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In Wright Auditorium, tubes of cardboard are being transformed into marble columns. Costumes salvaged from thrift stores are repurposed into Elizabethan finery. And students are grappling with language written over 400 years ago learning how to bring it to life. Petersburg High School's drama program, under the direction of Elsa Wintersteen, is tackling William Shakespeare's comedy "Much Ado About Nothing" this spring, with performances scheduled for March 27-29, including a Saturday matinee....
Petersburg AAU girls' basketball team – which is made up of players from fifth grade through eighth – recently went undefeated during a tournament in Wrangell, sweeping the A, B & C brackets. Petersburg went an impressive 11-0 throughout the tournament. "They're extremely talented," head coach Matt Nilsen said. "We've been working on fundamentals and ball handling, passing, defense and playing to the best of our abilities." The team was split into A, B & C brackets, with every player getting a t...
February 20, 1925 – Petersburg is essentially a HOME TOWN. Why? Because of low rentals and property values. Because of excellent school facilities. Because of an absolutely landlocked harbor and ample dock and float accommodations. Because of pleasant surroundings and recreational grounds, including Sandy Beach where summer bathing and picnics are enjoyed. Because of absolutely pure mountain water for household and drinking purposes. Because of fine electric lights and power at low rates from a hydro-electric plant owned by the city. Because o...
Essential Air Service To the Editor: On Wednesday, February 19, I asked Senator Lisa Murkowski during a live and recorded town hall meeting if Essential Air Service would be protected from DOGE cuts. She stated she is “very worried about Essential Air Service.” Essential Air Service is a U.S. Department of Transportation program serving 65 rural communities in Alaska along with over 100 communities in the Lower 48, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. The program was put into place to guarantee that communities that were served by certificated air car...
Darcel Ann (Burrell) Schouweiler was born September 19, 1953, to Warren and Barbara Burrell in Lebanon, Oregon. Darcel grew up in Petersburg, Alaska, where she met her first husband, Terry Carolin. Together they had two children, Amanda and Heather. After their separation, Darcy reconnected with her high school sweetheart Harold "Terry" Schouweiler. They married and had their daughter Katie. Splitting their time between Petersburg and Elma, Washington, Darcel had many adventures - hiking the... Full story
Federal employees across Southeast Alaska's Tongass National Forest received termination notices over Presidents Day weekend, part of what union leaders are calling an "intentionally dishonest" nationwide purge of civil service workers that has hit Alaska's rural communities particularly hard. In Petersburg, as of Sunday evening, at least nine Forest Service probationary employees were terminated, with seven more terminated in Wrangell. Most of those affected were early-career professionals... Full story
Randy Lee Greenway was born on March 29, 1963, in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Richard Greenway and Donna (Davis) Greenway. His childhood was spent in Petersburg, Alaska, where he graduated from Petersburg High School in 1981. Randy spent his career as a project manager in oil, gas and mining fields around the world. His career took him from the North Slope of Alaska to places like Russia, Australia and Africa. Never above getting his hands dirty, he was a leader who would do everything he asked of... Full story
A proposal to establish a Petersburg police K9 unit was rejected by the borough assembly Monday in a 4-2 vote, with members citing budget uncertainties despite strong support for the program's anti-drug objectives. The Petersburg Police Department had requested approval for a dual-purpose police service dog that would be trained in both patrol work and narcotics detection. The department highlighted an urgent need, pointing to "multiple search warrants for illegal narcotics" executed over the...
Petersburg's first baby of 2025 arrived on her own schedule, surprising her parents with a slightly early appearance on January 16 at 3:07 a.m. in Anchorage. Haley June Torrez, weighing 8 pounds, 3 ounces and measuring 20 inches long, was born to Petersburg residents Tori Shay and Aidan Torrez, marking a joyous beginning to the new year for this hometown family. The couple are both 2014 Petersburg High School graduates. Tori, a lifelong Petersburg resident, works at SEARHC handling medical...
Carey Case first arrived in Petersburg in 1998 as a 24-year-old seasonal Forest Service employee, and now, after 25 years of service in numerous roles within the district, she has been hired as the Petersburg District Ranger. "I started working for the Forest Service in college in Washington State, and really liked working outdoors and getting to take helicopters and working in remote places," Case recalls. Her journey to Petersburg began when "RD Parks hired me and moved me up here. He asked... Full story
A unique University of Alaska Southeast program is teaching high school students how to participate in federal subsistence management decisions by bringing them directly into the public process. The dual enrollment course, which offers high school students two university biology credits, prepares participants to engage effectively with the Federal Subsistence Board - the body overseeing subsistence hunting and fishing regulations on federal public lands in Alaska. "I truly believe now, in my exp... Full story
Lawrence Lee Blank was born on August 17, 1932, to Albert and Leta (Wenala) Blank in Seattle. He was told he was part Sioux and a descendant of Chief Sitting Bull. Growing up on the streets of downtown Seattle, he learned early on to get himself a hustle. His first hustle, shining shoes during World War II for servicemen hitting the bars on First Avenue, was an honest one, but as he got older his hustles turned darker, including auto theft and check forgery. Though he was never violent and...
