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The Petersburg School Board voted to continue universal masking throughout the district as part of its COVID-19 mitigation plan Tuesday night. At the beginning of Tuesday's meeting, teachers and parents spoke to the board both in support and against the continuation of universal masking. Those who supported universal masking cited the high number of positive cases nationwide with the spread of the highly infectious omicron variant and their belief that remote learning is more harmful to...
The Petersburg Medical Center's COVID-19 Dashboard reported 20 active cases Wednesday evening and a positivity rate of 24.7% during the previous week. The Petersburg School District reported one case at each school among staff and students Wednesday. PSD is no longer posting the number of people in quarantine. The Petersburg School Board also voted to continue universal masking at all schools during its board meeting Tuesday night. According to the Alaska Department of Health and Social...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly presented a draft agenda of its upcoming American Rescue Plan Act funding work session and discussed the items it included during Tuesday's meeting. The assembly is hosting the work session to give members an opportunity to discuss opportunities to allocate their ARPA funds and determine what local organizations or groups are in need of relief. The borough was awarded with $634,382 in ARPA funds that must be obligated by December 31, 2024 and expended by December...
Southeast Alaska was covered in a fresh layer of snow last weekend followed by rainfall which caused frozen roads, flooding, and damage to buildings across the region. The NWS issued a winter storm warning in anticipation of last weekend's weather with the expectation of total snow accumulations of 3 to 13 inches and wind gusts up to 45 mph for cities in Southeast including Petersburg, Wrangell, and Ketchikan. Petersburg recorded 7.5 inches of snowfall on Saturday which brought the total snow de... Full story
Petersburg has reached 27 active cases of COVID-19 according to the Petersburg Medical Center's COVID-19 Dashboard which was last updated Tuesday. The Petersburg School District has also begun reporting cases after students returned to school this week. As of Wednesday, Rae C. Stedman Elementary School had three active cases and four on quarantine, Mitkof Middle School had two active cases and one on quarantine, and Petersburg high school had three active cases and four on quarantine. According...
The Petersburg School Board held a work session Tuesday night to discuss potential changes to the district's COVID-19 mitigation protocols before its next regular meeting. While no action was taken at the over two-and-a-half-hour work session, it gave the board members an opportunity to prepare for action at the next board meeting and hear from experts about current guidelines and the state of the pandemic. The work session was originally scheduled for January 4 but was postponed due to flight...
6 brought with it a new record snowfall on New Year's Day which has the National Weather Service in Juneau and Petersburg Borough staff worried as rain and warmer temperatures are predicted for this weekend. Saturday saw the most snowfall and highest depth ever recorded in Petersburg on January 1 of any year with 17.5 inches of new snow for a depth of 40 inches according to data collected by the NWS. It was just short of the most snowfall ever recorded on a single day in the month of January...
The Petersburg Medical Center reported five active cases of COVID-19 Tuesday evening and is currently at a moderate risk level. The Petersburg School District is currently not reporting any cases of COVID-19 on its dashboard due to the winter break. Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reported 1,597 new cases from January 3-4 in the state, 12 new resident hospitalizations, and no deaths. 60.7% of Alaskans aged five or older are fully vaccinated while only 22.3% have received a...
A Petersburg School Board work session set for Tuesday was pushed to January 6 at 6 p.m. because of flight delays and snow conditions according to an announcement from the Petersburg School District. The meeting’s purpose is to hold a discussion on the district’s COVID-19 Mitigation Plan before the board’s next meeting on January 11. Topics of discussion will include masking, the trialing of the test to stay protocol, and potential changes to the plan. Though there will be no public comments, board members can invite people to speak durin...
January The assembly approved of a COVID-19 dashboard which tracked cases in the community. Local businesses received a total of $15.08 million in aid in the first round of COVID-19 aid released through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. PMC vaccinated approximately 350 residents aged 65 or older at a vaccine drive in the community gym. PMC was given permission by the borough to apply for a second PPP loan totaling $1.8 million. PMC applied and received a loan of...
December 30, 1921 The corner of the heating plant at the Petersburg Hospital caught fire last Friday night about 10 o’clock, the flames being caused by sparks from the furnace. Dr. A.B. Jones was in the building attending a patient and noticed the flames. He ran out and extinguished them with buckets of water without assistance. Practically no damage was done. Another fire last Friday evening in the house occupied by Charles Birdsell and family caused considerable excitement. The alarm was rung at 5 o’clock and by the time the department arrive...
The new cabin at the end of the Raven's Roost Trail was opened for reservations on December 16 and has already seen use according to Cabin and Trails Program Manager Paul Olsen with the U.S. Forest Service. Built by Rainforest Contracting, it is larger than the previous cabin and about 1.2 miles closer to the trailhead which was also reconstructed to make it more accessible to hikers. The new cabin is more family-oriented than the previous one, which was showing signs of decay. It also features...
