Sorted by date Results 501 - 525 of 776
October 28, 1916 – A local business man suggests that, in anticipation of probable spells of cold, dry weather during the nearing winter season, with consequent increase of danger from fires, now would be a very proper time for some preparedness. While the present members of Petersburg’s volunteer fire department have proven their efficiency in the handling of firefighting apparatus, and have thereby on numerous occasions prevented serious property loss, a strengthening of the organization at this time through the acquisition of and dri... Full story
October 14, 1916 – Bids will be received by the council for the installation of a sewer system. It is the purpose of the council, if a favorable bid is made on material and work, to put the matter up to property owners through circulation of a petition for the improvement, and, if favorably received, to rush the work through at once. It is proposed to meet the cost of the improvement by assessment of the property benefited, the charges against each lot being made on the basis of number of square feet therein. October 17, 1941 – In response to...
September 7, 1916 – The school building was wired for lights last Sunday. Two 200-watt lights are provided for the lower rooms and four 75-watt lights for the upper rooms; also lights for the halls. The work of extending the light line along board walk in the north end of town was started Wednesday. When it is finished, wires will be extended in the south end. September 10, 1941 – Petersburg residents Tuesday elected the first woman mayor in the city’s history. Mrs. Bernice Stokke was unopposed for election until a write-in campaign sough...
Samuel Hudson Cornthwaite passed away suddenly after falling ill to acute pancreatitis on September 6th, in a Beijing China hospital, with his sister Hannah by his side. Sam grew up in Petersburg, Alaska and in 2001 he made the move with his parents to Montana, attending Petersburg Elementary school and then Shields Valley Schools where he graduated in 2008. As you look back on his short 26 yrs of life, he always had an interest in people and fishing. At a very young age he was known be able to... Full story
The walls of her classroom might still be a little bare, but Joyce Metsa is working on that while settling into her new role teaching math at Petersburg High School. Metsa began her teaching career in 1988, with a few breaks here and there, and spent the last 10 years as an educator in Metlakatla. She doesn't see herself teaching in five years, because retirement is calling her name, but for right now she's loving Petersburg and her new students. "There's an openness to kids here," she says....
To comply with HB156, the school board unanimously approved the sex education curriculum and the teachers of the curriculum for the school year at their board meeting Tuesday night. The board held an open work session Monday night to hear from staff that will be teaching this year”s sex education courses. The teachers gave board members a rundown of past curriculum and their approach to this school year. “It was almost two hours of information. I feel like we came away with a real clear understanding of what is being taught,” said board presi...
The school board met in the high school library Tuesday night, after taking July off. The board also took a tour of summer improvements with director of maintenance Dan Tate before the meeting. Tate showed off and talked about the school’s new carpet, changes to a few classrooms and projects still in the works. School board members were excited about the improvements done over the summer, especially the new LED lighting installed in the school’s shop. The tour ended at the elementary school with Tate talking about the new rock garden and caf... Full story
A busy year for the Petersburg Rotary Club continued last week with district representatives visiting from Ketchikan. Assistant District Governor Rosie Roppel and newly appointed District Governor Michelle O'Brien are good friends and both belong to the same Rotary club. Over 30 attended a BBQ at Petersburg President Desi Burrell's house last week, and a new member was inducted into the local club during the event. Earlier this month, Burrell took over as club president, and Roppel says she...
Diane Marie (Lund) Forde, 73, died peacefully at home in Mukilteo, Washington on July 12, 2016 after a courageous 5-year battle with cancer. Diane was born on March 14, 1943 in Petersburg, Alaska and grew up in a small home on Lumber Street with her dad Arne, mom Dolores, and brother Dennis. She graduated from PHS, was salutatorian of her class in 1961, and chose Oregon State University to continue her education. While still in High School in Alaska; she met Alf Forde from Ketchikan, who was... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously passed three ordinances in their final reading dealing with marijuana at its meeting Monday. One prohibited the smoking of marijuana at a properly licensed marijuana retail establishment and one added fines for violating marijuana regulations. The other ordinance added marijuana regulations to the Municipal Code, now that marijuana is legal in Alaska and the borough, even though an opt-out vote will take place this fall. “This ordinance, and I think it is a very carefully crafted and thoughtful o... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously to pass a resolution opposing a state sales tax and favor a state income tax. Governor Bill Walker proposed the idea of a 3 percent statewide sales tax on July 11, during the fifth special session of the 29th Legislature. The proposal was his alternative to an income tax he spoke of earlier this year as an option to combat the state’s severe financial crisis. According to the resolution, 110 of 164 municipalities in Alaska currently levy a sales tax. Assembly member Bob Lynn said he liked the r... Full story
Editor's Note: Part one of a two-part series. Casey DenAdel was born and raised in Petersburg, and it's where her life of substance abuse began. She started using alcohol as a teenager and found herself spending 20 years in active addiction. There are months of her life she doesn't remember. "I was a binge drinker in middle school and high school, then I graduated to cocaine and then methamphetamine was my drug of choice," she says. "I have just a little over two years in recovery." For... Full story
June 24, 1916 – About 800 fish, the first of the season, were received at the cannery. They came from the Colpoys traps, and consisted of 40 Kings, a few humpbacks, small cohoes and chums, and the balance sockeyes. Last year the Colpoys traps were first lifted on June 21, with a catch of 3,500. A few boxes of sockeyes were also brought in a week previous to that date by seine fishermen and shipped fresh. June 27, 1941 – Sand has been hauled away from Sandy Beach in such large amounts that it has become necessary for the Forest Service to ann...
