Sorted by date Results 1026 - 1050 of 1172
Long time Petersburg resident Tom Lewis was this year's tree lighter for the community Christmas tree. Growing up in Foster, Oregon, Lewis took on a variety of jobs from working on a hay baler to falling timber. Almost on a whim, Lewis and some of the men that he felled timber with made the decision on a Monday in 1942 to join the navy. After he was discharged from the Navy he began working in Oregon again. "Then I got curious about Alaska," said Lewis. He came to Alaska in the early 1950s and...
On Friday, Erin Watkins Kandoll handmade jewelry line Twisted Ginger was featured at a show at FireLight Gallery & Framing. Made from sterling silver, copper and stones, the jewelry on display were all handmade by Kandoll over the last two months. A majority of the work was done in the last two weeks in her own shop set up with table saws, drill presses, rolling mills and other equipment she acquired over the years. "I have a studio full of all kinds of fun tools," said Kandoll. She began making...
Although this morning's earthquake in Anchorage was too far away to be felt in Petersburg, members of the Petersburg Indian Association were getting ready to leave Anchorage after attending a Bureau of Indian Affairs conference when the ground began to shake at about 8:30 A.M. "Oh my gosh, it was just really scary because it just kept going," said Jeanette Ness, a social worker with PIA who was in the airport waiting for the number 64 jet when the earthquake started. Ness said that ceiling... Full story
The Petersburg School District received its first score from Alaska’s system of school success, as required by the Every Student Succeeds Act, which shows all three schools scoring above the state average. “We are above average, which is often where we are,” said Superintendent Eric Kludt-Painter at a school board meeting last week. “We are not in any sort of targeted assistance or comprehensive assistance.” Rae C. Steman Elementary scored an overall school index value of 62.48, Mitkof Middle School scored an overall school index value of...
The borough assembly held a second public hearing on Monday to allow the community to share feedback on Ordinance #2018-18, which will provide an updated development code for the borough. Two community members were present to give their opinions on the ordinance. Tor Benson expressed confusion with square feet requirements in certain parts of the code. In one instance, he said the code could be simplified to have a 800 sq. ft. accessory dwelling with the opportunity to build a primary dwelling later that is larger than 800 sq. ft. “A lot of t...
At the recommendation of Harbormaster Glo Wollen, the borough assembly awarded Tamico, Inc. a bid amount not to exceed $188,500 for the demolition and the reconstruction of the timber dock adjacent to the Harbor Office. The base bid is $187,500 and includes the demolition and reconstruction of the dock. Materials for the dock will be made up of recycled construction material furnished by the borough's harbor department and new material furnished by Tamico, Inc. An additive alternate of $1,000...
The borough assembly vote unanimously not to pass an ordinance that would clarify language in the Marine Passenger Fee at an assembly meeting on Monday. "At this point, I'd like to just kind of see it go away," said assembly member Jeff Meucci. "Right now we have a sales tax ordinance in place, we have the Marine Passenger Fee in place. The Marine Passenger Fee goes into effect in 2019. It just seems like at one time or another we just get caught up in the minute details of this ordinance that...
The Petersburg Medical Center board of directors passed its strategic plan for the 2019-2023 fiscal years at a board meeting on Tuesday after the document failed to pass at last month's meeting due to clarity issues. The strategic plan had been updated since the previous meeting to reflect the concerns with more clarity, but issues were still found with the current version. "It needs some work," said board member Jim Roberts to PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter. "You made changes, but there's places where...
On Thursday, the Petersburg Medical Center held the first in a series of “community cafes” to inform residents on trends affecting the hospital with residents giving feedback on what they expect from PMC. At the beginning of the forum, PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter made it clear that the day’s meeting was to receive feedback from the community and not talk about the idea of a new facility or remodel of the current one, which is something Hofstetter has been working towards since his arrival over the summer. “It’s very easy to go down rabbit ho...
At the Region Five tournament over the weekend, the Petersburg High School varsity volleyball team came in third place, just one place short of attending the state championship tournament in Anchorage in two weeks. "I wish we could have gone on to the next one, but for the young group that we had, they really, really learned a lot and I think they grew a lot," said head coach Jaime Cabral. "Their volleyball IQ got better. I couldn't be happier with the progression that they made. They kept...
It was clear to Sam Bunge that he was going to Vietnam after he graduated from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1967. He participated in the university's Reserve Officer Training Corps in preparation because he didn't want to join the United States Army as a private. "I wanted to have a little bit of control of what happened," said Bunge. His first year in the army was spent training. He completed his basic training in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. Since he was entering the army as...
The Petersburg Elks Lodge hosted their annual Veterans Day dinner, which has been held for over 40 years, for veterans and their spouses, widows of veterans, active duty military and the National Guard. Veterans Day, once known as Armistice Day, is celebrated yearly to mark the end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918. "This evening allows us to come together and pay tribute to all those men and women who have worn the uniform of the United States Armed Forces," said exalted ruler David Israelson who...
The Petersburg School Board approved the acceptance of grant awards for the 2019 fiscal year totaling $513,613. The grants make up about six percent of the district’s funding, with the other 94 percent, or $8,432,563, coming from the general fund. Three of the largest grants received by the district came from Title VI-B at $141,677, ESSA Title I-A at $121,119 and ESSA Title I-C at $118,402. The three grants make up about 75 percent of the district’s grants. “There’s a whole team of us that put these grants together,” said finance director...
