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The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department’s youth program is picking up momentum and students are beginning to learn more about fire behavior and safety. Program leader Devren Bennett says this year has been great because it’s a full class with 12 students participating. Bennett says among the top benefits is introducing youth to the PVFD program. This is important to the local community because the department is having a difficult time bringing in recruits. It’s a problem departments natio... Full story
Topi Karikorpi is this year's inbound Rotary Long Term Exchange student and he's been enjoying island life for two months now. He comes from a small village in Finland, and says he likes the size of Petersburg. "I live in a very little village in Finland," he says. "I live in a forest, literally." Other exchange students from his country went to Florida and Brazil, but Karikorpi, 18, is glad he was chosen to live in Alaska. "I want to learn more about the culture of America and meet new people,"...
PHS volleyball headed to the Juneau Invitational Volleyball Extravaganza or JIVE Tournament last weekend and faced some tough competition. It’s a tournament the players and coaching staff look forward to every year, according to head coach Jaime Cabral. “Good weekend overall, we got to play some of the bigger teams with Juneau-Douglas, Mt. Edgecumbe and Sitka. The ones we normally don’t get to see,” he says. “Playing against them, we were up on points and then kind of hit a couple parts where we tensed up a little bit.” Petersburg ended up lo...
The Petersburg High School swim teams took off to Juneau last weekend to compete in their final meet before regionals in two weeks. Head coach Andy Carlisle says both teams did well. “We had several best times, and that’s always good,” he says. “One more week of hard work and then we start resting and hopefully we’re sharp when we get to regions.” Carlisle has the events picked that swimmers will focus on at the upcoming meet. And he’s sticking with the belief that everything up until this point has been practice. He believes the approach help...
SEARHC held a community healing circle last Thursday night at the ANB Hall. The event was organized by Natocha Lyons in order to help members of the community discuss any issues they are having. Finding new ways to be active in the community and reaching out to people in need is part of her job with SEARHC, and seven people showed up. "Even if one showed up, like my boss said, that's still positive," she says. "Everybody that was there needed it, and everybody benefited from it. I think it was a...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will not allow a conditional use permit for adding a residential space for a waterfront warehouse, in addition to a caretaker dwelling. The appeal by Bill Menish came after the planning and zoning commission denied his application for the permit last month. In this process, the assembly acts as the Board of Adjustment and they met last Friday, after canvassing the election results. Menish wanted to use the dwelling for a possible bed and breakfast or rental space at 710 South Nordic Drive. He applied for the...
Michael Sheldon was born and raised in Petersburg and he has strong beliefs when it comes the citizens of Alaska and the Permanent Fund dividend. He's registered as a write-in candidate to challenge incumbent Bert Stedman for Senate District R in the upcoming election. "I've been here all my life," Sheldon says. "And I'm still a human being and not a politician." Sheldon's worked as a handyman for the last 10 years, and he worked in the fishing and logging industry when he was younger. He's a...
The school board held a discussion about options for sixth grader’s traveling to activities at its meeting Tuesday night. Principal Rick Dormer and activities director Jaime Cabral, answered questions from the board for possible changes moving forward. “Option one on that sheet is, due to reduced numbers in the middle school we should allow all sixth grade students to travel with the seventh and eighth graders, with parent permission,” Carbal said. “We always give a permission slip with every trip in the middle school just to make sure we have...
On Oct. 10, Alaska Wildlife Troopers investigated a black bear that had been shot and left. The incident took place on Mitkof Island near Petersburg. Evidence was recovered from the scene, and the investigation is ongoing. Alaska Wildlife Troopers are requesting anyone with information regarding the incident contact the Troopers in Petersburg, or call the Alaska Fish and Wildlife Safeguard at 1-800-478-3377. Callers can remain anonymous, but it will disqualify them from receiving a reward....
Mitkof Middle School cross country hosted the first meet in the young history of the program last Saturday with a sizable squad from Ketchikan. The cross country program started as a club and became an official sport a couple years ago, according to coach Joe Viechnicki. "Last week we ran in Ketchikan and this week we were really excited to have a meet here," he says. "Really proud of the kids, they did a great job." The team trained on the course for weeks leading up to the meet, running three...
The end of the RM038 moose season is in sight, and as of noon Tuesday the total stood at 97 moose taken, including 11 illegal kills. The season total is on track to exceed 100 moose for the third year in a row, according to Rich Lowell, area wildlife biologist for Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). The number of moose illegal kills was low during the first half of the season, but they recently increased and now represent 11 percent of the total harvest. Nine of the 97 moose harvested...
Harbormaster Glo Wollen recently returned from this year’s harbormaster conference held in Dutch Harbor. It was the first year holding the Alaska Association of Harbormasters and Port Administrators (AAHPA) in Dutch Harbor. Wollen announced that next year Petersburg will play host to the conference of around 100 harbormasters, engineers and people in the industry. The conference rotates constantly, with one year in Southeast then one year up north, so people attending get the opportunity to experience a variety of harbors. Wollen’s been to Sea...
PHS volleyball played Wrangell last weekend and swept the Wolves, adding two more victories to their early season total. The teams faced off in Wrangell on Friday, then played in Petersburg the next night. Head coach Jaime Cabral is happy with the progression of his team so far, especially the younger players. Comfortable leads against the Wolves allowed him to play different lineups against Wrangell, showing the depth of this year's squad. For him, coaching high school and middle school...
