narrowly rejected a resolution Monday that would have authorized police to dispatch approximately four black bears that Petersburg Police Chief James Kerr says his officers have identified through repeated unsuccessful attempts at non-lethal deterrence. The resolution failed by a single vote after Kerr presented evidence of what he described as "learned behavior" by specific bears. "We've tried paintballs, pepper balls," Kerr told the Pilot. "Pepper balls is like...
The Alaska Legislature overrode Governor Mike Dunleavy’s veto of state education funding at a special session on Saturday. Earlier this year, lawmakers approved a $700 increase in the per-student funding formula known as the base student allocation (BSA). Using his line-item veto power, the governor reduced that increase by $200. The override undoes the governor’s veto. Both of Petersburg’s state lawmakers, Senator Bert Stedman (R-Sitka) and Representative Rebecca Himschoot (I-Sitka) voted in favor of the override. Petersburg Super...
To better understand the hydrology of their neighboring island, Petersburg middle schoolers mapped Coho Creek on July 30. The trip to Kupreanof Island was part of the summertime Wonder Camp series facilitated by the Petersburg Public Library and Alaska Sea Grant, a marine science education organization. The camp provides opportunities for middle schoolers to learn more about the environment around them, with the help of experts. This trip's expert was Emil Tucker, a hydrologist for the U.S....
A dozen teenagers returned to Petersburg on July 22 after a weeklong kayak trip learning how to paddle, fly-fish and lead as a team. The group kayaked and camped along the southern coast of Mitkof Island, exploring from Woodpecker Cove to Point Alexander. They were led by certified instructors from Petersburg Medical Center and the outdoor education group Onward & Upward as their guides, teaching outdoor safety skills. "Adventure wilderness expeditions changed who I am as a person, honestly...
In recent weeks, users of the popular Hungry Point Trail system have noticed with some alarm trees coming down, a road being built, and the closure of the trail's Sandy Beach Road trailhead – all necessary for the wastewater utility's Pump Station 4 replacement project. "Folks need to be aware that [the trailhead] is going to be probably closed more than it's going to be open for the next few months," Public Works Director Chris Cotta told the Pilot. "We won't be opening things back up permanent...
The federal government will be releasing billions of dollars in education funding this week, including $46 million in Alaska, after freezing the funds last month. The Trump administration announced in late June that the funding was being withheld pending a review. Multiple advocacy groups and school districts sued the Trump Administration, including some in Alaska. Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it would be releasing the frozen funding. Part of that funding is Title I-C funding for migrant education. A quarter of...
Petersburg electric customers will see a 1.4-cent per kilowatt hour fuel adjustment charge on their July bills to account for seven days of around the clock diesel generator use during Southeast Alaska Power Agency’s hydro maintenance shutdown in June. For a typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours monthly, the adjustment would add about $14 to their bill, according to Petersburg Borough Utility Director Karl Hagerman. Petersburg consumed more electricity during this year’s shutdown period than during the 2024 shutdown. With the...
The Right Reverend Mark Lattime, Episcopal Bishop of Alaska, was in Petersburg last Friday to hold the final service at St. Andrew's church on the corner of Excel and Third Streets, familiar to many as the longtime home of the Mitkof Dance Troupe, a non-profit dance program for children from pre-school through high school. St. Andrew's, established in 1949, has always had a small congregation and has for many years relied on Rector Dawn Allen-Herron's traveling from Ketchikan to Petersburg once...
Petersburg Medical Center will lose nearly $1 million in expected federal tax credits after the federal reconciliation bill retroactively eliminated a one-third portion of the delayed COVID-era employee assistance funding the hospital was eligible to receive. The hospital had applied for around $3 million through the Employee Retention Tax Credit program but will now receive only two-thirds of that amount due to passage of “the one big, beautiful bill,” Chief Financial Officer Jason McCormick told the hospital board Thursday. The leg...
An application by Dave Ohmer to purchase two borough-owned lots and develop them into rental duplexes came before the Petersburg Borough Assembly on Monday evening, after being unanimously recommended for approval by the Planning Commission earlier this month. The application needed four votes to be approved. Assembly Member Rob Schwartz and Mayor Mark Jensen were absent from the meeting. Assembly Members Bob Lynn, Jeigh Stanton Gregor and James Valentine voted in favor of the land sale. Vice...
The Petersburg Borough will seek state funding for a potential float replacement project in the town’s biggest harbor. Some of “C” Float’s 50-foot fingers are several decades old. “These are circa 1970 original Middle Harbor finger floats that were repurposed in 1985 when the South Harbor was built,” Harbormaster Glorianne Wollen said. “So they saved a little bit of money, and now we get to pay for it.” At a meeting on July 21, Petersburg’s assembly agreed the borough should apply for the $617,000 state grant to help fund the float replacement...
The Petersburg Medical Center celebrated their 11th annual Pedal/Paddle Battle, raising a new high $24,201 with $15,000 from corporate sponsors and $8,501 by participants, to go towards scholarships and education. In previous years, the event has raised between $17,000-20,000. "[The corporate sponsors] led to why we got so much money this year. Participants raised over $8,000 just from family and friends, so that's significant too," Community Wellness and Public Relations Manager Julie Walker sa...
