Reporters across Southeast Alaska took a look last year’s news highlights.
In Petersburg, many fishermen had a rough 2023, with about a quarter of the Dungeness crab fleet sitting out the season due to low prices. Then, Trident Seafoods announced in mid-December that it’s selling a third of its Alaska plants — including the one in Petersburg.
But the year looked far better for outdoor recreation. The community saw two separate ascents of Devils Thumb. Kyle Knight became the first person born and raised in Petersburg to climb the mountain.
“I think that’s what makes it so special or significant to me is that that’s a peak that’s been dominating the skyline from a very young age,” said Knight.
Weeks later, internationally-renowned climbers Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold made the ascent as part of a documentary they filmed for National Geographic.
“You’re on top and there’s, like, a thousand foot drop on either side of you!” said Caldwell.
Petersburg lost its Catholic Church in July when routine maintenance work sparked a blaze that melted the church’s spire and blanketed the harbors in smoke. Petersburg’s Volunteer Fire Department had just a skeleton crew when the fire started. Fire Chief Jim Stolpe said a fire is a race against time, and having fewer volunteers hurt his department’s ability to respond.
“The heart is something that in my mind, there’s nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer,” said Stolpe. “So those are the people we’re looking for that want to drop what they’re doing — come help the community.”
Stolpe added that those who did come out to help fought their hardest to contain the blaze.
But 2023 wasn’t all doom and gloom for the island’s structures — the year ended not with a bang, but with the rumbling of bulldozers. Petersburg Medical Center began construction on its new hospital facility. Hospital board members were on deck to shovel gravel at the groundbreaking ceremony in December.
Construction on the new facility — which is what assembly members have dubbed, “the biggest project in the history of Petersburg” — will continue into the new year.
Hear how 2023 will be remembered in our other Southeast Alaska communities:
KSTK’s Collette Czarnecki reporting in Wrangell
KCAW’s Katherine Rose reporting in Sitka
KRBD’s Jack Darrell reporting in Ketchikan
