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After a late start to the basketball season following uncertainty around the pandemic in Alaska, the basketball players at Petersburg High School were finally able to return to the court on Jan. 11. Coaches Rick and Dino Brock said both teams are unfazed by COVID-19 protocols in place and are just happy to be playing the sport again. "We're making the best of it," said Rick. "We're happy to be back in the gym. It's good for the kids. They want to play. They're excited to be there and be able to...
In her first Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting since becoming the new Parks and Recreation director, Stephanie Payne laid out the goals she'd like to accomplish in the coming weeks and months. Probably her highest priority is reassessing user contracts and memorandums of understanding. In addition to the typical patron who may visit the community gym to work out, play basketball or swim, there are organizations that have agreements with Parks and Recreation to use the facility. Some of...
The Petersburg School Board approved the sex education curriculum for Petersburg High School at their regular meeting on Tuesday to comply with HB 156. The house bill requires that the sex education instructor and the curriculum be approved each year, according to the PSB. The instructor will be science teacher Alice Cumps and sex education will be part of the overall curriculum for the ninth grade health class. PHS Principal Rick Dormer said the curriculum for sex education at the high school i...
The Petersburg School District postponed reopening the schools to students on Wednesday following Petersburg Emergency Operation Center's announcement on Monday that it was raising the local risk level for COVID-19 from yellow to orange. Students were set to return to school from winter break on Wednesday, Jan. 6, but the school district decided to switch to remote learning for the first week of the new year. In a message to parents, PSD officials said the school district would typically move...
The Borough Assembly, at their meeting on Monday, approved the Community Risk Communication Plan, which tracks the COVID-19 situation in town and offers guidelines. The Community Risk Communication Plan uses a dashboard that presents the risk level of COVID-19 in the borough, at Petersburg Medical Center and Petersburg School District on a day to day basis. It displays the total amount of COVID-19 tests on the local population and divides the data into different metrics, like the percentage of...
January The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration proposed establishing critical habitat areas for humpback whales in three distinct population segments located off Mexico, Central American and the Western Pacific. The Petersburg Borough sent a letter of disapproval to the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding the proposed critical habitat for humpback whales after residents spoke out against the proposal. The Petersburg Borough authorized the hire of Josh Rathmann to fill the...
Bell ringers raised $19,879.50 in donations for the Salvation Army Red Kettle campaign this holiday season, said Salvation Army Major Loni Upshaw. The donations will fund the Salvation Army's social services budget through 2021. Donations exceeded last year's donation by $2,700, and nearly reached the same amount as Ketchikan's Salvation Army's donations, which surprised Upshaw. She said she didn't have as many organizations and volunteers out ringing the bell this year as previous years. "We...
December 31, 1920 Looking back over the past year, it seems to us that Petersburg has taken a rapid stride to the front since we last extended to you the season’s greetings. More new houses and homes have been built than for several years before: the Petersburg sawmill was taken over by new owners and had a successful season: the road between Petersburg and Scow Bay was nearly completed: the new reduction plant at Scow Bay was built and operated the latter part of the season: the cold storage plant at Scow Bay was nearly completed: the capacity...
Activities at Petersburg High School are set to resume later this winter and spring with basketball and cheer starting Jan. 11. The decision comes after an Alaska School Activities Association Board of Directors meeting on Dec. 8. Petersburg School District Activities Director Jaime Cabral serves as the president for the region and also attended a conference for activity directors across the nation. "We're still super fortunate," said Cabral. "I got to talk with quite a few [activity directors]...
The History of Petersburg The Museum has a collection of essays from 1947 written by students of Miss Helen Pruessing, Petersburg High School English III instructor. Sonya Husvik, Casper Hallingstad, Frank Kaino, June Otness, Darline Rosvold and others describe everything from Petersburg Air Service, to Scow Bay, to the Folk Tales of Petersburg. In the "Advancement of Petersburg Roads" Bernice Espeseth begins "When our town was young, some people wanted the streets widened for cars and trucks,...
Petersburg's Emergency Operations Center has released the draft of its risk communication plan and COVID-19 dashboard, which will monitor the status of the virus in the community and offer mitigation strategies based on the current risk level. The dashboard utilizes four risk levels ranging from green to red to gauge the local COVID-19 status. It also monitors the risk levels at Petersburg Medical Center and Petersburg School District. Data on the dashboard shows COVID-19 tests numbers and any...
In February 1946, the S.S. Yukon ran aground near Seward. The passengers on board were thrown into cold, oily water as they waited to be rescued. One of those passengers was Art Hammer, this year's Christmas tree lighter. Hammer, 99, was born on July 7, 1921. He attended school in Petersburg and graduated from Petersburg High School in 1939. Three years later in 1942, he enlisted with the United States Army and served until 1946. He had just been discharged when the S.S. Yukon went down. Hammer...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht will be narrowing down the list of finalists for the Parks and Recreation Department director position from five candidates to two or three candidates this week, with help from borough staff and members from the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Twelve candidates applied for the director's position, which was left vacant when the previous Parks and Rec. director, Chandra Thornburg, resigned in January. Since then, Giesbrecht has been the acting director. The...
