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In his days coaching the Petersburg High School cross country team, Klas Stolpe often urged the team to do another lap on the track or up the water tower hill, running every mile with the team, and sometimes running backwards to face his runners and yelling, "You guys are doing great, let's do one more." If a runner had any glimmer of energy left in them, coach Klas saw it and urged it out. Recently, Klas Stolpe ran 44 miles to bring awareness to prostate cancer, which his brother Jim has been...
The Petersburg Police Department notified the Petersburg School District of a threat made by a high school student directed at the secondary school. PSD Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter told the Pilot that the threat made on Tuesday is a completely different, separate incident from the threat made in the district less than two weeks ago. The student was not on school premises when the threat was made and “will not be on campus for the foreseeable future,” Kludt-Painter told the Pilot. When made aware of the threat, PPD notified the dis...
Katie Holmlund I have my bachelor's degree in elementary education, and I love being immersed in active learning classrooms. In 2018, I co-founded Kinder Skog Nature Program to connect my passion for education and nature. I remain the administrator of Kinder Skog while also coordinating other youth programs. I also serve on the Borough appointed Early Childhood Task Force and SHARE Coalition. At the state level I am a contributing member to the Afterschool Network School Age Childcare Workgroup,...
Ambre Burrell My name is Ambre Burrell, I have made Petersburg my home for the past 17 years. My family has enjoyed many activities over the years at the Parks & Rec facilities and it has been my honor to help past projects move forward and to serve on the board for the last year. I have chosen to run for the 3-year Parks and Rec advisory board seat after spending the past year serving on the board. I feel we have a great team working up at the facility and a board who is excited to support...
Angele McDonald Jones suffered a devastating fall on Saturday at her apartment in Anchorage when the railing at her residence gave way and she fell from the second story, breaking her back in multiple places. Angele, daughter of Wally McDonald, was born in Petersburg in 1988 and graduated from Petersburg High School with the class of 2006. In recent years, she lived in Petersburg with her husband, Michael Jones, working at Rexall Drug and the post office until moving to Anchorage last winter....
Candidates for the hotly contested seats on Petersburg Borough Assembly came together last Thursday for a live candidate forum where they responded to questions from news reporters with the Pilot and KFSK and questions from a live audience. After opening statements, the evening’s first question was the big one: Where do the candidates stand on the new hospital project? Jeigh Stanton Gregor and Jeff Meucci answered with clear, full support of the new hospital phased construction project. Candidates Rick Perkins and Rob Schwartz both emphasized t...
Petersburg High School's volleyball team is having an exciting start to the season in 2023 with a varsity win in Ketchikan under their belt and a packed junior varsity schedule ahead. The varsity squad dominated the first stage of last weekend's three-day tournament without dropping a game and climbed to the top of the bracket for an incredible first place finish. "Our Varsity team did exceptionally well, they played really well together. We've got a special group," said head coach Jamie...
Carl Reidar Anderson was born August 16, 1948, in Oakland, California, to Bert and Helen Anderson. Raised in Petersburg, Carl's life took many twists and turns. Some were good, some were not, but he always had a story to share with the friends who loved him. Carl worked hard, played hard, and never let anything but fear or thin air stop him. He started working while in high school at construction jobs with his father, cooked crab at PFI, worked for the City of Petersburg, crewed on various... Full story
The Petersburg School District said they are confident in the safety of students and staff at school, following a credible threat made by a student last Thursday. The school responded to the threat with an investigation in cooperation with law enforcement. The Petersburg Police Department told the Pilot there is no present danger to the school. “We evaluated the threat and … we don’t see it as a threat to the students or to the public,” said PPD Chief Jim Kerr. Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter told the Pilot that the situation began when a...
Do we really need a new hospital? To the Editor: When I first heard about the hospital project, like many of you, I had a lot of questions. Do we really need a new hospital? The clinic, which is the part I mainly visit, looks great. And, how in the world would we pay for an $85 million facility? Phil Hostetter and the hospital board informed me on both questions. First, they started with a study of the current hospital. The original hospital, where Long Term Care is located, dates to the 1950s and is failing rapidly due to poor plumbing and...
Petersburg High School’s swim team of two is quickly accelerating towards the back half of their season with another strong performance in Juneau last weekend. After an above and beyond first meet in Sitka, the duo of Logan Tow and Brooklyn Whitethorn are training harder and harder each week with the goal of a successful regionals, and possibly state. “I'm pretty excited. I think they both might qualify for the state meet,” said head coach Andy Carlisle. Tow and Whitethorn both had standout showings across the course of last weekend’s two-day...
Petersburg's new Rotary Youth Exchange student from Hungary, Sara Eszik, says she's "really happy to be in Alaska." She had requested the U.S./Canada, followed by Finland and Taiwan. "I feel like I got kind of a two-for-one between the U.S. and Finland, getting to come to Alaska," Eszik muses. "I don't feel homesick at all," declares Eszik, explaining that there are four stages to the experience of a typical exchange student. In the first stage, everything feels good and exciting, with little...
