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The Petersburg High School cross country team traveled to Anchorage to race Saturday in the state championships. The race started on a football field before encountering muddy uphill trails, which caused some runners to slip and fall, and was divided into two loops. Head Coach Tom Thompson said regardless of the challenges, the team gave 100%. "I think every single boy and every single girl, when they got done with that race, they were totally spent, they were tired, wet, exhausted, they were...
Members of the Alaska Redistricting Board traveled to Petersburg Thursday to present proposed redistricting maps and receive public comments. The board was on a tour of communities in Alaska to allow residents to view the maps and learn more about the process. The districts are redrawn based off data collected from the 2020 U.S. Census and are required to have approximately equally sized districts. In Alaska, the state is divided into 40 districts which each contain about 18,335 people...
The Petersburg School Board discussed COVID-19's continued impact on the school during Tuesday's meeting. The majority of students have returned to in-person learning according to Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter. Classes were moved online on September 28 after several cases were reported among students and staff at Mitkof Middle School and Petersburg High School. The schools reopened on October 5, but some students remain in quarantine because of close contacts. "It's been a relatively normal...
The Petersburg Medical Center reported 16 active cases of COVID-19 Wednesday after several cases were cleared by Public Health. Seven new cases were recorded Monday, two of which were diagnosed in Petersburg while five cases were identified among Petersburg residents visiting another Alaskan community. PMC says there is concern of significant community spread in Petersburg, especially from gatherings where people are not masking or social distancing. Both the PMC and school risk levels are...
October 14, 1921 The gas launch Trygve left for Wrangell early Tuesday morning and returned with mail from the Princess Alice, Capt. Johnas Olsen in command. This was the first trip of the emergency winter schedule. The Americ took the Trygve’s regular run to Kake and Baranoff Island points. October 11, 1946 More than three hundred voters turned out Tuesday to cast their ballots in the biennial election. Out of a total of 314 persons voting, 249 were cast for statehood and only 57 against. Favoring the blanket primary were 239 votes with 52 o...
Every kid should learn from their parents the modern way to avoid responsibility for misdeeds and missed homework. When you fail or do something stupid or dishonest or regretful, or just don’t like the way the world is spinning that day or how the spicy chili went down, deny you’re at fault and deny the heartburn is self-inflicted. Instead, blame the news media. No one ever believed the dog ate your homework anyway. If you disagree with the facts of science, economics, the law or elections, accuse reporters and editors of making it all up. And...
The October borough election brings clarity to both borough administrative staff and elected officials as they assess the needs for mandates and new policies during the ongoing pandemic including COVID testing, social distancing, masking and vaccination policies. The bold and brash campaign statement, “Nobody’s been listening,” in reference to elected officials was proven false by the electorate. Elected persons on the assembly, school board and hospital board clearly were listening to all sides of the COVID issue and wisely chose optio...
The Borough Assembly unanimously certified the results of the October 5, 2021 municipal election during a special meeting Friday morning. Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson read 12 additional ballots, which did not affect the results of the election. Incumbent Bob Lynn received the most votes for Borough Assembly with 708, the newly counted ballots added five to his total, and Thomas Fine-Walsh claimed the other three-year term with 592 votes and increased his tally by three since election night....
Sept. 24 — Ramona Short entered a not guilty plea to charges of violating conditions of release. The defendant was released on a $500 performance bond and other conditions. Danny Rusk entered a not guilty plea to charges of violating conditions of release. The defendant was released on $500 performance bond and other conditions. Sept. 27 – A bail request by Adrian Morales was denied by the court. Bail for Roderick Mathew Vasquez was revoked and reimposed at $25,000 cash performance bond and $5,000 cash appearance bond and 3rd party release app...
October 6 — A citizen was assisted near Kings Row Rd. A caller reported a hit and run near Unimak St. An officer contacted a driver near Haugen Dr., non-criminal. A citizen was assisted near Vesta St. An officer responded to a suspicious report near Sandy Beach Park, non-criminal. October 7 — An individual trespassed from business property near N. Nordic Dr. A bear was reported in garbage near Howkan St. October 8 — A theft was reported near N. Nordic Dr. A deer was struck and killed by a vehicle on Mitkof Hwy and the meat was salvaged. A buc...
