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PMEA supports the teachers union To the Editor: We, the members of the Petersburg Municipal Employees Association Union (PMEA), support the Associated Teachers of Petersburg Union (ATP). As fellow public servants and advocates for quality education, we recognize the vital role that teachers and staff play in shaping the future of our community. We stand firmly behind the ATP in their current ongoing negotiations for a fair and equitable labor agreement. We believe that investing in our teachers is an investment in the future of Petersburg....
May 2, 1924 – Herman Papke, rancher and homesteader on Wrangell Narrows just below Scow Bay, is doing wonders in propagation and crossing of species of small fruit, berries and vegetables. He has some apple and cherry trees which seem to be doing well. He has successfully raised loganberries and some of the finest raspberry bushes yet seen in Southeastern Alaska. The soil is dark loam with a blue clay subsoil and just enough sand admixture to let the air through. It was necessary to clear away trees and stumps and then to run deep drainage d...
Who better to talk about education in Alaska than students. They could continue leaving it to school administrators, elected officials, their parents and teachers to speak for them, but that would be the easy way out. It’s also been unsuccessful. Looking to break that losing streak with the governor and state legislators unwilling to adequately fund education, hundreds of high schoolers around the state last week showed they are frustrated at the outcome. From Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka, Juneau, in Anchorage, Eagle River, Homer, Bethel and U...
Robyn Taylor spent the first six years of her career in the Alaska education system teaching in Petersburg, and the next 18 years elsewhere in the state as an administrator. Currently on year 24, Taylor is excited to return to the Petersburg School District as the next superintendent, in place of Erica Klut-Painter who will depart from the role at the end of this school year. "I'm just so appreciative of the opportunity," Taylor said. "Right timing, right place." Originally from Idaho, Taylor...
The state’s governor-appointed board of education voted to limit transgender girls’ participation in school sports at a special meeting on Thursday. The regulation requires the Alaska School Activities Association Inc. to authorize a division limited to students assigned female at birth. Lorri Van Diest introduced the first non-binding resolution related to the issue in March of this year, and said that it is impossible to balance inclusion with fairness because of the differences in physiology between sexes. “I will be voting for the regul...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The state board of education last Wednesday delayed action on a proposal that would bar transgender girls from participating on high school girls’ athletic teams in Alaska, with several board members saying they wanted more time to consider the issue. Opponents of the proposal called it discriminatory and unconstitutional and said it would likely lead to litigation. Supporters, including Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, said it is needed to ensure fairness in girls’ sports. The board heard more than 2 1/2 hours of publi...
Petersburg baseball's hope of a return to the DII State Championship game lives on. The Alaska School Activities Association state committee announced on Sunday that the team earned the second at-large seed in the tournament, which will be held at Wasilla High School this weekend. There the Vikings will face Kodiak in the first round on Thursday, June 1 at 12:30 p.m. Petersburg ended the regular season 3-14-1, having faced one of the strongest schedules in the state, with wins over Palmer and...
Athletes earn awards through excellence in competition. Athletes of distinction are feted for that excellence, but it is secondary to the character and compassion they exhibit and nurture as lives off the podium continue. Heralded for such achievements on the track, in the pool and beyond, Petersburg High School 2017 graduate Izabelle Ith was honored Sunday at the 2023 Alaska School Activities Association Alaska High School Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Anchorage's Lakefront Hotel. "It's...
A press release this week announced that Petersburg Medical Center Youth Programs will offer expanded summer programming to better meet the community's needs by providing additional options for childcare. Kinder Skog, the popular outdoor forest school, will expand to include a "Forest Kindy" program designed specifically for five and six year olds. Following a recommendation from the State of Alaska Childcare Program, Kinder Skog will transition from a licensed childcare program to a recreationa...
Longtime Petersburg High School Coach Rick Brock has made it his mission not just to develop students as better athletes, but to help them build stronger character. Teaching kids that it is not just about how well they shoot a basketball or how fast they can run, but how they lift others up on and off the court. For those efforts, the Alaska Association of Basketball Coaches named Brock as the recipient of the 2023 Roger Steinbrecher Coaching Integrity Award. The integrity award is given annuall...
Petersburg High School graduate Izabelle Ith was announced as one of the eleven members of the Alaska High School Hall of Fame Class of 2023 earlier this month. The Hall of Fame honors individuals who exhibited integrity while achieving excellence in high school athletics and activities according to the Alaska School Activities Association. During her high school career, Ith was a leader on the track, in the pool, and in the classroom. Ith won four state track titles in the 100-meter hurdles...
Bob Lynn What is your age? 76 What experience do you have? I've had 8 year's experience on the Petersburg Assembly. I have been fortunate to serve as Petersburg Assembly Board representative to Southeast Alaska Power Authority (SEAPA.) In that role I have served as Board Chair and voting member to replace submarine cable serving Petersburg. I have also served 6 years as the Assembly representative to the Hospital Board. Having been an EMT years ago has provided me much needed background to serve...
