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Following the Little Norway Festival, Petersburg has reported two new cases of COVID-19, according to joint press releases from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The first positive case was reported on May 15. The individual was a non-resident who had traveled to Petersburg earlier in the week and tested positive for COVID-19 at the James A. Johnson Airport, according to a joint press release. The results of the COVID-19 test came back after the infected individual had...
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter said at the COVID-19 community update on May 14 that kids as young as 12 years old had received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at a small vaccination clinic that same day. An advisory committee within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted in favor of recommending the Pfizer vaccination to children as young as 12 years old just two days before. The vaccine had previously been available for children 16 years old and older....
An ordinance that would have asked voters if they wanted to impose term limits on Borough Assembly members was struck down by the Borough Assembly at their Monday meeting in a 6-1 vote. Ordinance #2021-10 would have limited assembly members to two consecutive full terms; however, following a break in service of at least one full term, the individual could again seek reelection. Following the two full terms of service, the assembly member could also serve as mayor for one term but would have to t...
Although the Petersburg Division of Motor Vehicles location is only opened two days each week, and the Wrangell location is opened three days a week, Kay Hanke, a public information officer with the Alaska Department of Administration (DOA), said DMV staff are able to sufficiently meet the demand for services. In 2019, the Petersburg office processed 3,688 transactions, and the Wrangell office processed 2,608 transactions, said Hanke. In addition to in-person services, the public has access to m...
Just before the start of the Little Norway Festival parade at 4 P.M. on May 14, four pilots flew float planes over the downtown area in remembrance of aviation pioneer John "Butch" Williams, who operated Kupreanof Flying Service in Petersburg. Before Williams passed away on July 31, 2020, he entrusted his aircraft N9950N, a 1975 Cessna 180 known as "Puddle Jumper," to his longtime friend David Doyon Sr., according to David Doyon Jr. in a letter to the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce. Williams...
The winners The top Chamber of Commerce raffle winner of $1,500 was Sandy Volk. The second place prize of $500 went to Heidi Lee. Shopping cart race results: 10-13 year old bracket: Tyson Reid. 19-64 year old bracket: Alex. The 65 years and older bracket: Dave Berg. Lil' Fisk Derby: Braelyn Caulum Little Norway "Lop the Loop" Run/Walk: Biking first place: Cadence Flint. Biking second place: Ariel Tucker. Biking third place: Frey Tucker. Running first place women: Ginger Evens. Running second...
Petersburg High School seniors will again be sitting in the back of trucks and hanging out of car windows while the public cheers them on as they make their way through town as part of this year's graduation parade, which will follow an in-person graduation event on Monday, May 24. The graduation festivities will begin on Thursday, May 20, with the virtual, local scholarship awards ceremony. Residents and businesses will record videos of themselves presenting the scholarships to the recipients...
When Lydia Martin got her admission letter from Columbia University, she didn't open it right away. She had just been turned down by two other universities and couldn't take anymore disappointment. Then the following day during first period, she decided to read the university's response which told her she got in. "It was really surprising," said Martin, who will be entering the Ivy League university in New York as an earth science major. "I had been holding out a bit of hope to get in obviously....
The Petersburg High School Class of 2021 will be receiving their diplomas in a ceremony similar to years past. Although this class of graduating seniors is made up of just 28 students, PHS Principal Rick Dormer said they're a class that is bound to do great things in the future. In 2020, 36 seniors graduated from PHS, and about 40 graduated the year before that. The larger classes easily made their presence known in the high school. But the 2021 class is different. Dormer said this year's...
The Borough Assembly and Petersburg Medical Center Board of Directors held a work session on May 5 to discuss the next steps in the hospital's goal of building a new facility. Following the completion of a master plan document, PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter said the project would move forward in phases as the hospital works to secure funding in the form of grants. The immediate next steps include conducting a geotechnical study, selecting a location to build the hospital and creating a shovel-ready...
Due to faulty postmark equipment at the Petersburg Post Office, local mail is now being processed in Juneau before reaching their in-town destinations, according to James Boxrud, a spokesperson with the United States Postal Service. Because the postmark equipment is so outdated, parts are no longer available to make it operational again. Boxrud said the current equipment will not be replaced, so from now on, all mail, including packages, will be postmarked in Juneau before being processed for...
One new positive case COVID-19 was identified by the Petersburg Medical Center on Tuesday, bringing the local active case count to four, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and PMC. The positive case was travel related and was the only confirmed case identified in the last week. On May 4 and 5, three individuals within a single household tested positive for COVID-19. Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said all four currently active cases of the virus were related to out...
