Sorted by date Results 426 - 450 of 999
Since 1985, Steve and Desi Burrell have lived in the home that used to belong to Desi's grandparents, Adolph and Bunny Mathisen. The 108-year-old home was comfortable, but it needed repairs that the two were unwilling to spend money on. "I guess when you've been living in an old place, you realize the things you would do to make things really comfortable and easy," said Burrell. The electrical wiring hadn't been touched since the 1960s. The lack of insulation in the home caused Steve and Desi...
Petersburg Medical Center reports 10 active COVID-19 cases with one previous case being considered as recovered. Three additional cases have been confirmed in the past three days. All three cases are Petersburg residents who have been instructed to isolate at their homes. Alaska Public Health has received an update on the current numbers and will begin contact tracing. Of the 10 active cases, seven are residents of Petersburg, while three are non-residents. Each positive sample is referred to th... Full story
Two previously identified COVID-19 cases in Petersburg have been identified as the Delta variant according to the Petersburg Medical Center. One is a resident of Petersburg and the other is a non-resident. As of July 16, two additional cases have been identified, both of which are Petersburg residents, bringing the total number of active cases up to 13. They have been instructed to isolate and Alaska Public Health will begin contract tracing. Of the 13 active cases, seven are Petersburg... Full story
WRANGELL - As of last week, employees, contractors and volunteers with the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, which operates in 19 communities, must show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or risk losing their jobs or access to the facilities. Exceptions will be allowed for staff who are pregnant or breastfeeding, have a history of anaphylaxis or allergy to the vaccine, or "persons whose sincere religious observances and practices related to life, purpose or death oppose vaccines,"...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly was advised Tuesday that site selection for a new hospital, according to CEO Phil Hofstetter, "is paramount." According to Hofstetter, an environmental assessment of each of the three proposed sites is necessary. The assessment can determine such things as availability of public utility services, economics, depth of muskeg, and other factors that can impact the cost of construction. In response to a question from assembly member Jeff Meucci, the assessment...
Fishermen are the ears and eyes of the marine ecosystem as a changing climate throws our oceans off kilter. Now a new phone app is making sure their real life, real time observations are included in scientific data. The new Skipper Science smartphone app, released on June 18, comes from the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island in the Bering Sea as a way “to elevate the thousands of informal-yet-meaningful environmental observations by fishermen and others into hard numbers for Alaska’s science-based management,” said Lauren Divine, Director of Ec...
Petersburg Medical Center reports four positive COVID-19 cases locally in the past four days. On Fri., July 9 a resident of Petersburg tested positive for COVID 19 and is isolating at their home. On Sat., July 10 a guest from the American Cruise Lines Vessel American Constellation tested positive and is isolating in Petersburg with a family member who had tested positive previously. An American Cruise Lines representative is staying in Petersburg to assist them. On Mon., July 12 two new cases... Full story
Petersburg will be kicking off three days of festivities on Friday in celebration of the Fourth of July. The Parks and Recreation Center, Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Petersburg Lighthouse Church will be hosting over 20 activities in the downtown area and Middle Harbor, similar to years past. Last year's Fourth of July festival was scaled back due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but this year's festival is a return tradition. The fun begins at 6 P.M. on Friday when the Parks and Recreation...
The Emergency Operations Center demobilized and dissolved at 11:59 P.M. on Wednesday, along with the repeal of the local Emergency Disaster Declaration. "Over the past sixteen months, our community has worked together to put processes and infrastructure in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic," the EOC said in a press release issued Wednesday. "Community partners from all corners of our community have come together to collaborate, share resources and reduce the impacts of COVID-19 as much as...
In April and May, Petersburg Medical Center reported a consistent number of patient days, which were higher than what the hospital had seen over the last fiscal year, according to financial statements presented to the PMC Board of Directors on June 24. PMC had 129 inpatient days in April and 130 inpatient days in May. In March, the hospital's inpatient days were 56. Year-to-date, PMC has a total of 963 inpatient days, which have been down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. By the end of May...
Deck Out Our Deck organizers broke ground on the site of Mountain View Manor's covered deck on Tuesday after two years of planning with help from general contractor Ty Cummins and Reid Brothers Construction. "This has been a long project," said Sally Dwyer, one of the organizers. The group has only raised $78,000 of their goal of $112,000 needed to complete the project. However, with the funds they have now, the group can lay the foundation for the deck, install support beams and build the...
The Race to Alaska, a 750 nautical race from Port Townsend, Washington to Ketchikan, was cancelled for the second year in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic this year, but that didn't stop Hammer brothers Jake, 42, and Jens, 38, from taking advantage of the warm summer weather. When the Northwest Maritime Center (NMC) announced a new 360-mile race through Puget Sound, the two brothers quickly signed up; although, they didn't have a boat. After some quick thinking and phone calls, Jens was able...
Local business owners are pessimistic about Petersburg's economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey conducted by Southeast Conference. Every year, Southeast Conference performs a survey to track the business climate and investments of Southeast Alaska businesses. In Petersburg, 32 business leaders participated in the 19-question survey, which was administered between April 9 and 23. The survey found that 48 percent of local businesses had a decline in revenue a...
