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Viking wrestlers didn’t manage to seize the crown during this year’s competition at the state wrestling championship, pulling up third as the closest as four boys made their bids for first. “It was a tough tournament – state is never easy,” Coach Dan Van Swearengen said. “I felt we could have wrestled a bit better, the same for regionals, I feel like the guys were holding back.” Buddy Stalmach, the only sophomore amongst seniors, went to his first fall-free tournament, winning and losing exclusively by pins. Appearing tired and nervous in his f...
The Vikings more than held their own against a fuller regional pool than usual, coming out on top of the 3A southeastern region schools during the battle in Wrangell. The 3A team racked up 11 pins in the tournament, fourth in the overall bracket behind the filled rosters of Ketchikan, 17, Wrangell, 15, and Craig, 15. In addition to the usual spread of 1A, 2A and 3A teams that gathered for the matches, the larger 4A teams also were included, Assistant Coach Rob Schwartz said. "I knew Ketchikan... Full story
With the addition of Marlene Cushing and Kris Thynes, the Petersburg Medical Center (PMC) now has a full board of seven, as well as new officers for the coming year. Tim Koeneman was named board president and cautioned the board that they would have to lean heavily on Darlene Whitethorn, elected vice-president in her absence per her prior assent to the idea and formerly secretary, during the summer months when he is away. “With kids and grandkids all in Juneau, there are vacation times when I’m simply not here,” he said. “I’ll certainly...
The Parks and Rec All-Stars were fast and fiery for their final matches of the season, running ahead of even themselves as they strove for victory against visiting Wrangell. The matches came out with mixed results for the teams – the girls took their shot with a close 14-18 loss on Friday, but saw Wrangell far ahead on Saturday, finishing 10-24. The boys, meanwhile, came out with all cylinders firing on the first day of the match, cleaning up 26-6. Saturday saw them keeping the same spread, 2...
The first pieces of the floats have arrived for the Drive Down Dock project, though complete installation is still to come as the modular sections are linked, only slightly impeded by the sudden surplus of snow. Currently, three pieces have arrived, Harbormaster Glo Wollen reported on Monday. “Tamico (Construction) splashed at (Alaska Marine Lines) last night and towed them over to the Martinsen Dock where they are working (on Monday) to bolt them together.” Another 10 sections are to come, with semi-regular deliveries “every couple of weeks...
Some contestants might be in a bit of a pickle as last minute changes are announced to the annual Pickled Herring Contest, to be held this coming Wednesday at the Sons of Norway Hall. “What we’re changing this year is we’re asking people to bring their entries a bit earlier, so we can get the judging going faster so people can eat quicker,” Sons of Norway President Sally Dwyer said. The Sons doors will be open for entrants from 5 to 6:30 p.m., with judging immediately following and the public tasting at 7 p.m. — Dwyer added that contestan...
The ninth annual Devil's Thumb Brewfest and Chili Cookoff was a huge success under different management this year, after the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce passed the mantle for the community event. "They were hoping to be able to find somebody else to take up the torch, and Angela (Christensen) found it in herself to be able to keep it alive," said Eric Castro, who also volunteered to help put on the event. "The community does not want to see this event die." The Petersburg Ski Club also threw...
The Wild Kings of Petersburg aren't strapping on their ice skates just yet, but the season is just about right for hockey as winter sets in. As the club waits for the weather to allow area waterways to properly freeze, they're typically found in the community gym with roller blades instead, testing tricky shots, movements and generally how to stay upright and untangled from the swarms of swatting sticks that gather in pursuit of the puck as they practice swoops across the polished floor. Though...
Parks and Recreation Director Donn Hayes believes Petersburg should be at its brightest as the year spins towards its darkest day, looking to launch the first of what he hopes will be an annual celebration of light amidst the bleak and black. The Light Bright Dash and Bash will begin at 7 p.m. on Sat., Dec. 20, one day before the winter solstice, he said. Registration is an hour earlier. “We just want it to be fun — we’re having this in the middle of winter,” he said. “We just want people to say, ‘the darkness is not going to affect me;...
Petersburg schools will be testing out the idea that less is more when it comes to lighting — and not simply saving a bit on the budget, though that remains a major selling point. “What got me thinking about this was a maintenance directors’ conference I attended up in Anchorage,” Maintenance Director Dan Tate said. “It was environmental design loss prevention, and they showed, very clearly, that you can have a lot of lights on to produce a lot of glare that defeats a security officer’s nighttime vision.” Tate consulted with Petersburg Po...
A Petersburg resident will be stepping up to statewide duties, following an October election where volunteer members of District 17 Coast Guard Auxiliary tapped Bruce Jones to take the helm. Initially, he said he had approached the volunteer group as a means to stay occupied during retirement, but quickly found himself again caught up in his work. "I've been working my way up the ranks, from the bottom to the very top," Jones said. "I served a year or so as a flotilla commander, two years as a... Full story
School board members got a brief breath of hope after the Alaska Department of Education reported that Petersburg was No. 1 on its list, as well as Nos. 9 and 33. But that all will still depend on the budget and how far down the list state appropriations would flow, as several large ticket items, including a pair of school renovations for Yukon-Koyukuk and Fairbanks that were billed at more than $10 million each. Petersburg’s first request is much more modest than the item that precedes it — for a boiler rehabilitation. $24,565 was requested wi... Full story
Harbors continue to be relatively free of Steller sea lions as harbor and DOT staff adapt to work within legal conservation lines to discourage the large mammals from loitering on floats about the harbors. There likely won’t ever be a time of living without them, no matter how conscientious people are about disposing of scraps. “I don’t think we’ll ever get away from having animals at our facilities, but at least we can not have them front and center so much of the time,” Harbormastor Glo Wollen said. “We have quite a few that are pretty acti...