The Petersburg School Board reviewed the results of Performance Evaluation for Alaska's Schools (PEAKS) tests Tuesday during a report given by Testing Coordinator Bridget Wittstock. The PEAKS tests were not conducted in the spring of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they returned in the spring of 2021. According to Wittstock, the State of Alaska expanded the window for testing to allow for as many tests to be taken as possible, but only about 64% of the eligible population participated....
Artwork from the Five Finger Lighthouse Society auction is on display this week at the Clausen Museum. The society reached out to artists, most of them locals, to contribute art to the show as part of the fundraiser. According to museum director and participating artist Cindi Lagoudakis, 46 pieces are on display at the museum while a few more are being reserved for the auction. The art can also be seen and bid on through their bidding owl website which museum-goers can open by scanning QR codes...
The United States Forest Service is proposing to combine three Resource Advisory Committees in the South Tongass region according to Alaska Region Secure Rural Schools Coordinator Kevin Hood. The Wrangell-Petersburg, Prince of Wales, and Ketchikan committees face problems with lack of quorums at meetings, preventing business such as approving recommendations for the allocation of federal Secure Rural Schools funding. The merger would see the three RACs be consolidated to form a new South Tongass...
This year's moose harvest has tallied 108 moose so far in Hunt RM038 as of Wednesday according to Petersburg Area Biologist Frank Robbins. "The current harvest tally is 108 which means we've exceeded 100 in the harvest again, and we have since 2014," Robbins said. Since last week, the area that has seen the most activity is Kupreanof Island. 13 additional legal moose were taken from the island, bring the new legal total to 48. One illegal moose was reported is the past week from the island,...
The Petersburg School District purchased a 2021 Honda Pilot EX-L according to a report from Director of Facilities and Maintenance Aaron Buller. The car serves to replace the school’s Ford Explorer which was on its last leg and finally broke down. According to Buller the vehicle’s transmission is shot and the school was recommended replace it rather than fix it because of its age and worth. The vehicle is used for student transport and mail runs and has been used for driver’s education in the past according to Buller. The board approved the p...
WRANGELL - Melissa Curttright has been a registered nurse for 16 years — the past two weeks in Wrangell. Like so many other hospital workers, the pandemic changed her plans. The 52-year-old RN from Oklahoma City said she saw 75% of her hospital’s intensive-care unit staff leave, and then she took to the road. She’s been traveling now for almost a year. Wrangell is her latest assignment through SnapNurse, an Atlanta-based nurse staffing agency, after Los Angeles. Alaska has contracted with an Atlanta company to send as many as 470 health care...
Theodore Merwin Smith, 84, died on October 3, 2021 at the Petersburg Medical Center in Petersburg, Alaska. He was born in Seattle, Washington to Ben and Margit Smith on April 5, 1937. He graduated from Petersburg High School in 1955 then went on to two years of college. He decided to join the Navy in 1957 where he served aboard the USS Dynamic and later the USS Lawrence. He was married to Lynn on Aug. 1, 1959. They were blessed with the birth of their daughter Renee Sept. 5, 1960 and son Rory... Full story
The Mitkof Middle School traveled to Ketchikan last weekend to compete in the Schoenbar Cross Country Invitational. The Vikings competed against teams from Craig, Hydaburg, Hollis, Ketchikan, Klawock, Metlakatla, Naukati, and Whale Pass. Gabrielle Whitacre was the first MMS finisher in the girls race, placing third overall with a time of 14:40. Maria Toth finished sixth with a time of 15:21 followed by Rikka Miller who completed the race in 16:20 and placed 12th. In 16th was Freya Tucker who...
WRANGELL - Ann Hilburn began learning American Sign Language for an elective course in college, thinking it would benefit her aspirations of becoming a nurse. That class led her to change her career field entirely. “I had just fallen in love with sign language,” she said. She’s passing that love on to a dozen Wrangell High School students taking her class for their foreign language requirement. Hilburn is new to the district this year. It is a language unto itself, 17-year-old senior Caleb Garcia-Rangel observed, which people unfamiliar with...
WRANGELL - Wrangell’s Tent City Days start Friday and run through Sunday, with 20 events scheduled for the fall festivities that come a day before Alaska Day on Monday, which celebrates the U.S. purchase of the territory from Russia in 1867. In keeping with the historical theme, there are some gold rush-named activities among the varied three-day schedule. And in keeping with COVID-19 safety, organizers advise on the event’s Facebook page: “Please mask up. Follow state/local health mandates. Don’t feel well? Stay home and call your medical...