The school board met for its monthly meeting Tuesday, and worked its way through a full agenda including the FY17 budget, changes to student handbooks and an activity fee increase. The Petersburg district, like many others in Alaska, is dealing with a tighter budget due to lack of funding. Karen Quitslund, director of finance for the district, presented the budget she’s been working on for months. The board approved the budget with a 4-0 vote, after receiving a summary. “One thing that’s definitely different about this budget, that I’ve...
The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce board of directors knew exactly what to do when faced with finding a new administrative manager. They contacted Mara Lutomski. She had shown prior interest in the position and the board thought of her as a qualified replacement for John Havrilek, who recently retired from the position. "We had about three days together," she says laughing of training with Havrilek. "He showed me the ropes. It is basically a self-starter position." Lutomski is currently in her... Full story
May 13, 1916 – That Petersburg is to be the permanent northern buying headquarters of the Glacier Fish Company, of Tacoma, is now assured. Joseph Maddock, general manager of the company, arrived from the south last Monday and has been busy all week arranging for the handling of fish on a more extensive scale. The cold-storage ship Glory of the Seas is expected to leave Tacoma in tow of the big tug Tyee. She will be stationed at Scow Bay, and it is planned to have her loaded to capacity with about two million pounds of frozen fish at the c...
When the Mitkof Middle School started a robotics class nearly 10 years ago only a couple students took the course. This quarter, there are 14 sixth-graders taking part and learning problem solving skills through hands-on experience. Rick Brock is responsible for bringing the program to Petersburg after seeing how well it worked at another school. Brock researched the program and thought it would be a good addition to the middle school's Exploratory Program, and asked the school to invest in sett...
The Petersburg School Board met Tuesday, May 11 and approved the hire of Joyce Metsa for next school year’s high school math teacher. The board also approved a new social studies curriculum and a new SHOP Lite (low intensity technology education) course aimed at encouraging female students to enroll. “We lack in having, I’m trying to think of the exact words there, pretty much we don’t have enough girls in Shop,” Petersburg middle and high school principal Rick Dormer said. Shop LITE features basic woodworking, basic automotive maintenan...
The Petersburg High School baseball team hosted the Ketchikan Kings last Wednesday and Thursday, and played close games during the first day of the series. Game one started with a hit batter, a walk and an error allowing the Kings to put three runs on the board to start the game, but the home team was able to keep their composure. The Vikings lost 4-1, but the effort pleased head coach Jim Engell. "After we got out of that first inning, we just settled down and played really good baseball,"...
The Petersburg High School baseball team took the field for their first games of the season last Monday night in a doubleheader against Juneau-Douglas High School. The Vikings dropped both games, losing 8-1 in the first game, and having the second game called after five innings with the Crimson Bears up 14-4. In game one, Petersburg went up against JDHS starter Bryce Swofford, a junior, who PHS head coach Jim Engell says is one of the best pitchers in the conference. Swofford tallied nine strikeouts in five innings, and his stuff is not...
Along with a slew of other awards, the Petersburg Pilot won best weekly newspaper in Alaska at this year’s Alaska Press Club awards competition—the annual awards program recognizing quality journalism in print, radio and television across the state. “This weekly has it all: amazing color photos, such as the blue iceberg, solar storms and orcas; and a terrific layout,” wrote Cheryl Thompson in her judges’ comments. “Very clean and easy to read. And I love the ‘Yesterday’s news’ section.” Some of the entries included photo submissions by Care... Full story
April 22, 1916 – An advance in passenger rates is announced by the Border Line Transportation Company, effective with the next sailing of the Al-Ki from Seattle. The new rates between Petersburg and Seattle are $23 first-class and $14 second-class, the increase being $4.00 and $1.50 respectively. No change is announced in fares between Alaska ports. A. E. Austin, representing the Tacoma Grocery Company, was a Petersburg business visitor the fore part of the week. Mr. Austin reports a brisk and growing demand in Alaska for his company's s...
Local Petersburg resident Eliza Warmack will be a new 5th grade teacher at Rae C. Stedman Elementary School next year. Eliza, her son Ari and her husband Glenn Warmack came to Petersburg four years ago from Sand Point in the Aleutian chain where Eliza taught kindergarten for two years. "We actually moved up there (Sand Point) for a teaching job," Eliza said. "We were in Portland and I taught there for a year and did some subbing for Portland Public and there was just not a job to be had. The...
The Petersburg School Board approved the employment of two new teachers within the district. Eliza Warmack will join staff as a 5th grade teacher beginning in the 2016-17 school year and Rowan Beraza will be a secondary language arts and Spanish teacher beginning the same time. The School Board also approved the principal contracts for another year. Middle and high school principal Rick Dormer will receive a salary of $97,116 and elementary principal Teri Toland will receive a salary of $88,773. They also approved exempt contracts for finance... Full story
April 15, 1916 – A new course of procedure in the matter of changing master's papers, which will be of great convenience to Petersburg's boats, is being arranged by the customs officials at Juneau, according to word brought from there by K. L. Steberg this week. The plan as stated by Deputy Collector Garfield is as follows: Owners of boats at Petersburg that wish to change papers without making the trip to a port of entry they will be permitted to have the master's oath taken here before a notary public. The notary is then to mail the papers t...
