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The Juneau Student Symphony and the Juneau String Ensemble are traveling to Petersburg and will put on a free performance in the Wright Auditorium Saturday, June 4 at 2:30 p.m. Juneau Symphony Program Coordinator Teresa Bleakly said students young and old compose the symphony. "The Student Symphony here in Juneau is made up of musicians young and not so young," Bleakly said. "We call ourselves students but it's anyone who wants to play an instrument and get better at it. We have musicians both...
The Petersburg Medical Center board passed its annual capital and operating budget last Thursday, May 26. The $406,207 capital project list includes a new emergency room information system, a replacement chiller, a cardiac stress test/treadmill along with other equipment and infrastructure. $100,000 of that budget is directed toward facility improvement, a kind of contingency fund. PMC department heads come up with a list of projects and prioritize them with administration and the PMC board. PMC CFO Doran Hammett said around $117,000 of the...
The Class of 2016 graduated Tuesday night in the Petersburg High School gymnasium. Thirty-three seniors were members of this year's class, which PHS principal Rick Dormer described as the "nicest" group of people he's encountered. "To begin my speech every year I do my best to tell these students and the audience my impression of the graduating class or maybe rather how I will at least remember them," Dormer said as he opened up the ceremony. "We've had our dominant classes, we've had our quiet...
The Petersburg Ragnarok Rollers emerged victorious during this year's Mayfest Mayhem roller derby bout in front of a packed house Friday evening. Rebecca "Midlife Tigress" Anderson said she was proud to see the team work together and follow its strategy. "They did really well. I was impressed," Midlife Tigress said. "Some of those players had never bouted before. They've been at practice and they've scrimmaged but this was the first time testing their knowledge with referees watching. They did...
Petersburg High School LeConte Glacier student surveyors returned from the annual trip measuring the tidewater glacier. Six juniors and one senior spent each Wednesday's lunch hour this school year measuring various points outside around school with their theodolites in preparation for the trip. PHS science teacher Victor Trautman praised the students on their commitment to the task. "When they get there you don't go 'How do I work this?'" Trautman said. "No, no, no. They can do that in their...
After the Petersburg Borough Assembly shot down member Kurt Wohlhueter’s proposal to put a retail marijuana opt out measure on October’s ballot, Wohlhueter is still exploring what options the borough has to restrict a retail market and is inquiring at the state level on how to do so. In an email written from his Petersburg Borough Assembly email account to Alaska’s Marijuana Control Board (MCB) Wohlhueter wrote, “…I know our town is heavily divided over the issue of opting out or just to run with it (retail marijuana.)” He also asked if th...
A representative from Southeast Senior Services will come to town June 2 to talk to local home senior caregivers regarding potential grant and support options. Shelly Smith, family caregiver resource specialist, wants to inform Petersburg residents who provide care to seniors what their options are as far as financial assistance and other support services. “We provide support to communities throughout southeast Alaska and I spend a lot of time on the telephone talking to caregivers and listening to their stories,” Smith said. “Sometimes they...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly heard more than an hour of public comment regarding Assembly member Kurt Wohlhueter’s plan to propose a retail marijuana opt out measure on October’s ballot. The Borough Assembly is in the process of adopting a marijuana ordinance that sets guidelines for retail marijuana businesses that largely mirrors the borough’s alcohol ordinance. There was a mixed response of those for and against an opt out, and others who just didn’t want to see a retail marijuana store downtown. Gary Morgan recently applied for a limit... Full story
Ten new Petersburg High School National Honor Society students were inducted this year and the school held a ceremony in the Wright Auditorium Tuesday morning. Van Abbott, Katie Brock, Abbey Hardie, Ethan Kludt-Painter, Helen Martin, Julia Murph, Alice Neidiffer, Marissa Nilsen, Madisyn Parker and Erin Pfundt were among the newest inductees. NHS student Chauncy Sandhofer provided the audience with a background of the program. "The National Honor Society was established to recognize students who...
The Petersburg Borough held a community meet and greet for two Parks and Recreation director applicants at the community gym Tuesday evening. Chandra Thornburg from Seattle, Wash. and Melanie McElroy from Atlanta, Ga. were the two finalists. Petersburg Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht toured the two around town Tuesday and conducted interviews Wednesday afternoon. The position was ultimately offered to Thornburg and she accepted. Thornburg, 35, works for a city in Washington and has been...
Petersburg Borough Assembly member Kurt Wohlhueter wants to let the people of Petersburg choose whether or not retail marijuana will be allowed in town and will propose such an idea at the May 16 Borough Assembly meeting. Wohlhueter said the assembly has not discussed the opt out option allowed by state regulations, which some communities in Alaska have already done. “I want to see if we can get it (opt out option) on the ballot in October and let the people of Petersburg decide whether we want it because that was always one of the things (... Full story
Petersburg Medical Center staff and board members face tough decisions and an even tougher fiscal climate as they continue discussion on how to improve or replace their inadequate facility. PMC board, staff members and architect Joann Lott from Jensen Yorba Lott Architects met last Friday, May 6 to discuss the pros and cons of different options. Lott met with the PMC board last October when it presented a facility assessment. Many of the building’s issues include but are not limited to several mechanical and electrical systems in the L...
