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Dr. Kayla Luhrs began working full time at Petersburg Medical Center as its fifth doctor in August. Luhrs had been working with PMC since 2018 as a locum physician, traveling back and forth between Juneau and Petersburg to fill in as needed. Then in March of this year, she came back to PMC, but decided to stay as the COVID-19 pandemic began to affect Alaska. "With the whole pandemic thing, we thought it would be easier if I just stayed instead of traveling," said Luhrs. She then signed a...
The Petersburg High School volleyball team went 3-0 against Wrangell in their first exhibition match of the season on Saturday, Oct. 10. "It was a great way to start off somewhat of a competition year as much as possible," said Head Coach Jaime Cabral. Typically at this point of the season, about one month in, the Vikings would have played about 15 matches, said Cabral, but the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented tournaments, skirmishes and travel from taking place. The Vikings had been playing...
The Petersburg High School swim team welcomed Wrangell High School to the Parks and Recreation's aquatic center on Saturday for both team's first in person swim meet of the season. It was just the two teams racing in person, but their times were compared to other high schools' times throughout the region. Head Coach Andy Carlisle said he doesn't know how well the Vikings did within the entire meet since he has yet to receive the times from the other schools. Just between the two teams, PHS came...
A plan that would have allowed in-person public participation at future assembly meetings failed in a 3-3 vote by the Borough Assembly at their meeting on Monday. Assembly members cited concerns over the possible spread of COVID-19 in the assembly chambers and the need to update the teleconference system as reasons for voting against the plan. Other assembly members felt it was time they returned to in-person meetings to give the public the chance to address them face-to-face. The plan to...
The Petersburg Medical Center staff member that tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday is thought to have contracted the virus locally, said Incident Commander Karl Hagerman at the COVID-19 community update on Friday, Oct. 2. The positive case of COVID-19 was detected during PMC's regular asymptomatic testing of its employees, said PMC Infection Prevention and Quality Manager Liz Bacom. The person immediately went into isolation and contract tracing has begun. "That gives us encouragement that...
Unofficial municipal election results show David Kensinger taking one of two 3-year term seats on the Borough Assembly, with Assembly Members Jeff Meucci and Brandi Thynes in a close race for the second seat. Kensinger had 573 votes in the unofficial results, which put him safely ahead of the other three candidates. Meucci has 497 votes and Thynes has 481 votes. There are still four questioned ballots that need to be added in the final number of votes. Plus, the borough has yet to receive 19...
The Borough Assembly extended its emergency non-congregate sheltering agreement with the Narrows Inn on Monday through the end of the year or until state health mandate #14 is rescinded. Non-congregate sheltering gives homeless populations, first responders and health care workers a safe place to quarantine while they're waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test or to isolate while they recover from the virus. "Hopefully we don't need it before the end of the year, but if we do, we'll be glad...
While one can still expect to wait in a long line at the Petersburg Post Office, residents won't have to wait upwards of an hour to retrieve a package now that customer service hours have increased to four hours a day Monday through Friday from 1 P.M. to 5 P.M. Earlier this summer, a long time postal employee retired and another employee resigned. That left Postmaster Kim Aulbach and one other employee with the bulk of the day-to-day duties. Customer service hours were cut back to two hours a...
Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Members discussed the challenges faced by staff at their second board meeting held on Oct. 1 as visitors to the aquatic center have reached record numbers in the weeks following its reopening. The board discussed several issues, including upcoming Halloween plans and facility upgrades, but a bulk of their discussion focused on the aquatic center. Board Members Brian Richards, Stephanie Hayes and Malena Marvin were in attendance. According to Borough Manager...
The Petersburg High School swim team had their first meet of the season on Sept. 25, and while it was held in the Parks and Recreation aquatic center, swimmers were able to compare their times with other schools in the region. The Vikings ended up placing third overall in the meet with a combined final score of 91, just behind Ketchikan High School in first and Sitka High School in second. Allie Morgan had the best weekend out of the Vikings. She took first place in the womens 200 yard IM with...
The Petersburg High School boys cross country team placed second in the Region V Division III Regional Championships held at Greens Camp last weekend. Uriah Lucas and Michael Durkin took first and second place in the boys race respectively. Head Coach Tom Thompson said Durkin set a new personal record at the meet with a time of 17:44.55 and managed to shave 40 seconds off his time. Although Lucas didn't set a personal record, he still ran a fast race, completing the course in 17:23.63. Thompson...
Petersburg Indian Association donated an SUV to Mountain View Food Services (MVFS) to replace the non-profit organization's unreliable delivery vehicle. The vehicle was purchased through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that was only available to tribes, said PIA Tribal Administrator Tracy Welch. There were limitations to what the grant could be used for, but PIA decided to use the grant to assist with elderly food service meals and deliveries in the community....
Petersburg School District switched over to a low risk level of operations, or green level, on Monday. Rae C. Stedman Elementary School will be in session from 8 A.M. to 1:45 P.M. in person Monday through Friday, said Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter at the COVID-19 community update on Friday, Sept. 25. Teachers will stay with their classes throughout the day and limit interaction with other teachers and pods. Students will still get recesses, lunch and other breaks while in school. Mitkof...