The Petersburg Medical Center' COVID-19 Dashboard reported four active cases as of Monday, the last time the dashboard was updated, with 18 tests results pending. PMC moved to yellow status on Monday as a result of the decrease in cases and continues to encourage physical distancing, masking, and other mitigation measures. Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reported 347 new cases from December 13 to December 14 in the state, along with two deaths and 12 new resident...
The Petersburg School Board held a discussion on the district's current COVID-19 protocols during Tuesday's meeting and agreed to hold a work session on potential changes in January. The district has required universal masking for the majority of the year due to continued COVID-19 outbreaks both in the district and in the community. The district began the school year with two weeks of universal masking as part of its reopening plan and the board later amended the plan during its September...
Beginning Friday, Alaska Wildlife Troopers, with the help of many organizations in Petersburg, distributed approximately 1,400 pounds of meat from sublegal moose through the burger bank program. 1,960 pounds of meat from seven moose harvested during this year's hunt were put into the Community Cold Storage earlier this year and will be given to people in need according to Sergeant Cody Litster. According to Litster, antler restrictions allow everyone to participate in the hunt as opposed to a...
December 9, 1921 The Sons of Norway appointed a committee of three to have charge of their hall and to see that a dance is given there every Saturday night during the season. The first of the series was given last Saturday night and was enjoyed by all those present. The Petersburg Orchestra has been secured to furnish the music for the dances. December 13, 1946 LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! It begins to look as though this will be remembered as the “winter of the big snow.” Total fall to 10 o’clock this morning is 65.1 inches, and that makes well...
The active COVID-19 cases count fell to five on Thursday with two positives in the previous seven days and 11 tests pending results according to the Petersburg Medical Center’s COVID-19 Dashboard. Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reported 441 new cases from December 6-7 in the state and three deaths. According to the DHSS, 56% of Alaskans aged five or older are fully vaccinated while 63% of residents in Petersburg Borough are fully vaccinated. The Petersburg School District r...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht presented the assembly with a list of capital projects to consider for FY23 during Monday's meeting in hopes of obtaining funding through the state and federal sources. The list grouped projects by their associated departments such as Harbor, Parks and Recreation, and Public Works and prioritized them within each grouping. It also included some projects associated with the Petersburg Medical Center and the Petersburg School District. The priority list,...
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter gave a report on the latest COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on the hospital during the PMC Hospital Board's December 2 meeting. According to Hofstetter, PMC saw over 230 individual Petersburg residents with COVID-19 in November. It was the largest outbreak Petersburg has seen since the start of the pandemic, caused in part by the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant. Approximately 16% visits to the ER in November were for COVID-19 and...
The Petersburg Medical Center reported a declining number of cases this week with with only 27 active cases of COVID-19 and 43 tests pending results. According to the Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard, PMC has recorded a 9.4% positivity rate over the last seven days, and, as of Wednesday evening, there are no longer any healthcare workers currently infected. Although the PMC staffing level are still classified as inadequate and the hospital's medevac capability remains limited. "While this is very...
The Petersburg School District updated its testing protocols Friday, Nov. 26 to allow students identified as close contacts at the school to continue attending in-person classes, according to an announcement from Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter. Changes were made to the COVID-19 guidelines after a firmware update from the CUE molecular test manufacturer caused performance irregularities. According to the announcement, the district will be suspend the use of CUE tests and introduce new...
The Petersburg Medical Center reported 10 additional cases of COVID-19 Tuesday for a total of 68 active cases. According to the Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard, there have been seven healthcare worker infections and PMC inpatient utilization is at 50%. The PMC staffing level is currently labeled as inadequate and the hospital's medevac capability is limited. The Petersburg School District, which is not currently in session because of Thanksgiving, reported 21 cases among staff and students in the...
The Petersburg School District updated its testing protocols Friday, Nov. 26 to allow students identified as close contacts at the school to continue attending in person classes according to an announcement from Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter. Changes were made to the COVID-19 guidelines after a firmware update from the CUE molecular test manufacturer caused performance irregularities. According to the announcement, the district will be suspending CUE tests and introducing new quarantine...
Stedman Elementary School and Mitkof Middle school transitioned to remote learning this week due to the rise in COVID-19 cases according to Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter. The elementary school started online instruction on Tuesday while the middle school moved online on Thursday. Kludt-Painter wrote in her announcement that the district is experiencing multiple staffing issues as Petersburg continues to see high community spread. Contact tracing efforts within the district are also being...
The Petersburg Medical Center reported 21 additional cases of COVID-19 Wednesday for a total of 84 active cases. 19 cases were cleared by Public Health and 65 new cases have been reported in the past week. Currently Petersburg Borough has the highest per capita rate of COVID-19 in the United States of America, with an averaged daily rate of 262 new infections per 100,000. This is according to the New York Times hot spots map, which displays a county-by-county average of new reported cases over...
