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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 Legislature adjourned on time last month, a nice change from past special sessions that got in the way of summer fishing, watching baseball, eating anything off the grill (except eggplant) and sitting outdoors in the sun doing nothing. Lawmakers settled on a healthy and wealthy but not necessarily wise dividend that will put $12,800 into the hands of a family of four this fall. As expected months ago, that single issue consumed the largest amount of political negotiating in the Legislatures final days. House and Senate members also passed...
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...
WRANGELL — Anyone who wants to get a pizza midweek at the Marine Bar or a steak or burger at the Elks Lodge knows that worker shortages have forced employers to reduce their days and cut back on offerings. “This worker shortage is real, and it’s not going away anytime soon,” Dan Robinson, research chief at the Alaska Department of Labor, told legislators last month. “For nine years in a row, more people have left the state than have come here,” he told the Senate Finance Committee. The population has been stable as births have outpaced de...
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...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously voted to create a task force focused on addressing child care challenges in Petersburg and finding sustainable solutions during Monday's meeting. The creation of the Early Childhood Education Task Force came as a result of the ongoing discussions of child care needs in the community which identified issues with retention and recruitment of employees and the lack of availability of child care for families. Assembly Member Jeff Meucci opened by saying...
A note of thanks To the Editor: We’d like to recognize everybody who contributed to the Welcome Back Vietnam Warriors: starting out with Home Health, Petersburg Medical Center for putting on the breakfast on the morning of the 29th. The Moose got into it by doing hamburger night for all veterans. Then after the ceremony the Elks put out finger foods for all the Vietnam Vets. Also thank you to the Petersburg School District for the use of the gym, and Jamie Cabral, Dino Brock, Jim Engell and the baseball team for helping set up the gym and t...
WASHINGTON - Alaska Rep. Don Young, the longest-serving Republican in U.S. House history, will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, March 29, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Monday. Young, 88, a blunt-speaking politician known for his brusque style, died last Friday. He was first elected to the U.S. House in 1973 He was reelected in 2020 to serve his 25th term and was running this year for another term. A special election will be held this summer to fill the seat. Pelosi's office...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly hosted a work session Wednesday evening to discuss child care needs in the community and ways the borough could be involved in helping find sustainable solutions for providers and families. Child care challenges have been discussed recently at the assembly level, a Community Café hosted by the SHARE Coalition, an ARPA work session, and other public meetings with issues including child care staff recruitment and retention, availability and costs for families, and...
The Petersburg School Board unanimously approved a move to optional masking in all buildings during its board meeting Tuesday night as case counts decrease and vaccinations and tests become more accessible. The new protocols will be implemented when staff and students return from spring break on March 21 and while masking will be optional, all other mitigation strategies including quarantine and testing protocols will remain in place. The Petersburg School District has required universal...
March 10, 1922 The pupils of the first and second grades received a vacation on Friday owing to the illness of Miss Edna Miller, teacher in that room. While Miss Miller is not seriously ill, her indisposition worked for the benefit of the kids and they enjoyed the day to the utmost. March 14, 1947 Authority has been received by Colonel L.H. Hewitt, district engineer, Seattle district, Corps of Engineers, to commence work on The Wrangell Narrows, Alaska. The Wrangell Narrows project consists of dredging approximately 16,000 cubic yards of ledge...
An award-winning film chronicling the Metlakatla boys basketball team's run to the 2018 state championship will make its Petersburg big screen debut next week. "Alaskan Nets" plays at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 3, at Wright Auditorium. Tickets are $20. Californian Jeff Harasimowicz, director and producer of the documentary film, said he got the idea in 2017 when he was scrolling sports stories, which he loves, on ESPN.com and came across a 2016 photo story by photojournalist Samuel Wilson about...
A COVID-19 outbreak at the Mountain View Manor Assisted Living Facility has resulted in at least 12 positive cases as of Wednesday afternoon according to Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht. Of the 12 cases, four are unvaccinated and eight are vaccinated according to Mountain View Manor administrator Shelyn Bell. There has also been one fatality where COVID-19 may have been a contributing factor. The large outbreak, which has affected both residents and staff, has prompted testing and other...
Parks and Recreation has distributed community center membership passes to borough board members and to the staff of nonprofit child care providers as a way to thank them for their service to the community. The idea to give passes to board members was suggested to Parks and Recreation Director Stephanie Payne who said it could serve as a way for the borough to show its appreciation for the service people provide by serving on those boards. She discussed it with Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht w...