Petersburg school board members accepted the renewal of several contracted services, with four invoices totaling $95,698.75. Most of the contracts were for services where, for a variety of reasons, it was significantly more affordable to seek outside services than develop an in-house solution, said Finance Director Karen Quitslund, responding to Board Member Jay Lister’s queries on the services of Haines-based Four Ravens Occupational Therapy, LLC. “We don’t have an occupational therapist on staff, so that’s who we’ve contracted with for stude...
The final details on the remodel of the Stedman Elementary School have officially been scratched off the contractor’s and administrator’s checklists as the school, already long open for children, received its last scrutiny from designers. Tony Yorba of Jensen Yorba & Lott, Inc., the firm that designed the school modifications, was on hand to give a final recap, and answer questions of board members. Though most had finished their lines of inquiry beforehand, Sarah Holmgrain had a few concerns about the building’s protective envelope and the p...
Petro Marine Services is proposing to trade property they purchased from the former Union Oil Company for borough owned property they currently lease on which a warehouse and the Southeast Island Fuel gas station is situated. On their end of the deal, there would be no changes, said Bob Volk, plant manager for the company, who brought the idea before the harbor advisory board first, looking to garner some support for the prospective deal. The property to possibly be exchanged is the old Union... Full story
Petersburg students came out on top in a practice bout for the seasonal academic Tsunami Bowl, as regional teams begin warming up to compete for the right to represent the state in the National Ocean Science Bowl (NOSB.) The event pits teams' at-hand knowledge of the ocean against competitors, fingers on buzzers to be first to the answer. The team is led by Educator Joni Johnson and Co-Coach Sunny Rice of Alaska SeaGrant, composed of four students representing the school. "In southeast, we like...
Throughout history, sages and generals have proclaimed that the greatest teacher a man may have is his adversary, and Vikings wrestlers hit a bit of a learning curve at the Bill Weiss tournament in Ketchikan as they faced off against some of their toughest competition yet, taking fourth for the tournament. Though Coach Dan Van Swearengen had initially planned to rest more of the team, the lure of the prestigious tournament still called out nine wrestlers, who typically picked up rankings...
There’s a wealth of options when it comes to scholarships for Petersburg students, provided they get up early enough in their academic careers to make themselves suitable. Oftentimes that’s nothing more than maintaining their grades, test scores and keeping with what they’re already doing — local youth remain very active in extracurricular events — but it’s still well worth the trouble for students to do their research or having a good talk with Rachel Etcher, counselor for the high school. For students dedicated to making the most of the mone...
The Lady Vikings rallied against great odds in their final regional battle, pushing Sitka to the edge in their final 3A tournament that also saw sophomore Emma Chase selected as one of six outstanding southeastern players selected for the all-conference team in recognition for her tremendous efforts on the courts. "This is our last year in 3A, so it was kind of bittersweet," Coach Jaime Cabral said. "All the 3A teams get along really well, we know when to turn the competition switch on and off....
Petersburg schools had, overall, a clean audit on a good fiscal year, which ended June 30. The school was able to set aside a healthy amount, budgeting for future maintenance around a law that capped reserve limits at 10 percent of schools’ expenses. “In our opinion, the financial statements are fairly stated in all material respects,” said Eric Campbell, a partner in the international services firm BDO, which completed the school’s audit. “That’s a clean or unmodified opinion. That’s what you want. (Finance Director Karen Quitslund) does a gre...
Abe Aulbach went out in style, smashing a state record for the 100-yard freestyle race set in 1998, as he and many of his teammates took their last competitive lap in Anchorage at the state competition, with the tiny team more than holding its own against schools that dwarf its roster. Aulbach, swimmer extraordinaire by the collective opinion of all the coaches at the state meet, who named him outstanding male athlete of the event, brought in Petersburg's only first place prizes for the 50- and... Full story
As Christmas draws ever closer, people are shopping for friends, families and strangers as another season of Operation Christmas Child closes, set to send shoeboxes of sundries across the world. The program, operated under the international auspices of Samaritan’s Purse, a non-denominational evangelical Christian organization, has been running since 1993, aiming to deliver boxes of toys and essentials to children of impoverished nations around the globe — since its inception, the group has reported more than 113 million shoeboxes sent to famili... Full story
Viking volleyball got a taste of the years to come on Nov. 4, when they had a friendly match with past and future rivals in Wrangell. The teams haven’t met on the courts for several years, as a higher student headcount kept Petersburg in the larger 3A districts – but now that the student body is shrinking again, the neighboring Wolves will be more often seen stalking the fields, taking the place of departing foes in Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe as the school changes to 2A. But if their recent spar is any measure of what’s to come, the Vikings will...
Viking wrestlers went for broke again in Sitka, going first or nothing when it came to the championship rounds of the unconventional double elimination tournament and taking three titles for Petersburg. Buddy Stalmach, 113; John Brooks, 145; and Billy Ware, 152, all took tops in their divisions, wrestling undefeated through the ranks. “We didn’t bring everybody — we left Brandon (Ware), 192, at home, but he could have probably taken first or second,” Coach Dan Van Swearengen said. “John Brooks, he went back up to 145 pounds instead of 138, w...
