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Heather Conn, special education teacher with the Petersburg School District, will be replacing Teri Toland as Rae C. Stedman Elementary School's principal beginning in the fall 2019 school year. "She's going to take us forward, and I'm really excited for her," said Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter. "The feedback that I'm getting from families and parents beyond our hiring committee and staff members is people feel really positive about the choice." Conn was one of many individuals who applied...
Push that pasta aside. Noodles made from Alaska pollock are poised to become a center of the plate favorite. Alaska Pollock Protein Noodles from Trident Seafoods swept the awards at the 26th annual Alaska Symphony of Seafood new products competition in Juneau. The low carb, "flavor neutral" noodles contain 1O grams of protein per serving and can be swapped with any pasta favorites. The ready to eat item drew raves from judges and samplers from Seattle to Southeast who gave the noodles quadruple...
Okay Governor Dunleavy, you have our attention; our full and undivided attention. Like you, we're in favor of eliminating unnecessary spending by the state. We're in favor of a balanced budget. But the proposed budget simply ignores the impacts that will be spread across communities, families and individuals statewide. No one can undo years of deficit spending in a single budget, with little to no consideration of the hardship it will place on citizens, schools, state transportation and other go...
Eating seafood can save lives. Premature birth is the leading cause of death for children under 5 years old worldwide, accounting for nearly one million deaths annually. Now there is proof that eating seafood or marine oils can significantly reduce that number. The lifesaving ingredient? Omega 3 fatty acids. The conclusion of a new Cochrane Review of 70 studies worldwide on nearly 20,000 pregnant women stated that omega’s from marine sources reduces early premature birth by a whopping 42 percent. “The effect really has to be strong to see it...
The Petersburg School District school board accepted the resignation of Rae C. Stedman Elementary School principal Teri Toland on Tuesday. She will be retiring at the end of the school year in June. "I'm appreciative of the opportunity to serve the students and families of Petersburg," said Toland. "I am just really grateful for that. It has been a wonderful experience for me." Toland, 59, first arrived in Petersburg 13 years ago with her husband Kim Toland who had just retired from the...
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...
Hilary Hunter hosted her first solo art show titled Vita Gasy at FireLight Gallery and Framing on Friday showcasing photos and art from her two years living in Madagascar. Growing up, she was around people who had volunteered with the Peace Corps and was interested in living abroad. She was accepted with the Peace Corps, but due to her dietary requirements and inability to speak a second language, Hunter was eager to go whereever they could send her. She ended up teaching English in Madagascar...
The Juneau Empire and Capital City Weekly have a new general manager. Sound Publishing, Inc. announced Monday that Robert Monteith will be moving to Juneau to oversee the daily newspaper and the weekly arts publication in Alaska's capital city. Terry Ward, vice president of Sound Publishing, Inc. and publisher of the Juneau Empire and Capital City Weekly, made the announcement in person to staff on Monday morning. "I am pleased to put the day-to-day operations of the Juneau Empire and Capital...
The University of Alaska Southeast has called for all residents of Southeast Alaska to submit their creative talents to this year’s edition of “Tidal Echoes,” the college’s literary and art journal. The journal seeks to showcase and support the diverse creative talents of Southeast Alaskans, according to the UAS website. A portion of the journal has been reserved for UAS students, but anybody in the region with literary or artistic talent is invited to submit their work. Emily Wall, faculty advisor with UAS, said that “Tidal Echoes” h...
Juliette Low, the founder of Girl Scouting once said. "Scouting rises within you and inspires you to put forth your best." That quote was especially fitting on Sat., Nov. 11 as the local Petersburg Girl Scouts gathered to mark their founder's birthday, which is Oct. 31 and to celebrate one of their own, Gold Award recipient Avery Herman-Sakamoto. The Gold Award in Girl Scouting is equivalent to the Eagle Scout Award in Boy Scouts. You must be dedicated, motivated and inspired to achieve it and...
The Petersburg High School cross country team had their final meet of the season in Anchorage on Saturday. The girls team came in fifth place over all, and the boys team came in ninth. "Getting up there and having that experience with some really good runners is just going to make them stronger," said assistant coach Debby Eddy. "I was really proud how they accomplished what they did this weekend." Kendra Coonrad and Maia Cowan came in 10th and 11th place respectively, at 20:42 and 20:50. At...
As Alaska’s salmon season draws to a close, lots of fall fisheries are just getting underway from Ketchikan to the Bering Sea. Southeast is one of Alaska’s busiest regions for fall fishing, especially for various kinds of shellfish. Nearly 400,000 pounds of sidestripe and pink shrimp are being hauled in by a few beam trawlers, and the season for spot shrimp opens October 1. Usually about half a million pounds of the popular big spots are hauled up in local pots over several months. Dungeness crab fishing also will reopen in Southeast in Oct...
