Sorted by date Results 151 - 175 of 701
The Petersburg Borough is pursuing the possibility of constructing a new float and dock at Papke's Landing with the help of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to keep the facility operational while the borough pursues full ownership. The Petersburg Borough Assembly has approved conceptual plans for an eventual major improvement project, but the rapidly declining state of the facility and delays to obtaining ownership have users of the facility questioning if it will...
The Local Emergency Planning Committee held its first meeting since April 2020 last Thursday where new and returning members were admitted to the committee to discuss the current state of emergency preparedness in Petersburg. According to Fire/EMS/SAR Director Aaron Hankins, the LEPC is a congressionally mandated program whose mission is to gather information on hazardous materials in the region, making them known to the public and planning for spill response, and to review and recommend local...
The Petersburg High School boys basketball team earned back-to-back wins on the road against Craig last weekend. The Vikings, led by Assistant Coach Mik Potrzuski for the two games, routed the Panthers 59-29 last Friday. Petersburg had an electric start, scoring 30 points in the first half including two early threes from Owen Anderson to take a 13-point lead into halftime. Craig bounced back in the third quarter, but the Vikings shut down the game in the fourth, scoring 19 to the host's four. Ja...
The Petersburg High School girls basketball team lost twice on the road last week to the Craig Lady Panthers. The Lady Vikings, led by Assistant Coach Matt Pawuk for the weekend, fell 39-18 last Friday. The young team lagged behind in the first half as Craig came out shooting and were down 22-5 by the half. Though the game had gotten away from them, Petersburg improved to 13 points scored in the second half and tied the hosts 7-7 in the fourth quarter. The Lady Vikings had a better start to the...
The Organized Village of Kake is looking into using a U.S. Forest Service facility at Portage Bay as a cultural healing and rehabilitation center. The overall goal of the program would be to reconnect people with their cultural identity, improve their mental health, and counsel those recovering from alcohol and substance abuse and other issues. The cultural healing center has been a dream of Joel Jackson's, the president of the OVK, for years. "What I had in mind was getting people to teach them...
The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department responded to a house fire near 4.7 Mile Mitkof Highway on Wednesday, which destroyed the interior of the building. The fire was in an older two-story home constructed with logs at 471 Mitkof Highway on property owned by Michael Boggs. Though the investigation is ongoing, the fire is believed to have been caused by a wood stove according to Assistant Fire Chief Dave Berg. No persons were in the building when the fire broke out. The smoke from the building...
The Petersburg Indian Association held its annual election on Monday, which saw Tribal Council President Cris Morrison and Tribal Council Members Jaclyn Mae Eide and Joe Stewart reelected according to the unofficial results. Morrison, Eide, and Stewart all ran unopposed for the seats they will be retaining on the council. Morrison, who joined the council in 2017 and has served as council president since 2019, was reelected to a one-year term with 15 votes. "I am looking forward to working with...
During its Jan. 3 meeting, the Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved an ordinance in its first reading that would tie the service rates for self-pay residents at Mountain View Manor Assisted Living to the maximum service rates allowed for the facility under Medicaid. Medicaid raises per day services rates for Medicaid Residential Supported Living annually, but those increases have not been adopted by the borough. That is because the service rates charged for Medicaid RSL cannot...
The Petersburg High School boys basketball team opened conference play in style last week with two wins against the Haines Glacier Bears. Haines put up a tough fight both nights, but the Vikings reigned supreme on their home court in front of a packed house. Petersburg took the first game 54-35 last Wednesday, led by Kieran Cabral with 12 points and Kyle Biggers and Jack Engell with 11 each. The Vikings opened the game with a solid first quarter, going up 15-9, but struggled to maintain their...
The Petersburg High School girls basketball team took two losses at home last week against the Haines Lady Glacier Bears. Though the Lady Vikings fell on the court both days, they did show improvement between the losses, which they hope to build on as they progress in conference play. Petersburg lost the first game last Wednesday 58-18 as the team struggled against the pressure put on by the Lady Glacier Bears. The Lady Vikings were only down by three at the end of the first quarter, but Haines...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously voted during Monday's meeting to award the construction contract for the Blind Slough Hydroelectric refurbishment project to McG/Dawson Joint Venture for an amount not to exceed $5,744,000. McG/Dawson's contract bid was evaluated by an engineering team led by Don Jarrett, P.E. with McMillen and was recommended to the assembly by both McMillen and Petersburg Municipal Power and Light. The project received four contract bids ranging from $5,744,000 up...
Petersburg birders cast their gaze to the skies on Dec. 17 as part of the National Audubon Society's 123rd Christmas Bird Count, spotting 52 species totaling 8,868 birds around Mitkof Island. The count is a nationwide event where citizen scientists spend the day searching for birds in their area and documenting their findings. "It's one of the most valuable nationwide databases for monitoring changes and trends in bird populations," said Brad Hunter, who coordinates the local bird count. The cou...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved an ordinance in its first reading during Monday's meeting that would rezone a lot located at 10 N. 12th Street for commercial use. The rezoning was requested by the Petersburg Indian Association, which filed an application to purchase the 0.31-acre lot from the borough in September 2022. PIA has stated that it is only interested in the lot, which is currently zoned as an open space, if it is rezoned for commercial use so that it matches an...
