Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 905
Gov. Mike Dunleavy said education is among his top priorities in the coming fiscal year. He proposed spending millions on education, but did not include an increase to per student funding, known as the base student allocation, in his proposed budget. His proposed budget puts $1,267,522,300 to the education department, a 9% decrease from last year, due to shrinking enrollment. “I want the public to understand that, as a former educator, I understand that schools cost money, education costs money, there’s no doubt about it,” Dunleavy said. “The... Full story
The Petersburg School District recently enhanced security measures at Stedman Elementary, Mitkof Middle School and Petersburg High School. As of Nov. 27, the front doors of PHS and MMS lock after classes begin at 8:05 a.m. Doorbells with cameras and an intercom system are installed on the front doors, alongside signage to clearly direct people who may try to access the building. Office staff can now see who is ringing the doorbell, which allows them to assess and approve people before allowing them to enter for better security. During the Nov....
At the Fire Hall on Dec. 2, PMC's Community Wellness Specialist, Becky Turland, and Youth Program Coordinator, Katie Holmlund, will instruct a free Youth Mental Health First Aid training course where members of the Petersburg community can become certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid. "It's a free training that has potential to save a life," Holmlund told the Pilot. This year, Turland and Holmlund completed a Youth Mental Health First Aid Facilitator Course - a three-day course offered... Full story
The borough’s human resources department provided a progress report about the municipality’s newly implemented safety measures during the Borough Assembly Meeting Nov. 6. In September, Alaska Public Entity Insurance (APEI) representatives presented a safety review of the Petersburg Borough during a regular assembly meeting. Assembly members and human resources staff left that meeting with actionable recommendations to address safety concerns within the borough. Part of that was the establishment of a formal Borough Safety Committee. Becky Reg...
Staff for Gov. Mike Dunleavy quashed the publication of a new Department of Labor and Workforce Development report examining the competitiveness of teacher pay in Alaska, an act that current and former staff say could damage the apolitical reputation of the division that publishes state economic data. “This is data that typically is available to the public, and it’s never good to suppress good, objective data,” said Neal Fried, who retired in July after almost 45 years as an economist with the department. The report, which had been the cover... Full story
The board in charge of Alaska’s retirement system for public employees has recommended the closure of its commonly used managed accounts program after an independent review found workers were being charged high fees and receiving lower-than-expected returns. Managed accounts cover more than 10,000 of the 122,000-plus accounts in Alaska’s state employee retirement system and were the default option when the state switched from a pension-style retirement system to its current 401(k)-like approach in 2006. Many of those employees are only now dis... Full story
The Viking Swim Club (VSC) annual dinner and auction takes place this Saturday, Oct. 28. Doors open at 6:00 pm upstairs at the Elks. The event is the youth swim program’s largest fundraiser, generating around 35% of the program’s budget through the evening’s raffle and auction. The effort helps pay the salaries of the coaches, supports swim meet travel costs, and helps keep membership dues affordable. VSC is not a school district activity. It’s a three season long activity for Petersburg kids. And this year’s auction is also honoring the 50th...
With high oil prices driving up state revenues, Southeast legislators say to expect a larger capital budget next year for public works projects, more money for deferred maintenance and another attempt to boost state funding for public schools. That’s assuming oil prices stay elevated as the state works its way through the fiscal year that will end on June 30 and remain high in the forecast for the next year. Lawmakers will return to work at the Capitol on Jan. 16. With oil prices last week 30% higher than assumed in this year’s spending pla...
The Petersburg Police Department notified the Petersburg School District of a threat made by a high school student directed at the secondary school. PSD Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter told the Pilot that the threat made on Tuesday is a completely different, separate incident from the threat made in the district less than two weeks ago. The student was not on school premises when the threat was made and “will not be on campus for the foreseeable future,” Kludt-Painter told the Pilot. When made aware of the threat, PPD notified the dis...
Negative stereotype To the Editor: In the spirit of free enterprise, Sig and Ambre Burrell are trying to address the demand for affordable housing in our community by developing a manufactured home neighborhood on their privately-owned land. Some people argue that Petersburg should not give up this beautiful open space; they also complain about ugliness and lack of cleanliness in mobile home parks and of prevalent crime in these neighborhoods. One individual believes that people who live in trailer homes neglect their pets and are outsiders,...
Katie Holmlund I have my bachelor's degree in elementary education, and I love being immersed in active learning classrooms. In 2018, I co-founded Kinder Skog Nature Program to connect my passion for education and nature. I remain the administrator of Kinder Skog while also coordinating other youth programs. I also serve on the Borough appointed Early Childhood Task Force and SHARE Coalition. At the state level I am a contributing member to the Afterschool Network School Age Childcare Workgroup,...
Marietta Davis I originally moved to Alaska with my parents and have lived the majority of my life in SE Alaska since I was 17 years old. I worked for Southeast Island School District in various logging camps that my husband and I, with our children, lived. We received property in an Alaska state land lottery and lived in Whale Pass on Prince of Wales Island for five years. While there I became an EMT and served on the Homeowners' Association. We moved to Petersburg in the fall of 1993. I...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved the sale of a borough-owned lot at the corner of Haugen Drive and North 12th Street to the Petersburg Indian Association for a price of $45,000 following negotiations with Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht. The sale comes on the heels of an Aug. 7 decision by the assembly to move forward with PIA’s application to purchase the property located at 10 N. 12th Street, and an Aug. 20 approval to sell the lot directly to PIA, instead of through a public bid. Cris Morrison, President of the Tribal Co...
