Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1932
Thursday July 30, the cast of the high school play "Dracula" will head to Europe. They will first stop in London for a few days first and take a Shakespeare performance class at the historic Globe Theater. Then, they will perform their Dracula four times, Aug 7-11, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Fringe Fest is renowned as the world's largest performing arts festival. It runs from August 7-31 and sold 2.6 million tickets last year. The local cast will be Petersburg's first-ever...
The Coast Guard Cutter Elderberry has a new officer in charge, following a change-of-command ceremony held July 15 at the Sons of Norway Hall. Senior Chief Petty Officer Jacob Pegoda, officer-in-charge of the 65-foot buoy tender for the past three years, turned over command to Senior Chief Petty Officer Craig Campomizzi. The new commander of Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska, Captain Ginny Naldony, traveled to Petersburg for the ceremony. Pegoda received a commendation for his years at the...
Bergen Kludt-Painter grew up in Petersburg, graduating high school in 2022. She went to college at the University of Idaho, where she just graduated with a degree in political science. Now she is back in town on a 10-week internship with Alaska Sea Grant. She brings her background to a program called "Sea Grant Community-Engaged Fellowship." Kludt-Painter works alongside Marine Advisory Program Agent Sunny Rice. "Bergen's job is to create a project over the course of the summer that matches both...
From July 28 through Aug. 25, candidacy forms will be available for Petersburg residents interested in running for elected office. Borough Assembly, Hospital Board, Planning Commission, Harbor and Ports Advisory Board, Library Advisory Board, Parks and Rec Advisory Board, and Public Safety Advisory Board all have seats up for election. July 22 the candidacy packets will be available at the borough clerk office. If running for assembly, school board, or hospital board a certain amount of signatures in support of running are needed. Early...
Rebecca Shatwell has been a teacher for three decades, teaching in Texas most recently. Now she brings her experience to Petersburg High School, where she will teach assigned math courses and has also been entrusted with two courses of her choice starting this fall. Those courses are Petersburg Maritime Math, and Artificial Intelligence Literacy and Ethics. "I just want learning to be something that [students] enjoy and that's truly beneficial, not just something that they're going to go...
The Petersburg School District approved the budget for the next fiscal year on June 30. Due to higher projected student counts, one-time state funding and one-time energy relief funding, the district anticipates receiving roughly $900,000 in additional revenue to spend. Much of that money comes from the Alaska Legislature's approval of up to $115 million in one-time funding for districts. But, that funding is contingent on oil prices staying high. The state Department of Revenue has until the... Full story
The Borough Assembly voted 5-0 Monday to send a letter to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities asking the state to add pedestrian routes to its winter snow-removal work in Petersburg. The letter, prepared by Mayor Bob Lynn, focuses on non-motorized corridors that the borough says become unusable and unsafe when snow and ice go uncleared. It singles out the sidewalks and pedestrian routes along Haugen Drive leading to the Petersburg James A. Johnson Airport and Sandy Beach Park, and the Libby Strait bike path, which the...
International Children's Day is commonly celebrated outside of the United States and is a cherished holiday in many places. Jose Meza, employee of the Petersburg Children's Center, has a clear vision of it becoming a large day of celebration in Petersburg, too. This past Friday, June 12, Meza began to bring his vision to reality – hosting a celebration for the kids at the children's center. "The kids loved it. It was a really nice, sunny day, we did a bunch of water games, water balloons," M...
Joanne (Joey) Linda Chapman was born on November 10, 1954, in Wiesbaden, Germany, to Donald and Barbara (Grainger) Chapman. When she was ten her mother died from an undiagnosed kidney disease. She and her three sisters were lovingly raised in Burlington, Massachusetts, by her stepmother Evelyn Chapman. She enjoyed a childhood vacationing on Cape Cod and summers full of fun on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. After graduating from Burlington High School in 1972 Joey went to the University of... Full story
The Petersburg High School Track and Field team finished their 2026 campaign in a flurry at the ASAA DII State Championships this past weekend. Both the boys and girls team had strong performances to end the season. "[The boys team] did really good. Exceeded expectations. Definitely peaked at the state tournament which was great," head coach Casey Gates said. Senior Noah Pawuk finished fourth in the 110 hurdles, capping off his Viking career with a new personal best of 16.70. "He beat [James Nel...
The Petersburg High School Track and Field team qualified 17 athletes to the ASAA Championships this upcoming weekend after their recent performance at the Region V Championships – nine boys and eight girls. "We're still getting better, which is the biggest thing, we haven't peaked yet," head coach Casey Gates said. "The kids are still in a very positive-driven mindset so I think we're in a good spot to have a successful weekend up at Anchorage." The Vikings had region winners in the boys 4...
"How many of you have ever played with sounds from outside? Like rocks and sticks, pinecones, shells, water?" asked Alexis C. Lamb, of a circled crowd at Sandy Beach. A percussionist, composer, and educator, Lamb came to Petersburg as part of the Devil's Thumb Chamber Music Festival. Not only did she perform as a percussionist and showcase her work as a composer, but she also wore her educator hat at the festival. The crowd at Sandy beach had gathered to be a part of Lamb's "Forest Orchestra" wo...
