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The Petersburg School District has requested the borough increase its local contribution to the district as it grapples with decreased funding, rising costs, and challenges attracting new teachers. Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter and PSD Director of Finance Karen Morrison made their case to the assembly during Monday's meeting, giving a review of the district's financial standing going into FY24 and detailing how school funding has been left behind. Inflation paired with the rising costs of...
It was standing room only at the Helmi Jenson community room of the public library last Wednesday, where the attractions were practically flying off the shelf. Jake the red-tailed hawk and Owlison the great horned owl were in the house, accompanied by avian director Jenn Cedarleaf and avian care specialist Hannah Blanke from the Alaska Raptor Center in Sitka. Invited as part of the Rainforest Festival, they had visited Petersburg schools for kids from preschool through high school, appeared for...
The U.S. Forest Service is seeing a nationwide push for new employees as they expand their operations, driven by an increase in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. "So all this additional funding gave us additional work and we need additional people to do that," Petersburg District Ranger Ray Born said. The Petersburg Ranger District is hiring mostly for technician positions including biological technicians to conduct surveys and recreation...
At approximately 2:30 a.m. on March 31, a truck collided with a parked vehicle on South Nordic Drive, which resulted in damage to the memorial park dedicated to Marie Giesbrecht and Molly Parks. According to witnesses, a black pick-up truck hit an unoccupied silver truck that was parked next to the memorial. The crash pushed the parked silver truck off of the road and into the park, causing damage to the benches and railing. The silver truck dropped into the ditch next to the park while the...
During Monday's Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting, Mayor Mark Jensen and Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht gave a report on the borough's trip to Washington D.C. last week. Jensen, Giesbrecht, and Assembly Members Thomas Fine-Walsh and Scott Newman visited the capital to meet with Petersburg's federal delegation, lobbyists, the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and other agencies about major local projects. "We had a pretty busy schedule. Overall, I felt, a good trip,"...
The Alaska House of Representatives voted Monday to increase the amount of money the state pays K-12 schools per student in the 2023-2024 school year. The vote came as legislators opened floor debate on the state’s operating budget for the 12 months that begin July 1. That debate is expected to continue Tuesday. In addition to boosting school funding, the House on Monday voted to restore funding for a proposal that would have the state take over a federal program that regulates construction permits in wetland areas, and it confirmed House l... Full story
April 6, 1923 – The city council has ordered a new street constructed from the top of the hill in front of Martin Kildall’s house for a distance of six hundred feet towards the point north of the cannery. The new street will carry across the old bridge which has become dangerous for auto traffic. It will do away with several of the curves in the present road and will be an improvement which has been needed for a long time. The work will start as soon as the West Lumber Company can supply the planks. April 9, 1948 – Archie W. Shiels, presi...
Former Petersburg Medical Center Board Member Kathi Riemer, who was last reelected in 2021, resigned from the hospital board last month. PMC Board President Jerod Cook wrote that he accepted Riemer's resignation on March 17. In his email notifying the borough, Cook expressed his gratitude for her contributions to the hospital and her service to the community. The borough is now seeking letters of interest from residents to fill the seat until the October 2023 municipal election. The Pilot...
A 2% statewide sales tax proposed by Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski, received its first legislative hearing last Wednesday night, with its sponsor saying he envisions it as a component of a long-term plan to bring state spending and revenue into balance. Other components of that plan, including a tougher state spending cap and a new formula for the Permanent Fund dividend, are also under discussion in the House Ways and Means Committee, which heard Carpenter’s bill. “I don’t take this lightly, of instituting or bringing forward a bill that would... Full story
Thanks for going above and beyond To the Editor: I want to take a moment to recognize someone who went above and beyond for the youth of our community. Mike Corl was the driving force behind the newly formed Mitkof Yggdrasil Wrestling Club. Mike, with the help of Levi Entz for the K-2nd grade kids, and Bill Schroepfer and Eldon Walker for the 3rd - 5th grade kids, along with James Valentine filling in while Mike was traveling with the Middle School wrestlers, all gave up their evenings three days a week to teach our children the fundamentals...
Three-term Nikiski Rep. Ben Carpenter is right, the state needs a sustainable, long-term fiscal plan. Give him credit for raising the issue. Talk of a balanced fiscal plan has lingered since 1990 — before several of today’s legislators were even born. The discussion about diversifying Alaska’s economy has lasted even longer, ever since the first oil started flowing from Prudhoe Bay in 1977 and we tried using the riches to expand the state’s economy and job opportunities beyond crude. But unless new business activity produces oil, any new indust...
Dear Friends and Neighbors: Things in Juneau have slowed in some ways and accelerated in others. There are fewer stakeholder meetings at the moment, but more bills are on the move, and this week we will be considering the operating budget on the House Floor. It’s never slow in the Capitol! On Education — In the House Fisheries Committee on Tuesday, March 28th, we again heard HB 95, NATL. RES. WATER NOMINATION/DESIGNATION, a bill that would codify the legislative process as the way to designate an outstanding natural resource water or tier...
