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Demand for nurses is growing in Alaska enough for Petersburg to open its first student-degree program with online lectures and on-island lab training. The program, sponsored by the University of Anchorage Alaska, started on Monday. The program is a two-year associate's degree with four students from Petersburg seeking to become a registered nurse with little travel off-island, said Nichole Mattingly, the local site coordinator. "In small communities like this we want to invest in nurses who are...
The hospital in Petersburg is a Band-aid station that’s aging in sections invisible to the vast majority of the community. That is according to its consultant, Monica Gross, the author of a long term planning report for the Petersburg Medical Center that was released last week. In it, she outlines a range of surveys she conducted with hospital staff and community members with regard to remodeling or replacing the hospital. In a Hospital Board meeting last week, she first addressed an apparent misconception of the Medical Center, which is its f...
There will be eleven candidates running for Borough leadership on the ballot in October, including a contentious run for the mayor post, and a six-person race for two Assembly seats. The folks running for a seat on the Assembly -- there will be two -- include: Bob Lynn, Richard Burke, Ken Hamilton, Brandi Marohl, Jeff Meucci and William Ware. Cindi Lagoudakis will be running against Mark Jensen for the mayor post. The Petersburg School Board is looking to fill two seats in the election but received one submission for candidacy from Sarah Pawuk...

WRANGELL – Fifty women from Petersburg and Wrangell played in a golf outing on Saturday to raise money for cancer patients in southeast Alaska at the 2017 Rally for Cancer Care. The outing, sponsored by the Wrangell Medical Center Foundation, generated more than $3,200 to help pay for travel costs that cancer patients have. The Muskeg Meadows Golf Course hosted 34 players from Petersburg and 16 from Wrangell. Others came just to donate, participate in the silent auction and eat breakfast and l...

Colleene P. Carlson Brososky, 87 passed away on December 14, 2016 at the Petersburg Medical Center. She was born to Ellery and Ann Carlson on August 18, 1929, in the Petersburg Alaska Territory. She attended business college in Terre Haute, Indiana. In her lifetime she enjoyed many different jobs including being a bookkeeper, assistant manager for Montgomery Ward, professional seamstress working in her home and various other businesses throughout Seattle. Her most prized occupation was that of...

The Petersburg Medical Center set a goal to generate $10,000 from the 2017 Paddle Battle fundraiser, but nearly a month has passed and the number is about half that, despite there being more participants. The Medical Center had raised $5,535 from the kayaking expedition since last week, said Sarah Holmgrain, the foundation secretary treasurer for the hospital. The event hosted 43 people, which is about 10 more than the previous three-year average. "The last three years we did meet the $10,000...

Turnover rate is a figure often monitored by employers in different ways, interpreted differently by one manager to the next and calculated using unique formulas. But there will always be a singular constant – money. The cost to replace an employee can be in the thousands. And turnover rate is often unforgiving, as it usually accounts for any person separating from his or her job. Borough governments in southeast Alaska often approach turnover differently, if they approach it at all. The H...
Why do a story on Petersburg Borough employee turnover? We were asked this question many times in the days leading up to the publication of this week’s story by reporter Ben Muir. Employee turnover is costly, for both private businesses and government. Replacing an employee requires: • Training time • Possible damage to equipment and property by inexperienced employees • Productivity losses • Lower teamwork output • Additional cost of overtime for remaining employees until vacancy filled Often managers don’t think about employee retention, be...

WRANGELL – Wrapping up a visit to Wrangell over the weekend, cruise ship The World was on its way to Petersburg late Monday when a medical emergency took precedence. Wrangell Fire Chief Tim Buness received a call from the local emergency dispatcher at around 8:15 p.m., relaying that the vessel required assistance. He contacted the United States Coast Guard about the situation. At 644 feet, The World is the largest private residential ship on earth. During its several-day stay in Wrangell it r...
About 35 people gathered in the Public Library Wednesday evening to discuss potential solutions to the reportedly increasing homelessness in Petersburg. Chelsea Tremblay, a Petersburg activist who led the meeting, expected few people to attend. When the room became crowded, she knew the fibers of the meeting would be homelessness recognition, solutions and resources Petersburg has. “The first step with anything like this is awareness,” Tremblay said. “The shame component of people who find themselves on the brink of homelessness can maybe...

Lois Hernandez, 86 passed away on June 10, 2017 at the Petersburg Medical Center in Petersburg, Alaska 18 years to the day after the passing of her husband Raymond Hernandez. Lois Helen Spinelli was born in Montclair, New Jersey on December 17, 1930 to Michael Spinelli, the son of Italian immigrants and Helen Carlson Spinelli, the daughter of Swedish immigrants. After graduating from Montclair High School in 1948, Lois attended Centenary Junior College, where she earned an Associates of Arts... Full story

Alexis Francisco, Hana Newman, Helen Martin, Tanya Spears, Madisyn Parker and Julia Evens passed the State of Alaska Certified Nursing Assistant certification examination on June 2, according to program coordinator Angela Menish. Testing included both written and practical skills. All six have completed CNA classes that have been provided since September and include a minimum of 60 classroom hours and 80 supervised skills and clinical experience hours. The students learned basic skills to...