Candidates for the hotly contested seats on Petersburg Borough Assembly came together last Thursday for a live candidate forum where they responded to questions from news reporters with the Pilot and KFSK and questions from a live audience. After opening statements, the evening’s first question was the big one: Where do the candidates stand on the new hospital project? Jeigh Stanton Gregor and Jeff Meucci answered with clear, full support of the new hospital phased construction project. Candidates Rick Perkins and Rob Schwartz both emphasized t...
The Petersburg School District said they are confident in the safety of students and staff at school, following a credible threat made by a student last Thursday. The school responded to the threat with an investigation in cooperation with law enforcement. The Petersburg Police Department told the Pilot there is no present danger to the school. “We evaluated the threat and … we don’t see it as a threat to the students or to the public,” said PPD Chief Jim Kerr. Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter told the Pilot that the situation began when a...
Rick Perkins What is your age? 69 Why have you chosen to run for Assembly at this time? I have been asked to bring people and ideas together without a divisive tone in this capacity. What experience do you have that prepares you for this role? In working for the Boeing Company, I was able to bridge the gap from engineering to assembly, by building the tooling to do so regardless of paperwork or personalities. I have built 7 of my own homes, I have worked on 3 different water plant projects, and... Full story
In the middle school where I teach, it’s now commonplace to have two or three classes report to the gym each day where they play basketball, read books, or do nothing, because there is no substitute to cover for absent teachers. How can our schools improve outcomes like grades, test scores, and mental health if they can’t afford adequate staffing? The Legislature has a constitutional obligation to maintain a system of public schools. This year, the legislature approved a one-time $175 million increase in school funding. Our schools need a rel...
The Petersburg School District approved the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) six-year plan at the first meeting of the academic year August 15. It is a long term plan that is vital to secure state funding for major maintenance and building capital projects. The facility committee met with Borough Building Official and Code Enforcement Officer Ray Wesebaum, Southeast Regional Resource Center representative David Landis, and school board member Jay Lister to review and discern priorities for a six-year plan. So far, there are five projects on the...
Bo Varsano and Marja Smets of Farragut Farm won Farm Family of the Year at the Alaska State Fair in Palmer last week, the first Southeast farm ever to do so. Smets says they were surprised to hear they'd been nominated and selected for the award. "I think it's super cool to bring awareness to agriculture down here. People in the interior are like, 'Wow, there are farms there?'" In the Alaska State Fair announcement, Alaska Division of Agriculture Director Bryan Scoresby said, "Bo and Marja...
The filing window for candidacy in the 2023 Petersburg Borough Municipal Election officially closed Tuesday afternoon. Thirty candidates filed for the 20 seats up for election, and there will be 11 contested positions on this year’s ballot. The two contested seats on the assembly are now a race between Jeigh Stanton Gregor, Rob Schwartz, Rick Perkins, and incumbent Jeff Meucci. Both positions will be three-year terms. Dave Kensinger will not run for reelection in this year’s race. Both of the three-year terms on the hospital board are a con...
At the first board meeting of the academic year last week, the Petersburg School District board decided that school meal prices will increase by at least $0.25 this school year. This decision was approved in order to maintain the financial sustainability of the school food service program and comply with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Paid Lunch Equity Policy. The policy says that schools serving lunch need to have enough money to pay for meals that students buy at the regular price, not the discounted price; some s...
Students in Petersburg School District are set to start the school year on August 29, alongside several upcoming additions to faculty staff. New to the district is Thomas Hambley, who will teach fourth grade at Stedman Elementary this fall. "I am excited about joining the team at Stedman Elementary and becoming part of the Petersburg community," he shared. Hambley moved to Petersburg earlier this summer from Glennallen, where he taught fourth grade. He specializes in elementary level teaching...
Early in the season, one of my deckhands started the joke, “Pay to Bay,” dreaming of people paying money to fish on a drift boat in Bristol Bay, like people pay to climb Mt. Everest. That joke came around to bite us. We had a breakdown during the peak of the run, then the day we got fishing again Trident posted the 50-cents/lb base price (before quality incentives amounting to another 30 cents or more). The processor we sell to, Silver Bay, seemed sure to follow Trident’s lead. I sent my deckhands home with checks for $5,000 each—not much fo... Full story
Petersburg residents will have one ballot proposition to decide on when they go to vote in this year's municipal election on Oct. 3. Proposition #1 will ask if the borough charter should be amended to allow borough employees to serve on boards or commissions, except for those that directly administer their employment. The change, for instance, would allow a Petersburg School District employee to run for borough assembly or the hospital board but not the school board. The proposed amendment was...
Gus Pennington will return to Stedman Elementary School this fall as the new fifth grade teacher. However, Pennington is no stranger to the Petersburg School District. His new teaching role comes on the heels of experience in the district as a substitute and student teacher - and as a pupil in Petersburg, himself. Pennington graduated from Petersburg High School with the class of 2019 and left for college at University of Alaska Southeast. He returned to town later that fall - just before...
