Articles written by Brian Varela
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Petersburg offers cash-prize drawings for vaccinations
The Petersburg borough is offering $10,000 in prizes during June to encourage residents who are unvaccinated against COVID-19 to get the shot. The Sleeves Up Petersburg drawing is sponsored by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services,...
Petersburg goes to high-risk COVID status
With a growing number of COVID-19 cases in the community - 36 between Thursday and Wednesday morning - Petersburg officials have elevated the community risk level to red. The number of active cases...
Dr. Zink "cautiously optimistic" in COVID update
Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska's chief medical officer, called in to a special meeting of the Wrangell Borough Assembly last Friday afternoon, Dec. 18, to give a brief update on the COVID-19 situation across...
Erosion causes landslide at Public Works in Petersburg
PETERSBURG - Water from this month's heavy rainfall ripped at deformities in a culvert that runs underneath the Public Works yard, opening up a portion of the pipe and causing a landslide near Hammer...
Petersburg bow hunter sets world record
PETERSBURG – After an anxious three months, the rocky mountain goat Kaleb Baird shot with a bow and arrow on the Cleveland Peninsula has been certified by Pope and Young, a conservation club, as t...
Petersburg officer accused of sexual misconduct
Two Petersburg residents are facing charges after accusing a Petersburg Police Department officer of sexual misconduct. James R. Vick and Julie C. Ruhle claimed that Officer Louis Waechter allegedly t...
Positive COVID-19 case shuts down schools in Petersburg
PETERSBURG – A positive case of COVID-19 was identified this morning in Mrs. Potrzuski’s fifth grade classroom at Rae C. Stedman Elementary School, resulting in a district-wide school closure, according to a statement on Petersburg School Dis...
Wet summer overflows Swan Lake
During Southeast Alaska's record breaking rainfall this summer, the Swan Lake hydroelectric facility reached its full capacity for the first time since the project was upgraded three years ago, accord...
Alaska behind in 2020 United States Census response
Alaska is ranked last among the 50 states in its response to the 2020 United States Census, as of Tuesday, Aug. 11. Only Puerto Rico is behind Alaska in its response to the census, according to...
State Troopers say driver may have lost control of vehicle
Alaska State Troopers continue to investigate a fatal accident that claimed the lives of four seine boat crewmembers sometime after 10 P.M. on Monday, July 27. A Ford Excursion driven by Siguard...
Four dead in car crash
Four individuals died in a car crash that occurred late Monday night or early Tuesday morning on Mitkof Island when their SUV drove off the roadway near the 27 mile marker of Mitkof Highway at a high...
Power outages in two cities may be linked
At 12:27 P.M. on Saturday, power went out in parts of Petersburg. Three minutes later, downtown Wrangell was also left in the dark, leaving Petersburg and Wrangell officials to think that the two...
WPSD town hall answers SMART Start questions
The Wrangell Public School District held a virtual town hall meeting on Thursday, July 16, where school officials answered submitted questions from families regarding the SMART Start reopening plan fo...
Four dead in car crash
PETERSBURG- Four individuals died in a car crash that occurred late Monday night or early Tuesday morning on Mitkof Island when their SUV drove off the roadway near the 27 mile marker of Mitkof... Full story
AMHS limiting spread of virus on board ferries
The M/V Matanuska arrived in Wrangell Sunday evening during its first voyage of the season out of Bellingham, but that same day a passenger onboard the M/V Kennicott, which left Bellingham on June...
Hospital construction continues with COVID protections in place
Construction of Wrangell's new hospital is continuing, despite some impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to an update supplied by Sondra Forrester, with SEARHC, the project has suffered from...
Replacement date for SEAPA line unknown
PETERSBURG – Southeast Alaska Power Agency is still in the process of trying to replace a damaged submarine cable that provides Petersburg with power, as complications increase due to the COVID-19 pan...
Petersburg's Little Norway Festival cancelled
PETERSBURG – The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce has officially cancelled this year's Little Norway Festival due to uncertainties over how long state health mandates to shelter in place and m...
Senators explain CARES Act
Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan held an electronic town hall meeting last week to talk about the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and what kind of aid it provides to small...
SEACAD intercepts package containing meth
PETERSBURG – Lloyd Bennett, 51, was indicted by a Grand Jury on Tuesday on one count of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the third degree, which is a class B felony. On Monday, Un...
Second Alaska Wildlife Trooper comes to Petersburg
PETERSBURG - The local Alaska Wildlife Trooper post held an open house on Saturday to welcome the community to their new location on Haugen Dr. and to introduce Petersburg's new wildlife trooper....
Petersburg resident breaks into post office
PETERSBURG - Christopher Manske was arrested on Feb. 26, and is now being held in federal custody in Juneau facing charges of burglary of a post office and mail theft. According to the United States D...
Stedman speaks on AMHS at Petersburg chamber banquet
PETERSBURG – Sen. Bert Stedman told the community while attending the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce banquet on Saturday that the future of the Alaska Marine Highway System depends on how negotiations...
How ferry shutdown impacts school districts
The shutdown of ferry service in Southeast Alaska has impacted many aspects of day-to-day life in communities across the region. In previous reporting by the Wrangell Sentinel and Petersburg Pilot,...
Elizabeth Peratrovich Day, Sunday February 16, 2020 - The face of Alaska Native civil rights
PETERSBURG – The Petersburg Indian Association, Petersburg Arts Council and Petersburg ANB/ANS hosted the first annual Elizabeth Peratrovich Day celebration on Sunday to honor the woman who spearhead...