Sorted by date Results 251 - 275 of 999
The Salvation Army's signature red kettles raised $13,911.30 for its social services budget during the holiday season according to Major Loni Upshaw. Though it was about $6,000 less than last year's total, Upshaw was still surprised with how high the final tally was and said that it was only $90 dollars short of the goal given to the local branch by the Salvation Army's headquarters. The Petersburg Vessel Owners Association, which had volunteers ringing the bells on Christmas Eve, topped the...
Birders canvassed Mitkof Island on December 18 as part of the National Audubon Society's annual Christmas Bird Count as they looked to collect data on local bird populations. It was a smaller group of people than usual according to Brad Hunter, the coordinator of Petersburg's bird count. Of the 23 people who participated, 10 people watched bird feeders while 13 split up to cover the group's regular routes near Hungry Point, Sandy Beach, the Beachcomber Lodge, and Blind River Rapids. "It's a lot...
During Monday's assembly meeting the Petersburg Borough Assembly voted against Resolution #2021-17 which would have requested the option of home mail delivery by the United States Postal Service. The resolution was presented as a possible solution to ongoing issues at the short-staffed post office which has seen long wait times for package pickup and decreased window hours. Assembly Member Dave Kensinger said he brought forward the resolution because of the time people and businesses are having...
The Viking Swim Club traveled to Ketchikan on December 10 for its first meet in over two years. It was Scott Burt's first opportunity to travel to a meet as head coach of the team which he said was an overwhelmingly positive experience. "I know for the kids that went as well, it was so nice to finally be able to travel and have head-to-head competition with swimmers across the state of Alaska," Burt said. The team has not been able to travel in the last two years because of the COVID-19...
The Petersburg High School wrestling team capped off its season with a trip to Anchorage last weekend to compete in the state championship tournament. Eight PHS students took part in the tournament which saw hundreds of students go head-to-head in the Alaska Airlines Center to crown the best in the state. “All of our wrestlers, I think, peaked this trip,” Valentine said. “I’ve never seen them wrestle better to be honest.” DD Toyomura, who won the regional championship this season, claimed fifth at state. She lost to the number two seed in t...
The Petersburg Medical Center' COVID-19 Dashboard reported four active cases as of Monday, the last time the dashboard was updated, with 18 tests results pending. PMC moved to yellow status on Monday as a result of the decrease in cases and continues to encourage physical distancing, masking, and other mitigation measures. Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reported 347 new cases from December 13 to December 14 in the state, along with two deaths and 12 new resident...
The Petersburg School Board held a discussion on the district's current COVID-19 protocols during Tuesday's meeting and agreed to hold a work session on potential changes in January. The district has required universal masking for the majority of the year due to continued COVID-19 outbreaks both in the district and in the community. The district began the school year with two weeks of universal masking as part of its reopening plan and the board later amended the plan during its September...
The newly opened Evergreen Market is looking to offer new options in a changed world as challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic shift the store's thinking. Replacing the old hardware store, the market looks to be a fluid store that can adapt to supply chain issues and stock items that are not easy to find in Petersburg. Half of the market focuses on offering healthier food options for those who want to eat better or have specialized dietary needs. "...the thing we get asked for the most...
The Petersburg High School boys basketball team is set to open its season at the Sitka Holland America Tournament this week. Led by Head Coach Rick Brock, who was named as the 2021 2A Boys Coach of the Year, the boys basketball program is starting its season with approximately 20 students, four of whom are seniors. The team is still waiting on a handful of students who are coming back from injury or are still with the wrestling team. After two years of big senior classes, Brock said a lot of...
The Petersburg High School girls basketball team is looking to bounce back from last year’s shortened season going into its first tournament of the year. The team has been practicing for two weeks under Head Coach Dino Brock, who said so far practices are going well and the students are working hard. This year’s team is younger than most. It is made up of three seniors, two sophomores, and seven freshmen who practice on the court who put time on the court every day. “The younger kids are learning quickly, older kids are doing a great job helpi...
JUNEAU (AP) — Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Monday he plans to propose as part of his upcoming budget that the state spend $5 million in federal dollars to support tourism marketing efforts amid the ongoing pandemic, and additional funds to prepare state parks for visitors next year. He said the hope is for a return to “robust” tourism activity after a difficult two years. Speaking in Anchorage, Dunleavy said people are “starting to learn to live with (the coronavirus) … understanding that it’s not going to go away, but there’s ways to protect onese...
The Borough Assembly voted to extend an emergency ordinance requiring masking in indoor public buildings during Monday's meeting. The previous emergency ordinance was passed during an emergency meeting on November 5 in response to a COVID-19 outbreak in Petersburg which was at one point the highest per capita outbreak in the country. The original ordinance required people to wear masks in indoors settings that are open to the public including businesses with some exceptions such as a medical...
The Borough Assembly held a discussion during Monday's meeting on the continuing issues at the post office and the possibility of home delivery. The assembly has held multiple discussions on the U.S. Postal Service's operations in Petersburg in the past, including at its last meeting, while the community continues to wrestle with limited service window hours, long lines, and the lack of masking enforcement in the building. A draft resolution was included in this week's assembly packet...