WRANGELL — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is moving ahead with its review of the borough’s wetlands fill permit application to develop the former Wrangell Institute property for residential lots. The borough hopes to start ground-clearing work next year, Carol Rushmore, the borough’s planning and zoning director, said last week. Permit review work had been on hold while state and federal agencies and the borough coordinated an archaeological records and ground survey of the property that had been used as a Bureau of Indian Affairs Nativ...
After a packed schedule which took the Vikings to some of the toughest courts across the state, the Petersburg High School boys basketball team ended its season with a sixth-place finish at the Alaska School Activities Association 2A State Tournament in Anchorage last weekend. Though they did not fly home with a championship trophy, Head Coach Rick Brock said he was proud of his team's performance this season and the grit they showed in their final tournament of the year. The trip to state was n...
Superior Court Judge William Carey is set to retire later this month after finishing his final trials in Petersburg and Ketchikan. Carey has served as a superior court judge for the area since 2009 after being appointed to the position by Governor Sarah Palin and in that time has presided over trials across Southeast Alaska. Originally from Massachusetts, Carey earned his bachelor's degree in political science from Brown University in 1976 and a law degree from the University of Denver in 1980....
The Petersburg High School volleyball team traveled to Haines last weekend to compete in the Alaska School Activities Association Region V Tournament. Before arriving in Haines, the tournament was put in jeopardy after the ferry M/V LeConte experienced icing conditions in Lynn Canal, forcing the vessel to return to Juneau and delaying the arrival of the five teams on board. Head Coach Jaime Cabral said contingency plans were made if the tournament had to be moved to Juneau, but after some larger items were taken off the ferry, it was able to co...
Breakthrough COVID-19 cases found in Alaska April 30 Between Feb. 1 and March 31, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services identified 152 positive cases of COVID-19 among people in the state who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a report from DHSS. About 74 percent of the vaccine breakthrough cases, or 112 individuals, were among people who had received the Pfizer vaccine, according to the report. Thirty-eight percent of the breakthrough cases had received the Moderna... Full story
The Petersburg High School baseball team returned from State having suffered two losses, but Head Coach Jim Engell said the Vikings picked up the experience and skills needed to play baseball at the state level. Because PHS is the only Division II school in Southeast Alaska with a baseball team, the Vikings didn't get to participate in a regional tournament and therefore have a chance to qualify for the state tournament. The Alaska School Activities Association created a small schools division...
After waiting the entire season to compete on the mat, Petersburg High School wrestler Deirdre Toyomura placed 6th at the Alaska School Activities Association Division II Wrestling State Championships at Chugiak High School. This year's wrestling season was shortened and postponed from the fall to the spring as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were just three tournaments this season, and Toyomura had attended every one in the hopes of competing; however, there weren't any athletes in...
Petersburg High School senior Aiden Luhr brought home two championship titles from the Alaska School Activities Association Division II Track & Field State Championships in Anchorage on May 28 and 29. "We had a good meet," said Head Coach Thomas Thompson. "There were some kids who wanted to do better than they had. You do the best you can. They all performed very well. Not everything goes perfectly sometimes." Luhr came in first place in the 100 meter sprint with a time of 11.69, despite a...
Petersburg High School senior Mattias Volk, left, and sophomore Jack Engell, right, made this baseball season's Southeast Alaska region All-Conference Team. PHS baseball team Head Coach Jim Engell said the team was voted on by coaches throughout the region. The PHS baseball team also received an at-large berth in the Alaska School Activities Association Division II State Tournament at Wasilla High School. The Vikings will play their first game of the state tournament at 4 P.M. on Thursday, June...
The Petersburg High School baseball team ended their season with three losses against Thunder Mountain High School, but now they look to State, as they hope to qualify for the at-large berth. PHS is the only Division II school in Southeast Alaska with a baseball team, so the Vikings will not be competing in a regional tournament, said Head Coach Jim Engell. Because the Alaska School Activities Association has created a small schools division for the state tournament this year, the Vikings do...
The Petersburg High School Class of 2021 will be receiving their diplomas in a ceremony similar to years past. Although this class of graduating seniors is made up of just 28 students, PHS Principal Rick Dormer said they're a class that is bound to do great things in the future. In 2020, 36 seniors graduated from PHS, and about 40 graduated the year before that. The larger classes easily made their presence known in the high school. But the 2021 class is different. Dormer said this year's...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A COVID-19 outbreak at a high school wrestling tournament held in April is linked to more than 20 infections in five communities across southeast Alaska, according to health officials. Ketchikan High School hosted the regional wrestling tournament, an annual event that this year attracted athletes from seven different schools, Anchorage Daily News reported. Officials from the regional school activities association issued a warning to the school last week on accusations of failing to test competitors and enforce mask o...
Two Petersburg High School wrestlers will head to the Alaska School Activities Association Wrestling State Championships in May after placing first in their weight classes at Regionals. Jonas Baekkelund placed first in the 171 pound weight class at the ASAA Division II Southeast Alaska tournament in Ketchikan last weekend. Baekkelund, a freshman, pinned his way to the final round to face off against Wrangell High School's Ethan Blatchley, said Coach Jeff Davidson. The two students had wrestled b...
