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After Gov. Mike Dunleavy released his proposed budget earlier this month that looks to solve a $1.6 billion deficit through cuts in statewide funding, the Petersburg School District’s base student allocation would be reduced by $1,050 per student, according to Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter. On Tuesday, the Petersburg School District is going to host a community conversation in the Wright auditorium at 6 P.M. to discuss the district’s budget. Currently, the school district receives $5,930 in funding from Alaska for each of the dis...
Author and lecturer Frederick Lane spoke at the Wright Auditorium on Thursday evening to discussion cybersafety and the impact mobile devices are having on children. Approximately 92 percent of teens use a cell phone with at least 75 percent of teens using a smart phone, according to Lane. In 1995, children ages five through sixteen spent three hours in front of a screen per day. By 2015, that number doubled to 6.5 hours per day, with some studies estimating as high as nine hours per day. The am...
The borough assembly on Monday passed Ordinance #2019-01 in its first reading, which would assign designated borough assembly seats. Should the ordinance pass, 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. “It’s a really good form of democracy,” said vice mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor. “If I was choosing to run for Senate, I’d either ran against Sen. Sullivan or Sen. Murkowski... It’s more in line with...
As a result of its planning for the future work session, the borough assembly approved a list of issues on Monday for borough manager Stephen Giesbrecht to pursue. The work session addressed 132 suggestions for economic growth submitted during three public meetings conducted by Giesbrecht in January 2018. During the work session, Giesbrecht took note of the topics the assembly was most interested in pursuing and presented the list to the assembly, who agreed with the list. “None of what you’re voting on tonight will change anything,” said...
The boys varsity basketball team won two games against Craig at home over the weekend, with Saturday's game finishing with a 55-point lead for the Vikings. Right away the Vikings jumped to an 11-point lead at the start of Friday's game; one thing that the team has been working on all year was their ability to gain a lead early in the game and keep it. The Panthers made three 3-point shots early on in the second quarter closing Petersburg's lead. The game went back and forth for the duration of t...
After two hard fought games, the Petersburg girls varsity basketball team lost both games against Craig over the weekend. “Two good battles against another good team,” said Coach Dino Brock. “Our league is very balanced. Every weekend is competitive.” Friday’s game started out slow for the Lady Vikings as they struggled to score. Craig had scored 12 points before Petersburg was able to make a basket. The first quarter ended with Petersburg down, 4-14. For the remainder of the game, the Lady Vikings matched the Lady Panthers point-for...
Phil Hofstetter, CEO of the Petersburg Medical Center, spoke about the future of the hospital as this year’s keynote speaker at the chamber of commerce banquet. Over the years, the hospital has been remodeled and received facelifts, and Hofstetter said the hospital is due for another update because of its aging infrastructure. Before arriving in Petersburg, Hofstetter was an administrator at the Norton Sound Health Corporation in Nome where he assisted with the process of bringing a new hospital building to the community. “This building, it...
A $100 counterfeit bill was turned over to authorities on Feb. 10 after it was found discarded on the ground. In July 2018, six counterfeit bills were given to the Petersburg Police Department in a one month time span. Since then, counterfeit bills have continued to be found within Petersburg. “We’re not seeing them being passed around the same businesses,” said Captain Randal Holmgrain of the Petersburg Police Department. “A number of the bills that have been found since last year have been found discarded. Some have been passed at busines...
Sen. Bert Stedman addressed Gov. Mike Dunleavy's proposed budget for Alaska's 2020 fiscal year at the annual Petersburg Chamber of Commerce banquet on Saturday. Dunleavy released his proposed budget on Feb. 13. Determined to not raise taxes and to distribute a $3,000 permanent dividend check to every Alaskan, Dunleavy's proposed budget will solve Alaska's $1.6 billion deficit by having expenditures equal to the amount of the state's revenue. As a result, state departments and programs face...
After being accepted into the FBI National Academy in April 2018, Capt. Randal Holmgrain of the Petersburg Police Department said he will be entering the 10-week program in October of this year. During the professional education course at the FBI training facility in Quantico, Virginia, Holmgrain will be learning skills that he’ll be able to bring back to Petersburg, such as new methods of investigations and management. Holmgrain will receive a course catalog in the coming weeks for the program that will give him a better idea of the c...
The Petersburg Fire Department responded to an apartment on Sing Lee Alley that was filled with smoke after a tenant left food cooking on the stove unattended. The call was placed shortly after 12:00 A.M. on Saturday morning. Residents of the apartment building first became aware of a fire when smoke began filling the upstairs apartments. First responders began taking action immediately upon arriving on the scene. It was determined that the smoke was coming from a pan that was left cooking on...
The Vikings lost their first basketball game of the weekend against Haines on Friday, but were able to win Saturday's game. Friday's game saw a solid first half for the Vikings. Petersburg was down by two points at the end of the first quarter, but went into half time up by one point, 24-23. At the start of the third quarter, Haines went on a 10-point run with Petersburg unable to stop it or score. Although the Vikings played even for the rest of the game, they weren't able to lessen Haines'...
In their second weekend playing Haines this season, the girls varsity basketball team defeated Haines in their home court during both their games over the weekend. “We played the way we were supposed to in terms of intensity level and effort,” said Coach Dino Brock. “We did a nice job running the floor and had good effort. We did a nice job communicating.” Friday’s game started out with Petersburg scoring twice as many points as Haines in the first quarter. Haines was able to prevent the Lady Vikings from scoring as many points in the second qu...
