Sorted by date Results 901 - 925 of 1172
The Petersburg High School baseball team began practicing on the ball field on Monday as their first game of the season approaches on April 19, in Ketchikan. For the past few weeks, the team, which is made up of 19 players, has been practicing in the Parks and Rec gym. A batting cage and pitching machine was pulled out to focus on hitting, conditioning and building arm strength. On the ball field, the pitching machine will be used to shoot baseballs approximately 100 feet into the air to allow...
The borough assembly requested that the planning commission look at the development code, which has already been passed by the assembly, listen to comments from the public and return to the assembly with any recommendations on changes to the code or zoning map. “Obviously there’s a lot of people that feel strongly about this,” said assembly member Brandi Marohl, who requested the action item be placed on the agenda. “I think that it was somewhat misleading as to what the purpose was and so I think that a lot of people weren't maybe paying...
The borough assembly failed to pass an ordinance that would have designated borough assembly seats in its third reading on Monday. Ordinance #2019-01 was amended at the previous assembly to, if passed, be put on the municipal election ballot in October to allow voters to make the final decision to change the borough assembly election process. The ordinance would have required borough election ballots to no longer allow voters to choose which candidates they wanted to fill the open assembly seats, but instead, the candidates would choose a...
The borough assembly shot down the idea of creating a disturbing the peace ordinance at their assembly meeting on Monday. Assembly member Taylor Norheim requested the assembly entertain the idea of creating a disturbing the peace ordinance after a Petersburg resident asked him if the assembly could create such an ordinance because she has a neighbor who makes a considerable amount of noise at night. “She had an issue with apparently one of her neighbors who is a drug addict or something like that and does weird stuff in the middle of the night...
With their first meet about a month away, the Petersburg High School track and field team has been practicing five times a week since late February. The team will be competing in 16 events throughout the season, including the 200 and 3200 meter sprint, 300 meter hurdle, 4x100 and 4x800 meter relays, high jump and discus. There are five meets this season, including the regional meet. The first meet will be in Ketchikan from April 19 - 20. "I'm just really excited to see what these athletes can...
The Petersburg School Board officially approved the hire of Heather Conn as Rae C. Stedman Elementary School principal on Tuesday beginning August, 2019. "I am sure as I walked through the halls today and saw the two principals together meeting already, that Heather has already hit the ground running and planning for next year," said school board president Mara Lutomski at Tuesday's school board meeting. Conn has been with the school district since 2014 when she began working on her internship...
Dave Kensinger, former chairman of the Marine Transportation Advisory Board, anticipates that the Alaska Marine Highway System could face difficulties restarting services if it were to shut down in October. Under Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed 2020 fiscal year budget, cuts to the AMHS would prevent the ferry system from operating past Oct. 1. Should the ferry system shut down, Kensinger said that a ripple effect would make it increasingly hard to get it up and running again. Specialized employees would find themselves without work and have to s...
A town hall meeting was called by Mayor Mark Jensen last week to hear comments and concerns from the public regarding Gov. Mike Dunleavy's proposed budget for the 2020 fiscal year. The community was overwhelmingly against the proposed budget, which would balance Alaska's $1.6 billion deficient by cutting expenditures to equal revenues without create new sources of revenue. According to a document created by the borough, Petersburg could face a total economic impact of over $3 million. It was...
After becoming five time Region champions, the Petersburg High School cheerleaders look to competing in Anchorage next week for a shot at the state title. Of the ten cheerleaders on the team, Trinity Davis, Martha Johnson, Avery Skeek, Miranda Nilsen and Sage Johnston are all returning members. Davis, Johnson and Skeek are also seniors. "We have some really good leadership on our team this year," said co-coach Sara Hadad-Dembs. "The whole five returning girls were excellent in getting these new...
Representatives from the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs held a town hall meeting on Tuesday to give local veterans an update on the VA system in Alaska and help them file any forms or documents. Timothy Ballard, director of Alaska VA Healthcare System based in Anchorage, led the meeting by explaining changes to the VA at the national and local levels. The second half of the meeting was reserved for answering questions and helping local veterans get VA healthcare ID cards, file claims,...
A Grand Jury indicted Brandon Johnson, 35, on three of seven counts set before them on March 7. Johnson was indicted on burglary in the first degree, theft in the second degree and assault in the third degree. The remaining counts were either withdrawn or not found to be a true bill, which included an additional two counts of assault in the third degree, misconduct involving weapons in the fourth degree and vehicle theft in the first degree. Johnson was first arrested on five charges on Feb. 27 when Officers Carl Tate and Eric Wolf were...
The girls varsity basketball team traveled to Sitka last week to compete in the Region V championship tournament where the team was eliminated after three games. The Lady Vikings were off to a good start when they beat Haines, 57-45. Petersburg scored 23 points in the first quarter and scored about 15 points in each quarter for the rest of the game. "We shot the ball really, really well, and Haines did too," said Coach Dino Brock. "It was kind of a back and forth, but it was a good way to start...
In the final championship game against Metlakatla on Friday at the regional tournament in Sitka, the Petersburg Vikings lost by one point with a final score of 63-64. Petersburg's first game of the tournament was against Wrangell. It was the Vikings' third game against the Wolves in five days, since the two teams had played each other the previous weekend. "It's always difficult to play anybody that many times in a row, especially your rival," said Coach Richard Brock. The game started out in Pe...
