Articles from the May 28, 2020 edition


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  • Local nurse heads to New York City

    Savann Guthrie|May 28, 2020

    On April 20, Stacey Dahl left Petersburg and arrived in New York City. She was there to help in the COVID-19 pandemic. Dahl would spend the next three weeks working in "the hot zone" of a lower Manhattan hospital on a designated COVID-19 floor as a nurse. Dahl's journey started three years ago when with some time on her hands she registered to be part of the International Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) with Samaritan's Purse (SP) organization to do some volunteer work. She had...

  • Thirty-six seniors graduate from PHS

    Brian Varela|May 28, 2020

    In an unorthodox graduation ceremony that began with a parade throughout town and ended with the viewing of a video of Petersburg High School seniors wearing their graduation garb and giving speeches, the Class of 2020 completed their high school careers on Tuesday. Thirty-six seniors graduated Monday, and of those seniors, 24 have plans to attend college in the fall or near future. Four students will be learning a trade. Kole Sperl, like his brother before him, plans on attending flight school...

  • Pandemic brings on depression among Alaskans

    Brian Varela|May 28, 2020

    Petersburg Public Health Nurse Erin Michael warned the public that as people's lives change and adapt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they can begin to feel depressed and suicidal. At the COVID-19 community update on Wednesday, May 27, Micheal said the state reported an increase in emergency room visits related to suicide. She said it's not uncommon for people to feel anxious or depressed as they deal with the pandemic. Some specific causes of depression brought on by the pandemic can be a lack...

  • Yesterday's News

    May 28, 2020

    May 28, 1920 Work on the Petersburg Scow Bay road has been started by the Alaska Road Commission and it is the intention of that body to push the work to a rapid completion this summer. Mr. Cheatham stated before leaving town that $30,000 will be spent on the road this summer and that between 30 and 35 men will be employed from the time the camp starts until the work is finished. The work this year will consist of practically 2 miles of dirt work, including clearing, grading, surfacing and ditching. The logging donkey will be used in grading...

  • Businesses struggle to reach pre-COVID sales numbers

    Brian Varela|May 28, 2020

    Since Gov. Mike Dunleavy's phase two and three of his Reopen Alaska Responsibly Plan went into effect Friday, businesses have been able to operate without mandated restrictions. Some businesses, however, are still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic and the state health mandates that followed. One of the first state health mandates that affected businesses restricted restaurants to take out orders only. Papa Bear's Pizza complied and only allowed customers to enter the building to pick up their...

  • Cheerleaders

    May 28, 2020

  • To the Editor

    May 28, 2020

    We are not done To the Editor: Until there is a vaccine or solid proof of acquired immunity we are not done. Being open requires participation in community safety. One cannot happen without the other. Social distancing, hand hygiene and those crazy ingenuous masks are a part of community safety. So is staying home when sick. And employers should do the right thing for the survival of their business to not make their employees choose between a day or a week without pay versus going to work sick....

  • Police report

    May 28, 2020

    May 19 — A vehicle was impounded at a location on Olson Rd. Authorities responded to a disturbance at a location on Howkan St. May 20 — Breeann Dawe, 36, was arrested on charges of violating conditions of release. May 21 — A dangerous driver was reported headed north on Haugen Dr. Authorities responded to a theft at a location on Chief John Lott St. Harassment was reported at a location on Ira II St. An uninvited guest was asked to leave a residence on Haugen Dr. May 22 — An assault at a location on Haugen Dr. was reported to authorities. Extra...

  • Court report

    May 28, 2020

    May 1 – Judge Stephens presided over a change of plea hearing for Carter Gueller. Under the terms of the agreement Gueller pleaded guilty to a single count of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the 2nd degree after three other charges were dismissed. Sentencing was set for June 22. May 5 – Matthew Everett Alan Davis was arraigned on two counts of violating conditions of release and resisting arrest. The defendant entered a not guilty plea to both charges and was released on a $500 cash performance bond and other conditions. May 6 ...

  • Littleton to retire from PSD after 30 years

    Brian Varela|May 28, 2020

    After seven superintendents, five principals, countless teachers and 30 years, Administrative Assistant Irene Littleton is just about ready to retire from the Petersburg School District. It was August 1990 when Littleton first joined the school district. She was born and raised in Petersburg, but she had moved away for awhile and had finally returned home. When she first got back, she briefly worked for a local chiropractor before taking a job as the secretary of Rae C. Stedman Elementary...