Devon Guthrie is fascinated by cars, but never understood how they worked. Then he saw a picture of an old 1951 CJ-3A Willys Jeep sitting in a lot in Skagway. Now it sits in the Petersburg High School shop where Guthrie works to refurbish it each morning. "I've always been interested in cars, but never been able to learn about them," said Devon. "This is one of the ways I can learn." His dad, Alex Guthrie, also had a Jeep when he was younger. After talking to the owner of the Jeep, who was a...
Petersburg High School students in David Owens' shop classes came together last week to build a ramp for a student at Rae C. Stedman Elementary school who will be wheelchair bound for the next few months. After school on Nov. 18, Owens became aware of a local family who was in immediate need of a wheelchair ramp. Fifth grader Marley Estes had recently suffered a serious fall and had to have an emergency operation in Anchorage, said her mother, Delia DeMent. Estes has to stay off her injured foot...
The Petersburg High School volleyball team runners up in this year's Region V Regional Tournament on Nov. 21. During a normal school year, the team would have advanced to State, marking their first return since winning the state championships in 2017, said Head Coach Jaime Cabral. The team woke up early on Saturday to travel to Klawock for the first game of the tournament. The match was shortened to best two out of three sets to limit the amount of time each team spent interacting with each...
November 19, 1920 Alaska will soon be made a separate forestry district by the Secretary of Agriculture, according to word received from Col. W. G. Greeley, the chief Forester, by Gov. Thomas Riggs, Jr. At the present time and heretofore, Alaska has been a part of the Northwestern District with headquarters at Portland, Oregon. The present district includes Oregon, Washington and Alaska. The headquarters for the new Alaska forestry district will be in the territory and C.H. Flory will be in charge. November 16, 1945 Everyone who failed to...
The Petersburg High School volleyball team won two matches against Wrangell last weekend, just one week before a modified regional tournament is set to take place. Nov. 13 saw the kick off of Petersburg's and Wrangell's senior appreciation ceremonies with a home game for the Vikings against the Wolves. Petersburg stayed on top of Wrangell through the game and won the match in three sets. Petersburg won the first set 25-19, the second set 25-21 and the third set 25-12. "The girls did great over...
Phyllis (Bright) Kimbal was born in a log cabin in Winder, Idaho to Charles Leland and Sarah (Kendall) Bright. She worked as a Civil Service examiner, legal secretary, and a resource specialist for the Forest Service for four different national forests. Next to raising her family, her greatest joys came from her involvement in school activities at Preston High School where she was the Pep Club president and later was active as a member of the Bountiful Chapter of World Champion Sweet Adelines... Full story
Sharon Lee Smith, 55, died on Oct. 28, 2020 at Petersburg Medical Center. She was born on March 15, 1965 to Wendel O'Neal Smith and Emma Louise Atchley Smith in Camden, New Jersey. She graduated from Sardis High School in 1983 and worked in the seafood industry in Petersburg, Alaska. She was preceded in death by: her father and mother; and brothers Lonnie Smith, Jimmie Smith, and James Smith. She is survived by: husband Jeffrey Smith; brother Gary Lee Smith; sisters Sandy Smith, Karen Walker,... Full story
Sixth grade teachers Bridey Short and Casey Gates are the two newest additions to the teaching staff at Mitkof Middle School. Both teachers signed a one year contract with the district, but while Short's position is permanent, Gates was signed on temporarily to address the need for staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Short is originally from Petersburg, but left Alaska to attend college at the University of Montana. She moved back home in 2009 after graduating with a degree in social work and ph...
Petersburg School District is expected to reopen their doors today, Oct. 29, after a positive case of COVID-19 was confirmed at Rae C. Stedman Elementary School on Tuesday that resulted in a district-wide school closure, according to Petersburg School District Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter. Petersburg public health officials completed their contract tracing related to the school district on Wednesday, said Kludt-Painter. Students and staff who have been instructed to quarantine were asked...
The Petersburg School Board held a work session on Tuesday to address some students' concerns over Petersburg High School's block classes, but ultimately, the board decided not to take any action due to the level of support of the current schedule. High school students filled out a survey put together by teachers and staff to gauge the students' thoughts and opinions on this year's schedule. The school days are split into four periods, but two of the classes are block classes, which are about...
The Petersburg High School volleyball team traveled to Wrangell on Oct. 24 and came home with their second win against Wrangell High School this season. By the end of the first game, the Vikings were up 13 points with a final score of 25-12, but Wrangell fought back in the second game. Head Coach Jaime Cabral said the Petersburg team was causing serve receive errors and hitting errors throughout the second game; as a result, Wrangell was able to pull ahead and hold onto their lead for the...
Petersburg High School students are struggling to keep up with their semester long block classes, and to address their difficulties, the Petersburg School Board will be holding a work session next week. Under this year's new class schedule, high school students have four periods a day, two of which are 50 and 55 minutes long and the remaining two periods are 90 minute and 85 minute-long block classes. The hour long classes span both semesters of the school year, but the block classes cover a...
