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The Petersburg High School boys basketball team went toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the state in the Metlakatla Chiefs last weekend, winning one of two in their first games of the season. "Either home or away, anytime you can get a split in our league against a really good team it's a good weekend," Head Coach Rick Brock said. The Vikings took Friday night's game 41-38 after some late drama with Jack Engell, Rik Cumps, and Kieran Cabral all scoring in the double digits. The lead was...
The Petersburg High School wrestling team took the regional championships by storm last weekend, proving that they still have one more fight left in them before the season is through. After a rough round of matches on their first day in Ketchikan, the team turned it around on Saturday with nine Petersburg wrestlers placing in the top three of their brackets. As a team, the Petersburg boys, who did not bring a wrestler in any weight class below 140, also took third overall in the region. "That...
Petersburg is expected to be in for a cooler than normal winter as La Niña conditions return for an unusual third consecutive winter. The weather patterns in Southeast brought on by La Niña can be traced all the way back to trade winds off the Pacific coast of South America according to Rick Fritsch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau. Enhanced easterly trade winds coming off of the Pacific coast of South America blow the warmer water at the surface of the ocean w...
Hammer & Wikan is currently in the midst of a construction project behind the grocery store in an effort to create more storage space and eventually expand the store by building a new warehouse according to Hammer & Wikan CEO Jim Floyd. The project got its start as vulnerabilities in the supply chain were brought to light by the COVID-19 pandemic. Supply chain issues have cast doubt on when retailers will be able to bring in products, causing them to order them while they can. But they can only...
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter gave a report on the finalized PMC Strategic Plan for FY24-28 during November's hospital board meeting. The plan had previously been presented at a hospital board work session on Nov. 10 following input from PMC's manager retreat in October. The new strategic plan retains the same five priority goals as the previous five-year plan but features refinements to semantics, language, and content according to Hofstetter's report. The top five priorities in... Full story
Practices are well underway for the Petersburg High School girls basketball team-a team that has seen much change from the one that was knocked out of the regional tournament last season. The team graduated four seniors last year, which put into question the makeup of this year's team, but the Lady Vikings have bounced back with 16 girls now on the roster-enough for a varsity and a junior varsity team. "It was different walking into the gym and seeing that many people in the first couple of...
Students on the Petersburg High School boys basketball team are making their final preparations ahead of this weekend's matchup against the Metlakatla Chiefs. The games will give the Vikings their first opportunity to see how their new team meshes on the court. The balanced group of 22 students, led by seniors Jack Engell, Kyle Biggers, Devon Guthrie, Owen Anderson, and Andrew Cole, has taken the last few weeks to get back in shape ahead of a packed season. There are still some students...
The construction of a new public use bike track is on the horizon following the passage of a resolution by the Petersburg Borough Assembly. On Monday, the assembly voted 6-0, with Assembly Member Scott Newman excused, to approve the use of a small portion of a borough-owned parcel across the street from Sandy Beach for a non-motorized bike park. Parks and Recreation Director Stephanie Payne said Pat Blair of Wheelhouse Bikes and Sig Burrell of Rock-N-Road came to her with the idea of developing...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly is expected to take a look at adopting a trial program to support local child care providers in Petersburg at its next meeting. The Education Incentive Program, modeled after the Hiring, Educating, and Retaining Teaching Staff (HEARTS) Program implemented in Juneau, aims to increase retention, encourage child care professionals to continue their educations, and improve quality of care. The program would award tiered bonuses every six months to child care educators...
Petersburg Parks and Recreation is keeping spirits high during the holiday season with the completion of the ice skate pond lighting project and their upcoming winter wonderland. People are already enjoying the lights up at the ice skate pond, which became fully functional last week according to Parks and Recreation Director Stephanie Payne. The project was made possible by a donation from Fred Haltner and the borough later received additional funding for that project and the ballfield lights...
The Petersburg High School gym was packed last weekend for the Viking Rumble, Petersburg's home wrestling meet, which saw over 100 students from across Southeast test their mettle on the mat. Wrestlers competed in a round robin on Friday and Saturday morning and duals in the afternoon where teams went head to head, pitting wrestlers of each weight class against each other. The weekend was capped off Saturday evening with a series of thrilling spotlight matches. Head Coach James Valentine said...
The South Harbor dredging project is set to ramp up in the coming weeks as people and equipment begin arriving in Petersburg according to Harbormaster Glo Wollen. The project will see the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and contractor Western Marine work in collaboration with the borough to help make the harbor more accessible by dredging an estimated 83,000 cubic yards of material. They had previously hoped to start the work in October beginning with the inside area of the 400 row, but have been...
Volunteers rallied at the Community Cold Storage on Nov. 21 to distribute 1,748 pounds of moose burger meat to local organizations. According to Desi Burrell, recipients of the meat included the Petersburg Indian Association, Alaska Native Brotherhood/Alaska Native Sisterhood, Petersburg School District, the Catholic Church soup kitchen, the Baptist Church Wednesday night meals, Monday night meals, Humanity In Progress, Petersburg Children's Center, Mountain View Manor Assisted Living, Mountain...
