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A public works crew worked from 7 P.M. on Nov. 20 to 2 A.M. the following morning to fix a leak in an 8-inch water main on 12th St. that was spurting out 250,000 gallons of water a day. The leak was first identified when an electronic leak detector was used to determine if there were leaks in any of the pipes throughout the city. The leak detector showed a major leak in the 8-inch water main on 12th St. at Haugen Dr., so Public Works Director Chris Cotta decided to dig into the ground to...
With the two-decades old lighted Christmas street decorations in tatters, both the Chamber of Commerce and the Petersburg Borough scrambled to find replacements this month. New decorations were priced at $500 each, according to Chamber Manager Mara Lutomski, but when board member Carrie Martinsen heard of the cost, she proposed that her company Tamico, Inc. fabricate the decorations for half the price. The original 16 snowflake designed ornaments were made of painted steel and were prone to...
Kim Aulbach has become Petersburg Post Office's new postmaster after the previous postmaster, Mark Eppihimer, transferred to Anchorage. Eppihimer was promoted to labor relations specialist and relocated to Anchorage in August. Once he left, Aulbach applied for the position while she and Nels Nielsen took on postmaster duties. On Oct. 12, she was promoted to postmaster. During her five and a half years with the post office, Aulbach said she would learn new skills every chance she got to increase...
The Petersburg Medical Center saw a 26 percent increase in net operating revenue for the month of October, reported Controller Rocio Tereja at a board of directors meeting last week. PMC expected a net operating revenue of $1,391,250 for October, but instead the net operating revenue was $363,780 higher for a total of $1,755,030. Total operating expenses were at $1,545,742, over the $1,391,250 that was budgeted. Despite coming in over budget, the total operating expenses were lower than the net...
Petersburg Medical Center was approved for a $100,000 grant from the Rasmuson Foundation to help offset the costs of a new drug room, CEO Phil Hofstetter told board members at a meeting last week. PMC is remodeling the part of the hospital where the drugs for chemotherapy are prepared to become compliant with standards that regulate the handling of hazardous drugs. Currently, the drugs are prepared in a negative pressure hood. The new drug room will have a negative pressure hood, room and storag...
December 5, 1919 On Tuesday the citizens of Petersburg will vote on the question of the bond issue for the construction of a school house and municipal electric light and power plant. Every citizen of the United States is entitled to vote at this election. Income from the present light plant last month amounted to $600. If the power were available, the income could easily have been four times as large. A conservative estimate of the annual income from the sale of Light and Power with the new plant would be $25,000 per year. December 1, 1944 Lon...
Local berry pickers were treated to a plentiful harvest this year as warm weather helped the berries thrive throughout Mitkof Island. "It was unbelievable," said Marilyn Menish-Meucci. "There were berries everywhere. If you found a spot where there weren't berries, then something was really wrong." The season starts with salmonberries in June and as the weeks go by, other berries begin to ripen, said Menish-Meucci. Some of the berries that ripen after salmonberries, are blueberries, red...
The roadless rule should remain intact To the Editor: The proposed Tongass exemption from the 2001 Roadless Rule is for the singular purpose of accessing the last bastions of high volume old growth timber, which will be largely exported in the round. If approved, this would be at great cost to taxpayers, and at great profit to Viking Lumber of Klawock and Alcan/Transpac Group of Vancouver, BC-both timber exporters. A recent report by Taxpayers for Common Sense, concluded that between 1999-2018,...
Brooklyn Dormer, a soprano, was selected to perform in the all-state mixed choir at the All-State Music Festival in Anchorage on Saturday. She was the only student at Petersburg High School that was chosen to participate in the festival. She submitted an online audition in late September and then spent weeks practicing six songs in preparation for the festival. PHS music instructor Matt Lenhard was also awarded the music educator of the year by the Alaska Music Educators Association at the...
November 20 — Individuals in a parking lot on S. Nordic Dr. were yelling. An individual was banging on the door of a closed establishment on Chief John Lott St. A vehicle was damaged near Middle Boat Harbor. Two vehicles were impounded at locations on Sing Lee Alley and Cornelius Rd. November 21 — Authorities responded to a report of fireworks going off at a location on S. 4th St. They were unable to locate any signs of fireworks being lit. An individual was reported trespassing at a location on Mill Rd. November 22 — An individual was issue...
Garitt Johnston, 30, was indicted by a Grand Jury on Nov. 21 for his involvement with Eric Jennings, who had received a package with heroin, methamphetamine and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) in it on Nov. 9. Johnston was indicted on one count of aiding or abetting the manufacturing or delivery of a schedule IA controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver and one count of aiding or abetting the possession with intent to manufacture or deliver any amount of a schedule IIA or IIIA...
