Sorted by date Results 1883 - 1907 of 6799
A local resident who has recently traveled has tested positive for COVID-19, which is the first case reported in at least the last seven days, according to a joint press release issued Wednesday between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The individual has been quarantining since their arrival in town while waiting for the results of their COVID-19 test. The individual is currently in isolation, and the Public Health Office has been contacted. The community risk level...
Alaska's disaster declaration, which was used to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, expired on Sunday after the state legislature and Gov. Mike Dunleavy failed to extend the declaration. Petersburg's Emergency Operations Center Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said some local health mandates are unaffected, but other local mandates are suspended until the Borough Assembly can update them on Monday. With the absence of a disaster declaration, Dunleavy issued four health advisories on Feb. 14...
Petersburg Medical Center administered a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Feb. 11 to residents who received their first dose on Jan. 14, said PMC Director of Nursing Jennifer Bryner at the COVID-19 community update on Feb. 12. About 350 residents received their second dose of the vaccine on Feb. 11. An additional 50 doses were also administered to first time receivers during the vaccine clinic, said Bryner. Those that received their first dose on Feb. 11 will get their second shot on...
Dave and Sally Riemer were students at Shaker Heights High School in Ohio when they had their first date in 1952. The two had attended a choir picnic together, but looking back, Sally said the most memorable aspect of that day was the 1931 Ford Model A that Dave picked her up in. "He had to crank it up," said Sally. Dave was a junior in high school when the couple had their first date, and Sally was one year behind him. After graduation, they both attended colleges in different states and their...
The Deck Out Our Deck organizers just raised $5,374 through a raffle fundraiser on Feb. 14, which brings the project closer to the approximately $112,000 needed to build a covered deck at Mountain View Manor. A thousand tickets were sold to raffle off nine handmade quilts. As each ticket was drawn, each winner was able to take their pick of the quilts that had not yet been chosen. Sally Dwyer, the organizer of the fundraiser, said all the funds will go towards the Deck Out Our Deck project. The...
Rae C. Stedman Elementary School will begin offering special education preschool beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter told the Petersburg School Board at their meeting on Feb. 9. The program will be offered to special education students between three and five years old. Their enrollment in the program will be free, but others can join the program for a fee. Kludt-Painter said the fee would ensure the program isn't competing with established preschools in the...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska State Troopers have identified two people killed in last week's crash of a small plane in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Pilot Christopher Maize, 45, of Anchorage and Glennallen and 36-year-old Andrew Broders of Washington state died in the Feb. 4 crash, authorities said. The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center was notified just when an emergency locator transmitter was activated in the Cessna 185. The aircraft, which also carried U.S. mail, was flying from Gulkana to McCarthy. The plane fell in a r...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Tuesday she knows her vote to convict former President Donald Trump during his recent Senate impeachment trial could have political consequences, “but I can't be afraid of that.” If the people of Alaska decide that “because I did not support my party that I can no longer serve them in the United States Senate, then so be it,” Murkowski told reporters during a visit to the state Capitol. She also said that if the state Republican Party decides to censure her for her vote, “th...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) _ Three rural Alaska communities have launched a pilot program intended to create more culturally sensitive protocols on how government and law enforcement should respond to cases with missing or slain Alaska Natives. The Curyung Native Council in Dillingham, the Native Village of Unalakleet and the Koyukuk Native Village have launched the program, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska said in a statement. The three will work with state agencies to create a Tribal Community Response Plan that will...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) _ Alaska lawmakers, facing a looming deadline and disorganization in the House, have asked Gov. Mike Dunleavy to issue a new disaster declaration to aid the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic despite legal questions surrounding his authority to act. Dunleavy is "evaluating the options and will make an announcement soon," Jeff Turner, a spokesperson for the governor, said by email. In a statement late Friday, Dunleavy said in the absence of a declaration, "my...
There are 30 active cases of COVID-19 in Petersburg as of 3 P.M. Tuesday, all of which were reported in the last six days, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The current active cases are predominately symptomatic and were infected through community spread, according to the press release. Public health officials are investigating the active cases, but contact tracing is proving difficult. Cases first started to appear in town Thursday,... Full story
The Emergency Operations Center has increased the local risk of COVID-19 spread to red, following 13 new active cases identified in the last four days, according to a joint press release from Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The EOC is currently reporting 16 active cases in the community. Of the current active cases, 11 are considered to be community spread, according to the press release. Those infected with COVID-19 are both symptomatic and asymptomatic, and two infected... Full story
Petersburg COVID-19 case count has risen by six cases since Monday evening for a total of 26 active cases, according to the Emergency Operations Center COVID-19 Dashboard. Twenty-four of the active cases are currently in Petersburg, while the remaining two cases are infected residents who are outside of the community, according to Incident Commander Karl Hagerman at a special Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday. The EOC issued a CodeRed alert Monday evening to make the community aware of the... Full story
A motion to terminate the local face masking mandate failed at an assembly meeting on Monday after assembly members declined to second the motion. Assembly Taylor Norheim requested the action item be on Monday's agenda and made the motion to terminate Public Health Mandate #8. The motion failed to gain a second, which prevented a discussion and vote on terminating the mask mandate. The mask mandate was put in place by the Borough Assembly in November and will remain in place until the assembly...