This year's borough assembly candidates took the stage on Sept. 24 to answer questions ranging from the borough's COVID-19 response to the tourism industry in this year's candidate forum. The candidates answered questions from representatives of KFSK and the Petersburg Pilot. Marc Martinsen, Dave Kensinger and incumbents Jeff Meucci and Brandi Thynes were each asked the same questions and had two minutes to respond. The order of the candidates changed with each question that was asked. The forum...
Mitkof Middle School was recognized as a 2020 National Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education for its overall academic performance. MMS was one of 367 schools nationwide that were selected for the award. Recipient schools were recognized for either their overall academic performance or progress in closing the achievement gap among students. The middle school was the last school in the Petersburg School District to receive the award. Petersburg High School was honored...
A mother bear and her three cubs were seen near Rae C. Stedman Elementary School on Tuesday, which put staff and teachers on high alert; however, Principal Heather Conn said in an email to parents that the students were safe throughout the day. "I wanted to let you all know the story behind what happened as I know that for some kiddos this was a scary event," said Conn in the email. "Some it was way cool, and some had no idea it even happened." At around 1:15 P.M. all the students were brought i...
The Petersburg High School boys cross country team finished second in the Capital City Invitational, their last meet of the season. The meet was held virtually with the cross country team running out at Greens Camp in preparation for the regional meet this weekend, which will be held in the same location. Uriah Lucas took second place in the meet with a time of 17:19. Valon Weathers and Chase Lister came in 12th and 13th place with final times of 18:58 and 19:01 respectively. Rylan Smith...
This year's moose harvest is on track to match 2018's harvest, with a combined moose count of 44 for Unit 3 and Unit 1B as of Wednesday, according to Fish and Game Area Biologist Frank Robbins. Around this time of the season in 2018, 42 moose were harvested in both units. The average moose count between 2014 and 2017 at about halfway through the season was 58. Last year's moose harvest broke the five year average with 64 moose harvested around the halfway point of the season. Overall, last...
A contractor at Southeast Alaska Power Agency's Tyee Lake hydroelectric facility accidentally entered an incorrect control system input, resulting in a power outage in Wrangell and Petersburg Saturday morning, said SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson. SEAPA staff were conducting a training session associated with recent control upgrades when the error was made. Tyee Lake generation was lost at 9:15 A.M. on Sept. 26, said Robert Siedman, an electrical engineer with SEAPA. Power was restored 25 minutes later...
During Southeast Alaska's record breaking rainfall this summer, the Swan Lake hydroelectric facility reached its full capacity for the first time since the project was upgraded three years ago, according to a press release from Sen. Bert Stedman's office and Southeast Alaska Power Agency. Water levels reached the flashboards and forced a reservoir spill on July 24. The upgrade expanded the capacity of the hydroproject from 86,000 acre-feet to 111,800 acre-feet, according to the press release. Th...
The borough assembly approved Ordinance #2020-19, which amends borough code chapter 3.72 to provide for civil emergency provisions, in its third reading on Monday after postponing the final vote by two months. The emergency ordinance transfers civil emergency provisions from the City of Petersburg Code to Petersburg Borough Code while adding language to guide local officials through an emergency. The additional language caused a division in the community and led the Borough Assembly to delay...
Although this year's Southeast Alaska salmon season produced a record low run, crabbers enjoyed the second highest summer harvest on record, according to Joe Stratman, lead crab biologist for region one with Petersburg Fish and Game. In Registration Area A, which includes all the inside waters of Southeast Alaska, 5.81 million pounds of Dungeness crab were harvested by 192 permit holders in the 2020 summer season. This year's summer season alone exceeded full season harvests for every previous...
Petersburg has gone 34 days since a case of COVID-19 was confirmed to be in the community. The last confirmed case of the virus was a non-resident who tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 14 and later recovered on Aug. 21. As of Wednesday, Sept. 23, Petersburg Medical Center reported 3,887 test samples have been collected to be tested for COVID-19 on site or at outside laboratories. Of those test samples collected, about 3,829 have returned negative and 45 are still pending. According to PMC, Ne...
For Kaleb Baird, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to hunt a billy from a secluded rocky mountain goat herd on the Cleveland Peninsula earlier this month. The hunt had been closed for about 16 years and only two tags were given out through a lottery system. About 150 people put their name in the hat for a chance to hunt the covenant herd and Baird's name was drawn. Now he is looking at a chance to set the record for the largest mountain goat taken down by a bow and arrow. "I'm...
The Petersburg High School boys cross country team took third place in a virtual meet on Saturday as the team ran alongside participants in this year's Rainforest Run. While both the boys and girls team ran the 10k course on Cabin Creek Rd., just their time for the first 5k was recorded and shared with other schools across the region. Haines took first place in the boys virtual meet, followed by Craig, Petersburg, Metlakatla, Klawock and Hydaburg, according to Head Coach Tom Thompson. However,...
