Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 85
Winter in Petersburg is likely to be a bit warmer than the nights of yesteryear, though whether there will be a white, or just slushy entrance to the spring season still is up in the air. “They are going with a greater than 40 percent chance that we’ll have above normal temperatures all this winter, and as far as precipitation, there’s no real indicator on which way it’s going to go,” said Tim Steffen, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau. “These winters are driven by bigger atmospheric circulations, those global scal...
The season has just begun, and already it's a good year for Petersburg wrestling, coming in with four boys in the final bouts of a weekend invitational that brought teams from across the southeastern boot of the state and even a fly in visit from the northern reaches. All told, about 150 boys and girls were seen contorting themselves and, hopefully, their opponents over Friday evening and a grueling, day long extravaganza on Saturday. When all was said and done, blood and sweat cleaned from the... Full story
Petersburg wrestlers got a taste of what the coming season will have in store for them, coming off a Round Robin tournament hosted in Metlakatla last weekend. "Everybody wrestled everybody in their weight class," Coach Dan van Swearingen said. "My older guys, my seniors just killed it down there – for the freshman it was kind of an eye opener, this is what high school wrestling is all about." The wrestling Vikings carry a long legacy of regional championships and strong state performances, proud...
Petersburg continues to field talented musicians, with an even dozen set to depart for the Southeast Alaska Honors Music Festival in Juneau and half that beginning their preparations for the longer trip to the All-State performance in Anchorage. "This weekend they'll arrive at Thunder Mountain High School and spend an intense two and a half days rehearsing and finally performing the concert on Tuesday night, the 22nd," said Matt Lenhard, music instructor at Petersburg High School. Lenhard added...
The Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood reaffirmed its support for Democrat Byron Mallott, Lieutenant Governor candidate on the 'Unity Ticket' with Independent gubernatorial contender Bill Walker. Mallott, ushered in and out with standing ovations on Friday, said Grand Camp had been his first major endorsement for the Governor's seat he initially was in the bidding for, and now hoped to help another into. "It is an endorsement I will always, always treasure," he said. "A lot...
City Creek trail will be getting a significant facelift over the building season of 2015, and perhaps on into the next few years, in an effort to make the increasingly popular coastal rainforest sojourn more accessible to residents and visitors of all ages and fitness ― at least on the first leg. The project, funded by a $60,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture and Forest Service grant the borough accepted at its last assembly meeting, won't actually go very far in terms of miles. All told, the p... Full story
From left, Josie Prus, Clara Henriksen, Marie Giesbrecht and Abel Aulbach gather and bag masses of seaweed alongside other Petersburg High School students as part of a fundraising drive to send youth to Closeup, without putting the entire burden on the school or family....
Brittany Zenge landed in Petersburg on October's first Sunday, carting her worldly possessions off the ferry through the dark of night. A few days later, she was starting her new job, settling in as the new director of the borough's Clausen Museum and happily chasing new threads of history. "I love knowing everything about our past and how it relates to our future," she said. "That really set the tone for what I want to do as a career." Zenge said she recently had graduated from Monmith College...
When it comes to volleyball, the Vikings are learning that they can hold their own against the toughest teams in the region, coming closer to the tipping point from hard-fought games to well-earned wins. Recently, the team finished in the top bracket of the Juneau Invitational Volleyball Extravaganza (JIVE), losing out at the end to tournament winner Mt. Edgecumbe, who they will face again soon. "It's a very, very good tournament that brought teams from West Anchorage down – we got to see s...
Borough residents will have to look elsewhere for school happenings and movie times than the usual spot along Haugen Drive, as, come the construction season of 2015, a large electronic sign advertising events will be relocated about a block away. Rick Dormer, principal of Petersburg High School, said the school and state had something of an understanding on the billboard when it was first installed. "They have a letter saying it's O.K. putting the sign there and using that land," Dormer said,...
Petersburg Assembly Members finalized the 2015 Capital Projects list for the borough, looking to primarily address infrastructure upgrades in the top items. “The borough departments, as well as the school and hospital, have reviewed the 2015 Capital Needs list and have provided updates to the list,” Mayor Mark Jensen said, adding that Borough Manager Stephen Giesbrecht had recommended keeping the list smaller at 10 to 12 items to, hopefully, increase legislative attention. The list of Capital Projects remained largely unchanged, shuffling only... Full story
Petersburg Assembly members voted, with a few caveats, to express their support to the state for a new ferry service to land in the borough. Despite earlier alternatives offered, the North End Ferry Authority (NEFA) had circled back to Banana Point, submitting a letter requesting the borough’s support of the location to get the project on track to begin carrying passengers in May of 2015. The letter, signed by NEFA Manager Kent Miller, included copies of its land use permits applications to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the p... Full story
Assembly members accepted a large grant from the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency to improve the security of the borough. The grant, totaling $80,138.94, was divided between three items, the bulk of which is allocated to “purchase and install communication tower to include testing, inspection, labor, travel, hardware and pad work,” budgeted at $63,739.50, according the Project Budget Details Report. “The tower is going to give us much better cover...