At the suggestions of others, Liv Perschon thought about a modular home, but she chose against the quick option. And she could not be happier with the home she ended up with. It took a year and a half, but her green beveled cedar-sided Mitkof Highway home with red trim and white accents is quickly becoming home. Her new home sits where the home she shared with her late husband Peter used to. It had to be torn down due to water damage, but it gave Perschon her dream home. The old home was nice,...
It didn't take long for Ambre Burrell to get behind the idea of buying the old First Bank building and turning it into a fourplex apartment along with her husband Sig, Josh and Rachel Etcher. Two apartments were already upstairs so the addition of two more on the ground floor made sense, she says. A good majority of selecting items and materials to complete the work was done online. Burrell says her biggest mission was incorporating big windows. The upstairs three bedroom is probably the nicest,...
When it comes to restoring an early-1900s house to its original condition finding fixtures can be tricky, not to mention time consuming. Greg Katason's love for the Buschmann house at 407 South Nordic Drive is obvious in the way he speaks about it and the countless hours he's spent planning its restoration. "I wanted to keep it as original as possible," he says. "Roger Heimdahl sent me pictures of the house when he was growing up." The Heimdahls owned the house in the early 1900s, years after...
Reid Brothers Construction started in 1945, but had to shift gears after the logging industry fell apart in the 90s. They ended up buying smaller equipment and began diversifying. The company still bids on bigger jobs and has large equipment for civil work. Now they also take on smaller residential projects to keep work flowing, and the rock wall work they've been doing for about 20 years is highly desired. "Our main goal as a company is just to create jobs for people," said Bosjun Reid. "It's...
Petersburg voters spoke loudly in favor of supporting marijuana in the Petersburg Borough. Moving forward, the product will be taxed and potentially bring much needed funds to the borough during tough fiscal times in the Last Frontier State. The unofficial results showed a landslide victory with 701 no votes to 414, on the only ballot initiative for this year's municipal election. The polls were busy Tuesday, with 1120 people taking the time to cast their ballot at the Community Center, in...
Over 75 community members gathered in the Wright Auditorium last Wednesday to watch and discuss a documentary about opiate addition called “Chasing the Dragon.” The film lasted 45 minutes, was co-produced by the FBI and DEA, and it’s available on YouTube. The night was filled with a variety of audience questions about how prevalent the issue is in Petersburg, physical and mental health impacts and warning signs. One young man in the film said opiates made him do things he was raised not to do. “It made me a monster,” he said. A middle-ag...
The moose season is past the halfway point, with harvest totals appearing nearly on par with last year’s. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported 50 moose had been harvested by Sept. 30. The season began Sept. 15, and is set to wrap up next weekend on Oct. 15. At the halfway point last year hunters in the Wrangell, Petersburg and Kake areas had put away 54 moose, which at the time led ADFG to anticipate an average season. An unexpectedly solid last couple of weeks ended up bringing the season total to the third-highest on record, howeve...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly listened to an appeal for a conditional use permit on a newly constructed waterfront building near South Harbor and Cold Storage, but ultimately decided to wait on making decision. Bill Menish is the property owner and he wants the permit for a two-family residential building on industrial land. Menish attended the meeting telephonically. In order to win the appeal, Menish had to point out evidence supporting the planning and zoning commission made a mistake, an...
PHS volleyball hosted a handful of teams last weekend with a full schedule of games. The Lady Vikings had four squads participating in the event and they looked ready for the season, especially PSG 1. "The varsity did a heck of a job, they won them all and good, good experience for them," Cabral said. "We got to see what we need to work on and play somebody else, which was nice." The Vikings had a close game against the Craig Panthers, but the rival Wrangell Wolves showed up to play and put...
The Petersburg High School swim team hosted its only meet of the season last weekend, and everything went smoothly, except for the scoreboard malfunctioning a few times. The Vikings took on Ketchikan and Juneau-Douglas. "Really good weekend, lots of lifetime bests," head coach Andy Carlisle said. Ben Higgins took the 500 yard freestyle on Friday and Saturday. It's an event the senior's been focusing on all season. Van Abbott won the 100 yard breaststroke Friday and finished first in the 200...
Petersburg cross country had perfect conditions at state last weekend in Anchorage, and the girls team continued their pack mentality en route to finish fifth as a team. The meet was competitive, and head coach Tom Thompson said the talent keeps improving in Alaska. “I’d say the runners this year overall, in the state, outperformed the runners the last couple years,” he said. “The bar has been raised. The top runner for girls this year is a freshman, pretty impressive.” Thompson isn’t worried about fitting in the trend. He said there’s ple...
Repairs to the Alaska Marine Highway System’s M/V Columbia are going to take longer than anticipated and it won’t return to service this year, according to Jeremy Woodrow, Alaska Department of Transportation spokesman. The ferry headed for dry dock in Oregon at the end of September to be looked over after divers in Wrangell reported a bent starboard propeller. After arriving in Oregon, the damage turned into much more, and the vessel will take around six weeks to repair, Woodrow says. “Up...