On Nov. 1, Aleria Jensen, a supervising biologist in the Protected Resources Division of NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region, held a lecture in the assembly chambers describing the harm plastics and marine debris in the oceans can have on marine life. “Now, we’re all so connected and none of us are free from this issue,” said Jensen. In her presentation, Jensen gave an overview of plastic and marine debris on a global scale, marine debris in Alaska and conservation efforts being taken by NOAA, or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin...
After 11.5 years with Alaska Airlines and four years in Petersburg, 55-year-old David Booker, customer service manager with Alaska Airlines, is retiring from the industry. "I feel like I had a really charmed career in Alaska," said Booker who originally came to Alaska from southern California. "To be there and be able to work my entire career in the state and do the things that I had the opportunity to do, the places I've gotten to go. Most importantly, the incredible people I've gotten to work...
On Saturday, the Petersburg High School volleyball team held a senior appreciation night after both the junior varsity and varsity teams won their games against Wrangell. Five seniors, Trinity Davis, Clair Byrer, Tiare Simbahon, Martha Johnson and Gillian Wittstock, were named one by one and their families embraced them on the court bringing flowers, balloons and gifts. The two seniors from the Wrangell team, Helen Decker and Ashley Allen received applause from the crowd as well. The players als...
The Petersburg Swim Club hosted a home meet over the weekend that saw over 80 swimmers from Craig, Wrangell, Ketchikan and Petersburg participate. "Petersburg did really good," said head coach Andy Carlisle. "We had a couple kids that did great." The swim club operates a little differently from the high school swim team. They have more events and have swimmers from all ages, from kindergarteners to high school seniors. There are about 456 kids in this year's swim club. The season follows the sch...
Over the weekend, the Petersburg High School wrestling team took three students to the Anchorage Christian Schools meet. “Overall, it was a good tournament,” said head coach Daniel Van Swearingen. “A lot of match time for those guys, and it’s always fun to go up to Anchorage.” Kole Sperl and Adam Ware wrestled in the 160 pound weight class. Koren Sperl wrestled in the 171 weight class. Kole Sperl ended up taking third overall, only losing to the champion. “He wrestled pretty tough, but we still have a lot of room for improvement...
At the suggestion of Public Works director Chris Cotta, the borough assembly voted in favor of moving forward with a full replacement of the borough’s saolid waste baler. Several of the major working parts in the baler are deteriorating, including the belt conveyor, control system and wear surfaces on the rams, hopper and baler chamber, according to a statement given to the assembly by Cotta at a borough assembly meeting on Monday. He gave the assembly three options for moving forward with the aging baler: Replacing components as they fail; a...
On Saturday, the Let Me Run after school program finished their fall season by hosting a community 5k run. The Let Me Run program is a national program that helps boys learn skills for managing and expressing their emotions and learn physical fitness, team work and responsibility, according to Rikki McKay, who helped coordinate the event and is a prevention coordinator with Working Against Violence for Everyone or WAVE. "The boys were amazing," said McKay. "We were very proud of them. They...
Unofficial results in Tuesday's general election show incumbent Don Young(R) remains Alaska's United States representative, Mike J. Dunleavy(R) becomes governor of Alaska, House District Incumbent Jonathan S. Kreiss-Tomkins(D) remains for a fourth term and ballot measure no.1 fails to become law, according to the Alaska Division of Elections. As of Nov. 7 at 1:35 A.M. 433 precincts in Alaska have been reported out of 442. There was a 41.44 percent voter turnout in the state with 236.972 voting...
The Petersburg Borough’s in-kind portion of a feasibility study to determine if the United States Army Corps of Engineers will dredge South Harbor and allow smoother egress increased by $50,000, and was approved by the assembly on Monday. “The money stays with us,” said harbormaster Glow Wollen at the assembly meeting on Monday. “We only use it if we spend it for this project. The borough’s in-kind contributions have increased to $100,000, from $50,000, which the borough has paid $32,349.11 of to date, according to a letter from Amber C....
The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce hosted a public meeting on Tuesday to discuss and receive community feedback on the possibility of larger cruise ships coming to Petersburg. In August, Viking Cruises met with representatives from Petersburg while looking for possible new ports in Southeast Alaska for 2020. The ships can hold approximately 900 passengers and 140 crew members. "If you think about this as a win-win situation, some of these ships they provide a visitor base, not only for visitors...
Five Petersburg High School swimmers traveled to Anchorage to compete in the state championships, three of whom made it to the individual final events. "It was good," said head coach Andy Carlisle. "It was better than expected. Usually it's hard for the kids to race at regions and then do state a week later." Preliminary events were held on Friday, with the top eight in each event making it to the final rounds on Saturday. PHS's top finisher was Allie Morgan who placed fourth in the final girls...
At their second seeding tournament, the Petersburg varsity volleyball team beat four out of six teams over the weekend at home. "Overall, [I'm] very happy with where we are right now and how much more we get to grow," said head coach Jaime Cabral. The weekend started on Thursday with a game against a strong Klawock team. Petersburg won the three games 25-19, 25-22 and 25-21. On Friday, Petersburg played Skagway, Metlakatla and Craig. Petersburg won a three match game against Skagway 25-7, 25-6...