The active COVID-19 cases count fell to five on Thursday with two positives in the previous seven days and 11 tests pending results according to the Petersburg Medical Center’s COVID-19 Dashboard. Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reported 441 new cases from December 6-7 in the state and three deaths. According to the DHSS, 56% of Alaskans aged five or older are fully vaccinated while 63% of residents in Petersburg Borough are fully vaccinated. The Petersburg School District r...
The state of Alaska has spent decades trying to predict, forecast and even guesstimate the price of oil in an ongoing effort to help the governor and legislators draft an annual spending plan. If state officials truly could know the price of crude a month, a year, two years out, budget-building work would be much easier. Or at least more accurate. And while Alaska’s budget health, public services, education funding and road maintenance is much more dependent these years on Permanent Fund earnings than on oil revenues, any periods of high oil p...
Fearful from what if possibilities To the Editor: I have been wondering for quite a few years now but especially these last 2. When did we as a country become so hysterical, fearful from what if possibilities. Tobacco, global warming, nuclear power, acid rain, mining, logging. The list is long of things that are going to end the world. Now the latest SARS covid-19. A nuclear power plant is destroyed in Japan and the Pacific Ocean is doomed. A mine tailings dam is breached and the river is going to die. Both of these of course never happened. So...
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter gave a report on the latest COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on the hospital during the PMC Hospital Board's December 2 meeting. According to Hofstetter, PMC saw over 230 individual Petersburg residents with COVID-19 in November. It was the largest outbreak Petersburg has seen since the start of the pandemic, caused in part by the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant. Approximately 16% visits to the ER in November were for COVID-19 and...
The Petersburg Medical Center Hospital Board discussed how the most recent COVID-19 outbreak has impacted PMC's operations and finances during its December 2 meeting. "When we scale everything up and use all our resources and have to focus 100% for care for COVID, it detracts from our routine care, it detracts from taking care of patients," PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter said. He was concerned that the cost of staffing and resources to take care of COVID-19 patients, people avoiding the ER, and other...
The Petersburg High School wrestling team traveled to Juneau last weekend to compete in the Pilot Invitational tournament after a three-week break. The tournament went smoothly according to Head Coach James Valentine, who said he was excited for the five students who were able to travel but that some were unable to go due to COVID-19 quarantine. Most of the teams in the region attended the tournament, except for those from Prince of Wales Island. Deirdre Toyomura claimed first in her bracket, maintaining her top form from before the break....
The Alaska Housing Finance Corp. is continuing its monthslong program of sending out rental and utility assistance payments - including over $800,000 to households in the Petersburg Borough as of last week - drawing on federal pandemic relief aid allocated to the states. As of last Friday, Alaska continued among the leaders nationwide in distributing the aid to households hurt by a loss of income due to the pandemic. AHFC reported it had sent out almost $193 million in payments, about 80% of...
The Petersburg Public Library is showcasing a 50-year retrospective of Polly Lee's ceramic art this month. The art was originally scheduled to be shown in November, but since the recent COVID-19 outbreak closed the library, the show was extended. Polly started creating ceramics in 1955, cutting clay from the banks near the big dip with her husband Eldor Lee. "She and my dad would go out and get buckets of clay and try and use that and so there's a few pieces in the show that feature those early...
The Borough Assembly held a discussion during Monday's meeting to figure out how the borough should spend funds received through the American Rescue Plan and considered a future work session on the topic. The borough received $634,000 in funds, $20,000 of which has already been spent on finishing the deck out the deck project at Mountain View Manor. Representatives from childcare programs in Petersburg wrote letters to the assembly requesting ARPA funds to recoup losses caused by the COVID-19...
The Petersburg Medical Center reported a declining number of cases this week with with only 27 active cases of COVID-19 and 43 tests pending results. According to the Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard, PMC has recorded a 9.4% positivity rate over the last seven days, and, as of Wednesday evening, there are no longer any healthcare workers currently infected. Although the PMC staffing level are still classified as inadequate and the hospital's medevac capability remains limited. "While this is very...
Thank you To the Editor: A heartfelt thank you to our EMTs, doctors, and hospital staff for all their kindness. Geneva Bishop and Family My turn To the Editor: A half century ago on Nov. 2, 1971, I enlisted in the United States Navy. I served on two different duty stations, Naval Air Station Moffett Field, and the Guided Missile Destroyer USS Robison (DDG-12). During my tour on the ‘Rockin’ Robie,’ I stood numerous in-port quarterdeck watches throughout various Pacific ports, and countless watches on the bridge in the Navigation Division while...
Sometimes, connecting the dots is the best way to learn. The first set of dots cost $87 million in federal pandemic aid money. That’s the price of the contract the state signed with an Atlanta-based for-profit health care staffing firm to provide up to 470 medical professionals to help out at 15 Alaska hospitals and medical clinics, schools too, for 90 days. The travelers helped relieve the strain during the worst of the COVID-19 outbreak this fall, when Alaska was in record territory for new cases and hospitalizations. The Wrangell Medical C...