City of Kupreanof residents are celebrating their city’s 40th anniversary this Saturday, May 14. Current Kupreanof Mayor Tom Reinarts said activities are planned and he hopes people will head across the Narrows to enjoy the Kupreanof experience. “We’d like everybody to come over and visit us and join us in celebrating the 40th anniversary of our incorporation,” Reinarts said. Kupreanof, which was officially incorporated in October 1975, is one of the lowest populated cities in the state—24 residents, according to Reinarts. The area wasn’t al...
A Haines puppeteer performing arts group, Geppetto's Junkyard, will be performing in the Wright Auditorium during this year's Mayfest activities. Debi Knight Kennedy, a puppeteer in the group, said they perform one to two shows a year and, this time around, the troupe has specifically tailored its performance for Petersburg audiences. "A Viking from Petersburg named Inar goes off in search of adventure and gets swallowed by a whale and then we see what happens next," Knight Kennedy said....
The Petersburg School Board met Tuesday, May 11 and approved the hire of Joyce Metsa for next school year’s high school math teacher. The board also approved a new social studies curriculum and a new SHOP Lite (low intensity technology education) course aimed at encouraging female students to enroll. “We lack in having, I’m trying to think of the exact words there, pretty much we don’t have enough girls in Shop,” Petersburg middle and high school principal Rick Dormer said. Shop LITE features basic woodworking, basic automotive maintenan...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly might consider initiating a change in the mill rate for some property owners living in more remotes area. Mike Woodworth brought up the issue during a public comment period during Monday’s Borough Assembly meeting. Woodworth is a property owner at Frederick Point East which lies within old city limits, now known as service area one and is taxed at ten mills instead of four mills—the tax rate outside of service area one. “Right now what it’s created is kind of a bitter pill for me because I’m also a homeowner... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved in its first reading a new marijuana ordinance. The ordinance largely conforms to state regulations and in its current form allows smoking marijuana inside a retail store. The approval of the ordinance will force the assembly to amend its “Smoke Free Air Act” which prohibits smoking in indoor public spaces. “If the assembly approves the marijuana ordinance in front of you then staff will have to go back and alter our clean air ordinance to match, to make that work,” Giesbrecht said. “That will take us a... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved this year's $9.6 million budget after reallocating it's community service grant funding where it reduced funding to Petersburg Mental Health Services for the first time in decades. The assembly reduced PMHS funding by $20,000 and directed it towards Petersburg's domestic violence prevention and victim advocacy non-profit Working Against Violence for Everyone (WAVE). Annette Wooton, WAVE Director and it's only full-time employee, this year made a one-time... Full story
Petersburg power went out Tuesday morning after a rotten tree fell into lines in Ketchikan. “Our outage resulted from a large tree in the Ketchikan lines, which took down the whole SEAPA transmission system,” Petersburg Power and Light Superintendent Joe Nelson said. Ketchikan Public Utilities electric division manager Andrew Donato said the tree hit a point where the Southeast Alaska Power Agency line comes into Ketchikan. “These power lines contained, at the very top, SEAPA 115 KV lines followed by our sub transmission followed by our distr... Full story
Lawrence (Lori) Christiansen was sentenced this week after admitting guilt for charges related to the distribution of heroin and methamphetamine. The state’s case against Lars Christensen, who was also facing charges of two counts of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the 2nd and 3rd degrees, was dismissed in February. Federal and local authorities arrested Lars and his brother Lawrence Christensen in January after receiving and handling a package containing 25 grams of heroin and 36 grams of methamphetamine addressed to their m... Full story
Incoming Petersburg School District teacher Rowan Beraza is headed to town this June to teach Spanish and English in the high school and middle school. Beraza, a Fairbanks native, taught for the past year in Metlakatla after earning her teaching license and master's degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She also taught oversees in Southeast Asia after teaching Spanish as an adjunct professor at UAF. "I decided to try teaching English as a foreign language overseas," Beraza said. "I...
A local restaurant owner will be expanding her business and plans to open The 420, potentially Petersburg's first retail marijuana business. Susan Burrell has owned and operated the Fisherman's Net Café and Gift Shop on North Nordic Drive since 2013. Within the past year, she began selling pipes and other marijuana smoking products, but said she hadn't planned until recently to open up a retail store. "I had no intention of being a retail store because I figured the competition was going to be...
Petersburg Borough staff is moved out of the municipal building and construction workers from MCG Constructors/DCI are ready to move in as the $6.8 million project to remodel the old building gets underway. Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said there’s a few items left in the old building such as broken chairs, old computer equipment and police vehicle seats. “The move is pretty much done,” Giesbrecht said. “We’ve got odds and ends from the old building that will probably get trashed. It’s just stuff that no one has any interest in and we don...
The Kake Access road project is officially dead after the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) nixed the project’s environmental impact statement (EIS). “A Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an…EIS was published in the Federal Register on January 22, 2013,” a notice on the federal register states. “The FHWA is issuing this notice to advise the public that FHWA and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) will no longer prepare an EIS for the Kake Access project.” In 2004, a state transportation plan identified... Full story
Local Petersburg resident Eliza Warmack will be a new 5th grade teacher at Rae C. Stedman Elementary School next year. Eliza, her son Ari and her husband Glenn Warmack came to Petersburg four years ago from Sand Point in the Aleutian chain where Eliza taught kindergarten for two years. "We actually moved up there (Sand Point) for a teaching job," Eliza said. "We were in Portland and I taught there for a year and did some subbing for Portland Public and there was just not a job to be had. The...
