Sorted by date Results 1131 - 1155 of 5587
Rae C. Stedman Elementary School will begin offering special education preschool beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter told the Petersburg School Board at their meeting on Feb. 9. The program will be offered to special education students between three and five years old. Their enrollment in the program will be free, but others can join the program for a fee. Kludt-Painter said the fee would ensure the program isn't competing with established preschools in the...
Petersburg COVID-19 case count has risen by six cases since Monday evening for a total of 26 active cases, according to the Emergency Operations Center COVID-19 Dashboard. Twenty-four of the active cases are currently in Petersburg, while the remaining two cases are infected residents who are outside of the community, according to Incident Commander Karl Hagerman at a special Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday. The EOC issued a CodeRed alert Monday evening to make the community aware of the... Full story
A motion to terminate the local face masking mandate failed at an assembly meeting on Monday after assembly members declined to second the motion. Assembly Taylor Norheim requested the action item be on Monday's agenda and made the motion to terminate Public Health Mandate #8. The motion failed to gain a second, which prevented a discussion and vote on terminating the mask mandate. The mask mandate was put in place by the Borough Assembly in November and will remain in place until the assembly...
The Petersburg School Board approved the academic calendar for the 2021-2022 school year at their meeting on Tuesday that takes a more traditional approach to the school year. Under the approved calendar, school begins on Aug. 31 for students and ends on June 2. Christmas break will be two weeks long, and spring break will continue to be one week long in the middle of March. The Petersburg School District also scheduled in-service days for teachers near other holidays, like Labor Day, to extend...
A pre-hire employee for the 2021 tanner and golden king crab season at OBI Seafoods has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center on Monday. The individual tested positive during the cannery's asymptomatic testing of all incoming employees, according to a press release from OBI Seafoods. The person is currently asymptomatic and is in isolation. Employees that may have come into contact with the infected individual...
The Borough Assembly unanimously approved an ordinance in its first reading that reestablishes user fees at the Parks and Recreation Center and allows anyone under the age of 18 to use the facility for free. Ordinance #2021-03 groups all users into two categories and establishes three types of fees. Those under the age of 18 are free to use the facility without payment, according to the ordinance. Those over the age of 18 either pay $5 per visit, $300 for an annual pass or $48 for a punch pass...
The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department responded to a call on Feb. 9 about smoke emitting from a dryer in a home at a location on Scow Bay Loop Rd. A volunteer firefighter who was near the scene was the first to respond to the call and turned off the dryer, said Dave Berg. The smoke immediately began to dissipate. Responding officers with the PVFD called off other responding volunteer firefighters, as there wasn't a threat of fire in the home. The heat was contained within the dryer and didn't...
Mechanical issues on the M/V Matanuska have cancelled the ferry's sailings between Feb. 10 and 23, according to a press release from the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities. DOT anticipates the M/V Matanuska to resume its scheduled southbound trip to Ketchikan on Feb. 24. Meanwhile, the M/V LeConte will be covering the traffic between Southeast Alaska ports that are affected by the cancellation, including Petersburg....
The Borough Assembly supported a letter to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities that requests the state install street lights on Papke's Landing Rd. at all locations that serve as a bus stop. Assembly Member Jeff Meuci requested the agenda after residents on Papke's Landing Rd. sought his help in drafting a letter to the state. Meucci said he didn't help write the letter, which is signed by Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht, but showed his support for street lights on...
Petersburg Incident Commander Karl Hagerman apologized at the COVID-19 community update on Friday for the borough's use of the CodeRED system on Jan. 29 that encouraged residents to put their names on Petersburg Medical Center's waitlist to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. "There was some concern that the system shouldn't have been used for that," said Hagerman. "We're listening to that. A lot of that had to do with the text of the message. We wanted people to sit up and take notice, but I think...
A new audio system is being installed in the Assembly Chambers this week, which Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson said will improve remote assembly meetings and open the door to in-person meetings on a limited basis. The Borough Assembly approved resolution #2020-18 at their Oct. 20 meeting that was a sole source contract to Chariot Group for the design and installation of a new multimedia audio system. The new system cost $39,970 and was paid for with the borough's Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and...
About 100 residents gathered in front of the Trading Union on Jan. 24 for the second annual local March for Life event, according to organizers Tim Wilkinson and Kurt Wohlhueter. As the group marched towards the Municipal Building, they held and waved signs in support of their belief that life begins at conception. At two intersections the crowd came to a stop and prayed. Wilkinson led the prayer at the intersection of N. Nordic Dr. and Excel St., while Don Bieber gathered the group together...
Two active cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in town this week, according to the Emergency Operations Center. The first case was identified on Monday after an incoming traveler had a tested sample collected at the Petersburg Airport, which later came back positive for the virus, according to a joint press release between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The individual had been in quarantine since arriving in Petersburg, and the EOC had determined the case presented a...
