Sorted by date Results 151 - 163 of 163
The Petersburg School District approved the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) six-year plan at the first meeting of the academic year August 15. It is a long term plan that is vital to secure state funding for major maintenance and building capital projects. The facility committee met with Borough Building Official and Code Enforcement Officer Ray Wesebaum, Southeast Regional Resource Center representative David Landis, and school board member Jay Lister to review and discern priorities for a six-year plan. So far, there are five projects on the...
The filing window for candidacy in the 2023 Petersburg Borough Municipal Election officially closed Tuesday afternoon. Thirty candidates filed for the 20 seats up for election, and there will be 11 contested positions on this year’s ballot. The two contested seats on the assembly are now a race between Jeigh Stanton Gregor, Rob Schwartz, Rick Perkins, and incumbent Jeff Meucci. Both positions will be three-year terms. Dave Kensinger will not run for reelection in this year’s race. Both of the three-year terms on the hospital board are a con...
At the first board meeting of the academic year last week, the Petersburg School District board decided that school meal prices will increase by at least $0.25 this school year. This decision was approved in order to maintain the financial sustainability of the school food service program and comply with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Paid Lunch Equity Policy. The policy says that schools serving lunch need to have enough money to pay for meals that students buy at the regular price, not the discounted price; some s...
Students in Petersburg School District are set to start the school year on August 29, alongside several upcoming additions to faculty staff. New to the district is Thomas Hambley, who will teach fourth grade at Stedman Elementary this fall. "I am excited about joining the team at Stedman Elementary and becoming part of the Petersburg community," he shared. Hambley moved to Petersburg earlier this summer from Glennallen, where he taught fourth grade. He specializes in elementary level teaching...
As the first practical measure taken by Petersburg’s Early Childhood Education Task Force, the PIECE program is nearing the mark of its first year in action. So far, eight childcare provider employees across three services in Petersburg have received a first round of fiscal incentives under the program. For some, the extra benefits have given them a positive boost toward higher education; for others, the bonus check has not provided enough of a platform to launch from. PIECE, short for Petersburg Incentive Education for Childhood Employees, i...
Looking to the narrows on North Nordic Drive, the home of Floyd and Barbara Strand stands as a one-of-a-kind relic of Petersburg's Norwegian roots. From its humble beginnings, this house has expanded, evolved, and welcomed home new generations for more than a century. It is the single oldest house in Petersburg, owned and lived in by the same family for its entirety. Initially built in 1902, what sets this house apart from the rest constructed during that time is the remarkable fact that its...
Inside Mary Ellen Anderson's greenhouse, a sea of green leaves ripples in the breeze of a fan. Pigeons coo nearby, and the radio, almost always on, plays quietly on a shelf. The air is made fragrant by tomato vines laden with fruit, cucumber blossoms, greens and flowers, and even peppers. "Every night," Mary Ellen says, "we have a good salad." The greenhouse is situated on a hill overlooking the Wrangell Narrows. Its walls are windows that showcase the handsome timber of the post and beam... Full story
Mitkof Island experienced record breaking rainfall on Saturday, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Petersburg recorded 3.09 inches of rain, surpassing the previous August 12 record of 2.15 inches back in 1961, marking the highest amount for that day since records began in 1924. The rainfall sent a landslide across the road at 27 mile Mitkof Highway. The swath measured an estimated 100 feet wide and 20 feet deep, including 6 to 8 feet of mud plus...
The town's most notorious seasonal visitors are back, and effort is needed to prevent their behavior from getting dangerously trashy. Petersburg Area Biologist Frank Robbins says bears coming to town is "always going to be an issue. We live in the middle of bear habitat ... It's very easy for a bear to follow a shrub area or a muskeg and waltz right into town, and they're more apt to do that if there's readily available food." The annual return of bears to Petersburg can be credited to their...
The Petersburg Office of Children's Services (OCS) has hired a new Protective Service Specialist (PSS), OCS caseworker Jennifer Ridgeway told the Pilot at the OCS Petersburg office Aug. 7. Ridgeway was there to help "set up" the new hire, who was three hours into her first day on the job. Once trained, the new PSS will be Petersburg's local caseworker. "She is the PSS," said Ridgeway. "So she is the OCS caseworker." When the OCS Wrangell office reopened in Feb. 2022, the OCS caseworker who had...
Gus Pennington will return to Stedman Elementary School this fall as the new fifth grade teacher. However, Pennington is no stranger to the Petersburg School District. His new teaching role comes on the heels of experience in the district as a substitute and student teacher - and as a pupil in Petersburg, himself. Pennington graduated from Petersburg High School with the class of 2019 and left for college at University of Alaska Southeast. He returned to town later that fall - just before...
Sharon Paulson moved her family from Juneau to Petersburg in July and will teach fourth grade at Stedman Elementary School this fall as one of several new additions to the Petersburg School District's roster of educators. This will be her fourth teaching position in Alaska, where her entire career as an educator has taken place. Paulson attended undergrad at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia before moving back to her home town of Wakarusa, Indiana, where she wrote for the local...
The K-5th grade library program at Stedman Elementary School will welcome home a former Petersburg resident and long-time friend to the community, Debi Tice. One of several new hires to Petersburg School District, Tice now holds the title of Elementary Librarian and Intervention - the latter half reflecting a measure of the Alaska Reads Act. Tice started teaching in Petersburg in 1998, leaving and returning a few times, then ultimately taking her teaching career abroad to Brazil, China, and...
