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The Petersburg School Board adopted its FY23 School Operating Budget at the final meeting of the school year Tuesday evening in a 4-0 vote with Member Meg Litster excused. Finance Director Karen Morrison gave an overview of the budget which at this point still has “a lot of unknowns.” The budget has a revenue of $7,962,605 and is based on 413 enrolled students which is below the funding formula enrollment threshold of 425 students. Being below that threshold drops the district down from three school funding to two school funding. As of Jun...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht and the boroughs attorney are set to begin discussions with the Petersburg Medical Center on the possibility of transferring management of the Mountain View Manor Assisted Living Facility to the PMC following unanimous approval from the Petersburg Borough Assembly. The borough has struggled to hire staff including resident assistants and registered nurses at the manor and sees the transfer of management as one solution to relieve staffing challenges. The manor...
The Petersburg Medical Center is one step closer to "shovel ready status" following unanimous approval from the Petersburg Borough Assembly to begin surveying and evaluating potential sites for a future hospital. The approved process, which will be paid for by PMC through received funding, will help the hospital learn more about the borough-owned properties and see if there is anything at the proposed sites that would prevent building. Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter said during... Full story
School got out last week, but Bridget Wittstock still had one week to go until she ended her final year with the Petersburg School District. She is set to retire after 29 years of service and there will no doubt be a void left that will be difficult to fill. The district recently held a surprise party to recognize Wittstock and, of course, the eventwas catered by Wittstock's mother Julie Dahl and included a song written and preformed by the Luncheonettes. "I cried, it was very touching,"...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly passed its FY23 budget by a 4-3 margin in its third and final reading on Monday with Assembly Members Dave Kensinger, Jeff Meucci, and Thomas Fine-Walsh voting against. There were no amendments proposed in its last reading but discussion saw similar points of concern raised by opposing assembly members. Fine-Walsh had concerns about how the budget would place “more emphasis on policing than education and housing.” “These are my priorities, these are the priorities of our community as they have been expre...
The Petersburg Borough Assembly unanimously approved two items which will begin the lengthy process of acquiring the state-owned uplands and tidelands surrounding the Papkes Landing Marine Facility during Mondays meeting. Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht put forward the two separate items requesting ownership of the uplands and tidelands respectively as the borough looks to eventually make improvements to the facility. Giesbrecht has held talks with representatives from the Alaska Department of...
Amongst the sounds of churning conveyor belts, rolling carts, and running rivers, a high pitched steam whistle blares, cutting through the noise-its time for mug up. Coffee drips and silverware clatters with plates as tired workers gather for a moment of respite. With eyes closed, hearing the symphony of industrial noise one might think they had walked inside an operating Alaskan cannery, but upon opening they would instead find a faithful recreation of cannery life inside the Alaska State... Full story
Two candidates who are up for the Fire/EMS director position visited Petersburg this week. Stephen Jellie and Rhys Mateo were in town to meet with community members and conduct their final interviews in front of a panel and with Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht. One of the two could be replacing Sandy Dixon who is retiring at the end of June. Jellie has been involved in fire emergency services since he began volunteering when he was 18. He worked in emergency services in the federal government...
After 56 years of service in the Alaska Marine Highway System fleet and almost three years tied up at a Ketchikan dock, unused and in need of costly repairs, the Malaspina is headed to another career as a privately owned floating museum and employee housing. Plans also call for using the ship as a classroom for maritime industry jobs. The state last week accepted $128,250 for the 408-foot-long passenger and vehicle ferry from the recently formed Ketchikan company M/V Malaspina. The company is a subsidiary of Ward Cove Dock Group, owned by John...
WRANGELL – Closing on the boroughs $2.6 million purchase of the 39-acre former sawmill property at 6 Mile has been delayed until June 20, Borough Manager Jeff Good said June 1, the day the sale was supposed to close. The sale is delayed until the seller can resolve a contractor lien on the property. William “Shorty” Tonsgard Jr., owner of Channel Construction, a scrap metal collection company that runs a barge south for disposal or recycling, on March 18 filed a $701,654 lien against Kelso, Washington-based DB AK Enterprises, owned by Betty...
For the first time in four years, Celebration, the largest gatherings of Southeast Alaska Native peoples to celebrate their culture, is being held in person in Juneau from June 8-11. The gathering, sponsored by Sealaska Heritage, drew about 5,000 people pre-COVID, including more than 2,000 dancers. The Wrangell tribe will lead the way this week. Every Celebration features a lead dance group and this year it is Shx’at Kwáan (People Near the Mainland) of Wrangell, Sealaska Heritage spokesperson Kathy Dye said Friday. “They were chosen in 2018...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – Alaska voters are facing an election unlike any theyve seen, with 48 candidates running to succeed the man who had held the states only U.S. House seat for 49 years. While some of the candidates in this weeks special primary have name recognition, including Sarah Palin and Santa Claus – yes, Santa Claus – many are relative unknowns or political novices – a fishing guide, a contractor, a gold miner who went to prison for allegedly threatening federal land managers. The huge number of candidates and the short timelin...
