Sorted by date Results 726 - 750 of 911
Superintendent groundhog day To the Editor: On Thursday, Jan. 8 I attended the Petersburg School Board meeting. The school board decided, along with their attorney, to pay the now ex-superintendent Lisa Stroh through the end of June full salary and benefits and she doesn’t have to work a day for it. In the 20 plus years I have lived in Petersburg and the 30 years I have worked in education I have only had the pleasure of working with one superintendent that was an educational, innovative leader in the a district and that lasted for only 2 y...
Other school districts, or any other employer wishing to hire Dr. Lisa Stroh, should contact the Petersburg City School District for an employment reference and ask the question “was she fired or did she resign her position?” Parents of students, the residents of Petersburg and student body, as well as Stroh’s next employer, deserve a response to the question. We disagree with the payment of six months salary and benefits to the outgoing superintendent who apparently resigned voluntarily due to family medical reasons. Why would the Distr...
Keep Stroh To the Editor, Dear School Board, Upon arriving at school today we heard rumors that our new superintendent might be leaving (fired). Being members of the student body, we thought we had the right to put forth our opinion on the matter. Lisa Stroh has worked with us both on various school matters and when doing so she has not only been helpful but she has also put forth what the students want, regardless of her opinion, she has always put the students first. She listens to us and always takes in each students opinion, never simply...
Petersburg's Fedrelandet #23 Sons of Norway membership should take a bow. According to Rikke Saetermo who hails from Alta, Norway, Petersburg is more Norwegian than many communities in Norway. Saetermo (a visiting foreign exchange student) elaborated that Petersburg's version of Little Norway represents a time past in her home country. (See interview in last week's Petersburg Pilot) Saetermo explained, "It's old Norwegian. Norway is nothing like this at home, but I definitely see some old stuff...
The borough assembly is listening. Let them know if they should participate in the purchase of land at Papke’s Landing. Some feel the Assembly should walk away from the property purchase. Too many adjacent landowners could make development of the property dicey. Yet others say, yes. The purchase of upland lots will allow for additional parking for users of the launch ramp and dock. One couple wrote that Papke’s is a link to Mitkof Island for many Kupreanof Island residents. Given the relatively strong financial standing of the borough gov...
In favor of land acquisition To the Editor: The Petersburg Borough Assembly should make every effort to acquire Lots 5, 6 and 7 of the Seaduck Subdivision. The Papke’s Landing harbor facilities will become increasingly important to the whole community. If this facility were improved, it would get much more use by the people in Service Area 1. For boaters that can trailer their vessel and are headed to points south of Papke’s or to Tonka Landing, there is significant fuel savings and reduced boat wear and tear to launch at Papke’s. Also, at th...
To the Editor: I believe the Petersburg Borough should not involve itself in land acquisition at Papke’s Landing unless it is part of a plan to take over the ownership and management of the entire complex. At present, the dock, trestle, parking area and ramp are in a state of decline with no agency stepping forward to address upkeep, repair, or use management. Abandoned vehicles and trash litter the lot, the dock is falling apart, some treat the transient dock as their private property and the trestle is covered in fungus and nearly i...
The right to trial by jury developed over centuries in England beginning with Viking raiders. Trial by jury was a concession the English barons extracted from King John in 1215 in the Magna Carta. On July 4, 1776, members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence, declaring that the United States of America was dissolving its “political bands” with Great Britain because King George III had denied the colonists their rights as British citizens, including “in many cases, the benefits of trial by jury.” Benjamin Frankli...
To the Editor: I was fortunate to be able to attend the 102nd Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood Grand Camp convened in Petersburg. I would like to thank the Petersburg Alaska Native Sisterhood President Brenda Louise for contacting me throughout the year asking for friendly advice on preparing for the convention. Ms. Brenda Louise also acted on behalf of the Alaska Native Sisterhoods in her role as the 2nd Vice President to the Grand Camp. Ms. Louise did an outstanding job making sure there was housing for the delegates,...
To the Editor: Thank you so much to all for the hospitality from the community who the delegates came upon or were able to be part of at the ANB and ANS Grand Camp Convention. As the driver for them I was able to hear the words of what a wonderful and beautiful town we have and they felt as if they were at home with caring, beautiful and respectful people of our community. Ray Ochoa, Sergeant at Arms, Camp 16...
And the contract goes to . . . Viking Lumber. Hoooooray! It’s wonderful to witness in this day and age a Prince of Wales Island sawmill win the Big Thorne stewardship contract. The mill has survived the industry’s ups and downs, and with a continuing supply of timber, will continue to process logs in southern Southeast Alaska. The sale is designed to provide timber as soon as possible to the mill. The initial small volume of timber will be followed by two smaller volumes to be announced later. This contract should help to secure the mil...
Seniors not wanted To the Editor: The upcoming election contains a number of tax propositions directed at our elderly population. The harshest most egregious of these is proposition 4. This tax law is not a law recommended by the tax committee. I repeat “not’’. It is to all appearances, a law made up by the three people that were recently on the radio, promoting it. By the way not one advocate for the elderly was on this program and the entire law was not put before the public. Kudos to our Mayor the only Assembly member to call in (He is vo...
