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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...
Next week the Petersburg High School baseball team is scheduled to have their first game in almost two years, after last year's season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Head Coach Jim Engell said the team has been practicing six days a week, since March 22, in preparation for their first two games of the season against Sitka beginning on April 14. However, Engell has to keep reminding both himself and the students to be patient as they play the sport for the first time in two years. Th...
Petersburg High School will test students involved in interscholastic, in-person sports that involve competition and travel on a weekly basis as the Petersburg School District looks for ways to get students participating in activities again, according to school district officials at the Petersburg School Board meeting on Tuesday. The school district will be using BinaxNOW Antigen tests, which are a low-level indicator for possible COVID-19 infection. Only high school students and their coaches w...
After a late start to the basketball season following uncertainty around the pandemic in Alaska, the basketball players at Petersburg High School were finally able to return to the court on Jan. 11. Coaches Rick and Dino Brock said both teams are unfazed by COVID-19 protocols in place and are just happy to be playing the sport again. "We're making the best of it," said Rick. "We're happy to be back in the gym. It's good for the kids. They want to play. They're excited to be there and be able to...
January The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration proposed establishing critical habitat areas for humpback whales in three distinct population segments located off Mexico, Central American and the Western Pacific. The Petersburg Borough sent a letter of disapproval to the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding the proposed critical habitat for humpback whales after residents spoke out against the proposal. The Petersburg Borough authorized the hire of Josh Rathmann to fill the...
Activities at Petersburg High School are set to resume later this winter and spring with basketball and cheer starting Jan. 11. The decision comes after an Alaska School Activities Association Board of Directors meeting on Dec. 8. Petersburg School District Activities Director Jaime Cabral serves as the president for the region and also attended a conference for activity directors across the nation. "We're still super fortunate," said Cabral. "I got to talk with quite a few [activity directors]...
Petersburg School District is expected to reopen their doors today, Oct. 29, after a positive case of COVID-19 was confirmed at Rae C. Stedman Elementary School on Tuesday that resulted in a district-wide school closure, according to Petersburg School District Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter. Petersburg public health officials completed their contract tracing related to the school district on Wednesday, said Kludt-Painter. Students and staff who have been instructed to quarantine were asked...
The Alaska School Activities Association announced on Tuesday the cancellation of all 2020 fall state championship events due to the increasing case counts of COVID-19 in Anchorage and around the state. Activities that are currently in season will still be able to finish their season and participate in their regional championships, but only if Regionals can be held before Nov. 22, according to an ASAA press release. At Petersburg High School, volleyball and swim and dive will be affected by the...
The Petersburg High School cross country team is about three weeks into their season, and Coach Tom Thompson said this season's young team is showing great potential. The team, which is made up of 16 runners, has spent six days of each week getting in shape for the season. On Saturday, they will be doing time trials and comparing their times to runners across the state. Thompson said he anticipates low times for this team. "Over the first three weeks, we've seen some really great improvements,"...
Although the Petersburg Parks and Recreation community pool has reopened on a limited basis, Petersburg High School students will have to wait until Sept. 2 for the swim and dive season to start. According to Activities Director Jaime Cabral at the Petersburg School Board meeting last week, the Alaska School Activities Association held a special meeting earlier this month, and found that several schools throughout the state did not have access to a pool until Sept. 1 due to COVID-19 concerns;...
Outdoor activities will possibly resume at Mitkof Middle School and Petersburg High School on July 13, said Activities Director Jaime Cabral at the Petersburg School Board meeting on Tuesday. School districts throughout Southeast Alaska put together a document with guidelines from the Alaska School Activities Association and the state on how activities can safely resume. While some schools throughout the region have already resumed activities, others haven't, said Cabral. The reason the Petersbu...
Activities at the Petersburg School District and other school districts across the state have been cancelled for the rest of the academic year as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. PSD Activities Director Jaime Cabral said the decision to cancel activities came from the state. On March 20, Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a health mandate that closed public and private schools through May 1 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Following the announcement, the Alaska School Activities Association...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved a declaration of disaster emergency at Monday's assembly meeting in response to the COVID-19 outbreak across the country and state. Additionally, the assembly approved an emergency ordinance that would allow the assembly to declare a quorum by calling into an assembly meeting instead of being present. By declaring a disaster emergency, the borough is putting itself in position to better receive state and federal emergency funding should the borough requir...
