Sorted by date Results 201 - 225 of 276
A mock car crash staged in the parking lot behind the community gym kept local emergency crews and students busy for a good part of the morning last Thursday. Students from the eighth grade up to seniors in high school witnessed a drunk driver, played by Kyle Clayton, getting arrested after causing an accident. Clayton's fictional disregard for the law and safety of others injured two occupants of the vehicle he hit, and killed one. The carnage required the top of the car he hit to be removed...
The Petersburg High School girls basketball team are the 2015-16 2A Alaska State Champions. A 3-0 record in last weekend's tournament with wins over Dillingham, Nenana, and Bristol Bay clinched the Lady Vikings' first state title in program history. The 43-25, 50-39, and 43-34 victories capped off a 26-1 season for PHS. Championship Game In Saturday's championship with the Bristol Bay Angels at Anchorage's Alaska Airlines Center, the Lady Vikings jumped out to a 14-11 first quarter lead, with... Full story
Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department (PVFD) responded to a fire call Sunday afternoon near Rory's Road at Papke's Landing, 10 miles south of town. The fire destroyed a 24-foot trailer home on the property being used as an office and led to a manufactured home sustaining significant damage, according to PVFD spokesman Dave Berg. "The trailer, the one being used as an office, it was almost gone when we got there," Berg said. "The other one, the residence, the vinyl siding had pretty much melted... Full story
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht reported the following during the March 21 Borough Assembly meeting: A Firefighter 1 Course started on February 13. One person is attending all of the classes and two people are hit and miss. Emergency Trauma Technician Course started on February 28. There are 9 participants (four current firefighters, three new EMS volunteers, and two will not volunteer). EMS Director Sandy Dixson taught two Basic Life Support for Health Care Provider courses (total 12 people), and we had three individuals go through the...
First responder volunteers To the Editor: We are very fortunate to have dedicated volunteers in our community. Volunteers read to children in the elementary school, they pick up litter along the side of the road, and they serve on the many elected boards and committees. The Hospital Guild, Humane Association, KFSK, the Library and WAVE are just a few of these agencies. Most of the time, the benefit is limited to a small or unique group of people. In one particular instance, the benefit to every single person in this community is very apparent:...
The age of Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department (PVFD) members ranges from men and women in their early-20s to a handful of men over 60. Some of the volunteers have over 30 years of experience, but they are starting to reach retirement age, and the department is fighting to recruit younger generations. Fire marshal Ryan Welde has just over 21 years with PVFD, he is one of two paid employees with the department, and he helps train new recruits seeking Firefighter-1 state certification. Welde... Full story
A fire blazed in a blacksmith shop near Muddy River on the mainland Tuesday evening. Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department spokesperson Dave Berg said PVFD received a call around 4:50 p.m. on December 29 after someone reported seeing a fire on the mainland to the Petersburg Police. Berg said volunteers asked over a VHF radio if anyone knew anything about a fire. “Orie Bell on the M/V Lindy came back to me and said they had a fire in their blacksmith shop over there and that it was fully engulfed and everyone was accounted for, there were no i... Full story
November 6, 1915 – A regular meeting of the town council was held Monday evening. Present: Mayor Pryer; Councilmen Brennan, Bruce, Duryea, and Johnson. The committee on public works and public property reported having placed orders for concrete, paper roofing, and windows, to be used in construction of the power-house. A communication from Hans Wick asked for a raise in his salary as marshal. The council voted an increase of ten dollars per month, making the salary $100. Bills for material and labor aggregating about $1,700 were approved. T...
Karilyn Eunice Simchuk Reid, 61, passed away peacefully in Spokane, Wash. on September 6, 2015. She was born on April 8, 1954 to Nick and Eunice Simchuk in Spokane and was raised in the area. Karilyn attended Mead Schools and graduated from high school in 1972. She met her first husband, Steve O'Neil, at Spokane Falls Community College and they began traveling to Alaska for the summers. Together they had two children, Cameron and Stacey O'Neil. The family spent their time between Washington and... Full story
Working to preserve its history, the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department has restored one fire engine and is wrapping up restoration of another. "We're trying to create some interest with the younger people," Fire Chief Doug Welde said. "It's history and kind of neat." Jack Slaght, a chief engineer on the M/V Malaspina, has experience working on a variety of engines. "Some mechanics like to get away from work and not pick up a wrench after hours," he said. That's not Slaght's thing. Engine and...
