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The Petersburg School Board unanimously approved a list of capital projects for the district at their Tuesday evening meeting. Maintenance Director Dan Tate helped prepare and prioritize the list, which outlines the district’s needed capital projects for the coming six years and is required for submittal to the legislature for possible grant funding. Rather than being a straightforward list of priorities, projects are ranked strategically to garner points from legislators who prepare an overall ranked list for funding for new capital p...
An ordinance to allow voters to determine whether or not local public officials should be exempt from state financial disclosure requirements was passed on second reading by the Assembly at Monday’s regular meeting. By Alaska State law, certain public officials are required to report their income sources and other assets in an effort to ensure private interests do not conflict with their public service. Municipalities reserve the right to exempt their local public officials from the requirement, and locally there has been concern that not d... Full story
School enrollment will be a little bit easier for parents and staff this year as the Petersburg Medical Center (PMC) was selected to pilot a program that will transmit vaccine records, sports physicals and other pertinent medical information directly to the school. “We’ve been asked to pilot a program through AeHN (Alaska eHealth Network), which is a state-affiliated program,” said PMC Informatics Director Jill Dormer at last Thursday’s hospital board meeting. “They are going to pay us…to set up an interface connection with the school dist...
Residents wishing to serve or continue serving as local officials can file for candidacy for 20 vacant positions (see sidebar) on seven different boards and commissions starting Tuesday, July 28. Candidates for the Borough Assembly, School Board or Planning Commission are required by the state to file a financial disclosure statement disclosing their income sources and business interests, though that may change in the coming years if voters approve an ordinance exempting public officials in the...
June 10, 1915 – At an adjourned meeting of the council Thursday evening it was decided to send a delegate to Juneau to take up the matter of the building of the Petersburg – Scow Bay board walk with J.C. Hayes, superintendent of construction of the road commission of Alaska. A delegation from Scow Bay was present and acted with the council in the matter. S. L. Hogue was selected as the delegate. Resolutions on the subject passed by the Scow Bay school board will also be presented to Mr. Hayes. June 12, 1940 – Three salmon canneries are runni...
The Petersburg School District doesn’t “anticipate any large fluctuations” with the budget the state passed June 11, Finance Director Karen Quitslund said. The school board passed the district’s budget just two days before, on June 9, in order to meet a state deadline. But what the legislature passed “is what the school district projected for our operating budget,” Quitslund said. As planned, the district is losing $150,000 in HB278 and $30,000 in food grants. The Healthy Living grant that was a concern is being partially funded, though the...
Two borough committees are searching for new members while another is welcoming one. The Borough Assembly approved Dr. Monica Gross as the Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors’ newest member during its meeting Monday evening. She’s filling a vacancy left behind by Steven Samuelson, who resigned in April. Samuelson had served on the board since February 2014 and tendered his resignation because he wouldn’t be in town for meetings. During a hospital board meeting last month, Medical Records Director Janet Kvernvik clarified that Gross...
Alaska trawl bycatch halibut To the Editor: Our North Pacific Fisheries Management Council just met in Sitka, Alaska. Trawl bycatch (non-targeted species) of juvenile halibut in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands was on the agenda. Around 130 people gave public comment on this topic in addition to 3 inches of paper letters in a spiral binder compiling written public comments. The overwhelming majority urging the council for a 50 percent reduction in halibut waste. A reduction of roughly 20 percent allowable trawl bycatch of halibut was...
The state still hasn’t decided on a budget, but the Petersburg School District has. The school board approved the district’s 2016 budget during its monthly meeting Tuesday evening in assembly chambers. Finance Director Karen Quitslund said Petersburg schools’ are looking at an $8.4 million general fund next year. “Well this has certainly been a very interesting budget year,” she said, adding she may not have survived it if it had been her first year in the job. While there are still uncertainties, the district’s budget is due to the state b... Full story
June 5, 1915 – An advanced copy of the revenue law passed by the late territorial legislature was received this week. The following items in the act cover business and industries subject to tax or license in this vicinity: Attorneys, doctors and dentists, $10 per annum; Automobiles, $5 per annum; Bakeries, $15 per annum; Fisheries: Salmon canneries, four cents per case on kings, reds and sockeyes, two cents per case on all others; Salteries: Two and one-half cents per one hundred pounds on all fish salted or mild-cured, except herring. Fish t...
Stedman Elementary School will be welcoming three new teachers into its ranks this fall. Principal Teri Toland announced last month that the school had selected new hires from a large, experienced candidate pool. She said the number of applicants was unprecedented and may in part be due to Alaskan layoffs. Education is facing big cuts with state proposed budgets. "As we went through the process, it became very clear there was a key group," Toland said. Coming in to teach fourth grade is Heather...
The New Old Time Chautauqua (NOTC) group will be parading into Petersburg later this month. The 55 person group includes members from ages one to 74 who volunteer their talents as performers, musicians and educators to bring entertainment to rural communities. Locally, the Petersburg Indian Association (PIA) and Petersburg Parks and Recreation have been helping coordinate the group's three-day visit, June 28-30. The opening event is a collaborative potlatch and potluck put on by PIA and NOTC on...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors is taking a closer look at future needs for the community’s hospital. The board approved a facility condition survey in the amount of $26,575 during its regular meeting on May 28. PMC CEO Liz Woodyard said Joann Lott from the Jensen Yorba Lott architectural firm came to look at long term care a few months ago, and that an assessment of the hospital’s condition was brought up at a following board meeting. That got put on hold, but during strategic planning, there was discussion about forming a c...
