Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 925
Marc Taylor will be sworn into the Petersburg school board next month, filling a seat that has been vacant for nearly two months. Taylor has lived in Petersburg since 2022 and works for Trident Seafoods. He said he applied for the board’s remaining empty seat because he wanted to give back to Petersburg. “I just kind of want to do my part for our community,” Taylor said. He said education has been a big part of his family, which also contributed to his desire to serve on the board. “My whole family, outside of me, were teachers or worked... Full story
Censorship is rising in this country. Newspapers, the watchdog of the government, are closing at an alarming rate, and government agencies gag their employees, demanding all communications flow through PR departments. Studies have shown that closing local newspapers leads to higher levels of partisanship, decreased voting and increased government corruption. Without local news, all we hear is what the government wants us to hear. The situation reflects a fear expressed by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Douglas. Douglas believed that...
November 20, 1925 – Alaska’s Governor is standing squarely with the Territory in opposition to the plan of postal authorities to ship Alaska mail from Seattle as freight. At the risk of incurring the displeasure of the administration to which he is answerable for his acts, the Governor has addressed a protest to the Washington authorities, vigorously opposing the proposed change and defending the right of Alaskans to a continuance of the present excellent service. He scarcely could have done more had he been elected by the people. The Gov...
November 6, 1925 – The motor-ship Boxer was in Port Wednesday with four hundred reindeer carcasses on board, some of which were sold to the local markets. The Boxer, with its Eskimo crew, is on its way south from the Point Barrow district. It has a 300-HP Atlas diesel and is commanded by Captain Whitlan. The passengers on board were Mr. and Mrs. C.L. Andrews and six school teachers from Wainwright, in the Arctic Circle. November 3, 1950 – Despite the fact that digging started when the season was almost over, about 1,000 pounds of false hel...
Petersburg is feeling the impact of the federal government shutdown leaving families without their November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. But local organizations are responding quickly to ramp up food distribution efforts. "It's already hitting our community hard," said Veronica Ware, the Johnson O'Malley and Social Services Director at the Petersburg Indian Association. "I've already had calls from citizens in tears because they don't have any food and they don't have any...
Jaime Cabral, Petersburg High School and Mitkof Middle School Assistant Principal and Activities Director, was named the 2026 Assistant Principal of the Year by the Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals (AASSP) at a ceremony in Anchorage last weekend. The recognition came while Cabral was already in Anchorage, in the middle of coaching his volleyball team at a tournament. Cabral's wife Heidi picked him up between games, drove him across town to accept the award, and rushed him back...
Officials with the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development have walked back a proposal to limit local governments’ funding for public schools, instead asking the State Board of Education to take no action on the item last week. The State Board of Education was set to vote on a controversial measure that many school officials and education advocates say would bar local municipalities from providing much-needed funding and support services to local schools. Instead the board voted unanimously on Thursday, at a DEED official’s req... Full story
October 9, 1925 – According to word received by local persons, the New England Fish Company at Ketchikan is looking for fresh smelt (true Silver Smelt), for which they will pay a minimum of 7 cents per pound, freight on board steamer at Petersburg. Large smelt reaching them in good condition will probably fetch a higher price. A good deal of smelt was shipped from Wrangell last year and some shipments have already been made from that district this season. It would seem that there is an opportunity for local men to make some money in a new f...
Scott Newman decided to run for mayor because he feels "there hasn't been strong leadership, advancing any advocacy towards the big projects in the community like the hospital and in tourism ... I kind of feel like we've had a bit of a dysfunctional process." "We could be advocating more strongly, at a state and federal level for these projects that we have going on, mainly the hospital," Newman told the Pilot in an interview. "I just don't feel like we've been doing enough in that direction....
Whether it's online strangers sending kids messages in Roblox, scammers phishing for passwords, or artificial intelligence platforms targeting young people with relationships that can distort how an entire generation views human connection - families with children and teens are facing new kinds of online safety challenges. New digital dangers exist as the results of tools and devices that "were released to the public without long-term studies or clear guidelines, leaving families and schools to...
Petersburg's school buildings and surrounding area were on lockdown for over an hour Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 26, after police received a report of a person with an AR-15 gun and multiple magazines in a school bathroom. The Petersburg Police Department, Alaska Wildlife Troopers and U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement responded and secured the area. Officers found no real threat on the premises and determined it was a false report. "I'm sure people were alarmed, but rest assured it's safe and...
Kacey Hammer is stepping into her first official teaching role this fall as Stedman Elementary’s newest kindergarten teacher. Hammer is currently completing her Master’s degree in Elementary Education at the University of Alaska Southeast, working toward her K-8 certification. She’ll begin the school year on a provisional license while finishing her student teaching requirements in her own classroom — an arrangement that her UAS advisor encouraged. “He was like, ‘You’re ready,’” Hamm...