The Petersburg Medical Center Hospital Board voted to support a pilot program which could see the hospital offer after-school child care programming as soon as fall 2022 through its Community Wellness department. Julie Walker and Becky Turland, who was recently appointed to the Early Childhood Education Task Force, spoke to the board during last Thursday's meeting about their idea for the program which grew from the results of the child care needs assessment completed by the SHARE Coalition...
The Petersburg Medical Center Health Fair is returning for the first time in four years this Saturday in the community gym. The in-person fair, organized by the Community Wellness team, will feature speakers, booths, prizes, and more. After its cancelation in 2020 because of the pandemic, this year's theme is "getting back on track" with the hope of returning focus to preventative care such as annual health checks, something that many set aside while spending the last two years mitigating... Full story
Petersburg Medical Center staff discussed how a surge of COVID-19 cases in Petersburg has affected hospital operations and the community during its hospital board meeting last Thursday. According to Dr. Selina Burt, over the past month the hospital has had to reshuffle its staff to cover shifts of those who had to stay at home with the virus, but that at this point operations are mostly back to normal. PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter also reported that there has recently been "a little bit of an explosi...
The Biden administration has officially revived an Obama-era plan that would put the Bristol Bay watershed off-limits to the proposed Pebble Mine or any similar project. The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced its intention to invoke a rarely used provision of the Clean Water Act to prevent the issuance of any wetlands-fill permit for a Pebble-sized metals mine. “Bristol Bay supports one of the world’s most important salmon fisheries,” Casey Sixkiller, EPA’s Region 10 administrator, said in a statement. “Two decades o... Full story
Heidi Drygas, the former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, visited Petersburg as part of her campaign for lieutenant governor during the Little Norway Festival in late May. Drygas is running with independent Bill Walker who served as Alaska's governor from 2014 to 2018 against incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy in this year's election. The trip marked her first visit to Petersburg and during her time in town she set up a booth to talk to members of the community...
Months before Alaska’s state elections, the Legislature is set for major turnover. At least 17 of the Legislature’s 60 members will be in a new position or out of office entirely by next January — and that doesn’t count anyone who loses their seat this fall. The deadline to file for this year’s legislative elections is June 1, but many candidates have already made up their minds. Because a steep learning curve awaits new legislators, several departing incumbents said the turnover will slow the progress of complicated legislation, such as a... Full story
If oil prices stay above $100 a barrel for the next 12 months, the state could end the fiscal year in June 2023 with about $2.3 billion in its savings accounts, not counting the Permanent Fund. It hasn’t had that much in savings since 2018. “That’s not enough cash,” Senator Bert Stedman, co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said last Friday. The state treasury needs a healthier shock absorber to cushion against the inevitable periods of low oil prices, he said. It all depends on oil markets and prices. Alaska North Slope crude has average...
The Alaska State Legislature approved its budget at the end of the legislative session last week which includes $20 million toward the construction of a new Petersburg Medical Center facility. The hospital board has been vocal of the need for a new medical facility and is taking a phased approach through development as funding becomes available. $8 million in funding was also approved earlier this year as part of Sen. Lisa Murkowski's congressionally directed spending requests. Though the $20...
The Petersburg Community Foundation, an affiliate of the Alaska Community Foundation, announced on Saturday the 10 organizations receiving grants this year. The event, hosted by Glo Wollen, saw volunteers, politicians, business owners, and other prominent community members gather to support local programs. Before the grant awards, the foundation announced a new annual award-Petersburg Community Volunteer of the Year. Dave Berg was chosen as the award's first recipient which also comes with...
After a meeting last Tuesday, National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions is allowing passengers and crew from their ships to go ashore and inside business in Petersburg according to Dave Berg, president of Viking Travel and a ships agent for Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska. Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht, PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter, Dr. Mark Tuccillo, who serves as the borough’s public health officer, and Berg met with representatives from Lindblad to discuss the company’s policy COVID-19 policies and work toward allowing people to visit town. Acc...
Forty-five years ago, Kathi Hammer was helping Carol Hall at a concession booth downtown, during Little Norway Festival. When, all of a sudden, Hammer got kidnapped by Vikings. Shortly after earning her freedom she was holding her daughter, Cari, when a photographer came up and asked who they were. Hammer thought he was just a tourist, until a few weeks later when she saw a picture of them on the front page of the Southeastern Log, a popular publication in Southeast at the time. Under the image... Full story
Three minutes before 11 p.m. on the last day of its regular session, the Alaska Legislature finalized a state budget that will pay each eligible Alaskan about $3,200 later this year. As late as Saturday, it appeared possible that the House and Senate would agree on a $5,500 payment, but lawmakers settled on a lower amount after days of negotiations and a failed vote to spend from savings. "For the four years I've been down here, we've practiced fiscal restraint and tried to keep money in... Full story
The Petersburg Borough Assembly voted 5-2 in favor of the FY23 budget in its second reading Monday with Assembly Members Thomas Fine-Walsh and Jeff Meucci opposed. Three amendments to the budget were approved during the meeting. Assembly Member Bob Lynn made two amendments that were both approved unanimously. The first was a recommendation by Utility Director Karl Hagerman to correct the absence of lineman apprentice wages and benefits in the budget. The second set aside $40,000 in ARPA lost...
