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"The Senate's new education bill is a joke!" declared Governor Mike Dunleavy in a social media post last week. "It does absolutely nothing to improve educational achievement... Welcome to Alaska: 51st in the nation in educational outcomes. In what world does one write a blank check with no expectations?" The governor's comments came as the Alaska Legislature passed House Bill 69 on Friday, April 11, which would increase the Base Student Allocation (BSA) by $1,000 per student. Dunleavy...
The Petersburg School District presented its draft budget for the 2026 fiscal year at Tuesday's school board meeting, April 15, revealing a major budget deficit and the strategic use of the fund balance to maintain educational services amid uncertain state funding. PSD Finance Director Shannon Baird presented a draft budget projecting total revenue of $9,876,947 against expenditures of $11,426,685, creating a deficit of approximately $1.5 million. This shortfall would be covered by spending...
We felt loved and cared for To the Editor and this wonderful community: One year ago I came very close to dying. I got very, very sick with three upper respiratory viruses which allowed a strep infection to turn into pneumonia which caused sepsis or toxic shock syndrome. All in a matter of days. Luckily, I live here in Petersburg, the best place on earth. The doctors, nurses, and staff at Petersburg Medical Center were amazing and got me out on a medivac as quickly as possible. The outpouring of love, prayers, good vibes, cards, and gifts was...
April 3, 1925 – Earnest Kirberger, the merchant at Kake and fur farmer, was in town the forepart of the week with some choice blue fox pelts to be shipped to the New York auction sales. Mr. Kiberger says Kake is unusually lively this season with boats supplying clams from there to Mountain Point Packing Company below Scow Bay, and with three different logging camps operating in that section. He said Charles Knutson of the powerboat Katie and Arthur Johnson of the Woodrow are making regular trips to Mountain Point with clams. Mr. Kirberger s...
The bell jingles as the door to Kinder Komfort opens, and a customer slips in with a hopeful smile. "Did you find it?" he asks Jenny Cisney, who lights up behind the counter. "I did!" she cheers, retrieving a copy of Code Names, a board game the customer had hoped to special order but couldn't quite remember the name of days earlier. Jenny had put together the clues and figured out the name, found the game and even had her visiting mother bring it from Washington with her luggage rather than... Full story
The Petersburg School District and its support personnel union reached a tentative three-year contract agreement in less than a day of negotiations, school officials announced Tuesday. The agreement includes a $2.50 per hour wage increase across the board in the first year, followed by 1.5% increases in each of the following two years, according to Finance Director Shannon Baird. Support staff will also receive a $500 matching contribution to a 403(b) retirement plan. This matches a similar...
March 20, 1925 – The Petersburg teachers have received a certificate for framing from the National Education Association attesting to the fact that they are enrolled 100 per cent in that organization. There are over 70,000 teachers in the United States and more than half of this number are enrolled in the national organization. The Petersburg teachers have made it a 100 per cent year for they are also enrolled 100 per cent in the Alaska Education Association, an organization of all the teachers in Alaska. To thoroughly keep in touch with all o...
Robert James Leekley, loving husband, father, brother, and grandfather passed away March 13, 2025, in Petersburg, Alaska at the age of 82. Robin was born April 4, 1942, in Petersburg, Alaska to Anne and James Leekley. He grew up on the Federal Fur Farm 9 miles from town. The Fur Farm raised fox, mink, and martin and in the war years tested the effects of sonic boom on mink behavior. Robin helped on the farm with the family vegetable garden, animals, and shoveling snow which could be over ten... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voiced serious concerns that potential federal funding cuts could devastate essential services and potentially threaten the town's viability by approving a strongly worded letter to Alaska's congressional delegation during Monday’s assembly meeting. The letter, approved by all six assembly members present, details how the rural Southeast Alaska fishing community of approximately 3,000 residents could face an existential crisis if federal support is significantly reduced. “Indiscriminate and across the board red...
Elementary students in Petersburg won’t get as much physical education next year. Rae C. Stedman Elementary Principal Heather Conn said it comes down to limited education funding. Renting Petersburg’s community pool and gym is expensive for the Petersburg School District. So is staffing physical education classes. Conn said the district’s tight budget this year means they will have to reduce hours. “We have been conservatively budgeting but at this time, even we are being affected,” she said. This isn’t the first year the district has had to...
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...
Budgets are tight for some schools in Alaska again this year, but in Petersburg, the borough budget is also tight. Borough officials are saying it’s going to be tough to get the Petersburg School District the local funding school officials say they desperately need. Last year the Petersburg borough’s budget was nearly $400 thousand dollars in the hole. At an assembly work session with the school board on February 6, Borough Manager Steve Geisbrecht said there will likely be similar problems this year. “I try not to be a downer at every meeting...
This past weekend, Stedman Elementary School's wrestling club hosted a round-robin tournament against Wrangell's wrestling club. "They did incredible. Last year's Petersburg tournament was basically a lot of the kids' first tournament. It caught them by surprise and they've just done exponentially better each time they compete," Eldon Walker said, head coach for the third, fourth and fifth-grade wrestlers. "This season, overall, was their best performance yet." Sam Caulum is the head coach of...
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
Forest Service terminations To the Editor: 3,400 U.S. Forest Service employees have lost their jobs across the nation. 10 of those FS employees live in Petersburg. These firings were not based on performance. That is a false agenda this administration is pushing to make you not care and look away. These terminations were inflicted on employees that were still in their probationary period, usually their first year of work. They are predominantly young, motivated people starting out their careers. This will not only leave a gap in the Forest...
The Southeast island community of Petersburg held a town hall meeting on Feb. 10 to discuss the future of tourism in "Alaska's Little Norway." The borough is considering a potential partnership with a small cruise ship company and may see more tourists in coming years. While the conversation welcomed ideas related to tourism in general -like emergency services, trails and public restrooms- much of the discussion pertained to increasing tourism, especially from cruise ships, and what that means...
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...
February 6, 1925 – The eight ton seiner Hilda, of the Hetta Packing Company, located on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island, drifted at sea for thirty-one days then made Pillar Bay on January 15th, where she became stranded. Of the three men on board when she left Ketchikan on the night of December 14th, two remain alive, although in weakened condition. Those on board were Albert Johnson, Charles Richardson (better known as Port Wine Charlie), and Edward Thornton (who is known as Copper Mountain Shorty). The latter is reported to have b...
Mitkof Middle School students put their engineering skills to the test Tuesday in an underwater robotics competition, marking the culmination of a project that brought together students, parents, and community volunteers. Science teacher Hannah Smith's sixth and seventh-grade students assembled remote operated vehicles (ROVs) nearly from scratch before competing in events including speed races, obstacle challenges, and debris cleanup at the Petersburg Community Pool. "Everyone had three class pe...
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
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...
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...