The elementary school's new counselor Dave Fonken comes to Petersburg from Southern Oregon. He says he found Petersburg's thriving school community and endless local outdoor recreation opportunities very appealing. "I was looking for a combination of a really healthy district with a lot of places to play," Fonken explains. "Both of those things really came together here." Fonken brings eleven years of school counseling experience to his new role. His journey in education began as a Spanish...
Alenna Nilsen has also been hired by the district this year. A former employee of the Petersburg School District who taught middle school social studies, Nilsen will be working with students needing academic interventions to prevent falling further behind and to support students needing credit recovery to meet graduation requirements. Nilsen was not available for an interview with the Pilot....
The Alaska Legislature, meeting in special session, has overridden Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of more than $50 million in public school funding. The vote was 45-14. At least 45 of 60 legislators are needed to override an Alaska governor’s budget veto. The override eliminates a 5.6% year-over-year cut to public school funding, leaving districts with a small funding increase. Since July 1, the start of the state’s fiscal year, oil prices have significantly exceeded the state’s spring forecast, and if that trend continues, the state would have mo... Full story
The Clausen Museum is featuring a special exhibit, "Recollections of Point Agassiz: The Life and Times of Point Agassiz Settlers" during the month of August. "The Point Agassiz News" was a regular column that ran in the Petersburg Press during the 1920s and 1930s, when nine homesteading families were building houses and barns while farming the fertile meadows between Clear Creek and Brown Cove on Point Agassiz. The following examples illustrate how the column detailed the comings and goings and...
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced his policy priorities for the Alaska State Legislature for when they reconvene for a special session scheduled to start on Saturday. On Monday, the governor called for legislators to address what he called "Alaska's chronic education outcome crisis" and to reconsider his executive order they had previously voted down, creating a new Department of Agriculture that he said would strengthen food security in Alaska. Separately, the Alaska State Legislature... Full story
The federal government will be releasing billions of dollars in education funding this week, including $46 million in Alaska, after freezing the funds last month. The Trump administration announced in late June that the funding was being withheld pending a review. Multiple advocacy groups and school districts sued the Trump Administration, including some in Alaska. Last week, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it would be releasing the frozen funding. Part of that funding is Title I-C funding for migrant education. A quarter of...
When Petersburg School District switched to science-based reading instruction three years ago, the results were nothing short of remarkable. At Stedman Elementary, kindergarten reading proficiency soared from 10% to 89% in a single year. First grade jumped from 24% to 74% proficient, while second grade improved from 38% to 61%. These dramatic gains – which significantly outperformed state and national averages – caught the attention of education researchers nationwide. Petersburg is now being fe...
Rick Brock has opened the Petersburg High School gymnasium doors before dawn for 35 years, offering students a quiet place to work on their basketball skills before the school day begins. "I'm an early riser, so I've had the gym open in the mornings pretty much since I started coaching - hour to 45 minutes before the day begins," Brock said. It's a routine that reflects his belief about what can drive student athletes to succeed: "The ones that show up every morning and shoot baskets," he said,...
Petersburg’s school district approved a budget last week that will draw down nearly $700,000 dollars from its reserves to make up for school funding vetoed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Dunleavy reduced education funding for school districts statewide with a line-item veto on June 12, just weeks before districts start their next fiscal years. The Legislature originally approved a $700 increase in per-student funding, known as the base student allocation (BSA). It was the first substantial increase since 2017. Dunleavy didn’t approve enough money to fu...
The Coos Bay Times announced: "A serious forest fire spreads through the South Inlet section causing much damage. A daughter is born to Mr. and Mrs. L. R. McDonald and is named Colleen Mae." Colleen Mae McDonald, daughter of Lauchlin "Mac" and Anna (Aberge) McDonald, was born July 28, 1926, in North Bend, Oregon. She learned patience early-waiting while her mother had her hair done on the way to the hospital! By age two, Colleen was already accompanying her mother to Norwegian Lutheran Ladies... Full story
Three teachers from the Petersburg School District are state finalists for awards in excellence – Hannah Smith and Alice Cumps, math and science teachers at the middle and high schools respectively, are two of the finalists for a Presidential Excellence Award, and Becky Martin, a third grade teacher, for the Alaska Teacher of the Year Award. The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) is the highest honor a K – 12 math or science teacher in the U.S. can...
In an effort to generate money for essential services, Petersburg voters will be asked this fall whether to impose income limits for the community's senior sales tax exemption. That's after the Petersburg Borough Assembly approved the proposal on Monday, June 16. The change would limit the decades-old exemption to only low-income seniors who qualify for the state's Senior Benefits Payment Program, with annual incomes below $34,213 for individuals or $46,253 for couples. Revenue from...