Incident Commander Karl Hagerman gave the Borough Assembly possibly the last update of the Emergency Operations Center actions ahead of June 30, the date when all local COVID-19 related mandates and protocols come to an end. The Local Disaster Emergency Declaration will be terminated at 11:59 P.M. on June 30. Additionally, the Emergency Operations Center has been directed by the Borough Assembly to stand by until the end of the month. Petersburg's sole local health mandate, which requires...
The Borough Assembly approved resolution #2021-08 on Monday that awards a 20 foot wide utility easement on a piece of property located on Sandy Beach Rd. to be used by Alaska Power & Telephone for the installation of a submarine landing. AP&T Wireless is using a United States Department of Agriculture grant to interconnect Prince of Wales Island and Juneau with a fiber optic cable, said AP&T Vice President Jason Custer. The project will bring high speed broadband access to those living in...
The results of the Petersburg School District's spring Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment showed growth in language arts and math, but students didn't score as high as anticipated. Bridget Wittstock, special education director with the school district, presented the results of MAP test scores for kindergarten through ninth grade to the Petersburg School Board at their June 8 meeting. The spring results were compared to the test scores from the fall. Wittstock noted that the students...
Crab has been one of the hottest commodities since the Covid pandemic forced people in 2020 to buy and cook seafood at home, and demand is even higher this year. Crab is now perceived as being more affordable when compared to the cost to enjoy it at restaurants, said global seafood supplier Tradex, and prices continue to soar. That's how it's playing out for Dungeness crab at Kodiak and hopefully, at Southeast Alaska where the summer fishery got underway on June 15. Kodiak's fishery opened on...
The Petersburg School Board adopted the fiscal year 2022 operating budget at their meeting on June 8 that has a total revenue that is below the school district's expenditures for the year. According to budget documents presented to the school board, the fiscal year 2022 operating budget is based on a total of $8,043,406 in revenue. Because the school district is anticipating an enrollment of 415 students this fall, the school district will see a drop in state funding of $696,443 over last year...
As the Petersburg Borough prepares to end its Local Disaster Emergency Declaration and disband the Emergency Operations Center at the end of the month, Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said during the COVID-19 community update on June 11 the local COVID-19 Dashboard would continue to be a local resource of all things COVID-19 related. "It's been quite a long haul, very rewarding," said Hagerman. "But I'm ready to get back to my normal job for sure." With the end of the Local Disaster Emergency...
Petersburg Medical Center will keep offering COVID-19 vaccines past the expiration of the Local Disaster Emergency Declaration at the end of the month. PMC Director of Nursing Jennifer Bryner said at the COVID-19 community update on June 11 that the hospital's efforts to vaccinate the community against COVID-19 have remained unchanged. While the hospital isn't anticipating large vaccine clinics in the future, like the ones held at the beginning of the year, smaller vaccination clinics are still...
Alaskans who are engaged in or interested in mariculture are invited to become founding members in a new group that will advance the growing industry across the state. The newly formed Alaska Mariculture Alliance (AMA) is a private non-profit successor to a five-year task force formed in 2016 by Governor Walker and re-authorized in 2018 by Governor Dunleavy. The task force will sunset on June 30. “One of the priority recommendations was to create a long term entity that would coordinate and support development of a robust and sustainable m...
The Borough Assembly repealed three local health mandates and one public health alert and amended Health Mandate #5 at an assembly meeting on Monday. The changes to the local health mandates and alert were presented to the assembly as recommendations from the Emergency Operations Center. The assembly had the option to discuss and vote on each health mandate and the alert individually, but instead voted to approve the EOC's recommendations in one unanimous vote. At a special meeting on May 1,...
SEARHC or not to SEARHC To the Editor: I listened to the representative from SEARHC at Monday's Assembly meeting. It was really nice of him to come and give an overview of SEARHC to the Assembly. I have only lived in Petersburg for 25 years. I am a firm supporter of the hospital and Phil the present director. In the 25 years I have lived here this is the first time we have had not only a good administrator, but an excellent hospital administrator. It had been pretty dismal for several of the...
The Associated Teachers of Petersburg (ATP) will receive a one percent raise each year for the next three years as part of a new labor agreement between the teachers union and the Petersburg School District. "I think we have a really good contract moving forward, so we're pretty happy with it," said Ginger Evens, ATP's representative during negotiations with the school district. The new contract will take effect in the fall of 2021 and span three school years through spring 2024. With each schoo...
The Borough Assembly made five more amendments to the Petersburg Borough's fiscal year 2022 operating budget at their meeting on Monday before passing it in its third reading. The General Fund's revenues and expenditures equal $9,741,364 and is an overall increase of .39 percent from the 2021 fiscal year adopted budget. The recent amendments to the budget addressed a one time bonus to Emergency Operations Center staff, upgrades to two borough marine facilities, a funding source for the maintenan...