In addition to selecting members for the Borough Assembly, school board, hospital board and other boards and commissions, voters will determine the fate of six ballot propositions. We encourage the passage of proposition 1 which exempts municipal officers and elected officials from the State financial disclosure law. While some borough elected officials found the law easy to comply with, others refused to file for elective office because of the requirement. Petersburg has been exempt from the law’s requirements for decades and it has caused n...
Study finds youth who have used e-cigarettes are likely to smoke conventional cigarettes To the Editor: More than a quarter of a million youth who had never smoked a cigarette used electronic cigarettes in 2013, according to a CDC study published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research. This number reflects a three-fold increase, from about 79,000 in 2011, to more than 263,000 in 2013. The increasing number of young people who use e-cigarettes should be a concern for parents and the public health community, especially since youth e-cigaret...
Trimming trees would improve outdoor experience To the Editor: I like trees but I think its time to start thinning out some of the jungle that is now covering Mitkof Island. We used to have a beautiful cemetery that was such a scenic spot to view from boats going by. Because of high trees blocking sunlight the once beautiful lawn is now never dry and moss has taken over. One now cannot use the benches for taking in the spectacular views because of the advancing jungle. Wrangell Narrows is one of the most scenic waterways on earth but unless you...
Let your voice be hard To the Editor: I’m writing to remind people who are concerned about the proposed Kake-to-Petersburg road that the comments deadline for this stage of the process is September 30th. There are a number of reasons City of Kupreanof residents don’t want a road that might actually violate our local ordinance and ingress into our community, but we believe residents on the other side of the Narrows ought to be concerned, too. The waterfront opposite Petersburg would be forever altered. State roads are not skinny little tra...
To the Editor: True Tongass ‘transition’ would increase local jobs per log cut. In its latest statement on the direction of the much-awaited Tongass transition, the Forest Service says the future is now for the Tongass National Forest. We couldn’t agree more, and we’re happy to see the agency working with local people to chart a course toward a more prosperous and sustainable future for Southeast Alaskan communities. But if local stakeholder consensus is the goal, the Forest Service’s decision to include industrial-scale old-growth timber sa...
Leikarring dance performance To the Editor: Thursday, July 31, as a passenger aboard the American Spirit at the Petro Dock, I was privileged to enjoy a performance by your Leikarring Dancers. As a retired educator from Florida, I have seen "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." Thursday, I saw only the good of these wonderful kids. I said that night, and I say it here, again: "If these kids are the future of Petersburg, then the future of Petersburg is as bright as the sun that shown down on us that day." Tom Welsh Salisbury, Md....
Library Programming To the Editor: Thank you to everyone for your support and understanding as we continue to grow into our new facility and redesign our community programming. There seem to be a few misperceptions about the age ranges for some of the programs that we would like to clarify. The Amazing Rainforest Race is actually open to all ages, and everyone is encouraged to sign up. The Children's Storytime on Thursdays at 2 pm is for all children ages 3 to 7, and the science classes are open for kids grades 1-8 (2014-15). The Reading...
Ravens Roost Trail opens To the Editor: On Monday evening my dogs and I were able to enjoy our first “official” walk up the completed first leg of Petersburg’s brand new Raven Trail, located between Sandy Beach Park and Ravens Roost Trail. As luck would have it we bumped into the project’s manager Brad Hunter, USFS Petersburg Ranger District Recreation /Wilderness Staff Officer, as he and his wife Sharon made his final inspection and had the opportunity to personally thank him for a job well done. Most of us realize it takes years of dedicat...
Disappointed with Borough Assembly To the Editor: I am very disappointed in the Petersburg Borough Assembly's decision making. Our hospital is as important to us as the fire department and the library and not asking for near as much support. Being the hospital landlord, it just stands to reason that the Borough is responsible for the upkeep when the hospital needs help. I think some of the assembly members are confused about senior citizens, too. Some of us are dependent on Social Security and not of the independent wealthy group. Maybe some...
The Petersburg Medical Center board and their hospital administrator continue their push to have their cake and eat it too. While they want to maintain their autonomy from borough oversight, they want the borough assembly to open the purse strings and fund capital projects for the facility. We don’t think that’s going to happen and we side with the assembly majority who denied PMC’s funding assistance at the most recent assembly meeting. The PMC board had requested $21,900 to repair a leaking exhaust stack. Up to this point, PMC has paid for r...
Keep moving, Petersburg To the Editor: Petersburg Mental Health staff is grateful for the generous people that made the second annual Pedometer Challenge happen. We couldn't have done it without Mark Kubo’s amazing tracking skills, Erin Michael and Colleen Jaeger at Public Health serving as the distribution center, local businesses (Hammer and Wikan and Skate of Gear) for their contribution, and the Petersburg Indian Association for providing amazing grand prizes. Thanks to you and to all the participants. Petersburg's entire step count during...
Recently, a reader suggested we should just print news about Petersburg in this newspaper. He was concerned about coverage of a court case that was published in both the Petersburg Pilot and the Wrangell Sentinel. Both newspapers printed several reports of the incident as charges were filed and the case moved through the judicial system. The writer suggested that we participated in mudslinging. We printed the public record that came from prosecutors and the court system. Both newspapers print the court news regularly. We never considered those...
