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The Petersburg Viking wrestling squad is taking ten of its athletes to the state tournament in Anchorage this weekend after a series of upsets and wins last weekend at the regional tournament in Sitka. Buddy Stelmach, who was seated 5th in the 98-weight class took first in the tournament after upsetting last year's regional champ. "That was an action packed match," said assistant coach Ed May. "The audience was going crazy." Stelmach also beat the number two-seeded wrestler from Craig. DJ Toyomu... Full story
Petersburg Mental Health Services will now have its own counselor present in Petersburg High School after receiving $25,000 for a suicide prevention grant. PMHS Senior Clinician Kim Kilkenny and Behavioral Health Clinician Robin Cooley presented the grant to the Petersburg School Board Tuesday night. “We wrote the grant last spring because it was the first time it became available with the (Alaska) Department of Education to provide services for suicide prevention,” Kilkenny said. Cooley wil... Full story
Local, state and federal authorities seized during the past year more than a quarter of a million dollars worth of controlled substances, cash and firearms related to the importation of narcotics into Petersburg. The Southeast Alaska Cities against Drugs Task Force, or SEACAD, works with multiple police agencies as well as the United States Postal Inspection Service. According to a Petersburg Borough Police Department press release, investigators seized more than $30,000 in cash and firearms. “Investigators also seized controlled substances i...
Petersburg district school enrollment numbers have decreased by 44 percent since 1997—almost double that of Wrangell and Sitka. It’s a number that Petersburg Superintendent Rob Thomason has been concerned about for some time. “It’s been a concern in the back of my mind ever since I’ve been here,” Thomason said. “The whole staff knows we’re always looking at the idea that this year does not preclude what it will look like next year. We always have to rethink that.” The district has seen about a two percent decrease in student enrollment each y...
Sixteen 3rd through 5th grade girls participated in a finale 5K run last Saturday morning as part of the 'Girls on the Run' program. This winter is the first time the event has been held in Petersburg in four years. Joyce Burke-Biggs, Girls on the Run liaison, said the program consists of teaching various values. "Anything to do with self-esteem, self-awareness, teamwork, feeling good about who you are and appreciating other's differences," Burke-Biggs said. For the past several months, the... Full story
Petersburg High School Junior River Quitslund, returned this summer from a ten-month student exchange program in Thailand. After applying for and being accepted by the Petersburg Rotary Club's Youth Exchange Program, Quitslund departed for Chiang Mai, a city in northern Thailand, in August of 2012. "It was really different than Petersburg," Quitslund said. "I don't know where to start." Quitslund began his 80-degree days, like most people, with breakfast. But, bacon and eggs or a bowl cereal...
Brandon Estes, 20, plead guilty to six counts of Burglary in the 2nd Degree last Monday after being accused of breaking into multiple businesses around Petersburg late last summer. The six Class C felony charges are connected to AP&T, Wikan Enterprises, the Petersburg Parks and Recreation building, Hammer & Wikan Grocery store, Waterways Veterinary Clinic and Petersburg Motors last August. Police received reports of break-ins and burglaries throughout the day on August 28 from those locations and later obtained search warrants after viewing...
The Petersburg borough assembly ordered Fred Triem and Karen Ellingstad to repair or demolish their property at 1011 Wrangell Avenue after a non-compliance hearing last Monday and colorful testimony given by Triem, which included a threat to engage in litigation with the borough. The building’s foundation failed in September 2009. On June 21, 2012 Leo Luczak, Community Development Director, sent notice to Ellingstad that the structure had been deemed a dangerous building. Since then, Luczak has requested a plan for how the structure would be r... Full story
Golden king crab harvests are slightly down this season but prices for the shellfish are well above average. According to Alaska Department of Fish and Game data, the current golden crab price average is $10.10 per pound. That’s more than $2 more per pound compared to last season and nearly double the previous five-year average. This season’s preliminary golden crab harvest is 510,743 pounds compared to last season’s 599,234 pounds. Joe Stratman, ADF&G Region 1 Lead Crab Biologist, said the Southeast openings and closures are based solely on fi... Full story
The Petersburg borough assembly unanimously voted in Bob Lynn by paper ballot to serve on the assembly seat left vacant by Sue Flint after she stepped down in early November. Lynn served on the committee charged with developing the borough charter the assembly now has the task to implement as it continues with borough formation. Lynn said he was actively against borough formation initially. “But now that it’s done, it’s time to move on and see what we can do to make the charter represent all the people who live in the borough,” Lynn said. Lynn... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly is moving ahead with design work to remodel the police station and the municipal building. Prior grant funds cover $65,444 of the estimated $91,560 design cost. The rest will be taken from a borough contingency fund. Both the police station and the municipal building have been on the borough's capital projects list for two years. The municipal building was recently bumped up after it received a structural analysis late last summer, which detailed load-bearing...
Long time Petersburg resident and former school district employee Tye Leif Petersen, 45, plead not guilty during an arraignment held in U.S. District Court on three charges involving child pornography. Petersen was arrested late October after federal investigators and local police conducted a search warrant of his home and electronic devices. Investigators found email attachments as well as CDs containing images and videos of young children engaged in sexually explicit behaviors. According to an FBI affidavit, last July an investigator...