Petersburg Police Department Chief Jim Kerr has filed a lawsuit against the Petersburg Borough. The suit, filed Nov. 3 with the Juneau Civil Superior Court, alleges that the borough defamed Kerr and portrayed him in a false light, according to court records obtained by the Pilot. On June 27, 2022 the borough responded to a public records request filed by KFSK with a statement saying the borough's HR department had received a complaint in the form of a timeline from Kerr alleging that he had... Full story
The Salvation Army Petersburg Corps is getting into the season of giving this year with multiple charitable opportunities coming up on the calendar. They kicked things off last week with their annual Thanksgiving food box distribution where 126 people, including 55 families, were served according to Capt. KV Saengthasy. The Lutheran Church donated 69 turkeys and St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church donated 10 turkeys along with other food items and baskets. The U.S. Forest Service also...
6 swimmers from across Southeast traveled to Petersburg to compete in the Viking Swim Club's November Rain meet over the weekend of Nov. 11-13. 37 of the VSC's own took part in the three-day competition along with swimmers representing clubs in Wrangell, Craig, Ketchikan, Sitka, and Juneau. "It was a massive event and it was such a good success, not just for our team, but for all of the teams that visited," said VSC Coach Scott Burt. The VSC swimmers dominated the waves, earning 36 first-place...
The Petersburg School District board voted 4-0 to accept the draft of the FY22 audit during its meeting on Nov. 8 with Board Member Jay Lister excused. Bikky Shrestha of BDO USA, LLP, the district's accounting firm, presented the draft of the financial statements to the board and said that though it is still being reviewed, they do not expect the information in the draft to drastically change. Shrestha reported that there were no corrected or uncorrected misstatements related to accounts or...
During its meeting on Monday, the Petersburg Borough Assembly voted in favor of sending a letter supporting an Alaska Airlines proposal to continue providing Essential Air Service to Southeast communities through April 2025. The vote was 6-0 with Assembly Member Dave Kensinger excused. The assembly's letter highlights Alaska Airlines' ability to connect Petersburg with major hubs like Seattle and Anchorage, the reliability of flights during inclement weather, and the service's economic...
The 2022 Southeast Alaska salmon harvest is estimated to number 29.6 million fish, mostly comprised of 17.6 million wild stock pink salmon, according to Troy Thynes, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's regional management coordinator for commercial fisheries. Though the pink salmon harvest was only 53% of the recent 10-year average, it was above the preseason estimate of 16 million fish. "The pink salmon in Southeast have been on a strong odd year, even cycle for probably almost the past...
During a special meeting on Nov. 11 the Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously in favor of appointing the law firm of Jermain, Dunnagan & Owens to serve as the special legal counsel in a lawsuit brought against the borough and Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson in her official capacity. The decision to appoint the law firm, which was chosen by the borough's insurance provider, was initially discussed during the regular assembly meeting on Nov. 7. The assembly, wanting to hear advice and...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously passed an ordinance adjusting the borough's FY23 budget in its third and final reading during its meeting on Nov. 7. No amendments to Ordinance #2022-15 were made during its final reading. The supplemental budget lists 18 revisions to the budget including accepting $123,158 in state legislative grants for lighting projects at the ballfield and the ice skate pond, rebuilding the EMD-16 Generator and the Caterpillar 398 Generator, and increasing the...
The Housing Task Force held their second meeting on Nov. 2 where they fleshed out their ideas for what the borough could do to address local housing challenges. Before the meeting, Assembly Member Dave Kensinger, the task force's facilitator, categorized their ideas into three groups-what could be done now, what could be done soon, and big ideas that would take time. In addition to reviewing their ideas, the task force also discussed creating two subcommittees that could work between now and...
Petersburg High School alumni returned to the court Tuesday night for a scrimmage against the varsity volleyball team in what was their final home game of the season. The alumni swept the students in three sets, going back and forth in the first two to narrowly claim victories and running away in the third set with a 25-15 win. After the match, Coach Jaime Cabral honored Coach Bev Siercks who is retiring after 43 years of coaching in a multitude of sports. Coach Bev initially retired in 2012...
8 Petersburg athletes from the Devil's Thumb Shooters attended the 8th Annual Southeast Fall Shoot at the Juneau Gun Club in late October where they racked up multiple medals. According to Becky Turland, this fall season the club had its highest participation yet, rising from six athletes in 2015 to 32 this year, including nine girls, ranging in age from 8-18 years old. The team placed third overall out of the 11 youth marksmanship clubs who traveled to the event from across Alaska, and one...
The Petersburg High School wrestling team competed in the Bill Weiss Tournament in Ketchikan last weekend with five Vikings placing in the top three in their respective brackets. Though some schools had been impacted by illness, Coach James Valentine reported that the tournament, which is usually the biggest wrestling competition in Southeast, still had a great turnout with over 100 students in attendance. The Vikings brought six students who competed in a round robin on Friday and in tournament...