  • Memorial Day

    May 28, 2020

    About 50 people gathered at the Petersburg Cemetery for the annual Memorial Day ceremony on Monday.The proceedings began with an opening prayer, followed by the reciting of the National Anthem. There were readings from the Book of Psalms and Ephesians, and pastors from various congregations prayed for unity and the healing of the country and thanked those who lost their lives defending the United States of America. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Decoration Day was...

  • Top Alaskan medical professionals speak on COVID-19

    Brian Varela|May 28, 2020

    State health officials held a virtual work session with the borough on May 27 that updated the community on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in Alaska. Joe McLaughlin, chief of epidemiology in the state, opened the work session with a brief presentation on the virus. He said the state isn't entirely sure what the total number of COVID-19 cases are in Alaska because not everyone has been tested for the virus. It is possible that there might be double or even triple the amount of cases than...

  • Wrangell golf tournaments start back up at Muskeg Meadows

    Caleb Vierkant|May 28, 2020

    WRANGELL - Over Memorial Day weekend, Muskeg Meadows started up their weekend golf tournaments for another season. This first tournament of the season was sponsored by Wrangell IGA. There were 20 golfers on the first day of the tournament on Saturday. First place went to a team consisting of Kathleen Harding, Wayne Harding, Doug Nelson, and Drew Eyon. Second place went to a team consisting of Spenser Stavee, Aaron Powell, Jonathan Spitler, and Jim Brooks. Brooks had the straightest drive of the...

  • Alaska will send oil-wealth checks early because of virus

    May 28, 2020

    JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has announced that checks from the state’s oil-wealth fund will begin going out to residents three months early because of “extraordinary times” brought on by the economic hardships caused by the coronavirus. “We need to make sure that people of Alaska have cash in their hands to help with this economy,” Dunleavy, a Republican, said Wednesday evening. This year’s check is expected to be about $1,000 and Dunleavy’s office said the Permanent Fund Dividend Division, which determines annual eligibil...

  • PreK graduation

    May 28, 2020

  • Alaska Fish Factor

    Laine Welch|May 28, 2020

    ­­­A rapid response by nearly 800 Alaska fishermen will provide a guideline for giving them a hand up as the coronavirus swamps their operations. An online survey from April 14-May 3 by Juneau-based nonprofit SalmonState asked fishermen about their primary concerns both before the Covid outbreak and in the midst of the pandemic in April. It also asked what elected officials at local, state and federal levels can do to help them directly. Over half of the 817 responses came in over four days, said Tyson Fick, Salmon State communications ad...

  • Alaska April job numbers down sharply amid virus concerns

    May 28, 2020

    JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska had 42,200 fewer jobs in April than a year earlier as coronavirus fears shut down or disrupted businesses at a time when many traditionally would start adding jobs for the summer, the state labor department reported Friday. As restrictions ease, some of the jobs will return, but many seasonal jobs won’t happen this year, such as those serving cruise passengers, the report stated. Nearly 540 Alaska voyages have been canceled, according to Cruise Lines International Association Alaska. Streets that normally would be b...

  • Artifact Archive

    May 28, 2020

    The Alaska Steamship Line was established in 1894, primarily for transporting passengers and fishing products to and from Alaska. Over its lifetime, the line carried everything from dog sleds to mining equipment and even cattle to the 49th state. During WWII, the government took control of the ships for the wartime effort. The logo, a modified totem pole, was designed to attract tourists. As one brochure stated in a section called Let's Talk About the Weather, Alaska has "two, not four seasons"...

  • Obituary

    May 28, 2020

    Anne Lewis, 94, a longtime resident of Petersburg, Alaska passed away on May 7, 2020 at the Petersburg Medical Center. She was born Sept. 5, 1925, in Petersburg, Alaska, the daughter of late Tom and Lucy Kito. She was proud to say she came into this world while her parents were processing their fish at Blind Slough during the late salmon run at their campsite. She graduated from Petersburg High School in 1943. She enrolled in the Armed Forces as a nurse cadet and attended St. Joseph School of... Full story

  • Celebrating safely

    May 28, 2020

  • Ocean Beauty and Icicle Seafoods announce merger

    May 28, 2020

    Ocean Beauty Seafoods LLC and Icicle Seafoods, Inc. will be merging their wild salmon and Gulf of Alaska groundfish operations effective June 1, the two companies announced in a joint-statement on Friday, May 29. Both companies will each own a 50 percent stake in the new company, which will be called OBI Seafoods LLC. The company looks to modernize processing facilities and combine marketing product expertise. The merger has been in the works since the fall of 2018, said Mark Palmer, president a... Full story