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On Monday, Petersburg's Dan Sullivan was deemed ineligible to run for the office of United States Senator by Alaska's Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher. "My determination in this matter is final. Although you have 30 days to appeal this decision." In a letter to Sullivan on Monday, Beecher stated that his filing for Senate "was not filed in order to declare an actual good-faith candidacy for the office of United States Senator, but was instead filed with a purpose to confuse or...
Two weeks after rejecting it, the Petersburg Borough Assembly on Monday approved the sale of a borough parcel to Tidal Network for a wireless communication tower - with all four members who had blocked the deal switching to yes and the resolution passing unanimously. Resolution 2026-16 authorizes the sale of an approximately 0.23-acre borough-owned parcel to the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, doing business as Tidal Network. The resolution had failed 2-4 at the...
On Friday, June 12, botanist Joni Johnson led a "Friends of Raven's Trail" invasive plant walk. She informed attendees what harmful invasive plants look like, as well as what they could do to stop their spread. "I'd like more people with more eyes and more willingness to help pull plants," Johnson said. "It's Whack-a-Mole, it's everywhere... more people that are willing to play Whack-a-Mole, the better we are at preventing the march of invasive plants up the hill." Johnson throughout the hike...
International Children's Day is commonly celebrated outside of the United States and is a cherished holiday in many places. Jose Meza, employee of the Petersburg Children's Center, has a clear vision of it becoming a large day of celebration in Petersburg, too. This past Friday, June 12, Meza began to bring his vision to reality – hosting a celebration for the kids at the children's center. "The kids loved it. It was a really nice, sunny day, we did a bunch of water games, water balloons," M...
A zoning ordinance to regulate cell towers and other wireless facilities — a revised version of one that died on a tie vote two weeks ago — came back to the Petersburg Borough Assembly on Monday. Assembly Member Jeff Meucci reintroduced the ordinance and offered five amendments which the assembly accepted before the unanimously approving the ordinance’s first reading. Ordinance 2026-14 would amend Title 19 of the municipal code to set zoning and permitting standards for wireless communication facilities and other towers. The ordinance requi...
Petersburg voters will likely decide this fall whether the borough can borrow up to $3,315,000 to finish the Scow Bay standby generation project, after the assembly approved the that ordinance’s first reading on Monday. Ordinance 2026-13 would authorize electric-utility revenue bonds of not more than $3,315,000 for the Scow Bay standby generator, which Petersburg Municipal Power and Light says faces a budget shortfall driven by construction-cost increases since the project began. If it clears three readings, the borrowing question goes on t...
The Borough Assembly has given final approval this month to raising Petersburg’s marine passenger fee from $5 to $8 per passenger, with the increase set to take effect Jan. 1, 2027. Ordinance 2026-07, which amends Chapter 4.80 of the municipal code, passed unanimously on third reading at the assembly’s June 1 meeting. The fee is assessed once per cruise, on marine passenger vessels upon their first entry into any borough port, and has been collected since March 2018. Finance Director Jody Tow has estimated the increase will generate rou...
Petersburg’s electric utility rates will go up 4% on July 1 after the Borough Assembly approved the third reading of Ordinance 2026-08 at its June 1 meeting. The ordinance raises electric rates across all customer classes — residential, general service, large commercial, harbor and municipal — for fiscal year 2027. For a typical residential customer using 1,203 kilowatt-hours a month, the monthly bill rises from about $163 to about $170. The residential customer charge increases from $16.00 to $16.64, and the energy rate moves from 12.2 cents...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly on Monday awarded the wastewater outfall repair project to Rock-n-Road Construction of Petersburg in an amount not to exceed $222,000. The 6-0 vote followed a short explanation from Public Works Director Aaron Marohl, who was asked by Member Jeff Meucci to describe the project “for the folks at home.” Marohl said a February 2025 dive to locate the outfall found the line broken and separated at some unknown point. The borough reported the deficiency to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Alaska Dep...
The assembly gave final, unanimous approval Monday to Ordinance 2026-11, updating the borough’s sewer-utility service rates for FY2027 through FY2030. Built on the utility’s annual rate review, the ordinance cites rising operating costs, aging infrastructure and increasingly stringent EPA and state environmental requirements. It passed 6-0 on third reading after unanimous first and second readings. In his memo, Assistant Public Works Director Thomas Rummel wrote that critical components — lift stations, piping, pumps, controls and the marin...
For the better part of a year wireless communication infrastructure has been a topic of controversy and community engagement in Petersburg. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska has been pursuing three tower locations in Petersburg through its broadband initiative, Tidal Network, as part of a federally funded broadband expansion effort - a project that has drawn sustained opposition from a contingent of residents raising concerns about radio frequency emissions, to...
