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The Petersburg Medical Center is recovering since the most recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Petersburg according to PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter. The number of cases across the State of Alaska began to climb in July of 2021 and hundreds of new cases are still being reported each day. The case count is causing high alert levels in many boroughs and census areas statewide according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services' COVID-19 Dashboard and the state activated its crisis standard of...
The active COVID-19 case count in Petersburg rose to 11 Wednesday according to the Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard. The count is up from the five reported on October 20 with six new positives in the last seven days. According to the dashboard, the risk level to both the Petersburg School District and the Petersburg Medical Center is moderate. The school district has continue to enforce universal masking and contact tracing is underway. 67.38% of Petersburg Borough residents are fully vaccinated...
The Petersburg Medical Center reported 15 new cases of COVID-19 Monday, one of the highest recorded in a single day, bringing the total active case count to 30. Community spread is occurring and PMC is asking people to follow mitigation recommendations. 28 of the 30 cases were identified within the past seven days according to the Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard. 67.6% of Petersburg Borough residents are fully vaccinated according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services Vaccine... Full story
There are now 5 active cases of COVID-19 in Petersburg as of Wednesday according to the Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard. The count is down 14 cases since the Petersburg Medical Center last put out a press release on October 11. The dashboard labels both PMC and the Petersburg School District risk levels as moderate. The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reported 830 new cases of COVID-19 in the state Tuesday. There were also 19 new resident hospitalizations and eight Alaska resident...
The Borough Assembly walked through each of the six maps being considered by the Alaska Redistricting Board during Tuesday's meeting and discussed each map's affects on Petersburg. The districts are redrawn every decade based off data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. Each of the 40 districts must be socioeconomically integrated, reasonably compact, contiguous, and have an approximately equal number of people. This year that number is 18,335 per district. Members from the Alaska...
The Petersburg School Board discussed COVID-19's continued impact on the school during Tuesday's meeting. The majority of students have returned to in-person learning according to Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter. Classes were moved online on September 28 after several cases were reported among students and staff at Mitkof Middle School and Petersburg High School. The schools reopened on October 5, but some students remain in quarantine because of close contacts. "It's been a relatively normal...
The Petersburg Medical Center reported 16 active cases of COVID-19 Wednesday after several cases were cleared by Public Health. Seven new cases were recorded Monday, two of which were diagnosed in Petersburg while five cases were identified among Petersburg residents visiting another Alaskan community. PMC says there is concern of significant community spread in Petersburg, especially from gatherings where people are not masking or social distancing. Both the PMC and school risk levels are...
The Petersburg School Board reviewed the results of Performance Evaluation for Alaska's Schools (PEAKS) tests Tuesday during a report given by Testing Coordinator Bridget Wittstock. The PEAKS tests were not conducted in the spring of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they returned in the spring of 2021. According to Wittstock, the State of Alaska expanded the window for testing to allow for as many tests to be taken as possible, but only about 64% of the eligible population participated....
The Petersburg School District purchased a 2021 Honda Pilot EX-L according to a report from Director of Facilities and Maintenance Aaron Buller. The car serves to replace the school’s Ford Explorer which was on its last leg and finally broke down. According to Buller the vehicle’s transmission is shot and the school was recommended replace it rather than fix it because of its age and worth. The vehicle is used for student transport and mail runs and has been used for driver’s education in the past according to Buller. The board approved the p...
WRANGELL - Ann Hilburn began learning American Sign Language for an elective course in college, thinking it would benefit her aspirations of becoming a nurse. That class led her to change her career field entirely. “I had just fallen in love with sign language,” she said. She’s passing that love on to a dozen Wrangell High School students taking her class for their foreign language requirement. Hilburn is new to the district this year. It is a language unto itself, 17-year-old senior Caleb Garcia-Rangel observed, which people unfamiliar with...
Students and staff at Petersburg High School and Mitkof Middle School returned to the school Tuesday after moving online last week according to an update from the school district. The Petersburg School District Health Advisory Team met Friday to assess the level of community spread of COVID-19 and the impacts on positive cases within the school and close contacts. Though staffing levels were tight, the school believed in-person learning could continue at Stedman Elementary School and resume at...
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter gave an update to the Borough Assembly during Monday's meeting on the current COVID-19 situation at the hospital. During the current outbreak beginning on September 20, the hospital had recorded 54 total positive cases with 35 cases considered active at the time of the meeting according to Hofstetter. As of Wednesday that number has dropped to 31 active cases. "Encouraging facilities to mask inside, distance, and vaccines, obviously are a way out of...
Infection Prevention and Quality Manager Liz Bacom gave a presentation during Thursday's Petersburg Medical Center Hospital Board meeting on the status of the COVID-19 outbreak in the community. At the time of the board meeting there were 19 cases of COVID-19. That number has climbed to 32 as of Wednesday. Bacom's report included details on how the virus has spread, age demographics of positive cases, testing information, and contact tracing. Of the then 19 cases, one was travel related and...