A local resident anonymously reported to the Pilot on Wednesday having experienced a gastrointestinal bug that was affecting at least four other people. The individual said the illness began with severe vomiting, but soon progressed to diarrhea, gas, fever and muscle aches. According to the individual, they had tested negative for COVID-19, but was made aware by Petersburg Medical Center they were likely experiencing a gastrointestinal bug. Liz Bacom, PMC's infection prevention and quality...
Cannery workers at Trident Seafoods are asked to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to work this season, while Tonka Seafoods is leaving that decision up to their employees. "Like last year, we are making the health and safety of our employees, fishermen, and community members our top priority," said Shannon Carroll, a representative of Trident Seafoods, in an email to the Pilot. He said both resident and non-resident employees will have to be fully vaccinated to work at the plant. Through...
The Petersburg School Board approved a two percent salary increase over the 2020-2021 school year for classified staff returning for the 2021-2022 school year at their meeting on Tuesday. "It's been a hard year I'm sure for some of them, and we're appreciative of the hard work that they've done this year and as well as the anticipation of them returning in the fall, " said School Board President Sarah Holmgrain. Talks between the Petersburg School District and the Petersburg District Support...
The Petersburg High School baseball team saw their first win ever against Sitka High School, and their first win of the season, during a series of games that were held at home on May 7 and 8. "We've never beaten Sitka before, so to come out and beat their varsity says a lot about our program," said Head Coach Jim Engell. "It says that we're a competitive program. We knew that about ourselves. We just finally put it all together, and it clicked for us." The previous weekend, PHS had played...
The Petersburg High School track and field team competed in their second meet of the season in Juneau on May 7 and 8, and again, several of the Vikings took top spots in their events. "The kids did great," said Assistant Coach Alice Cumps. "We always want them to do really well against other kids, but we also like to see the personal growth." PHS senior Aiden Luhr placed first place in the high jump, jumping five feet, eight inches. Behind him in second place was freshman Valon Weathers, who...
"Ephemeral," an award winning documentary by local filmmaker Kelly Bakos, will be making its television debut on KTOO 360TV over a four day period next week. The film will first air on May 20 at 8:22 P.M., then on May 22 at 10:22 P.M. and on May 23 at 9:22 P.M., according to a press release. KTOO 360TV, which can be viewed on GCI's PBS channel 15, can reach over one million viewers in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and beyond. Bakos' film, "Ephemeral," documents the creation and lifespan of natural ar...
Walkers, runners and bikers now have a new bench to stop and catch their breath on as they make their way along the 1.7 mile long Scow Bay Bike Path. The original blue bench was set up in 2007 by Mel Stockton in remembrance of his son, Sam, and his mother, Helen. The bench had been aged quite a bit by the weather of Southeast, but when Stockton decided to have it repainted, he realized the bench would have to be sent to Washington due to the specialized paint used. So instead, he commissioned...
The Borough Assembly approved an ordinance in its second reading that would let voters decide whether or not to remove the Frederick Point East Subdivision from the boundaries of service area one. Should ordinance #2021-08 pass in all three readings, it would put proposition #1 on the municipal election ballot in October, and the voters would have to decide whether the subdivision should be removed from service area one. According to the ordinance, a majority of voters within service area one...
A cracked, porcelain insulator on a utility pole in the Scow Bay Turnaround area caused two power outages on May 1, which left parts of the community in the dark for a total of about 4 hours. Petersburg Municipal Power & Light first responded to a power outage on circuit 62, which powers most of the downtown area, at 10:23 A.M. on Saturday, said Utility Director Karl Hagerman in a press release. A PMP&L line crew patrolled the line on circuit 62 for damage that would have caused a fault, but no damage was found; however, the crew did find that...
The Borough Assembly passed an ordinance in its first reading on Monday that would adopt the borough's proposed fiscal year 2022 operating budget. The General Fund's revenues and expenditures equal $9,741,364 and is an overall increase of .39 percent from the 2021 fiscal year adopted budget. The assembly unanimously passed two amendments to the proposed budget that prevents a millage rate increase and honors KFSK's full community service funding request. The millage rate is the amount per...
An ordinance that would ask the voters in the next municipal election whether term limits should be placed on the Borough Assembly will go before the assembly at their meeting on May 17. At the request of Assembly Member Taylor Norheim, the assembly discussed instituting term limits at the end of their meeting on Monday. He said he will be adding an ordinance to the agenda of their next assembly meeting that would let the voters decide whether to place term limits on the assembly. According to...
The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department donated a total of 987 person hours during the first quarter of 2021, according to the Fire Chief Jim Stolpe at the Borough Assembly meeting on Monday. "As always, we stand ready to help the citizens in their hour of need," said Stolpe. "Whether their issue is big or small, we're still here." Between Jan. and March 31, the fire branch of PVFD donated 516 person hours, the EMS branch donated 355 person hours and the search and rescue branch donated 116...
