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At a school board meeting last week, Petersburg School District Director of Activities Jaime Cabral said that a recent research project revealed that school districts within Southeast Alaska spent $1.9 million in one year traveling with Alaska Airlines. The figure only takes into account the amount of money the region spends on travel for activities, like basketball games at other schools or regional and state competitions. Cabral said that Alaska Airlines is looking at possible solutions to...
The Petersburg School Board officially approved the hire of Heather Conn as Rae C. Stedman Elementary School principal on Tuesday beginning August, 2019. "I am sure as I walked through the halls today and saw the two principals together meeting already, that Heather has already hit the ground running and planning for next year," said school board president Mara Lutomski at Tuesday's school board meeting. Conn has been with the school district since 2014 when she began working on her internship...
After Gov. Mike Dunleavy released his proposed budget earlier this month that looks to solve a $1.6 billion deficit through cuts in statewide funding, the Petersburg School District’s base student allocation would be reduced by $1,050 per student, according to Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter. On Tuesday, the Petersburg School District is going to host a community conversation in the Wright auditorium at 6 P.M. to discuss the district’s budget. Currently, the school district receives $5,930 in funding from Alaska for each of the dis...
On Dec. 11, the Petersburg school board renewed Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter's contract for another three years beginning July 1, 2019 and ending June 30, 2020. "I think she has provided some really great leadership as she has grown into this role," said school board president Mara Lutomski. The 260-day contract includes 40 days off. During fiscal year 2020, or the first year of the contract, Kludt-Painter will be paid $130,000. Her salary increases to $135,000 in the second year and...
The borough assembly on Monday voted in favor of removing a discussion item from its agenda, which addressed the possibility of 900-passenger cruise ships stopping in Petersburg in 2020. “I think we just need to delay this,” said assembly member Nancy Strand. “We have a lot of things to discuss and it’s completely unnecessary to discuss it at this time.” Member Kurt Wohlhueter supported the decision stating the topic needs to have a community discussion before anything goes on the record. Mayor Mark Jensen, who requested the item be added to th...
The Petersburg School Board on Tuesday approved seven changes to its policy and one change to its bylaws, which changes future board meeting times. “If we’re going to have a focus on kids and have kids at our board meetings to do presentations, I know that sometimes our board meetings can get a little late in the evening during the school year,” said school board president Mara Lutomski at a board meeting in June. “I also would prefer to be done a little bit earlier.” Board Bylaw 9320 will now have board meetings beginning at 6 P.M. on the seco...
Many new events and activities, along with old favorites, will be featured during this year's 60th celebration of Petersburg's Little Norway Festival. At 4 p.m. Thursday at the public library, the Storyteller Pole Unveiling will be celebrated. Master Tlingit carver Tommy Joseph, from Sitka, created the work for the library. The Mitkof Mummer's play "Bigfoot," featuring a cast of zany characters guarantees a laugh a minute. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. at the Wright Auditorium on Thursday, Friday and...
The outlook for tourism in Petersburg this summer is showing an increase in cruise ship passengers, while the rate of independent travelers is still unclear. Dave Berg, co-founder of Viking Travel Inc., says cruise ships are scheduled to make 133 stops in Petersburg this summer, which is up from 110 last year. "More stops, more passengers," Berg said. That could mean more dollars spent in downtown businesses. "More sales tax," Berg said. "Which basically trickles down to the economy and it's...
The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce voted Thursday to cancel this year's salmon derby, saying it would be irresponsible to compete in a time with such depleted salmon stocks. The chamber voted on Thursday to cancel the Memorial Day weekend salmon derby in Petersburg this year. The decision was made after the Alaska Department Fish and Game closed District 8 and part of District 7, a popular derby hole, for May, June and half of July, said Patrick Fowler, a local sport fish area biologist with the...
The Petersburg School District updated its strategic plan for the next four years, with a focus on health, diversity in the classroom, future readiness and co-curricular activities. A Planning Team with 16 people, including school staff, board members, students, and other community members took two days in mid-November to finish the strategic plan that will run through 2021. “[We talked] about what a school district will look like for the next four years,” said Mara Lutomski, “what our high aspirations are even though we may not end up there...
The Petersburg School Board on Tuesday echoed a statement by the governor of Alaska that proclaimed October 2017 as the month to recognize school principals. Mara Lutomski, who was appointed to president of the school board in a meeting Wednesday, read from Gov. Bill Walker's proclamation to make this October as principals and assistant principals month. "We encourage all Alaskan's to recognize the invaluable contributions of Alaska's principals and assistant principals," Lutomski read, " ......
Voters may soon decide whether or not they want to raise the sales tax cap to $5,000 and to eliminate the exemption for the sale of goods purchased within the borough for use outside of it. The Petersburg Borough Assembly approved in its second reading an ordinance that would send those questions to the voters for the October 3 election. Chamber of Commerce administrator Mara Lutomski asked the assembly to reconsider putting the questions on the ballot after a group of chamber and other community members discussed the issue. “…we believe it...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly budget calls for Community Service grants to Petersburg Chamber of Commerce, KFSK Public Radio and Clausen Memorial Museum. KFSK may receive a 46% increase over last year's grant of $19,000 for a total of $35,000. This year KFSK general manager Tom Abbott itemized the station's broadcast services with a tally of $36,404 for 958 hours of personnel and air-time. Borough meeting broadcasts for two employees totaled $3,648 (96 hrs. @ $38/hr.); borough call-in programs...
