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If you have been putting off making room in your freezer, now may be the time to do so. The RM038 moose hunting season opened last Thursday and will last until Oct. 15. The hunt encompasses Units 1B, 3, and a portion of 1C located south of Point Hobart. Areas include Kuiu, Kupreanof, Mitkof, and Wrangell Islands, the Stikine River, and Farragut Bay among others. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, a legal moose is defined as a bull moose with a spike or forked antler, or a...
The Petersburg High School cross country team had extra motivation going into the Ketchikan Invitational last weekend. The meet was the Vikings' first opportunity to compete with a full women's team as Kinley Lister returned from injury and newcomer Eleanor Kandoll joined up for her first race of the season. "It was pretty exciting having a full five girls, that's something that we always kind of struggle with because there's not a whole lot of girls who like to run because we have volleyball at...
The Petersburg High School swim team hit the waves for the first time this season last weekend at a two-day meet in Ketchikan. Coach Andy Carlisle said many of the swimmers he brought to the meet dropped their times in the water, showing their improvement from the start of practices this summer. “Friday we could do no wrong. Friday we were on fire. It was a great day and then Saturday was only a good day instead of a great day but it was still pretty darn good,” Coach Andy Carlisle said. The Juneau-Douglas High School women’s team topped the s...
The Petersburg School Board unanimously approved a motion to reinstate funding for activities, curriculum, and professional development during Tuesday’s meeting. The action looks to increase funding by about $100,000 combined according to Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter which would get funding for those items closer to the amount that the district spent on them last year. The board passed a conservative budget that saw reductions in multiple areas during its June meeting, seeking to account for a number of unknowns at that time. Those i...
The Petersburg Borough has offered Aaron Hankins the position of Fire/EMS/SAR Director according to Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht. Hankins, a Petersburg resident, has volunteered with the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department since 2016 and has earned ETT, EMT-1, and EMS LT certifications. He beat out a field of six candidates who interviewed for the position, which has been vacant since former director Sandy Dixson retired at the end of June. Though Hankins has accepted the borough's offer,...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved the second version of the conceptual plans for improvements to the Papke's Landing Marine Facility after a 5-1 vote during last week's meeting. The new conceptual plans are a revision of the plans released in March and increase the total project cost from $6.41 million to $9.22 million. The revision was crafted by Alan Murph from Harai & Associates with input from Assembly Members Dave Kensinger and Bob Lynn who took comments and suggestions submitted by...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted on two resolutions seeking to allocate funds received from the American Rescue Plan Act during last week's meeting. Resolution #2022-12, allocating up to $27,000 for a digital fingerprint scanning system, was approved in a 5-1 vote with Assembly Member Thomas Fine-Walsh opposed. Resolution #2022-13, seeking to spend $62,641.50 of the funds on Axon vehicle camera systems for the Petersburg Police Department, failed in a 1-5 vote with only Mayor Mark Jensen...
The Petersburg High School cross country team hosted over 150 students from 14 schools last Saturday for the Jack Eddy Invitational. The meet saw a return to the regular course near Sandy Beach after three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "It's always exciting to have that many come to Petersburg to enjoy the hospitality," Head Coach Tom Thompson said. The Petersburg men placed third as a team with 108 points behind Sitka with 17 and Thunder Mountain with 52. Sitka Junior Annan Weiland...
New housing opportunities may be on the horizon following the Petersburg Borough Assembly's approval of Ordinance #2022-12 in its first reading Tuesday. The new ordinance, which received a 6-0 vote with Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton Gregor excused, is designed to allow tiny houses, detached accessory dwellings, and multiple buildings on a single lot-all within Service Area 1. Assembly Member Thomas Fine-Walsh, who brought the ordinance forward, summarized its three parts and said he believed the...
When Arsen Tatizian arrived in Petersburg earlier this year he did not think he would be staying in Alaska beyond the end of his contract with OBI-much less with his wife and his daughter at his side. The Ukrainian first stepped foot in Little Norway on February 6. It was his second year working for OBI, though he spent his first summer at their plants near Wood River and Larsen Bay. He was only here for two weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. While he continued with work, his mind was on the... Full story
The Mitkof Mummers will be holding a casting call on Tuesday as they mount a return to the stage after over two years without a show. In most years the Mummers would hold a fall show and a spring show during Mayfest, but they have been unable to do so since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though there were some ideas of what could be done during the pandemic including radio plays, it was just too hard to put together, said Irene Littleton, the Mummer's director. But now that they are able...