The Petersburg Community Foundation gave $14,000 in grants to nine local nonprofit organizations during the 2017 Mayfest weekend, said Holli Flint, who is the program manager. Specific dollar amounts given to each organization is not disclosed, as the community foundation does not want to take away from the funding sources that contributed, Flint said. "A lot of projects are not entirely made possible through the Petersburg Community Foundation," Flint said. "Each project is really interesting....

Following a recommendation from the Petersburg Medical Center's Long Term Planning Committee the hospital board voted Thursday night to proceed with building a new hospital in lieu of making extensive renovations to the existing facility. In May 2016 architects from the firm Jensen Yorba Lott presented the PMC board with five options: do nothing; make systematic replacements; make phased renovations; build an addition and renovate in phases and construct a new facility. PMC CEO Liz Woodyard...


Petersburg Police responded to an apartment fire at the Narrows Inn on Friday at 11 p.m. and rescued the tenant from the burning structure, according to volunteer fire department spokesperson Dave Berg. Berg said when the ambulance and engine arrived, police had already entered the structure and pulled a victim to safety. According to Police Chief Kelly Swihart, Derek Thorsen broke a window to vent smoke, and Kalin Rosse and Carl Tate entered the apartment and pulled the victim out. The fire...

On Tuesday, May 9 Petersburg Police and EMS responded to an ATV crash at the intersection of 13th and Gjoa Streets. Petersburg resident Michael J. Mika, age 50, was transported to Petersburg Medical Center for treatment of significant injuries. Mika was the only person involved in the crash. Petersburg Volunteer Fire Dept. spokesperson Dave Berg said Mika suffered puncture wounds, broken bones, cuts and contusions. He was treated and released with referrals from Petersburg Medical Center. Berg...

Rebecca L Rawlinson, 62 passed away May 4, 2017 at Alaska Native Medical Center, Anchorage. She was born June 19, 1954 in Seattle, Washington. She attended Houghtallng Elementary School in Ketchikan; Kamehameha Preparatory School in Honolulu, Juneau Grade School in Juneau, and Petersburg Grade School and High School. She earned her degree in Anthropology from the University of California-San Diego. Becky was employed at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. performing identification of... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted to approve in its final reading an ordinance that provides an eight cent power rate for the school buildings despite continued pleas from Petersburg Medical Center staff to give the hospital the rate as well. The break-even power rate applies to the aquatic boiler room, the aquatic center, the high school, middle school and elementary school. The request comes after meetings between the Petersburg School District, Petersburg Medical Center and borough administrators on how to maintain services without...
Petersburg Medical Center board of directors received good news about its investment accounts for the past 12-months. PMC’s investment account grew from $2,755,902 to $2,962,311 in the 12-months ending March 31, 2017. The $206,408 in earnings showed a 7.5% growth for the account. The PMC Foundation account showed improvement of 6.1%. The March 31, 2016 fund grew from $203,702 to $216,042 a year later — a $12,340 increase. Max Camp, Investment Advisor with Continental Investors Services from Longview, Washington presented the information to the...

A small cadre of volunteers picked up cigarette butts for two hours last Saturday. The collection effort brought in 3.5 lbs. of cigarette waste and filled 6-plastic containers. Sponsored by Petersburg Indian Association's Quit Tobacco program, the clean up areas started at the Park & Rec facility and continued to Nordic Drive, Sing Lee Alley, 1st and 2nd streets to the library and around Petersburg Medical Center. Areas that were heavily soiled with cigarette litter were around the Harbor Bar...

The Petersburg Medical Center is embarking on a program to "grow their own" future staff members and hope that six high school students will fill future nursing positions at the facility. Alexis Francisco, Hana Newman, Helen Martin, Tanya Spears, Madisyn Parker and Julia Evens are set to complete the Certified Nursing Assistant course on May 13 and later take the State of Alaska certification examination on June 2. According to program coordinator Angela Menish, the medical center has a...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted in its second reading to approve an ordinance that provides an 8 cent power rate for the school buildings. The break-even power rate applies to the aquatic boiler room, the aquatic center, the high school, middle school and elementary school. The request comes after meetings between the Petersburg School District, Petersburg Medical Center and borough administrators on how to maintain services without increasing fees or taxes. During its last meeting, member Jeigh Stanton Gregor suggested the assembly appro...
The Beat the Odds, A Race Against Cancer has agreed to allocate funds totaling $25,718.95 dollars for cancer care equipment, travel costs, support and educational material in the community. This is due to the generosity local southeast Alaska businesses, community and the hundreds of participants at our two annual events: the Beat the Odds 5k run/walk held in Petersburg in October and the Circle of Life held in April. Last year over $31,000 was raised. Over the 16 years of the event, Beat the Odds has paid out grants totaling more than...