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Art and Jeanine Hammer's wedding anniversary is on tomorrow's Valentine's Day. Before meeting Jeanine during the summer of 1953, Art, nine years her senior, was used to the bachelor life. "I was just a loose, single guy doing a lot of hunting and fishing, just bumming around," Art said. Jeanine traveled to town with a friend whose sister was married to Art's brother. The pair met at a family dinner at Art's sisters house. They spent the following two weeks together. "We went out together," Art... Full story
Alaska Department of Transportation staff outlined future road construction plans for South Nordic Drive and Haugen Drive to Petersburg residents Tuesday night. The more than $9 million project funded by the Federal Highway Administration will rehabilitate pavement, sidewalks, curbs and gutter on Haugen Drive from where it begins on Nordic Drive up to 8th Street and on Nordic Drive from Haugen to the ferry terminal. The construction on Nordic Drive will also level out the current steeper slope... Full story
A school board member and the elementary school principal hosted a community meeting to learn what local residents want from the incoming superintendent. The community meeting was part of a comprehensive survey also given to district staff, which aims to assess the most common professional and personal traits desired in a superintendent as well as education issues the district faces. School board member Cheryl File and principal Erica Kludt-Painter wrote down resident’s ideal qualities on a large poster board and after each category was filled...
A Petersburg man is representing himself at a jury trail after police charged him with Theft and Criminal Trespass for taking his dog from the borough pound. Martin Massin said his dog, Lucky, ran away when he was cutting wood near Hungry Point. He found out later through Facebook’s local Buy & Sell & Trade page that his dog had been taken to the pound. According to the probable cause statement, Massin inquired as to the location of the “doggy jail” when another Facebook user “described the location of the impound cage and further suggest...
A local man charged with several counts of possessing and distributing child pornography will see his trial pushed back after a district court judge granted a motion by his attorney last December to declare the case complex. According to U.S. Code, a pretrial or trial can be delayed if a case is “so unusual or so complex, due to the number of defendants, the nature of the prosecution, or the existence of novel questions of fact or law, that it is unreasonable to expect adequate preparation for pretrial proceedings…” But at a January 28 trial...
The Lady Vikings tamed the Sitka Wolves during both of last weekend's home games. Head Coach Dino Brock said Friday evening's senior appreciation night revved up the team and the crowd. "We came out on fire running up and down the court," Brock said. "We kind of shocked Sitka as hard and as fast as we were playing." The Lady Vikings scored 26 points in the first quarter, setting the tone for the rest of the game. The girl's squad gained and held the lead throughout the night. Kylie Wallace...
The borough's war against aggressive marine wildlife dubbed "Operation Sea Lion" has been successful in keeping the animals off the floats and away from people. It's latest weapon: a solar powered electric fence and a human manikin set up at the airplane float. "The first night it was set up we realized the animals had sensed something and since then they must have found other places to go because they're not hauling out there anymore," Harbormaster Glo Wollen said. That was a month ago. Since...
Ketchikan Gateway Borough officials are again requesting Petersburg’s, along with more than 30 other municipal government’s, assistance with its lawsuit against the state of Alaska. Ketchikan is moving forward with its lawsuit over the ‘mandatory local contribution’ component of the state’s education funding formula that requires municipal districts to provide revenue back into its schools. Regional Educational Attendance Areas—education areas in the Unorganized Borough—aren’t required to make such payments. In a letter from Ketchikan Mayor...
Petersburg Borough Assembly Member John Hoag resigned his position on the assembly Monday. Hoag, a lawyer, said he's stepping down due to a conflict of interest between one of his clients and the borough. "I have found myself with two clients who have adverse interests to the borough," Hoag said during the start of Monday's meeting. "One issue may be resolvable through disclosure and abstaining as a voter. The other represents a potential violation of the charter, which prohibits assembly members from representing persons against the borough."... Full story
A tobacco tax might be the answer to the Petersburg Medical Center board’s future infrastructure funding concerns. The sales tax committee discussed last Tuesday recommending the initiation of a tobacco tax to the borough assembly. PMC CEO Liz Woodyard attended the meeting and said many communities across the country support their hospitals with a similar tax. “That’s a norm,” Woodyard said. “That’s not something that’s unusual. In this case I’m specifically talking about tobacco because we absolutely know we can attribute healthcare diseases a... Full story
The sales tax committee discussed with citizens additional taxes on alcohol and pull-tabs last Tuesday. The mission of the committee is to simplify the sales tax code and collection procedures and to generate an equal or greater amount of revenue so the borough doesn't have to decrease services or increase property taxes. That means it's looking at every option before it makes recommendations to the borough assembly. Many of the Petersburg residents who attended the meeting urged the committee... Full story
Petersburg residents who utilize the landfill for commercial salvaging will still be able to take scrap metal after assembly voted down a proposed change that would have eliminated for-profit salvaging. Public Works Director Karl Hagerman made the change as the borough updated its sanitation ordinance. “The department, while we’re very supportive of the salvage program in general, has seen operational problems with commercial salvage for-profit,” Hagerman said during a public hearing on the salvage program last month. “The salvage program was d...