Over 200 people, many wearing regalia, gathered on a sunny afternoon at Auke Recreation Area, the former site of a Tlingit village. Ten canoes floating near the shore took turns for traditional protocols before landing on the beach. Among them was Petersburg's killer whale canoe, or kéet yaakw in Lingít. "My name is ShaaL'aanee, my English name is Brandon Ware," Ware, the skipper, shouted from the water. "Gunalchéesh for having us. We are so grateful to be here. Forgive me if I miss protocol -... Full story
U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan from Petersburg says a state investigation into his bid for office is baseless and inappropriate. "It's a little bit chilling in a way, in some ways, that they would go after somebody like me," he said in an interview Wednesday this afternoon. The candidate shares a name and Republican party designation with Alaska's incumbent senator, whom he's running against. That kicked off a lot of Republican complaints and the state's investigation. Sen. Dan Sullivan has... Full story
An Arizona hunter was cited last month for unlawfully taking a brown bear on Kupreanof Island after mistaking it for a black bear, the second such mistaken-identity case involving a non-resident hunter in the area in roughly a year, according to Petersburg-based Alaska Wildlife Trooper Sgt. Cody Litster. William DeGrave, 38, of Vail, Arizona, was cited May 19 for taking a brown bear in Game Management Unit 3 without the proper tag, registration permit or guide while hunting black bear at Duncan...
A few weeks ago, Petersburg singer-songwriter Sarah C. Hanson Hofstetter released her sixth album, All the Bones, a 14-song collection of original work now available on Bandcamp. The song writing has been in development for over ten years, and the recordings took shape over roughly a year of recording sessions in Petersburg with local musician Matthew Wintersteen, followed by a spring break trip to Anchorage where engineer Kurt Reimann of Surreal Studios helped complete the record. Sarah has... Full story
After a 1.5-year, $12 million renovation, Forest Service staff returned on May 14 to the Federal Building located on the south end of downtown Petersburg. During the project, staff were temporarily relocated to a facility out the road, about 2.3 miles, at Scow Bay. The remodel makes their building more visitor-friendly, and the new location is more walkable and accessible to residents and visitors. "Kids come through before they go to school, they can come in after school before their parents... Full story
This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, there will be informative outdoor community events in Petersburg. Saturday and Sunday’s events will be led by Vivian Mork, where she will lead groups to harvest wild vegetables and teach how to prepare them for eating. Saturday’s hike will begin at Sandy Beach Park, and Sunday’s will be carpooled starting at the library. Both days’ events begin at 10 A.M. Mork’s “Hike, Harvest, Heal” event is through the Rainforest Festival with support from Petersburg Mental Health Services. This year’s Rainforest Fest...
Retired fifth-grade teacher Dan Sullivan, a longtime Petersburg resident, has launched a campaign for one of Alaska's two U.S. Senate seats. Who is he trying to replace? Dan Sullivan. Dan S. Sullivan(R) has served two consecutive terms in the U.S. Senate and is running for reelection. The fall election is viewed nationally as an important race, as Democrats try to regain control of the Senate. Mary Peltola(D) is competing against Sullivan for the seat, as are 15 other candidates. "We need a... Full story
The proposed ordinance that would have established the Petersburg Borough's first regulatory framework for wireless communication facilities failed its second reading Monday on a 3-3 tie vote, leaving the borough with no formal controls over cell tower siting just as Tidal Network continues to pursue construction of new towers in the community. Ordinance 2026-12, which had passed its first reading unanimously at the May 18 assembly meeting, would have created new language in the Petersburg...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted 4-2 Monday to reject the sale of a small borough-owned parcel near the Haugen Drive fire hall to Tidal Network, the broadband arm of the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, in a vote that surprised some members and capped months of contentious negotiations over cell tower expansion in Petersburg. Assembly Members Bob Martin, Rob Schwartz, Jeff Meucci, and Scott Newman voted against the resolution that would have authorized the...
Petersburg's own Tracy Welch was appointed as the second commissioner of the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC). Welch was approved by the Alaska State Legislature by unanimous consent on May 14. She was appointed to the position by Governor Mike Dunleavy, taking the second of two seats. After being appointed by the governor, Welch was approved by three confirmation hearings to be officially accepted for the position. Welch grew up in Petersburg and commercially fished for over thirty...
According to Alaska Airlines, their "Customer Service Legend Award" is "for those who always look up, push higher, put others first and have been doing so for more than a decade. They are the models of excellence and ones we can all aspire to be more like." 17 out of around 30,000 employees were chosen this year for the award. Lifelong Petersburg local Darcey Hedlund was one of the 17 granted the award. She was given the award after 39 years of legend-worthy customer service at Petersburg James...
Senator Lisa Murkowski came through Petersburg last week to see the Petersburg Medical Center's (PMC) new Wellness, Education and Resource Center (WERC). Murkowski had helped secure $8 million in federal funding for the project. "It was very successful on Friday," Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter said about Murkowski's visit. "I think she was very well impressed," Mayor Bob Lynn said. The WERC building opened in August of 2025. It was noted for having the borough's first-ever MRI...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously adopted the property tax millage rates for fiscal year 2027 at its May 18 regular meeting, slightly raising the rate for Service Area 1 property owners to 10.93 mills and introducing a new area-wide general purposes levy that for the first time charges all borough property owners for services the borough charter has always authorized charging borough-wide, but which Service Area 1 taxpayers have been covering since borough formation. For Service Area 1 residents the new rate of 10.93 mills - an...
The "Kéet Yaakw" – or the killer whale canoe – launched from Petersburg on Sunday morning and reignited a tradition of canoe-based transportation – the first such departure in at least 100 years. Traveling by canoe to Celebration – the biennial gathering of Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian tribes in Juneau – has been a tradition for tribes in the region. This year Petersburg joins the paddling tradition for the first time since Celebration became an event. ShaaL'aanee Brandon Ware is Petersburg...