The famous Salvation Army red kettles, manned during the holiday season by volunteers armed with silver bells, raised a combined $13,206.43 in Petersburg according to Capt. KV Saengthasy. The donations will be used to fund the Salvation Army's social services budget and also went toward purchasing a couple of Christmas presents for local children. Though they finished just short of their fundraising target, both red kettles stationed outside of Hammer & Wikan stores were filled on Christmas...
The Petersburg High School boys basketball team traveled up to Juneau over the winter break to take on the Thunder Mountain Falcons in two varsity and two junior varsity games. The varsity boys lost their first game on the night of Dec. 21 but faced off against the Falcons’ second string varsity players the next morning and claimed a road win. “The idea was to get as much playing time and have players really get a chance to play in different roles,” Head Coach Rick Brock said. Thunder Mountain took the first game convincingly, winning 74-36...
January Petersburg experienced record snowfall on New Year's Day with 17.5 inches of new snow on the day, bringing the total snow depth to 40 inches according to the National Weather Service. The Petersburg Borough Assembly passed a resolution requesting a discussion with the U.S. Postal Service about providing additional services in Petersburg following continued issues with staffing, irregular hours, and long lines. All-purpose vehicles became legal to drive on roads in Alaska, including in...
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency Board approved a wholesale rate increase at its Dec. 8 meeting, raising the price to 7.3 cents per kilowatt hour-a 0.25 cent increase-beginning in January 2023. According to Vice Mayor Bob Lynn and Utility Director Karl Hagerman, who reported on the SEAPA Board meeting at last week's Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting, the decision to raise rates followed a review of a rate study completed this year. A draft of the rate study, which was presented at the last...
With discussions beginning on what next year’s school calendar could look like, the Petersburg School District is seeking input from community members on what changes could be made to best benefit learning. During a school board meeting on Dec. 13, the board discussed the ongoing challenges facing the district and some ways changing the calendar could address them. Ideas included changing from early release on Fridays to late arrival on Mondays and adjusting the length of the school year and p...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved an Education Incentive Program, which looks to support child care professionals and improve retention in the field, during Monday's meeting. The assembly voted 6-1 in favor of the trial program with Assembly Member Donna Marsh opposed. The Education Incentive Program will award bonuses ranging from $2,000 per year to $5,000 per year to child care educators and is structured in three tiers based on their level of education. The hope is to encourage local...
For students, seeing eight mats laid out on the floor of the Alaska Airlines Center and an arena packed with hundreds of the top wrestlers in the state can be intimidating, but the nerves did not stop the Petersburg High School wrestling team from making their name known on the biggest stage. Petersburg took fourth overall in the Division II state championships, making them the highest ranked 2A school at the tournament, and five Vikings placed in the top six of their brackets. When the dust...
The Petersburg School District Board unanimously approved a major revision to the FY23 budget during its meeting on Dec. 13, which will see a new projected ending fund balance of $622,672. According to Finance Director Karen Morrison, the proposed budget revision was based on an average daily membership student count of 429.6 students, which was calculated in October and is above the threshold for three school funding. The final student count numbers brought the district's foundation funding up...
During its meeting on Dec. 13, the Petersburg School District Board voted unanimously to amend the district's COVID-19 mitigation policy, changing when students and staff can return to school following a positive test. The new policy states that students and staff who test positive can now come back to school on a date determined by the Petersburg Medical Center, possibly allowing them to return earlier than what the previous guidance allowed. If students and staff who test positive do not obtai...
Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Rep. Elect Rebecca Himschoot held two joint public office hours in Petersburg earlier this week to meet with community members ahead of the legislative session starting next month. The pair were at Glacier Express Cafe Monday afternoon and Salty Pantry Tuesday morning. Kreiss-Tomkins, who currently holds the Alaska state House seat representing Petersburg and Sitka, announced earlier this year that he would not run for re-election after having held a seat in the...
The South Harbor dredging project has made some progress this month as crews from contractor Western Marine spent the last couple of weeks assessing the area and beginning to dredge the outside of the harbor. Though site work on the project is still in the early stages, crews have taken over half a dozen loads of material, with approximately 500 cubic yards of material in each load, to the disposal side in Frederick Sound according to Harbormaster Glo Wollen. They began their work at the end of...
The Petersburg High School girls basketball team took two tough losses at home last weekend against the Metlakatla Miss Chiefs in their first games of the season. Head Coach Dino Brock said the losses gave the young team a better sense of what they are doing well and what they will need to work on as the season ramps up. "At this point in the season it's exactly what you want-a non-conference game against a very good opponent," Brock said. The Lady Vikings lost Friday's game 67-18 as they...