The Lady Vikings took first place in the Regional basketball tournament last week in Juneau and brought back the Region V Championship title for division two. Petersburg was seeded third at the tournament and played against Wrangell last Wednesday for the chance to compete in the championship game. Head Coach Dino Brock said that the first game of the tournament started off strong, but the game soon became a low-scoring, defensive bout. The Lady Vikings had played the Lady Wolves in four...
The Petersburg High School boys basketball team was named Region V Champions among Southeast Alaska's 2A schools at Regionals last week after beating Wrangell and Haines in two high-energy games. The Vikings went into the tournament with the number one seeding position and didn't play until the second day of Regionals last Thursday. Their first game of the tournament was against the Wrangell Wolves who had just beaten the Craig Panthers the previous day. Head Coach Rick Brock said he...
The Alaska School Activities Association announced on Wednesday that Alaska’s state high school basketball and cheer championships have been postponed until further notice due to concerns over the COVID-19 virus, according to a statement from ASAA. The decision on whether or not to cancel the basketball and cheer championships will be made sometime in the future, according to the statement. The State of Alaska has also issued an advisory to those planning on attending ASAA regional basketball tournaments this week. Anyone with underlying m...
Four Petersburg High School wrestlers placed in their weight classes at the state championship tournament in Anchorage last weekend. Kole Sperl came in second place, Ruby Massin placed fourth, Deirdre Toyomura came in fifth place and Merrick Nilsen finished in sixth place. Reed Anderson, Sawyer Bryner, Adam Ware and Kyle Biggers also competed at State, but according to Alaska School Activities Association state championship scores, their place in the tournament is unknown. Head Coach Tyler...
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...
The Petersburg School Board passed updates to 17 policies to align with the Association of Alaska School Boards' changes in policy to reflect state laws in its first reading at their meeting on Oct. 8, but a new board policy regarding restrictions on sex offenders on campus was put on hold until the next board meeting. The changes to the 17 board policies were minor language changes that didn't affect the meaning of the policy, according to School Board Vice President Sarah Holmgrain. One board...
John Frank Bringhurst Jr's. earthly journey concluded September 19, 2019, following an 11-month battle with brain cancer. Born Nov. 5, 1943, in Ogden, Utah, John was the second of six children born to John Frank Bringhurst and Relda Gardner Bringhurst. Utah's abundant outdoor opportunities claimed much of John's youthful attention, as he grew up an avid hunter, angler, skier and tennis player while completing his secondary education at Davis High School in Layton. A mission call to Germany for... Full story
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A race judge at an Alaska high school swim meet disqualified a state champion swimmer after concluding that that her team-issued swimsuit did not meet modesty requirements. The decision outraged a competing coach and the Anchorage School District announced it will review the decision that disqualified the 17-year-old Dimond High School swimmer from a heat victory at a meet Friday, Anchorage television station KTUU reported . “If we find that this was an error in judgment by an official, we are going to definitely ens...
The Petersburg High School eSsports team competed in the state competition on Thursday and came in first place. Seven schools throughout the state have been competing against each other in League of Legends for the entire spring season. League of Legends is a video game where two teams of five players spawn onto a map and must destroy the other teams' base. The games are hosted and coordinated through PlayVs, which is a high school eSsports league. This spring season was PHS' first year...
January The borough assembly received a proposed update to its zoning code that would introduce a new form of affordable housing, an expansion of the historical and industrial districts and the end of a requirement for businesses to include parking downtown. The borough assembly held a work session to discuss a plan to impose restrictions on the senior tax exemption. A possible annual fee to sales tax exemption card holders was agreed upon ranging between $50 and $60. Police Chief Kelly Swihart...
WRANGELL - The Wrangell Cooperative Association recently received a $50,000 grant from SEARHC. According to WCA Tribal Administrator Esther Ashton, several other communities with First Nations entities also received similar grants. The "Healthy is Here" grant is meant to help promote public health within their community. "The way that it was defined was really left up to the tribal board to determine how they wanted to promote health and culture within our community," Ashton said. "So the board...