Petersburg will host its first cross country meet since 2019 on Saturday with 165 runners from 11 schools expected to take part, according to Activities Director Jaime Cabral. The meet will see a return to the usual course, which will begin at the start of Frederick Sound Drive near Sandy Beach. Runners will turn from Sandy Beach Road onto Haugen Drive. They will then turn left onto Water Tank Road and run uphill for a short ways before turning right into a tunnel of trees. After running...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted unanimously to pass Ordinance #2022-11 in its third and final reading during Tuesday’s meeting, allowing for increases to the purchasing authorization limits of borough officials. The ordinance now gives the borough manager the authority to set the spending limits for individual department heads. It also increases the borough manager’s purchasing authorization limit, allowing the borough manager to authorize purchases costing more than a department head’s limit but less than $75,000. Previously depar...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly hosted a work session Monday evening to get a better understanding of the challenges faced when developing or purchasing homes in Petersburg and to help give direction to the newly formed Housing Task Force. The work session saw assembly members meet with representatives with varying experience of the local housing issue. Attendees included WAVE Executive Director Annette Bennett, local contractor Kevin Hagan, local builders Gary Aulbach and Joshua Adams, PIA...
Two months after former Fire/EMS/SAR Director Sandy Dixson retired, the Petersburg Borough is restarting its push to hire a new director. The borough held panel interviews on Wednesday and Thursday for the six candidates up for the position—including four current Petersburg residents. Following the interviews the candidate pool will be narrowed down to two who will progress to another round of interviews and a possible meet and greet with community members. Candidates include Daniel Bird, Aaron Hankins, Alan Malone, and Joshua Rathmann of P...
Some new and some returning faces have joined the ranks of the Petersburg School District staff in preparation for the upcoming school year. Elsa Wintersteen will teach English language arts and a drama class at Petersburg High School. She completed her undergraduate studies at Montana State University, earning a literature degree and an interdisciplinary degree, and for a short time studied theater at the University of Montana. Wintersteen is originally from Montana, but her mother's family is...
The period to file for candidacy in this year's municipal election ended on Tuesday, signaling the start of campaign season. The election will feature contested races for mayor, Petersburg Borough Assembly, the Petersburg Medical Center Hospital Board, and the Harbor and Ports Advisory Board. Mayor Mark Jensen will run for reelection against two sitting assembly members-Bob Lynn and Jeff Meucci. Meucci ran against Jensen in the 2019 mayoral election, coming up short by 61 votes. Assembly...
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced last Thursday that the commercial Dungeness crab fall season in Southeast Alaska will have a normal length. The length of the fall season was determined after an analysis revealed that an above-average proportion of male legal-sized soft-shelled Dungeness crabs discarded in the first week of the summer season contributed to the full season harvest projection failing to meet the management plan threshold according to Region I Lead Shellfish...
The Clausen Museum has been getting some much needed restoration work done over the summer to help keep the building standing. Building Maintenance Techs Jim Holder and Sam Jackson have been working since June, replacing rotting wood, putting on a fresh coat of paint, and adding safety equipment as part of the work. "They really have been going to town," Museum Director Cindi Lagoudakis said. The museum, built in 1967 and expanded in 1976 with the Heritage of the Sea wing, needed some serious...
The Petersburg High School cross country team got its first taste of competition at the Sayeik Invitational last Saturday in Juneau. Five Petersburg runners made the trip up on the plane and down on the ferry to compete against students from Juneau-Douglas, Thunder Mountain, and Haines as they prepare for the season. "I was really happy with how all the individual performances were," said Coach Tom Thompson. Vikings newcomer Daniel Asprey placed third in the race with a time of 18:03. The...
Some new and some returning faces have joined the ranks of the Petersburg School District staff in preparation for the upcoming school year. Erin Hofacre will be starting her first year of teaching in one of Stedman Elementary School's two first grade classrooms. She earned her bachelor's degree at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington where she received endorsements for elementary, reading, and special education. "I was able to go to a great program with lots of practical work so I feel l...
The Petersburg School Board updated its COVID-19 mitigation plan for the upcoming school year during its meeting last week. The school district is required to update its plan by the Alaska Department of Education and under the American Rescue Plan funding. The new guidelines resemble those the district had at the end of the previous school year but with a couple of changes. Masking will remain optional for students, staff, and visitors and there will be no trigger for universal masking or...
Bear sightings are continuing to rise as they frequent the streets of Petersburg in search of garbage. In response, Petersburg Police Department Chief Jim Kerr spoke during Monday's Petersburg Borough Assembly meeting on the threat bears pose and actions the police department has taken to reduce their presence. "To try and get the bear issue to drop before school starts we started issuing citations enforcing the new garbage ordinance," Kerr said. The ordinance, which was approved by the...
Students on the Petersburg High School swim team are spending their afternoons training in the aquatic center for the fast approaching fall season. The team is in the midst of its third week of training and though not everyone has returned from the summer fishing season, the students that are back have been putting in the work. “We’re still gaining fitness, we’re just starting to ramp it up this week a little bit so we’ll put the hurt on them starting today really,” Coach Andy Carlisle said Tuesday. “The kids that come late just have to jum...
Nestled beneath the gray clouds is Gina Esposito's art project-a garden filled with color which has blossomed into her favorite space. Gina knew she wanted to garden when she first moved into the house on Lake Street where she now lives with her husband Paul Olsen and their two children. The garden has had many incarnations, but work began on it in 2009 starting with dirt and tarps before putting in raised beds and a fence around 10 years ago. Since then she has gone on to add raspberry beds, ba...