James Christopher Jensen was born in Petersburg, Alaska on March 18, 1954. His parents, Gordon and Helmi Jensen, and his sister Sue welcomed him to his childhood home on Wrangell Avenue, a paradise of kids and dogs and a street where everyone knew what to do with a gaff hook, a krumkaka iron or a basketball. It the 1950s it was the age of radio, the steamship and a community much smaller but as full of life as it is today. Chris grew up on the family seiner, the Symphony, their longliner... Full story
High school students in the certified nursing assistant program through Petersburg Medical Center began their training last week. CNAs work directly under a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse and provide the more hands on care to patients and residents, such as help them get up in the morning, brush their teeth, eat meals and do exercises. They also take measurements and monitor vital signs. Since CNAs spend so much time with patients and residents, they are able to identify when something is wrong with them and can alert the nurse. ...
Three teachers, a counselor and four paraprofessionals join the Petersburg School District this year. Mikalai Potrzuski will be teaching 7th grade geography, 8th grade US history and 6th, 7th and 8th grade PE. Shannon Vandervest-Whitacre will be teaching first grade after she substituted in the spring. Timothy Shumway is the 6th, 9th and 11th grade language arts teacher. Jenna Turner will be joining the district as the middle school and high school counselor. Heidi Cabral will be a middle... Full story
In the summer of 1992, the Student Conservation Association sent six interns to Kupreanof Island to build a fish pass. Two of the interns, Lane Bagley and Chuck Najimy, soon became fast friends. Twenty-six years later, their sons, with the SCA helped rebuild the same fish pass that their fathers built. Like their fathers, Steven Bagley and Cal Najimy created a bond over the weeks from working, living and fishing together. Plus, both had grown up hearing the same stories about their fathers’ t...
As Bill Governor Walker prepares to sign a bill this week enacting the Alaska Mariculture Development Plan, 16 new applicants hope to soon begin growing shellfish and seaweed businesses in just over 417 acres of tideland areas in Alaska. The new growers will add to the 35 farms and 6 hatchery/nurseries that already are producing a mix of oysters, clams, mussels and various seaweeds. Eventually, sea cucumbers, scallops, giant geoduck clams and algae for biofuels will be added into the mix. Most of the mariculture requests in Alaska are located...
Tiny cod fish are reappearing around Kodiak. Researchers aim to find out if it is a blip, or a sign that the stock is recovering after warming waters caused the stocks to crash. Alaska's seafood industry was shocked last fall when the annual surveys showed cod stocks in the Gulf of Alaska had plummeted by 80 percent to the lowest levels ever seen. Prior surveys indicated large year classes of cod starting in 2012 were expected to produce good fishing for six or more years. But a so called "warm...
WRANGELL - After 30 years on the bench, Wrangell's district magistrate will conclude her legal career today. Chris Ellis has served as a magistrate judge for First District Court in Wrangell for 14 of those years, with most of her preceding tenure spent in Craig. When she graduated with her bachelor's degree in 1973, law hadn't been on her mind, but Alaska was. "Basically I studied anthropology with a specialty in archaeology, and my goal was to come to Alaska," she said. Ellis found herself dra...
Plastics in recycled fishing nets are being used to make an amazing array of products around the globe and Alaska plans to get in on the action. An Alaska Net Hack Challenge is being planned for September 8 and 9 that aims to identify potential opportunities for using the tons of old nets piled up in landfills and storage lots across the state and develop new items from the materials. Fishing nets can weigh from 5,000 to 20,000 pounds each. “The purpose of the program is to change how people look at fishing nets and ropes. Instead of looking a...
KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — Thousands of small earthquakes have been recorded in the Kodiak area since a magnitude 7.9 temblor in January hit about 175 miles (281 kilometers) southeast of the city. Nearly 3,000 aftershock quakes of 2.5 or above have hit since the major earthquake on Jan. 23. The vast majority have hit southeast of the island in the same area as the major quake, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Thursday. Only 20 were recorded last year over the same time period. Natalia Ruppert, a seismologist at the University of Alaska, said a...
WRANGELL - The Wrangell Public School District announced the selection of Debbe Lancaster for the Superintendent position on Wednesday. She begins work on July 1. The board arrived at its decision after a series of interviews and consultation with a selection committee. That committee, representing district staff, a parent and student, also had the opportunity to meet and interview the candidates. Lancaster has reportedly accepted the district's offer, agreeing to a three-year salary which...
“It’s what’s on the inside that counts” is the message Alaska crab marketers are pushing to their customers, encouraging them to put appearances aside. “We’re telling them to Get Ugly,” said Tyson Fick, executive director of the trade group, Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, speaking of the new campaign launched last week in partnership with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute at the big Seafood Expo in Boston. The promotion showcases Alaska crabs with darker, discolored or scarred shells or adorned with barnacles, that may be less appealing to...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- A study of bears and berries has determined that the big animals are the main dispersers of fruit seeds in southeast Alaska. The study by Oregon State University researchers says it’s the first instance of a temperate plant being primarily dispersed by mammals through their excrement rather than by birds. Researcher Taal Levi says seed dispersal is a key component in the understanding of any ecosystem. He says brown and black bears thrive on Alaska’s Panhandle because of abundant salmon but both feed on berries whi...
January The Borough assembly started approval of a program called Local Improvement Districts, which asks Petersburg residents whether they would pay for road work in their neighborhoods. The Petersburg School Board discussed the possible loss of federal funding through a program called Secure Rural Schools. The school district reported a case of a Pertussis, or whooping cough, confirmed in Petersburg. Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter said it was not a public health emergency. An engineer led...