Carey Case Age: 47 What experience do you have? I have served as board member and president of two local non-profits - Petersburg Children's Center, and WAVE. As board president I helped establish goals and policies, hired executive directors, approved annual budgets, and ensured compliance with internal policies and State and Federal laws and regulations. Why do you seek public office? I believe in public service and that investing in our kids and educators is a key component to building a stro...
The Petersburg School District announced Tuesday that classes at Mitkof Middle School and Petersburg High School would be held remotely for the remainder of the week because of COVID-19 cases in the district. Students spent the morning half of Tuesday in person before being sent home. PSD Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter announced on the school’s website that multiple cases have been reported among staff and students. The school is also involved with contact tracing, as directed by Public Health, which has become challenging with the rise i...
The Petersburg Medical Center reported seventeen positive cases of COVID-19 Wednesday while several tests are currently pending. Contract tracing has been initiated by Public Health and it is believed that community spread is most likely the avenue of transmission for some cases. The Petersburg School District also reported that several students have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and the district has entered red status. Universal masking was reintroduced and after school practices were...
The Petersburg Medical Center reported 28 positive COVID-19 cases Tuesday morning with 24 test results pending. Two cases were identified over the weekend and seven were reported Monday while one case is no longer active. The Petersburg School District release a statement Tuesday morning announcing Mitkof Middle School and Petersburg High School will move to remote learning for the rest of the day. Stedman Elementary School remains in person. School officials are conducting contact tracing for... Full story
The Petersburg School Board voted to amend COVID-19 regulations set by the district's Moderate Risk Plan during Tuesday's meeting. The amendment eased the school's masking policy and made changes to color designations, travel policy, and quarantine rules outlined in the plan. The amendment passed with a vote of 4-1 with Cheryl File opposed. Most of the changes were made to the yellow status of the Moderate Risk Plan. Indoor masking is required for all K-12 students regardless of vaccination...
WRANGELL — Social distancing and masking requirements will continue to stay in place at Wrangell public schools. At the school board meeting on Monday night, Superintendent Bill Burr updated board members on a change in some language in the district’s COVID-19 mitigation plan, but students and staff will still be required to wear masks and stay apart. The board in August agreed to review the mitigation plan and masking requirement monthly. “There were a few additions we had to [the mitigation plan],” Burr said Monday, which will ease the tes...
The Petersburg Medical Center reported eight new cases of COVID-19 Monday bringing the total number of active cases to nine along with several tests currently pending. Contract tracing has been initiated by Public Health and it is believed that community spread is most likely the avenue of transmission for some cases. The Petersburg School District also reported that several students have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and the district has entered red status. Universal masking was... Full story
The Petersburg School District held its first week of in person school with COVID-19 guidelines in effect. Approximately 430 students are expected to be attending school this year as some children are still anticipated to arrive in Petersburg. They have already made it one week without issues according to Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter "The first week was great, and kids were happy to be back, and we were happy to have them here," Kludt-Painter said. "We're off to a pretty good start." The...
It took freedom of information requests, weeks of queries to administrators and more than three months past a legal deadline for Governor Dunleavy to finally release his choice for a Board of Fisheries seat. Dunleavy announced last Friday his appointment of INDY Walton of Soldotna to fill the vacant seat on the seven-member Board that directs management of subsistence, personal use, sport and commercial fisheries in state waters out to three miles. The vacancy came 115 days after the Alaska Legislature on May 11 rejected his choice of Abe...
The Petersburg School District started its new school year on Tuesday amid regulations brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. On that foggy morning, many parents chose to come in person to drop off their children on the first day of school. As the kids gathered around the school, they played on swing sets and shot hoops on the basketball court before being grouped up by their classes. Though this may have resembled an ordinary start to the school year, the impacts and challenges brought on by the...
Breakthrough COVID-19 cases found in Alaska April 30 Between Feb. 1 and March 31, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services identified 152 positive cases of COVID-19 among people in the state who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a report from DHSS. About 74 percent of the vaccine breakthrough cases, or 112 individuals, were among people who had received the Pfizer vaccine, according to the report. Thirty-eight percent of the breakthrough cases had received the Moderna... Full story
The Petersburg School District has hired seven new teachers for this upcoming school year as the schools seek in person instruction under the new COVID-19 protocols. Dustin Crump will be teaching Spanish and PE at Petersburg High School and Computer Science at Mitkof Middle School. He is originally from North Carolina and attended the University of North Carolina at Wilmington where he earned a bachelor of arts in Spanish. His wife is from Petersburg and after their wedding, they moved to...