Alaska State Wildlife Trooper Cody Lister is investigating a vehicle fire from the weekend, the second suspicious one in about a week's time. The first occurred sometime between June 12 and June 16 at Man Made Hole Recreation Area, where a vault toilet was torched, Recreation and Wilderness Manager Brad Hunter said. It's being investigated by the Petersburg Park Ranger District. The second fire, also "suspicious in nature," Assistant Fire Chief Dave Berg said, occurred Sunday night, around 11:30...
June 4 Police received reports of a snow machine being tipped over on the side of Mitkof Highway at mile 2. A caller reported an assault and requested civil standby. Police received report of rain washing out fresh gravel work on Sing Lee Alley and Nordic, and notified the responsible party. A caller made a report of dogs being left out on the porch barking all the time. June 5 An officer gave a warning for driving without lights on Gjoa. An intoxicated individual was reported heading south in the 200 block of North Nordic Drive. Zebadiah...
WRANGELL - The next steps have been taken on an agreement between the University of Alaska Southeast and Wrangell Public School District, with the establishment of an office for the university's technical preparation program. The tech prep program is offered for college credit through the university, and courses are taught by approved instructors using UAS syllabi. Enrolled students earn high school credits needed for graduation as well, and school superintendent Patrick Mayer explained the...
Following in his older brother Joe's footsteps, Petersburg High School graduate Ben Zarlengo has accepted an appointment into the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Academy Scholars Program. Joe, dressed in his uniform, presented Ben with that appointment, along with a scholarship totaling more than $400,000, at graduation on Wednesday. "I couldn't be prouder," their dad, Dan, said. Like his brother, Ben will first be going to a military prep college in Alabama for a year. Then, if he meets all the require...
Taking more than a million steps in six weeks' time, Mary Meucci topped this year's pedometer challenge, earning herself a $350 gift certificate and iPad mini. Meucci logged 1,090,486 steps and got first pick during an awards ceremony Tuesday evening at the Petersburg Public Library. Following her was Gail Herlick-Aho with 1,058,481 steps and Mark Tuccillo with 870,958. Sponsored by the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department, Petersburg Mental Health Services and the Petersburg School District, Pe...
It may be called the 10,000 Steps Challenge, but the real goal, Assistant Fire Chief Dave Berg said, is for community members to take as many steps as they can during a day. Petersburg’s third challenge began Monday, March 23, and ends Sunday, May 3. Sponsored by the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department, Petersburg Mental Health Services and the Petersburg School District, the challenge not only offers a chance at better health but a go at prizes provided by major sponsors, such as Piston and Rudder and the Trading Union, and through d...
February 13, 1915 – The steamer Santa Ana, of the Alaska Steamship Company's fleet, has been remodeled for passenger service, and was announced to sail from the Sound on February 12 for Seward, to take the place of the steamer Dora on the Peninsula run. The Santa Ana now has accommodations for 75 first-class and 30 steerage passengers. On her way north, the vessel brings a shipment of coal and supplies for the Chichagoff mine. February 16, 1940 – At its meeting the City Council unanimously approved the Volunteer Fire Department's forthcoming pl...
The pyro crew of the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department (PVFD) will help usher in the new year with a bang as they put on a fireworks display New Years Eve. The show starts at 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening and can be seen from a few prime locations. “We’re going to shoot them from the parking lot by the crane dock in the South Harbor, so the best viewing areas will be from the Middle Harbor parking lot or in the South Harbor itself or the South Harbor parking lot by the boat ramp,” said Dave Berg of the PVFD. The Chamber of Commerce helps...
As Christmas draws ever closer, people are shopping for friends, families and strangers as another season of Operation Christmas Child closes, set to send shoeboxes of sundries across the world. The program, operated under the international auspices of Samaritan’s Purse, a non-denominational evangelical Christian organization, has been running since 1993, aiming to deliver boxes of toys and essentials to children of impoverished nations around the globe — since its inception, the group has reported more than 113 million shoeboxes sent to famili... Full story
A thorough discussion of public services under the Borough charter was had at Monday's regular Assembly meeting. Member John Havrilek broached the matter at the last meeting and asked for a public comment period wherein discussion and clarification of services for outlying areas would be addressed. Since then, Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht worked with department heads to assemble a matrix outlining services offered before and after Borough formation. According to that matrix, no services have been discontinued due to Borough formation. That'...
Four local hikers on their way to Raven’s Roost cabin on Sunday got much more than they bargained for, returning by helicopter after an unanticipated night outdoors. “They got caught in darkness and a little turned around, so we helped them make it through the night and were able to helicopter them early, early with the breaking dawn of Monday morning,” S&R Captain Bob Carter said. “One of them … got ahold of Search and Rescue and we made a decision that they could survive the night – we really don’t want to send people up the mountain at n...