The Petersburg School District’s financial future is still unknown, but it was looking bleak Monday evening. Governor Bill Walker announced Monday afternoon that he had vetoed parts of the budget packet that were unfunded, leaving Alaska’s schools funded at only 28 percent. The district’s budget for 2016 is at a “stopping point” until legislators finish the budget, Finance Director Karen Quitslund said, but fiscal year 2015 has already been impacted. The school board approved 2015 budget revisions during a special meeting Monday evening at the... Full story
Petersburg High School's (PHS) Track and Field team took a small but mighty subsection of runners, jumpers and throwers to Ketchikan last week where another four school records were broken. After breaking three records at the Juneau Invitational two weeks ago, sophomore Izabelle Ith earned herself another top spot in PHS history for the 100 meter hurdles. Also adding to his record-breaking streak was River Quitslund who set a new record for the boys 800 meter run. Senior Ben Zarlengo took first...
The Petersburg High School baseball Vikings fell to Juneau-Douglas in a three-game matchup last Wednesday and Thursday at Juneau. Though Juneau is one of the top teams in the conference, Head Coach Jim Engell said his team is capable of beating them. “We played pretty well against Juneau,” he said. “But not as well as I’d hoped.” In game one of a double header on Wednesday, starting pitcher Colby Bell pitched 11 strikeouts but gave up three earned runs. Engell said Bell and the other starting pitchers had less time than normal to rest befo...
Maximilian Worhatch III was born to Mary Josephine Gola and Maximilian Worhatch II on September 2nd, 1933 in Callery, Butler County, Pennsylvania. He was born at the height of the depression in an old farmhouse on the property where his father managed a fireworks company. In 1933 jobs were scarce and living conditions so dire that when the doctor was paid in dollars for his maternity services he broke down and cried, for it had been nearly a year since he had received actual money for his... Full story
May 15, 1915 – Petersburg’s three-day celebration of the one hundred and first anniversary of Norway’s independence commences tonight with a grand ball in Sons of Norway Hall. Tomorrow there will be an excursion to Thomas Bay glacier. All boats leave the Citizen’s wharf at 8 o’ clock a.m. The excursion is free for all. An address by Rev. Thorvilson at the destination, is on the program, and music by the band. At 8 o’ clock in the evening, in Sons of Norway hall, the musical recital and entertainment under direction of Mrs. J. C. Allen takes...
Petersburg High School is examining the possibility of altering requirements for valedictorian status, among other potential changes for next year. Principal Rick Dormer presented a “very draft” version of grade and graduation proposals during the school board’s meeting Tuesday evening in assembly chambers. The process began last fall with former superintendent Lisa Stroh. Dormer said he’s received some parent feedback, but no student input yet. The goal is to have changes in place for the new school year. Right now, the school takes academi...
The Petersburg High School baseball team opened its season at home versus the Sitka Wolves, defending state champs, in a three-game match up last weekend. Though the Vikings didn't come out on top in the games, Head Coach Jim Engell said he was happy with his team's performance. "For our first games of the year and starting a pretty young group of kids, I think we did quite well," he said. The Vikings fell to the Wolves 2-0 in Friday's game, which Engell described as the epitome of a pitcher's...
Mara Lutomski became "fired up" to get involved with the community through the school board during talks surrounding the state's budget shortfall and local impacts. "I am impressed at the responsible fiscal choices that this district has made and I want to be a part of that decision making process," she wrote in her letter of interest. The Petersburg School Board approved her as its new member during a special meeting Monday evening at the District Office. Former board president Jean Ellis'... Full story
The Petersburg School District has found a new way to assist its students in becoming better readers in a short amount of time. For the second year, the district is using Fast Forward, a computer delivered brain fitness program that not only improves reading, but concentration, processing and even math skills. Each student's time with the program varies, but many finish an assignment, such as reading or literacy, in about nine weeks, and 90 percent of them improve, Activities Director Jaime...
Tourists and local marine mammal lovers alike can now enjoy an updated, interactive Marine Mammal Kiosk at the Petersburg Visitor’s Center. The kiosk is a collaboration between the Visitor’s Center and the Petersburg Marine Mammal Center (PMMC), awarded a $1,700 grant last year by the Petersburg Community Foundation to make upgrades to the kiosk’s computer. “The equipment, computers being what they are, don’t have a long lifespan,” said Don Holmes, PMMC board member. “So the new grant enabled us new hardware, and we had a volunteer, Je...
April 24, 1915 – A member of the legislature has secured the opinion of the Seattle attorney to the effect that the territorial lawmakers have “practically unlimited power to levy and collect direct, product or special taxes on trade, industry and property in Alaska.” While the finding of the legal light may be very correct, we would mildly suggest that the “trade, industry, and property in Alaska” has hardly as yet reached that stage of development which justifies “unlimited” taxing. If the legislators will devote some substantial e...
Mayor Mark Jensen and Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht announced at Monday’s Assembly meeting that Petersburg Public Schools will be granted Secure Rural Schools funding for this academic year and next. The two-year funding extension was included as a provision in the US House’s Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which was signed by President Barack Obama late last week. “They put in the bill we will get within 45 days so we will actually get it prior to this year end and that will go into the fund that the Borough has set a...