Next week Kelly Bakos will be screening her award-winning documentary film, A HERD OF ORPHANS, which looks at the lives of young elephants who were abandoned when adult elephants in their herds fell victim to poachers in the African ivory trade. The 90-minute documentary has been shown in film festivals across the world, including Estonia, Finland, Malaysia and China. Bakos has attended several of the festivals and won four Awards of Excellence from The Accolade Global Film Competition. A HERD...
The borough assembly held a work session on Feb. 6 where public works director Chris Cotta gave a brief overview of the solid waste and recycling programs and answered questions from assembly and community members. In 2014, the borough started a commingled recycling program using blue bags. The Petersburg Indian Association and later Ruger’s Trucking picked up the bags and delivered them to the baling facility. It was costing the borough $90,000 a year for the Ruger’s Trucking contract, in addition to the $20,000 annual cost of the blue bag...
Guardian Flight’s search effort for its crew and aircraft that were due in Kake on Jan. 29 has detected an underwater beacon ping from the cockpit voice recorder, or black box. Randy Lyman, Guardian Flight senior vice president of operations, said in a prepared statement on Tuesday that the ping will allow search crews to narrow down the location of the aircraft through triangulation. A Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle will be used to visually spot the aircraft once the location of the a...
Petersburg Medical Center held its second Community Cafe last week where CEO Phil Hofstetter gave a presentation on the hospital’s use of telehealth and its potential. Hofstetter was joined by Dr. John Kokesh, an ENT surgeon based in Anchorage, via video conference to share his experience with the innovative way of providing healthcare from a distance. At the beginning of his presentation, Hofstetter asked the audience three questions to keep in mind while he was speaking about telehealth: What kind of health care access do you want to see i...
Petersburg experienced its 10th warmest year and fifth warmest summer on record in 2018, according to Tom Ainsworth, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service forecast office in Juneau. In Petersburg last year, the average temperature was 43.3 degrees Fahrenheit, with the average high at 49.5 and the average low at 43.3. Snowfall in Petersburg was 77.7 feet, only one foot above normal, according to Ainsworth. With the top ten warmest years on record, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2010 and...
Last year was the second driest year on record in Petersburg at almost three feet below average, according to Tom Ainsworth, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service forecast office in Juneau. The average amount of rainfall in Petersburg is 109.23 inches. In 2018, there was a total of 76.03 inches of rainfall, making it the second driest year on record. The driest year for Petersburg was in 1951 with 71.31 inches of rain, according to Ainsworth. November saw the most amount of pre...
Petersburg's boys basketball team lost two home games to Metlakatla over the weekend. They are ranked as one of the top teams in the state. Friday's game began with good offense for both teams. The Vikings ended the first quarter 15-17. Then in the second quarter, the Vikings took a couple tough shots and threw the ball away, allowing Metlakata to stretch their lead. "They're a team you can't make mistakes on," said Coach Richard Brock. "They convert your turnovers to points quickly. If you...
The Petersburg girls varsity basketball team travelled to Metlakatla where they lost their first game of the weekend, but won their second game after a spike in the Lady Vikings’ energy. “I thought that we played well, especially on Saturday,” said Coach Dino Brock. “I liked our energy. I thought that we competed. We always talk about getting better every week, and I thought that was a good push for us.” Friday’s game started out slow for both teams. The Lady Vikings scored four points in the first quarter, while the Miss Chiefs scored 11....
The borough assembly voted to continue moving forward with negotiations for a possible land swap with Petro 49, Inc. after the company’s CFO declined to agree to most of the borough’s positions on the trade. In a letter sent to Petro 49, Inc. CFO Jason Werner in mid-December, borough manager Steve Giesbrecht wrote that he had been directed by the assembly to begin negotiations with the oil company. Giesbrecht expressed the borough’s concerns for the trade and interest in changing aspects of it. Werner responded in a Jan. 25 letter by not agreei...
Guardian Flight has resumed their air medical transport service in six base locations across Alaska following a 63-hour search for an overdue Guardian King Air 200 medical life flight near Kake. While services have resumed in Anchorage, Deadhorse, Dillingham, Fairbanks, Ketchikan and Sitka, Guardian Flight base locations in Kotzebue and Juneau will reopen sometime in the future, according Guardian Flight senior vice president of operations Randy Lyman in a prepared statement. "Guardian Flight...
A build up of creosote ignited and caused two chimney fires last week due to high temperatures emitting from wood stoves. The first chimney fire occurred on Jan. 28 at a residence on Fram St., and the second one was in a three-story building in the airport subdivision behind Hammer and Wikan Grocery Store on Jan. 30. Both fires occurred in the evening hours and were extinguished in less than an hour by the Petersburg Fire Department. “Generally, I think we get more [chimney fire calls] in the evening because people are coming home and are s...
Four discussion items were removed from Monday’s assembly meeting agenda by the assembly that would have addressed cuts and additions to the borough’s 2020 fiscal year budget. In the beginning of the meeting, assembly member Bob Lynn made the motion to amend the agenda and remove the four items. The items would have called for a discussion on whether to add a full time fire fighter/EMT to the fire department, reduce some community services, give department head merit increases and eliminate snow removal outside of service area one. Lynn, who...
