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Early in-person voting for the 2022 state general election opened on Monday. Petersburg residents can vote ahead of election day in the community center activity room Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Nov. 7. The election will use ranked choice voting where voters will be able to rank the candidates in each race based on their preference. After the polls close, each voter's first choice vote will be counted. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, the candidate who...
The Petersburg School District board unanimously voted to revise its FY23 budget during its Oct. 11 meeting to account for $262,000 in one-time funding allocated to the district by the Alaska Legislature. The one-time funding will make up for cuts to activities, instruction, and support line items made when the budget was first adopted in June-before the legislature approved the funding. The initial budget did not include the $262,000 in one-time funding and was also based on a district student...
The five candidates running for the two seats on the Petersburg Borough Assembly participated in a candidate forum on Monday in the assembly chambers hosted by KFSK and the Petersburg Pilot. Assembly Member Jeigh Stanton Gregor, Assembly Member Chelsea Tremblay, Donna Marsh, Scott Newman, and Kurt Wohlhueter were presented with the same questions and were each given one minute to respond in a random order. The first part of the forum saw candidates answer questions asked by members of the media...
September 21 – Petersburg Police Department (PPD) received a report of a dog wandering near Jenny Lane. An officer assisted a citizen on Sandy Beach Road with a lock out. PPD received a report of property lost on Charles Street. PPD received a report of reckless driving by individuals on 6th Street. An officer performed a welfare check on an individual on Sandy Beach Road. PPD received a report of suspicious bear activity on Lumber Street. September 22 – An officer located and secured a garbage can accessed by a bear on Dolphin Street. The Pet...
Sarah Pawuk Holmgrain What is your age? 51 What experience do you have? I have served on the school board since I was appointed and then elected in 2009. Why do you seek public office? I still have the time and energy to put into volunteering on this Board. How would you like to see the budget managed through the challenges the school district currently faces? Actually, I think the budget has been managed quit well for over a decade with fewer and fewer resources and funds. We have had...
The Petersburg School Board unanimously approved a motion to reinstate funding for activities, curriculum, and professional development during Tuesday’s meeting. The action looks to increase funding by about $100,000 combined according to Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter which would get funding for those items closer to the amount that the district spent on them last year. The board passed a conservative budget that saw reductions in multiple areas during its June meeting, seeking to account for a number of unknowns at that time. Those i...
For over two decades Joe Viechnicki's voice on the local radio station has been an ever-present staple of the community. He has been an up-beat, dedicated newsman, and, more than that, a dedicated community member, spending hours upon hours volunteering locally to help make Petersburg a better place. "The best advice I can give to someone coming into the world of journalism is to be involved in the community and look for those opportunities where you're not a journalist," Viechnicki says....
Some new and some returning faces have joined the ranks of the Petersburg School District staff in preparation for the upcoming school year. Elsa Wintersteen will teach English language arts and a drama class at Petersburg High School. She completed her undergraduate studies at Montana State University, earning a literature degree and an interdisciplinary degree, and for a short time studied theater at the University of Montana. Wintersteen is originally from Montana, but her mother's family is...
Some new and some returning faces have joined the ranks of the Petersburg School District staff in preparation for the upcoming school year. Erin Hofacre will be starting her first year of teaching in one of Stedman Elementary School's two first grade classrooms. She earned her bachelor's degree at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington where she received endorsements for elementary, reading, and special education. "I was able to go to a great program with lots of practical work so I feel l...
The Petersburg School Board updated its COVID-19 mitigation plan for the upcoming school year during its meeting last week. The school district is required to update its plan by the Alaska Department of Education and under the American Rescue Plan funding. The new guidelines resemble those the district had at the end of the previous school year but with a couple of changes. Masking will remain optional for students, staff, and visitors and there will be no trigger for universal masking or...
August 4, 1922 Cascade Creek is Second Yosemite — It is getting to be quite the fashion among Petersburg people to make the trip to Thomas Bay and up Cascade Creek to the two lakes it is proposed to develop for water power. The trail is a good one from the beach to the lower lake and the going is not too hard for good hikers between the two lakes. Those who made the trip recently are very enthusiastic about the scenery and claim that it rivals the famous Yosemite Valley. Last Sunday Mr. and Mrs. T. F. Rayner and Mr. and Mrs. M. S. Perkins m...
If elected, would you work to improve access to affordable child care? Kenny Skaflestad: This is a priority. And this is a priority again from the smallest village to our more prominent communities. The need for addressing the child care challenge in each community is a major topic. It's one that I'd be glad to champion as far as the Alaska State House has to do and I think that could be a great deal depending on the energies put towards it. I'm glad to have seen some of my predecessors in the H...
Two candidates have filed for candidacy in this year's election to fill Rep. Jonathon Kreiss-Tomkins' seat in the Alaska House of Representatives. Kreiss-Tomkins, who first elected to the seat in 2012, announced earlier this year that he will not seek reelection. House District 2, which was newly created by the Alaska Redistricting Board, spans Southeast Alaska from Prince of Wales Island to Yakutat and includes Petersburg, Sitka, Kake, and Craig. The candidates running for the seat are Kenny...