March 29 – An officer provided an individual with a courtesy transport. An officer assisted Emergency Medical Services (EMS) with a citizen who fell on 12th Street. A runaway dog was returned to its owner. An individual reported lost items. An officer conducted a welfare check at Fisherman’s Memorial Park. An officer responded to a parking complaint on Dolphin Street and found the vehicle was legally parked. An officer spoke with an individual on South Nordic Drive. An individual on 12th Street requested lockout assistance, but was able to gain...
March 21, 2023 Magistrate Judge Rachel Newport presided over the arraignment in State of Alaska v Jason Lapeyri. The defendant entered a not guilty plea to the charge of Violating Conditions of Release. The defendant was released on own recognizance with an SL3 alcohol monitoring device ordered and all other conditions of release remaining in place. Magistrate Judge Rachel Newport presided over the arraignments for Danny Rusk and Ramona Short. Each defendant entered not guilty pleas to the charge of Violating Conditions of Release, and each...
On March 22, 2023 Petersburg High School graduate Airman Basic Orrin H. A. Mergenthal successfully completed basic training for honorable service in the U.S. Air Force. He has since proceeded to technical school at Sheppard Airforce Base, Wichita Falls, Texas, to pursue his greatest passion, metals technology....
Over 200 people from across Alaska, the Lower 48, and Canada converged on Thunder Mountain High School last weekend to compete in the 2023 Traditional Games where Petersburg's team took first place overall in the middle school division. The Traditional Games, also referred to as the Native Youth Olympics, is an annual competition put on by Coach Kyle Kaayák'w Worl and Sealaska Heritage Institute composed of events based on hunting and survival skills of the Indigenous peoples of Alaska and the...
Petersburg High School students are spending their afternoons running, jumping, and throwing in the build up to their first track and field meet of the season. The team has been in practice for two weeks as students hone their skills in the cold, wet weather of early spring. "With running it's not about just super intensity all the time, it's about building a base and that's what we're doing currently," Head Coach James Valentine said. Over 20 students have joined the team including seniors...
A state senator wants to direct a larger share of filing fees paid to the court system toward a nonprofit legal aid organization that helps several thousand Alaskans a year with their domestic violence, family law, housing, elder advocacy and other cases. The 56-year-old Alaska Legal Services Corp. “is part of our social safety net,” helping the most vulnerable community members, particularly survivors of domestic violence, said Anchorage Sen. Forrest Dunbar, sponsor of the legislation. Senate Bill 104 would amend state law to direct up to 25%...
Petersburg Dental has expanded into the entire first floor of 806 South Nordic Dr, remodeling and adding new equipment into an area which was formerly used as a bed and breakfast, the kitchen of which has become the dental lab, with various testing equipment as well as tools for building and adjusting artificial tooth implants, dentures, and mouth guards. Dr. Jay Lister now has an office instead of just a corner of the lab, and there is an ADA-compliant accessible bathroom. A staff breakroom ove...
The Petersburg High School boys basketball team racked up two more individual accolades following the conclusion of their season at the state championships last month. Jack Engell was named to the 2A boys all-state second team and Kyle Biggers was named to the 2A boys all-state third team as voted on by the Alaska Association of Basketball Coaches. "I am so happy that both Kyle and Jack were recognized by the coaches around the state for the excellent season that they had this year," Head Coach...
Aubrey Shaquanie, left, and Frank Gordon were step-brothers and teammates on the Petersburg High School State Championship basketball team in 1929. After playing in a 1927 game with the crew of the USCG Cutter Unalga, the local paper said they had the ability to score from almost any angle. Both from Kake, they'd previously attended Chemawa Indian School in Oregon. Frank eventually returned to Kake, married teacher Beatrice Wilson, and went on to serve in local government and as a Tlingit and...
˛ Alaska Department of Fish and Game has reduced this year’s non-hatchery Chinook catch limit for Southeast commercial trollers by 44,000 fish — about 23% lower than last year’s harvest quota. The catch limit for sportfishing, commercial seine and gillnet fleets also were set about 23% lower than last year. The largest salmon are the main moneymaker for many trollers. This year’s harvest limit, while down substantially from 2022, is about the same as was set for 2021 and 2020. It’s almost 50% higher than 2019, when several runs were not expect...
SEATTLE (AP) — People have taken many steps in recent decades to help the Pacific Northwest’s endangered killer whales, which have long suffered from starvation, pollution and the legacy of having many of their number captured for display in marine parks. They’ve breached dikes and removed dams to create wetland habitat for Chinook salmon, the orcas’ most important food. They’ve limited commercial fishing to try to ensure prey for the whales. They’ve made boats slow down and keep farther away from the animals to reduce their stress and to quie...