January Public Works rolled out the borough's highly anticipated blue cart recycling program. The borough received $820,117.61 from the annual raw fish tax. Dave Zimmerman was hired as the new Tongass National Forest Petersburg District Ranger. The assembly continued discussing the reallocation of the Kake access road funding. Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins took part in a budget crisis presentation at Sons of Norway Hall. The visit was the first of many by representatives throughout the...
To comply with HB156, the school board unanimously approved the sex education curriculum and the teachers of the curriculum for the school year at their board meeting Tuesday night. The board held an open work session Monday night to hear from staff that will be teaching this year”s sex education courses. The teachers gave board members a rundown of past curriculum and their approach to this school year. “It was almost two hours of information. I feel like we came away with a real clear understanding of what is being taught,” said board presi...
Overwhelming generosity To the Editor: We, as a family, continue to be overwhelmed by the generosity and outpouring of support and love from Petersburg, our family, and our friends. Thank you. It does make a difference. I cannot say that we are doing okay, but we are surviving and slowly, more accepting of our loss. A very bright light in our lives has gone out, but we have many more. Joey and Josh, our families, friends, folks from Electra, Texas, and the amazing community of Petersburg. All of you lighten our lives, and are helping us...
The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce sold 3,100 $2 tickets and 94 $100 tickets, according to PCC manager Mara Lutomski. The top winners of the $2 Raffle are Britni Birchell $500, Bill Olson $750, and Liz Pawuk won two round-trip Alaska Airline tickets and $1000 cash. The big winners of the $100 Cash Raffle were PFI Crew $500 and Ken Kvernvik took home $1500. There were also two double winners in the $100 Cash Raffle. Sue Flint’s name was pulled back to back, with two different people spinning the tumbler and drawing her name. Darlene W...
Fourth of July organizers have decided to restart the Petersburg Chamber of Commerce raffles, before choosing a winner. The raffles were put on hold due to the early morning fatal car wreck on July 4. Tickets for the $100 raffle and $2 raffle will be sold at Lee's Clothing, Rexall Drug and the Visitor Center until Monday at 3 p.m., according to PCC manager Mara Lutomski. The winners will be drawn at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, July 12. Anyone who wants to attend the announcement is welcome, but there will not be a formal ceremony. Winners need not be...
Generally Fourth of July events happen on July 3 and 4, but this year, with the Fourth falling on a Monday the committee was looking for options to extend the weekend fun. This year, there will be events held on Saturday through Monday, with an entire new slate of activities scheduled to take place on Sunday, according to Petersburg Chamber of Commerce manager Mara Lutomski. "If we didn't have any events on Sunday the momentum would have been lost," she said. "But the Lighthouse church, Nathan...
Popular doesn't make it good To the Editor: Learning facts is important. Re-learning facts is also important, and sometimes exacting and painful. Take tobacco. Around 400 years ago people colonizing in Virginia learned to smoke tobacco from local Native Americans. “Recreational,” yet addictive, this poison began killing Americans. Only around 50 years ago the medical science started to prove the obvious - millions of people go to an early grave because of smoking tobacco. I’ve lost family members and friends, as has every person reading these w...
Petersburg Chamber of Commerce manager Mara Lutomski was treated to an action-packed ending of the 35th Annual Salmon Derby on Monday night. It was the first year overseeing the derby for Lutomski, who had fished the derby before, but never experienced the final minutes at the weigh station before. "It was nice to see that a crowd of people had gathered, which I had been told would happen," she said. "People wanted to see the last action. But everything had been so slow, kind of trickling in thr... Full story
The Petersburg Chamber of Commerce board of directors knew exactly what to do when faced with finding a new administrative manager. They contacted Mara Lutomski. She had shown prior interest in the position and the board thought of her as a qualified replacement for John Havrilek, who recently retired from the position. "We had about three days together," she says laughing of training with Havrilek. "He showed me the ropes. It is basically a self-starter position." Lutomski is currently in her... Full story
The Petersburg School Board met Tuesday, May 11 and approved the hire of Joyce Metsa for next school year’s high school math teacher. The board also approved a new social studies curriculum and a new SHOP Lite (low intensity technology education) course aimed at encouraging female students to enroll. “We lack in having, I’m trying to think of the exact words there, pretty much we don’t have enough girls in Shop,” Petersburg middle and high school principal Rick Dormer said. Shop LITE features basic woodworking, basic automotive maintenan...
The Petersburg School Board voted in its first reading a district memorial policy last week—the lack of which caused some confusion and conflict between district staff and members of the public two years ago. The policy would, in part, limit the display of student memorials for a two-week period. Petersburg School District Superintendent Erika Kludt-Painter said her predecessor, along with district staff, removed a memorial to Jake Madsen, a Petersburg High School student athlete who died in a... Full story
Four hundred and seven Petersburg voters cast their ballots Oct. 6 for this year’s borough election, which included one ballot measure along with uncontested candidates who will continue to serve on various seats across the borough’s assembly, boards and commissions. Voters elected newcomer Eric Castro who will serve on a three-year seat on the Petersburg Borough Assembly along with incumbent Nancy Strand. Incumbent’s Cheryl File and Jay Lister will serve three-year terms on the Petersburg School Board. Mara Lutomski will serve a one-y... Full story