WRANGELL — State Representative Dan Ortiz was present at Wrangell’s town hall meeting on March 6 and gave the audience some context on Alaska’s financial situation, and to go into some detail on what the proposed budget means for several state services. Adjusted for inflation and population growth, he said, Alaska’s budget is the smallest it has been in almost 40 years. Despite this, the state government has been operating with a deficit for several years. As many people are aware, Alaska’s economic fortunes are heavily tied to the oil indus...
The Petersburg Borough will send out a request for proposals for a new baler, after the assembly approved the decision on Monday. In January, the borough assembly passed Ordinance 2018-21, which allocates $600,000 towards the replacement of the borough’s baler. The request for proposals, or RFP, has a deadline of April 4, and gives a description of what is needed from the baler and the bidder. At Monday’s assembly meeting, assembly member Bob Lynn was concerned with how similar in scope the potential new baler, as laid out in the RFP, is to...
United States Coast Guard members throughout Southeast Alaska will be in Petersburg this week performing active shooter drills led by Officer Louis Waechter of the Petersburg Police Department. The curriculum will follow Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, or FLETC, guidelines for active shooter and threat responses. The drills began yesterday and will continue through Friday. At the end of the three days, the 15 or so Coast Guard members will be certified FLETC active shooter responders....
The borough assembly amended ordinance #2019-01 on Monday in its second reading, which would put the decision to designate assembly seats on the ballot in October’s municipal elections. If the voters were to pass the ordinance, borough election ballots would no longer allow voters to choose which candidates they want to fill the open assembly seats, but instead, the candidates would choose a specific seat to run for. Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor, who made the motion to amend the ordinance, said that although he is in favor of designating t...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency board passed a motion at their regular board meeting on Thursday that would reimburse the Petersburg and Wrangell communities for most of the associated costs for burning diesel generators beginning on Feb. 15 through March 15, 2019. “This is really significant for us,” said assembly member and SEAPA vice chairman Bob Lynn at an assembly meeting on Monday. “This means Petersburg will not have to put a supplemental surcharge for diesel fuel to our rate payers.” According to utility director Karl Hagerma...
Engel Entertainment, a production company filming a reality TV show focused on law enforcement in Alaska, has begun filming in Petersburg. “You guys might see them out and about around town,” said Police Chief Jim Kerr to the borough assembly on Monday. The film crew arrived last week. On Thursday and Friday, the crew, which is based in New York City, got to know the department and had a get together Monday night to meet their families. According to Kerr, the crew will be in Petersburg for about eight weeks. Petersburg is one of three com...
The boys varsity basketball team won their last two home games of the season against Wrangell before heading to Sitka to compete in the regional tournament. "I thought the kids played with positive passion," said Coach Richard Brock. "Good two hard fought battles both nights, and good games to go into Regionals with. It was a good experience for the kids to see what level to play at Regionals." During Friday's game, neither team seemed to take control of the ball. Every time the Vikings began...
The girls varsity basketball team lost their last two home games of the season against Wrangell over the weekend. "Wrangell's good," said Coach Dino Brock. "They're big. They're one of the top ranked teams in the state. I thought that we were competitive with them in the games. It's a good way to get ready for tournament." Friday's game began with Senior Appreciation Night. Seniors Holli Davis and Tayla Heppe, along with their families, were thanked for their dedication throughout the season....
Heather Conn, special education teacher with the Petersburg School District, will be replacing Teri Toland as Rae C. Stedman Elementary School's principal beginning in the fall 2019 school year. "She's going to take us forward, and I'm really excited for her," said Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter. "The feedback that I'm getting from families and parents beyond our hiring committee and staff members is people feel really positive about the choice." Conn was one of many individuals who applied...
Petersburg residents filled about two-thirds of the Wright Auditorium on Thursday to view the screening of A HEARD OF ORPHANS, a documentary by local filmmaker Kelly Bakos about the lives of young elephants living in an orphanage. After poachers in the ivory trade killed the adult elephants in their various herds, the film follows a group of elephant calves as they go about their day-to-day lives and learn skills that would otherwise be taught by their herds, before being reintroduced to the...
On March 3, Guardian Flight senior vice president of operations Randy Lyman announced that a search team has located what may be an unknown part of the Guardian King Air 200 aircraft that went missing in late January. “In order to properly identify the object, our next step is to re-launch a submersible Remotely Operated Vehicle, which will take a number of days to accomplish,” said Lyman in a prepared statement. “We are hopeful that this might be a positive step in the process to recover our missing friends and return them to their famil...
The Petersburg Borough began running their diesel generators 24 hours a day on Tuesday as Southeast Alaska Power Agency lake levels drop due to dry weather conditions. As of Monday, Tyee Lake water levels were at 1261.6 feet of elevation and Swan Lake was at 280.9 feet, according to utility director Karl Hagerman. Crystal Lake was just below 10 feet . SEAPA set a draft limit of 1258 feet for Tyee Lake and 280 feet for Swan Lake. Once the two lakes reach their draft limits, Petersburg may have to separate from the inter-connect system and...