Eight Petersburg Viking wrestlers placed at the Pilot Invitational in Juneau the weekend before last. DJ Toyomura, John Brooks and Billy Ware took first place in their respective weight classes. Buddy Stelmach and Isaiah May took second. Logan Turcott and Matt Gudel took third. Bret Martinsen took fourth. Petersburg placed second overall in the tournament. "The team really pulled together," said assistant coach Ed May. "We're, at this point, hitting our stride. Hopefully we'll be getting near...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly released to the public a redacted memorandum regarding some assembly member concerns and questions about Petersburg Medical Clinic policy making and its relationship to the borough. The memo was written by James Brennan, borough attorney, in response to those questions and concerns and was initially taken from public record until John Hoag, assembly member, voiced his concern over the action during a November 25 meeting. “I am troubled that the memorandum we received from our attorney regarding the Petersburg M...
The Blind Slough hydroelectric reservoir is three feet below normal heading into the winter months after two dry spells. “A year ago in October we had the driest October on record which is the normal month we refill,” said Joe Nelson, Power and Light Superintendent. “Because this year was a relatively mild year we were not able to refill the reservoirs.” Petersburg buys roughly 80 percent of its wholesale power from Southeast Alaska Power Agency and offsets the other 20 percent of its costs with generation from the Blind Slough project... Full story
Petersburg Mental Health Services bought the Totem Arms apartments earlier this month as part of a long-term plan to transition and expand its office and service areas from its current location above the Wells Fargo building. Totem Arms apartments are located on Fram Street, two blocks up from Main Street. PMHS has been operating for the past 19 years in its current location. Susan Ohmer, PMHS Executive Director, said the organization has grown and it’s time to find a space to keep up. “We’ve got employees whose offices are hallways and close... Full story
The sales tax ordinance review committee made no recommendations to change the boroughs $1200 sales tax cap during its Tuesday meeting. The committee has been meeting during the past several months to, according to its mission statement, “to simplify the code and collection procedures, and to generate an equal or greater amount of revenue so the borough does not have to decrease services or increase property taxes.” To do that, the committee is reviewing a list of exemptions contained in the ordinance. Changing the $1200 cap is one of the mor... Full story
Matt Bryner took this year's Christmas tree decorations into his and the community's hands after collecting donations from businesses across town to purchase new lights for the community Christmas tree. "I've always been the Christmas light guy," Bryner said. "My house is always lit up quite a bit. I kind of like putting the lights up and helping people out and putting the lights up for them." Bryner said after seeing Wrangell's impressive Christmas tree lighting last season, he knew Petersburg...
Petersburg borough assembly member John Hoag took issue during Monday's assembly meeting with the borough attorney's advice concerning a Petersburg Medical Center document that isn't available for public inspection. "I am troubled that the memorandum we received from our attorney regarding the Petersburg Medical Center was deemed not a public record because of potential fiscal impact," Hoag said. "I think that is the exception that could swallow the rule." PMC recently asked the borough for...
The Petersburg borough assembly held a public hearing on an updated sanitation ordinance that includes the co-mingled recycling ordinance Monday night but other changes to the ordinance sparked discussion. The new recycling program would allow residents to mix their recyclables in a bag that will be collected curbside. The program is being incentivized by increasing collection rates by 20 percent—an increase of around $5 for most users. But those who recycle won’t have to pay the difference. No one spoke to the recycling program but David White...
The Petersburg Borough might switch to mail-in elections after borough officials look into cost estimates and receive feedback from the public. During the borough incorporation process mail-in ballots were used and some residents expressed satisfaction with that process. The borough sent out an inquiry last March but only 21 residents responded. “The questionnaire results was not exactly an overwhelming community response,” assembly member John Hoag said. “We got eleven yeses, ten no’s and two no answers. I think we ought to solicit a little...
New banking options will soon be available in Petersburg in the form of a credit union. Alps Federal Credit Union, based out of Sitka, is creating a new branch for the first time and has chosen Petersburg as its new location. John O’Brien, Alps CEO, said when they started looking for a new location they chose Petersburg because there is no credit union presence in town. “A credit union is a member owned cooperative, which I think is something most people will be familiar with in a fishing community,” O’Brien said. Credit unions and traditi... Full story
The commercial sea cucumber fishery is wrapping up with a total of 1.4 million pounds harvested as of last Thursday. Scott Walker, Ketchikan Area Management Biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said the fishery started out with around 195 commercial divers when it opened in early October. “The bulk of the fishery is over,” walker said. “The week before last was the last big push we had with around 113 divers. This week we’re down to 25 divers, maybe 30.” According to Alaska Fisheries Entry Commission data, there are around 30... Full story
Petersburg's acting public health nurse Erin Michael has been busy since she arrived in town at the end of September. "A big bulk of what I've been doing has been immunizations," Michael said."We also do outreach for STD screenings, birth control and we work with different coalitions in the community." Michael arrived from Juneau where she worked at the Juneau Public Health Center since November of 2011. She will be able to apply for the official Petersburg position in December. According to... Full story
When one thinks of Southeast Alaskan wildlife the tendency is to imagine the grumbles and crashes of humpback whales, bears, moose and wolves trampling through muskeg and salmon ripping up sloughs and stReam. But Joshua Ream lives in a different wild. He turns over logs and peers into shallow ponds looking for and documenting native amphibians. “I chose to work with amphibians here in Alaska because there’s relatively little known about the species we have and a lot of people don’t even realize that they occur here,” Ream said. Ream, a wildlif...