Excavation has begun for an affordable housing complex that is to be built on Excel St., which will make one-bedroom apartments available to residents making 30 percent or less of the local median income. Glenn Gellert of Swell, LLC, the real estate development company building the complex, said the COVID-19 pandemic and a shake up of its contractors has postponed the project. He said he hopes to begin renting units by Jan. 1, 2022. "Once we had all our ducks in a row, we were ready to go,"...
A special Borough Assembly meeting to transfer employment of Petersburg Airport greeters and screeners to Petersburg Medical Center was cancelled on Jan. 29 following input from borough staff. The Petersburg Municipal Employees Association allows the borough to hire temporary employees for up to six months, but some of the temporary borough employees greeting and screening incoming passengers at the airport passed that six month mark in early December, said Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson. At the...
Petersburg Medical Center continues to see lower than expected inpatient, outpatient and long term care resident income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but $2.2 million in grants is making up for the loss, according to PMC Controller Rocio Tejera at the PMC Board of Directors meeting on Jan. 28. Halfway through the 2021 fiscal year on Dec. 31, PMC had a total gross patient revenue of $1,370,614, which was 4.4 percent lower than budgeted, according to PMC financial statements. Year to...
Petersburg Medical Center hired a total of 58 employees in 2020 but lost 29 staff members in the same time frame, according to Human Resources Director Cynthia Newman at the PMC Board of Director meeting on Jan. 28. "It appears there has been a lot of movement coming in and out of the hospital personnel wise," said PMC Board President Jerod Cook. Of the 58 employees hired, 26 were emergency hires to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight hospital screeners, six airport screeners and eight...
A 2020 audit of the Alaska Region timber sales program by the Forest Service Financial Compliance & Oversight Branch of the United States Department of Agriculture concluded that two timber contracts in the Tongass National Forest had been mismanaged. According to the audit, the timber sale cruising, appraisal, sale preparation and contracting program for the Big Thorne Stewardship Contract (BTSC) and the Kosciusko Good Neighbor Authority Agreement (KGNAA) weren’t always managed in accordance w...
Cruise ships are expected to make 85 port calls in Petersburg between May 11 and Sept. 18, according to the current 2021 Petersburg cruise ship schedule. Following the cancelled ports of call in Petersburg and Alaska last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dave Berg said tourists are eager to make their way back up to America's Last Frontier. "We're getting lots of calls from people who want to visit Alaska on ferries or with tours," said Berg, who cofounded Viking Travel. "The number...
Several Coast Guard personnel will be in Petersburg Feb. 8 - 11 to conduct dockside safety exams on commercial fishing vessels. Sign up at the harbormaster’s office for the free exams. Vessels passing their exam will be issued a decal that is good for two years. Prior to the exam, visit www.fishsafewest.info, to create a customized checklist of federal requirements for the vessel. Contact Jim Paul at (907) 617 2523 with questions....
PMC Director of Nursing Jennifer Bryner said at the Jan. 29 COVID-19 community update the state has allocated 150 doses for the month, but PMC will also receive doses from the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium. She also confirmed the day of the next community COVID-19 vaccine clinic, which will take place on Feb. 5 at the Parks and Recreation community gym. The upcoming vaccine clinic will focus on residents 65 years old and older, but Bryner encouraged anyone who wants to be vaccinate...
One positive case of COVID-19 has been identified in the community and is travel related, according to a joint press release between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center on Monday. The individual tested positive for the virus upon landing at the Petersburg Airport. The traveler has been in quarantine since arriving in Petersburg and poses a low risk of transmission to the community, according to the press release. The recent positive case of COVID-19 marks the first in town in over a week following an outbreak in January. It is... Full story
A pre-hire employee for the 2021 tanner and golden king crab season at OBI Seafoods has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The individual tested positive during the cannery’s asymptomatic testing of all incoming employees, according to a press release from OBI Seafoods. The person is currently asymptomatic and is in isolation. Employees that may have come into contact with the infected individual have b... Full story
The Southeast Alaska Power Agency could replace a damaged submarine cable that is used as a backup cable to provide Petersburg with power as early as this summer, according to SEAPA Board of Directors Chairman Bob Lynn at the Borough Assembly meeting on Jan. 19. Sumitomo, a Japanese firm, was contracted by SEAPA to construct a cable to replace a damaged submarine cable between Woronksofski and Vank islands for approximately $14 million. The cable was expected to be delivered in late July and...
Petersburg Medical Center is setting Feb. 5 as a tentative date to hold another COVID-19 vaccination clinic, according to Petersburg Medical Center Director of Nursing Jennifer Bryner at the COVID-19 community update on Jan. 22. She said the facility will be notified by the state in the last week of January as to when they can expect their next allocation of the vaccine. The hospital will then vaccinate residents who received their first COVID-19 shot this month for a second and final time on Fe...