Petersburg's Vikings continue to pull ahead of other schools at swim meets, leading in many of the events over Friday and Saturday in Ketchikan. “The kids swam great, we didn't have a whole lot of competition ― there was only one or two guys that could give us any race,” Coach Andy Carlisle said. “Thunder Mountain (High School) left many of their best kids at home.” Still, the Viking swimmers were vastly outnumbered at the meet, the weight of larger schools' aggregate points pushing the teams' handful of high scores down in the rankings,...
Petersburg's Cross Country Vikings have ended a stellar season that saw both teams, boys and girls, take second place in the region and push hard for a sixth place finish at the state meet in Anchorage for the girls and ninth for the boys. With runners abounding on the course, a total of 129 male and 113 female entrants, Coach Tommy Thompson couldn't be prouder of the performance. "As Kayleigh Eddy said as she came across the finish line, 'I just want to do it all over again,'" he said,...
Assembly members unanimously moved to go out to bid for the design of a haul-out facility at Scow Bay, looking to begin the long process that will eventually transform 11.5 acres of waterfront property into a work yard to properly clean vessels. Though the idea has been bounced around for many years, it was only recently that the borough gained an actual opportunity to put plans in motion. “In 2011 the Planning and Zoning Commission, Harbor Advisory Board and City Council approved a conceptual design for a small vessel haul-out, including a was...
Petersburg’s revised parking laws are on the books, but assembly members may be waiting for the return of Police Chief Kelly Swihart in January for help in adjusting the letter of the law to match its intent. Starting with the first reading of Ordinance 2014-20, part of the borough’s traffic codes, assembly members swiftly found a few troubling spots in language they feared might hurt more than help. Assemblyman Bob Lynn posed the first concern on interpretation, citing the additional parking restrictions, on 11.42.020 of the code. “Essentially...
Petersburg Assembly members accepted the bid from Agnew::Beck, an Anchorage firm, to design the borough's new Comprehensive Plan and included Harbor Master Plan. The firm was the second lowest bidder at $195,000 and was recommended by an ad hoc committee of top borough staff, including Manager Stephen Giesbrecht and Economic Development Director Liz Cabrera. The committee commended the firm's “experience with small, coastal Alaska, but not in southeast. They did some research and bring in new ideas,” though it was noted only two site vis...
Assembly approves PILT payoff, other business by Erik LeDuc The aftereffects of Petersburg incorporating as a borough continue to shake out, with the neighboring City of Kupreanof catching peripheral issues. “Because of the formation of the Borough of Petersburg, the City of Kupreanof no longer receives (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) funding,” Mayor Mark Jensen said. “The city has asked the borough to distribute the equivalent of what they would have received in PILT funds had the borough not been formed.” While no assembly member contest...
Assembly members took a look at the cost of cleaning for the borough’s departments, briefly weighing their options between contracting out or keeping the work in-house before accepting the bid from Apex Janitorial. “The lone bid was in excess of budgeted expenses, prompting a thorough review of contracted services versus hiring a custodial staff for the borough,” Mayor Mark Jensen said. “At the conclusion of the review, and working with the lone bidder, the administration staff is recommending the borough award a professional services contract...
Petersburg’s Alaska Native Sisterhood and Alaska Native Brotherhood Camp 16 will play host to the 102nd annual Grand Camp Oct. 8-11, returning after 43 years of convening elsewhere around Alaska. “Each year the camp itself in each community works to address the needs in the community,’’ said Brenda Louise, ANS 2nd Grand Vice President and member of Petersburg’s Camp 16. “Each community, depending on how big or active the camp is and what issues they see as needing addressing in their environment, would write resolutions and bring them to Gra... Full story
Clara Henriksen has relocated from her home in Denmark to Petersburg where she will live as a Rotary Exchange Student until July of next year. "It's almost the same, but we don't have as much rain as here,'' Henriksen said. Small discrepancies, such as new seafood and language barriers, still throw her occasionally, but Petersburg is a comfortable reminder of home during her stay with Kim Kilkenny, her host parent. The two have made time to play in the kitchen, giving Henriksen an introduction... Full story
When he first took a job with the City of Petersburg, now Petersburg Borough, Leo Luczak didn’t expect to be with it long enough to retire from it. “It was supposed to be full time, temporary for three to four months, and it’s been 28 years,’’ he said. Starting as building inspector, Luczak was quickly fitted for new hats, gaining the titles and duties of Community Development director and supervising a building maintenance crew. The new roles came with new learning curves as well, throwing him headlong into bureaucratic waters he had only... Full story
Petersburg Medical Center is continuing to balance the books and expand its services, but the budget still will be tight around the edges as it moves forward on some big ticket purchases after recent, costly, repairs. The hospital’s resource committee had met on Sept. 22 to discuss which projects to fund, now and in the future, as members weighed their chances of PMC’s requests appearing higher on the borough’s own capital projects list to be submitted to the state appropriations committee, and therefore be more likely to receive state fundi...