All 14 Petersburg High School wrestlers placed in the top three at the Mt. Edgecumbe High School Invite on Friday. Reed Anderson, Kyle Biggers and Jolyn Toyomura took first place in their weight class. Merrick Nilsen, Owen Anderson, Kole Sperl, Kayden Geelan and Deirdre Toyomura each placed second in their weight class. Adam Ware, Devon Guthrie, Wyatt Litster, John Bisset, Jack Engell and Ruby Massin took third place in their weight class. Head Coach Tyler Thain could not be reached for comment. The next tournament will be this weekend in...
After a well-fought battle, the Petersburg High School volleyball team took fourth place at the regional tournament in Wrangell last week. "Overall, a really, really good performance from the kids," said Head Coach Jaime Cabral. "They played very hard to the very end." In their first match of the tournament, the Vikings went up against Metlakatla and beat the Chiefs in three sets. Up next, the Vikings played against the Craig Panthers, but lost the match, 1-3. Due to their loss against Craig,...
Ashley Lohr let her artistic instincts and habits guide her in eight new compositions on display in a solo exhibit at the Clausen Memorial Museum. Lohr's pieces are abstracts that are dominated by elements of color and shapes. She held a similar exhibit last year, but this year, she decided to include circles in her art. The circles manifested through artistic instincts, the cycle of motherhood and her schedule. Two of her compositions show a cosmic influence. Lohr said she just let her...
The value of Alaska salmon permits has ticked upwards in regions that experienced a good fishery this year while others have tanked. Not surprisingly, the record sockeye fishery at Bristol Bay has boosted sales of driftnet permits to nearly $200,000, up from the mid-$170,000 range prior to the 2019 season. Another strong run forecast of 48.9 million sockeyes for 2020 with a projected harvest of 36.9 million could increase the value even more, said Doug Bowen of Alaska Boats and Permits in Homer. What’s really raising eyebrows, Bowen said, is v...
A group of residents and property owners in Frederick Point East are trying to remove the undeveloped subdivision from service area one. The main reason the group is trying to remove Frederick Point East from service area one is that they pay a full 12.3 millage rate, but don't receive any services. The millage rate is the amount per $1,000 of a property's assessed value that is used to calculate taxes within the borough. "There has been no services provided, nor has there been an intention of...
WRANGELL - Some Wrangell residents may remember Tod Jones. He was a Wrangell resident for about 20 years, from the '70s to the '90s. He first moved to the area to help start a fish hatchery in the Burnett Inlet with the Alaska Aquaculture Company. Wrangell resident Brian Ashton was his former operations manager, Jones mentioned. When the hatchery closed down around 1995, Jones moved away. After leaving Wrangell, Jones said he spent four years in Israel, then came back to the United States and...
WRANGELL - Mayor Steve Prysunka travelled to Washington D.C. last week to speak before the Senate Committee on Energy and National Resources. He was invited to speak on behalf of the National Association of Counties, an organization that works to advocate county priorities in federal policymaking. Prysunka spoke last Thursday, Nov. 21, on the importance of the Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Program and Secure Rural Schools (SRS) funds. "We're somewhat unique because we're actually the third...
WRANGELL - Plans are in motion to subdivide the old mill property around 6.5 mile Zimovia Highway, according to Terri Wenger with Anchor Properties. The property, currently owned by Betty Buhler, has been on the market for quite some time. On the Anchor Properties website the almost 39-acre lot is listed at $2.7 million. Wenger said that the plan is to subdivide the land into 11 lots, ranging in size from one to three acres. "I could be wrong, but I think that it could be possibly the biggest...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Free to a good home: One newspaper. Not a single edition of a paper but the entire newspaper. Publisher Larry Persily is willing to give away The Skagway News to the right person or couple who are willing to move to Skagway, Alaska, a cruise ship town that once boasted four newspapers during the height of the Klondike Gold Rush days. "The only way this paper has a long-term future, and anything that I've ever seen that works with small town weeklies or bi-weeklies is...
After thorough inspections of the 45-year-old M/V LeConte and the 44-year-old M/V Aurora, the Alaska Marine Highway System is moving forward with repairs for the LeConte. Engineers inspecting the ships determined that both will require extensive steel replacement. The Aurora will require 20% more steel to be replaced and locations are more challenging because of associated electric, plumbing, and hydraulic lines. Repair work on the Aurora will be more expensive and will take longer. Estimates fo...