January 23, 1925 – The Petersburg Harbor, which is unusually well protected and generally very calm, on Monday night, January 19th, witnessed the worst storm in twelve years. The San Juan and another gas boat were torn from their mooring and washed ashore. The Belle, owned by S.D. Charles, got afoul of a broken piling, filled with water and sank at the float. A great many boats were mightily damaged from pounding against one another as the floats were crowded with boats. Although the storm lasted but two hours, it was so severe for awhile t...
Looking to end their four-game losing streak, the Petersburg Vikings had their first shot against the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears JV squad who were stepping up to participate in the varsity tournament hosted in Petersburg last weekend. The Vikings jumped out to a 13-5 lead at the end of the first and went on a 9-4 run in the second, holding a 22-12 advantage at halftime. "Some of the things that we've been talking about, we were finding success and as we found success, we started to believe in...
The Lady Vikings looked for improvement on offense and defense heading into the 3rd annual PSG Varsity Tournament. Unfortunately in the Lady Vikings' first game against the Skagway Lady Panthers, the Vikings were down 11-1 at the end of the first, and then 24-3 heading into halftime. "We just weren't ready to play. I was pretty blunt with the kids at halftime of that game – it just looked like we didn't have a whole lot of interest being on the court," head coach Matt Pawuk said. "That's been k...
Rural schools, mostly in Southeast Alaska, are facing a major funding shortfall this year after the U.S. House of Representatives failed to reauthorize a bill aimed at funding communities alongside national forests and lands. The bipartisan Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act was first passed in 2000, and enacted to assist communities impacted by the declining timber industry. It provided funds for schools, as well as for roads, emergency services and wildfire prevention. The award varies each year depending on federal lan...
It has been a very busy year filled with lots of successes. I hope all have had great and joy filled holidays, and I wish for you each a very happy and safe celebration as we welcome in the new year. Below is a brief summary of many of the accomplishments achieved in 2024 and a few things I am looking forward to working on in 2025. January started off with huge transitions after a record-breaking voter turnout and a resignation resulted in five, out of seven, new Council members being seated. The Council has been filled with seven citizens...
WRANGELL — The mayor convened the public workshop, inviting Washington state-based entrepreneur Dale Borgford to lay out for borough officials his plans to build biomass boilers that would burn trash from around Southeast to heat large commercial greenhouses at the site of the former 6-Mile mill. He also wants to build a plant capable of filling large plastic bottles with 40,000 gallons a day of clean water from a creek at the north end of the property, or from rainwater if the creek flow is insufficient. And his list includes a plant to turn f...
January 2024 A prized Mental Health Trust lot by Blind River Rapids, a popular recreation site for sport fishing, was sold at auction to a USCG family. Toler and Jessie Alexander are eager to return to Petersburg after retiring from the Coast Guard in a few years. The borough listed its top priority capital projects, and the Petersburg Medical Center replacement was first and second on the list – for the main hospital construction and the main hospital interior build out. Petersburg Indian A...
The Petersburg School District plans to restore several cut positions and provide a one-time staff bonus, thanks to higher-than-expected state funding and enrollment numbers for the 2024-25 school year. The district received around $1.1 million more in state funding than initially budgeted for, with $849,000 coming from the one-time increase of $680 per student above the base student allocation (BSA) surviving the governor's veto this year. The remainder stems from enrollment reaching 456.8 stud...
Petersburg's high school drama program is heading to Scotland. The group has been accepted to perform in August 2026 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe -the world's largest performing arts festival. For PHS drama teacher Elsa Wintersteen, it's a dream come true – both for herself and her students. While she's never been to the Fringe Festival, she witnessed its impact through a high school friend who performed there years ago. "When she came back, I mean, all the pictures she had to show me, a...
December 26, 1924 – Petersburg is to celebrate the completion of the Hydro Electric project. A committee of which Harold Dawes is the chairman was named at the Commercial Club meeting Monday evening to arrange details. Secretary C. Clausen was instructed to write Governor Bone and invite him to attend or send a representative, if unable to attend, or at least to “officially switch on the juice at Juneau.” The Governor will be apprised later of the exact date and hour the new plant at Blind Slough will be hooked up to the town of Peter...
The Petersburg High School had its yearly winter music concert on Tuesday, Dec. 17, in front of an energetic audience to help end 2024 and ring in the new year. The show highlighted all the hard work students and music director Chelsea Corrao have put into the music program. "We went into it saying we did the hard work, now it's time to make the art happen and I feel like that's exactly what we did," Corrao said. "The kids are feeling pretty confident and proud with themselves and that's all we...
Petersburg high school wrestling seniors Angus Olsen and Kaden Duke played their final high school wrestling matches at the ASAA DII Championships. While neither of them reached their ultimate goal of winning state in their respective weight classes, both wrestlers left it all out on the mat. "Both of them unfortunately did fall short but I am unbelievably proud of them for the four years that I've had with them and the amount of growth and the time and effort they put in and it's been great...
After starting the season with a loss, 51-39 against the Sitka Wolves, on Friday, Dec. 20, the Petersburg High School boys varsity team rebounded with a 43-36 win – improving to 1-1 in front of their home crowd. The Wolves scored 51 points the night earlier. This time, the Vikings made it a goal to not let the Wolves get comfortable. "Last night I felt [the Wolves] were in control from the beginning and we were always fighting from behind. We talked about defensively establishing ourselves a...