Mary Ellen Anderson Why have you chosen to run for Library Board at this time? I love being on the library board and serving my community. I'm very well suited as the former elementary school librarian at Stedman-a position I held for 19 years. I started early in the library world, numbering and checking out my dad's classic Dickens collection to neighborhood friends when I was about 10. Oddly enough, there were only a couple takers. I then worked for the library in high school, and as an adult...
Of all the people born and raised in Petersburg, those who have grown up with the sight of Devil's Thumb like the exclamation point on a sunny day, none had ever reached its summit before this summer. The peak of Devil's Thumb hangs at 9,077 feet, arguably the most striking of the border peaks along the Coast Range. All Petersburg locals have seen it, and many have wondered at least once what it would be like to be on the top, one foot dangling into Alaska, the other into Canada. Now Kyle...
Carl Edward Crome passed away on September 8, 2023 at United General Medical Center in Sedro-Woolley, Washington. Officially, he died of complications from Alzheimer’s-related dementia and heart disease. But really, he died of a broken heart because he couldn’t fish anymore. Carl is survived by his wife, Judy, his brother Donnie, his children Carl Hensen, James Hensen, Julie Bartholoma, Linda Jackson, Lara Stark, and Daniel Crome, as well as many, many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Car... Full story
After serving 44 years as plant manager, Dave Ohmer retired last Friday. Dave's grandfather, Earl Ohmer, co-founded Alaskan Glacier Seafood Co. in 1916. When Earl died in 1955 Dave's father, Dave P. Ohmer, continued the business, and in 1979 when his father passed away, the responsibility fell to Dave. Though it turned out to be his destiny, it hadn't been his plan. "I wanted to be a teacher," said Dave, when he sat down with the Pilot the day after his retirement. "My dad always wanted me to...
The 2023 summer reading programs at the Petersburg Public Library ended in July after six weeks of participants flipping pages, learning instruments, and math-ing their way through an escape room. Across three programs, 270 people of all ages took part in this story, with 65 completing their program cover to cover. Kari Peterson, Program Coordinator for the Petersburg Public Library, said "It went really well, this summer." Back in spring, the library had this year's prizes out on display....
September 7, 1923 – The Petersburg schools, with the exception of the first and second grades, opened for the winter term on Tuesday. The two lower grades are closed for a time on account of whooping cough, which has been going the rounds of the younger children this summer. To limit as much as possible the further dissemination of whooping cough, the School Board, in consultation with the Health Officer, has ordered Principal Earl Shaeffer to issue the following edict: – “The contagious disease known as whooping cough is a serious disea...
In 1935 Dick Estelle’s parents worked in the Matanuska Colony, part of the New Deal resettlement of displaced farmers. After an admittedly rocky high school start, he ended up attending the University of Alaska with an agriculture scholarship. He also attended Oregon State in landscape design, after which he taught at Tanana. With time and more education, he joined the U.S. Forest Service in Petersburg. Though he enjoyed drawing and sold his art, he always called himself a photographer. After r...
Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department is dangerously understaffed. Last week the department pushed to get the word out about how and why to join the volunteers. They screened a film at the movie theater titled "Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat" and hosted an open house at the fire hall, where veteran volunteers and newcomers spoke about what motivates them to volunteer. The recent fire disaster at the Catholic Church highlighted staffing issues. The firefighters who were on hand valiantly battled the...
August 23 – An officer responding to a report of suspicious activity on Fram Street determined it was non-criminal. An officer responded to a 911 hang-up call from Hungerford Hill Road. An officer conducted a welfare check on North 4th Street. The Petersburg Police Department (PPD) received a report of fraudulent activity. An officer conducted a welfare check in South Boat Harbor. An officer assisted Emergency Medical Services (EMS) with a person who fell at the Crane Dock. An officer responding to a report of theft on Lumber Street d...
It's the start of a fresh season for Petersburg High School's Cross Country team, marking the beginning of a new era under the team's incoming head coach, Casey Gates. With a community race under their belts and a first meet in Klawock coming up this weekend, Gates and this year's PHS team are ready and excited to put themselves to the test. "Looking at [our race] times, I really think that we've just scratched the surface of what we're capable of," said Gates. "I think that we're going to...
The Petersburg School District approved the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) six-year plan at the first meeting of the academic year August 15. It is a long term plan that is vital to secure state funding for major maintenance and building capital projects. The facility committee met with Borough Building Official and Code Enforcement Officer Ray Wesebaum, Southeast Regional Resource Center representative David Landis, and school board member Jay Lister to review and discern priorities for a six-year plan. So far, there are five projects on the...
At the first board meeting of the academic year last week, the Petersburg School District board decided that school meal prices will increase by at least $0.25 this school year. This decision was approved in order to maintain the financial sustainability of the school food service program and comply with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Paid Lunch Equity Policy. The policy says that schools serving lunch need to have enough money to pay for meals that students buy at the regular price, not the discounted price; some s...
A Man for All Seasons To the Editor: Mr. Paul Bowen was a man for all seasons: the fishing season, the election season, the basketball season, the hunting season, the climbing season, and along with all of these, the high school year. We knew him as our physical science and biology teacher in the 1960s at Petersburg High. His irrepressible optimism and powerful zest for the task at hand made us engage with the subject with uncommon attention. I remember going on a spring field trip to the beach that featured a surprise snowstorm. He led the...