The Petersburg School Board adopted its FY23 School Operating Budget at the final meeting of the school year Tuesday evening in a 4-0 vote with Member Meg Litster excused. Finance Director Karen Morrison gave an overview of the budget which at this point still has “a lot of unknowns.” The budget has a revenue of $7,962,605 and is based on 413 enrolled students which is below the funding formula enrollment threshold of 425 students. Being below that threshold drops the district down from three school funding to two school funding. As of Jun...
School got out last week, but Bridget Wittstock still had one week to go until she ended her final year with the Petersburg School District. She is set to retire after 29 years of service and there will no doubt be a void left that will be difficult to fill. The district recently held a surprise party to recognize Wittstock and, of course, the eventwas catered by Wittstock's mother Julie Dahl and included a song written and preformed by the Luncheonettes. "I cried, it was very touching,"...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly passed its FY23 budget by a 4-3 margin in its third and final reading on Monday with Assembly Members Dave Kensinger, Jeff Meucci, and Thomas Fine-Walsh voting against. There were no amendments proposed in its last reading but discussion saw similar points of concern raised by opposing assembly members. Fine-Walsh had concerns about how the budget would place “more emphasis on policing than education and housing.” “These are my priorities, these are the priorities of our community as they have been expre...
The Petersburg Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Alaska Community Foundation, announced on Saturday the 10 organizations receiving grants this year. The event, hosted by Glo Wollen, saw volunteers, politicians, business owners, and other prominent community members gather to support local programs. Before the grant awards, the foundation announced a new annual award-Petersburg Community Volunteer of the Year. Dave Berg was chosen as the award's first recipient which also comes with...
The recent sale of Borough owned land on Sandy Beach Road brought to light the shortcomings of the borough government when it comes to managing their land. Obviously, there is a pent-up demand for building lots. The value of real estate, as we all know, is based on location and availability. Since the borough owns land that is desperately needed to provide housing for the community, it’s time that they develop it and make it available to the public. The borough has platted land in the Tlingit-Haida subdivision, on property uphill behind Lake S...
The Petersburg School District has made a contract offer to a new secondary school principal which was approved by the school board during Tuesday's meeting. According to Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter, the district's hiring committee interviewed several candidates for the position in a shorter "streamlined" hiring process and has offered the position to Ambler Moss for the upcoming school year. Kludt-Painter said Moss brings with him over 25 years of experience in education and reported tha...
Petersburg High School and Mitkof Middle School Principal Rick Dormer announced that he will be leaving at the end of the school year to become the principal at Ketchikan High School after 13 years in Petersburg. Dormer said that he has been looking at other opportunities for a couple of years and that now feels like the right time for a change as the district comes out of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, believing that a leadership change would be healthy for the district. "It's n...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously in favor of two ordinances in their first readings during Monday's meeting, with Assembly Member Bob Lynn excused, which would increase the rates residents pay for water and sewage utilities. According to Utility Director Karl Hagerman, the increases included in Ordinance #2022-05 and Ordinance #2022-06 would be the first rate increases since 2018 and are needed to meet increased costs and expenses. Hagerman included a report in the meeting packe...
The Petersburg Medical Center is reporting a "significant increase" of COVID-19 cases in both the hospital and the Petersburg School District within the past week. "The community should assume COVID-19 is spreading quickly, impacting schools, daycares, and local business," the release read. The hospital also reported that the PMC Dashboard's case count is not an accurate reflection of cases in the community as it does not include the results of at-home antigen tests. At-home tests and KN95...
April 21, 1922 A reef of gold bearing ore several hundred feet in width and over five miles in length, which runs from four to twelve dollars in values on the surface, has been discovered at Muddy River by Martin Dahl and John Loseth. The ledge lays along the water and extends from Horn Cliff in a northerly direction. The discovery was made accidentally by Martin Dahl last fall and samples were sent to Juneau for assay. The returns showed the good values could be secured and active prospecting was continued throughout the winter. The ledge has...
The state budget plan adopted by the House earlier this month includes an additional $263,000 in one-time funding for the Petersburg School District, an almost 5% boost from a state aid formula that has not increased since 2017. The one-time appropriation for a total of $57 million may be the political compromise to help Alaska's 54 school districts this next year as lawmakers continue to debate a change to the formula in state statute. Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter discussed House Bill...
This Friday, April 22, is Earth Day and the Rainforest Festival is celebrating the day by inviting everyone along for a field trip. The group will meet at the ballfield at 3 pm for a hike on Hungry Point Trail. Raingear and boots are recommended. The guided hike will provide a closer look at the trees and shrubs of this area, and their unique features and uses will be discussed. The event is part of the Rainforest Festival which is transforming itself this year. In 2008, the weekend after Labor...