An updated Petersburg criminal code would give officers more discretion when it comes to charging individuals with minor crimes. “What we’re looking at is taking some issues that are minor crimes and giving the officers the option to write a simple borough ordinance violation similar to a traffic ticket,” Police Chief Kelly Swihart said. Officers would determine whether or not to arrest individuals for crimes such as Driving while License is Suspended, Revoked or Canceled, Trespassing and Minor Theft. “If we get a young person, for instanc...
The Lady Vikings dominated its rival Wrangell Wolves last weekend during two away games. The girls squad set the pace during the first quarter with a lead of 16-7 but got into foul trouble early on. "At one point I had all five starters on the bench in the second quarter," Head Coach Dino Brock said. "For the large part of the second quarter most of the starters didn't even play." But the Lady Vikings bench didn't let the momentum linger and kept the lead at 21-17 at the half. Brock said his...
The Vikings brought home two wins from last weekend's homecoming games in Wrangell. Friday night's match was neck and neck as the two teams battled between one or two possessions throughout the night. "One of the keys for us is to be able to control the tempo on the defensive end," Head Coach Rick Brock said. "We weren't able to do that. Wrangell did a nice job of keeping the pace they way they wanted it and spreading us out." With 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter Petersburg lost...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly ironed out language in the ordinance governing the Petersburg Medical Center hospital board and settled on a relationship between the two bodies that is somewhat ambiguous. Despite months of discussion between the two boards, Assembly Member John Havrilek still wasn’t comfortable with that ambiguity. “I’m still concerned this ordinance doesn’t give the hospital or us direction on who does what, when, how,” Havrilek said. Havrilek asked that clearer language be added to the ordinance that would define the borou...
This year's Losing Big competition kicked off this week as contestants divided up into two teams led by captains who participated in last year's competition. The competition aims to provide contestants a means to live healthier and more productive lives as they set goals for themselves as the competition progresses. The teams were divided after names were drawn from a hat. Shelly Pope is captain of Team Blue and Christin Fankhauser is captain of Team White. Donnie Hayes, Parks and Rec Director,...
Building permits have increased since last year, according to a Petersburg Community Development report. The borough issued 86 building permits in 2013, 22 more than 2012, bringing in $9,435 in revenues and bringing project valuation to more than $2.6 million. “That’s quite a bit of value that’s coming into the community,” said Leo Luczak, community development director. “It increases the tax base and creates an awful lot of jobs.” Luczak said these numbers help shed some insight into the local economy based on what types of building pe... Full story
The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department is recruiting new volunteers and is offering a Fire Fighter One class this spring. Dave Berg, assistant chief, said the fire department is looking for ten volunteers to fill the class, which would bring the overall roster to 35 members. The class teaches basic fire fighting skills including information about fire behavior, equipment handling, hazardous materials and also features live fire exercises. Berg said becoming a volunteer fire fighter doesn't... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly will decide again on whether residential lots in the Olsen Subdivision should be rezoned to commercial after the ordinance failed due to a lack of a second motion in its first reading last week. Richard Burrell had been previously cited for a zoning violation for storing commercial equipment for his business, Rock-N-Road Construction, on his lot at 105 Arness Heights Dr. Since then, the planning and zoning commission voted to approve Burrell’s request to change the zoning designation to a commercial lot p... Full story
The Petersburg Rotary Club is sponsoring sophomore Kyla Willis' trip to Chile where she will spend her next school year as an exchange student. Willis, Sven Heinrichs, the Rotary exchange student in Petersburg from Dortmund, Germany, as well as other students in Alaska from around the world attended the Rotary District 5010's Winter Orientation in Anchorage earlier this month. Local Rotary Club member Dave Berg said students meet with their peers from Alaska and abroad to help determine where...
Traditional in-person voting will likely remain during local elections after the borough received feedback from citizens and reviewed cost comparisons between traditional and mail-in elections. The borough assembly sent out surveys last month through Facebook and email inquiries. The majority of respondents preferred in-person voting. “One of the reasons we even considered this is because we weren’t sure if it would be a benefit for those folks living off the road system,” Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said during last week’s assembl...
Decreased enrollment numbers in Petersburg schools is playing a big role in how district staff prepare next year’s budget. Student enrollment has steadily dropped for more than a decade. During the 2004-2005 school year enrollment was up to 630 students. Next year though, the district’s numbers are approaching a low enough number—424 students—that would change its classification in a state funding equation called the ‘foundation formula’. According to state guidelines, school districts receive funding based on enrollment and the student cou...
The Lady Vikings lost two close home games last weekend against the Mt. Edgecumbe squad. The Lady Vikings faced similar challenges as the boy's team in its conference games. "We struggled shooting the basketball both nights, but other than that we did a nice job defensively," Head Coach Dino Brock said. Although the Lady Vikings started off slow they took the lead in the third. Mt. Edgecumbe took the lead after making a run and maintained it the rest of the night. The girl's squad lost Friday...
The Petersburg Vikings battled through four long conference games last weekend and brought home two wins. The varsity squad had a rough start against Sitka High School on Wednesday evening. “We really struggled to score,” Head Coach Rick Brock said. “We were getting very good looks at the basket but the ball would not drop for us.” The Vikings only put up three points on the board during the first half but managed to hold Sitka to seven points through most of the half. Sitka hit their stride during the middle of the second quarter though...