Kristina Barkfelt Please describe a specific moment or event from high school that stands out as a highlight for you. Hanging out during lunch with my best friend, Aurora, and always having lunch at the lunch table with all my friends and always having something interesting to talk about! What advice would you give to incoming freshmen? Don't try to reinvent yourself overnight. It's tempting to show up as a 'new version' of you, but lasting change comes from small, consistent shifts. Be open to...
Caleb Morrow is a journalism and communications student at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. This week he arrived in Petersburg to join the newsroom as the Pilot's summer reporting intern. Morrow's path to journalism started in fourth grade, when he picked "sports journalist" on career day. During high school, when COVID shut down in-person events, he joined his school's broadcasting club that put Morrow behind a microphone doing play-by-play for football games that fans...
A few weeks ago and during their first meet of the season, the Petersburg boys 4x100 relay team came within a few mere seconds of setting a new school record. After the meet, the team consisting of Brayden Tucker, Alex Homgrain, Noah Pawuk and Jakob Preisler planned to set a new school record. This past weekend, a new school record was born in the 4x100 and 4x200 relay. The 4x100 team ran an official time of 46 seconds (46.41) and the 4x200 team, consisting of Brayden Tucker, Nolan Lutomski,...
Susan Wanberg, 77, passed away peacefully on May 3, 2026 with her family by her side. Susan was born on November 3, 1948, in Petersburg, Alaska, to Thomas Wanberg and Genevieve (Murray) Wanberg. She was the middle of three siblings, with an older brother, Daniel "Danny" Wanberg, and a younger sister, Laurie Dunham. Susan spent her childhood in Petersburg and graduated from Petersburg High School. She received a scholarship to attend beauty school in Eugene, Oregon, before moving to Juneau,... Full story
The 68th year of Little Norway Festival opens Thursday, May 14, for four days of parades, smørbrød, live music, competitive herring-tossing and all manner of communal revelry that could only happen in this town. The celebration runs through Sunday, May 17. "I love that everybody comes to town," said Kelli Slaven, who coordinates the festival schedule for the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce. "I love seeing all the people downtown - the kids running, familiar faces and new ones. It just kind of mak...
Congratulating our teachers To The Editor: The Petersburg Children’s Center administration, including the Executive Director and Board of Directors, would like to congratulate our lead teachers for completing their Child Development Associate (CDA) credentials. This is a nationally recognized certification and it provides peace of mind that our staff are qualified, caring and amazing. Help us congratulate them on this feat! We will be working on getting all of our staff credentialed in the near future. With thanks and pride, Sharlay Mamoe a...
This year's Little Norway Festival is bursting with music. Local acts take the festival's downtown main stage across Friday and Saturday this year, spanning jazz, classic rock, Appalachian folk and everything between. Evening shows at Kito's Kave and the Harbor Bar keep the live music rocking and the dance floor bumping into the middle of the night. And the weekend closes with a classical music piano concert at the Lutheran Church. "I absolutely love it," said Robyn Cardenas, who curated the...
The Little Norway Festival closes Sunday evening with a world class piano concert at Petersburg Lutheran Church. Corbin Beisner - a concert pianist who has performed at the Conservatoire Liceu in Barcelona, the Liszt Saal in Rome, and concert halls across Europe and the United States - arrived in Petersburg this week for a 7 p.m. recital Sunday at Petersburg Lutheran Church. The program includes the complete Moonlight Sonata, a full Grieg section, Christian Sinding's "Rustle of Spring" and...
Construction on a long-planned sewer line repair project at the Petersburg Community Aquatic Center will begin May 18, and the pool will close for at least the first month of work as contractors cut through concrete slab floors to access blocked and disconnected drain lines beneath the locker rooms. Parks and Recreation Director Stephanie Payne told the Petersburg Borough Assembly on Monday that the project, carried out by Ketchikan Mechanical Inc. and Rainforest Contracting, will run through...
18 – There are no issues in the archive until May 19, 1926. Thank you for your patience. May 4, 1951 – With both a full hold and a deck load, the Zarembo was the first of Petersburg’s big halibut boats to come in, arriving in port on the evening of the third day. When the boat docked here Thursday evening she had 30,000 pounds aboard. She had 15,000 on deck the first day of the season. Per Sather is the owner of the Zarembo and Eiler and Olaf Wikan, Chris Olson, Ragner Stokke and Skipper Sather make up the crew. At press time the price was n...
On a Friday afternoon in Jill Lenhard's class, the sound of crying babies filled the room – crying robot babies, that is. The babies were new, and the class, including Lenhard, was still figuring out how to use them. "I took one baby home to see how it all worked, and I took it home in a grocery sack because I didn't want to walk down the street carrying a baby," Lenhard told the class. "But then when I got home and I laid it on the counter my husband was like, 'What is this?!'" These robot b... Full story
A Silicon Valley company and a Petersburg-raised developer are teaming up to bring a small artificial intelligence data center to the former Ocean Beauty pier and cannery facility, a proposal that drew both cautious enthusiasm and skepticism from the public at last week's borough assembly meeting. Sam Anoka, founder and CEO of Greensparc, addressed the assembly April 20 via Zoom, outlining plans to deploy what he described as a micro-scale data center at the property owned by Andrew Mazzella,...