The Petersburg School Board approved the academic calendar for the 2021-2022 school year at their meeting on Tuesday that takes a more traditional approach to the school year. Under the approved calendar, school begins on Aug. 31 for students and ends on June 2. Christmas break will be two weeks long, and spring break will continue to be one week long in the middle of March. The Petersburg School District also scheduled in-service days for teachers near other holidays, like Labor Day, to extend...
A pre-hire employee for the 2021 tanner and golden king crab season at OBI Seafoods has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center on Monday. The individual tested positive during the cannery's asymptomatic testing of all incoming employees, according to a press release from OBI Seafoods. The person is currently asymptomatic and is in isolation. Employees that may have come into contact with the infected individual...
The Borough Assembly unanimously approved an ordinance in its first reading that reestablishes user fees at the Parks and Recreation Center and allows anyone under the age of 18 to use the facility for free. Ordinance #2021-03 groups all users into two categories and establishes three types of fees. Those under the age of 18 are free to use the facility without payment, according to the ordinance. Those over the age of 18 either pay $5 per visit, $300 for an annual pass or $48 for a punch pass...
The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department responded to a call on Feb. 9 about smoke emitting from a dryer in a home at a location on Scow Bay Loop Rd. A volunteer firefighter who was near the scene was the first to respond to the call and turned off the dryer, said Dave Berg. The smoke immediately began to dissipate. Responding officers with the PVFD called off other responding volunteer firefighters, as there wasn't a threat of fire in the home. The heat was contained within the dryer and didn't...
Mechanical issues on the M/V Matanuska have cancelled the ferry's sailings between Feb. 10 and 23, according to a press release from the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities. DOT anticipates the M/V Matanuska to resume its scheduled southbound trip to Ketchikan on Feb. 24. Meanwhile, the M/V LeConte will be covering the traffic between Southeast Alaska ports that are affected by the cancellation, including Petersburg....
The Borough Assembly supported a letter to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities that requests the state install street lights on Papke's Landing Rd. at all locations that serve as a bus stop. Assembly Member Jeff Meuci requested the agenda after residents on Papke's Landing Rd. sought his help in drafting a letter to the state. Meucci said he didn't help write the letter, which is signed by Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht, but showed his support for street lights on...
Petersburg Incident Commander Karl Hagerman apologized at the COVID-19 community update on Friday for the borough's use of the CodeRED system on Jan. 29 that encouraged residents to put their names on Petersburg Medical Center's waitlist to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. "There was some concern that the system shouldn't have been used for that," said Hagerman. "We're listening to that. A lot of that had to do with the text of the message. We wanted people to sit up and take notice, but I think...
On February 5, Alaska State Troopers in Ketchikan, along with the Ketchikan Police Department, Ketchikan Airport Police, and Juneau DEA conducted a joint operation to disrupt the flow of illicit narcotics into Southeast Alaska. During the operation, 27-year-old Hydaburg resident Annette Dilts was contacted at the Ketchikan International Airport by law enforcement. During the contact and subsequent search of her person, Dilts was found to be internally body carrying 250 gross grams of suspected black tar heroin and approximately 206 suspected...
A new audio system is being installed in the Assembly Chambers this week, which Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson said will improve remote assembly meetings and open the door to in-person meetings on a limited basis. The Borough Assembly approved resolution #2020-18 at their Oct. 20 meeting that was a sole source contract to Chariot Group for the design and installation of a new multimedia audio system. The new system cost $39,970 and was paid for with the borough's Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and...
About 100 residents gathered in front of the Trading Union on Jan. 24 for the second annual local March for Life event, according to organizers Tim Wilkinson and Kurt Wohlhueter. As the group marched towards the Municipal Building, they held and waved signs in support of their belief that life begins at conception. At two intersections the crowd came to a stop and prayed. Wilkinson led the prayer at the intersection of N. Nordic Dr. and Excel St., while Don Bieber gathered the group together...
Two active cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in town this week, according to the Emergency Operations Center. The first case was identified on Monday after an incoming traveler had a tested sample collected at the Petersburg Airport, which later came back positive for the virus, according to a joint press release between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The individual had been in quarantine since arriving in Petersburg, and the EOC had determined the case presented a...
