Sorted by date Results 1156 - 1180 of 5587
At the COVID community update on Jan. 22, Incident Commander Karl Hagerman told the public that the local COVID-19 active case count had finally returned to zero. Additionally, there haven't been any new cases of the virus reported within the last seven days. "We had a rough patch in the past week and a half or so with an increase in cases," said Hagerman on Jan. 22. "It's very nice to be back at zero." Petersburg Medical Center has collected a total of 8,055 test samples as of Friday to be...
Since the Borough Assembly passed the masking mandate at their Nov. 16 meeting, the Petersburg Police Department has been focused on educating the community about the mandate, instead of writing tickets, said Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht. Only one resident, Assembly Member Jeff Meucci, has received an official warning, said Giesbrecht. Other residents who were seen by police officers were spoken to, but the conversations didn't reach the point where the individual was cited or officially...
Mayor Mark Jensen participated in a phone call with Gov. Mike Dunleavy's office and other mayors in Southeast Alaska on Jan. 7 where he had the opportunity to address concerns regarding the state's budget and how it will impact Petersburg, he told the Borough Assembly at their meeting on Jan. 19. Among the challenges faced by the borough that Jensen spoke about were a 13 percent drop in the Community Assistance payment for Petersburg in the current fiscal year to $301,090; the Community Jail...
Seven Petersburg High School band and choir students performed in the 2020 Region V Honor Music Festival, which compiled videos of the students' individual performances into a virtual concert. The music festival is traditionally held in October and features several days of rehearsals and a concert. About 60 band students and choir 60 students from around Southeast Alaska also participate in the music festival, which takes place at one of the participating high schools. Because of the COVID-19...
Despite facing complications as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department continued responding to calls and keeping up with their training, clocking in a total of 4,153 volunteer hours last year, Fire Chief Jim Stolpe told the Borough Assembly at their meeting on Jan. 19. "As you know, 2020 was a very unusual year due to COVID-19," said Stolpe. "The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department was not exempt from the restrictions and mitigation measures set forth by CDC...
The Petersburg School Board began discussing the 2021-2022 school year calendar at their meeting on Jan. 12 and looked at three possible calendars. All three scenarios had the school year start on Aug. 24 and end before Memorial Day. They also had the same number of instruction hours. Students in kindergarten through third grade need at least 740 hours of instruction and study periods, according to State Statute 14.03.030. Students in fourth grade through 12th grade must have at least 900 hours...
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has begun taking comments on the 2021 summer ferry schedule. The proposed Alaska Marine Highway System schedule looks to funding projections in the coming fiscal year and the COVID-19 pandemic for its sailings from May 2021 through September 2021, according to a press release from DOT&PF. In the proposed schedule, the M/V Matanuska stops in Petersburg on Mondays on its journey south to Bellingham and again on Fridays on its way north...
The Borough Assembly meetings in February will be postponed to allow contractors to upgrade the Assembly Chambers sound system, according to Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson. The Feb. 1 meeting was postponed to noon on Feb. 8, and the Feb. 16 meeting was postponed to 6 P.M. on Feb. 22. Additionally, the assembly will be holding a special meeting on Jan. 29 at 1 P.M. to consider making an amendment to the memorandum of agreement with Petersburg Medical Center for the COVID-19 testing services at...
Alaska Seaplanes will begin offering two daily roundtrip flights between Petersburg and Juneau starting April 5, according to a press release from Alaska Seaplanes. The airline will be flying two turbine powered aircrafts, the Pilatus PC-12 and the C-208 Grand Caravan. Both planes can carry up to nine passengers and will take about 55 minutes to make the trip between the two cities, according to the release. Alaska Seaplanes will be operating out of the former Pacific Wings building at the...
Jerod Cook, president of the Petersburg Elks Lodge #1615, presented checks totaling $8,000 on behalf of the lodge to two local organizations on Jan. 19. Petersburg Mental Health Services received a $4,500 donation to support their Project Connection and food pantry efforts, and Lighthouse Church received a $3,500 donation to aid their Monday Night Dinner project....
Petersburg Medical Center vaccinated about 350 residents ages 65 and older during the COVID-19 vaccine drive on Jan. 14 at the Petersburg School District community gym, according to PMC Director of Nursing Jennifer Bryner at the COVID-19 community update on Jan. 15. "It felt really great immunizing so many people in our community and getting that first step to having a safer community and decreasing the risk for people to become ill and hospitalized or worse with COVID," said Bryner. Coupled wit...
A portion of Tonka Mountain was stripped down to the bedrock in a landslide on Nov. 1, as a result of heavy rainfall and soil saturation, according to District Ranger Ted Sandhofer, with the United States Forest Service. The normal amount of rainfall over Petersburg for Nov. 1 is .48 inches, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration but on Nov. 1, 2020, 4.17 inches fell. The above average rainfall led to increased soil saturation on Tonka Mountain and ultimately the...
During a discussion on the possibility of testing the water quality in the Petersburg Harbor at the Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday, Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht said the Department of Environmental Conservation is already scheduled to come to town this summer to do just that. Mayor Mark Jensen said he and other mayors in Southeast Alaska lobbied Sen. Bert Stedman to pass legislation that would test the water quality of the region's aquatic traffic lanes. He said fishermen were complaini...
The Petersburg Borough gave the Petersburg Medical Center permission to apply for a second Paycheck Protection Program loan totaling $1.8 million at their meeting on Tuesday evening through emergency ordinance #2021-02. PMC applied and received a loan of the same amount in April through the Small Business Administration. Businesses that received a PPP loan had the opportunity to have the loan forgiven if the money was spent on certain expenses like payroll and rent. PMC had its loan forgiven in...
The Petersburg Emergency Operations Center is reporting eight active cases of COVID-19 in town as of Wednesday afternoon after positive test results reached as high as 11 on Jan. 16. At the COVID-19 community update on Jan. 15, Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said despite the recent spike in cases, he didn't see a great risk of the virus spreading. "The cases we are seeing have either done a good job of isolating or they're clusters within the same household," said Hagerman. "I'm feeling pretty...
The Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department responded to a structure fire in the 600 block of N. Nordic Dr. Tuesday morning at about 7 A.M., according to PVFD Assistant Fire Chief Dave Berg. Fifteen volunteers responded to a house on OBI Seafoods property near their bunkhouse on PFI Hill that was filled with heavy smoke. The source of the smoke was coming from under a couch in the center of the room, said Berg. Volunteers flipped the couch over expecting to find a burning cigarette or another...
The Petersburg School Board approved a winter revision to the fiscal year 2021 budget that addresses changes in funding and needs mainly due to a decrease in enrollment and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Petersburg School District projected an enrollment of 470 students across all three schools in the district in the 2020-2021 school year, according to Finance Director Karen Morrison; however, there are only 426 students currently enrolled with the school district. That's an 8.83 percent decrease...
Petersburg Indian Association unveiled plans to build a $800,000 multi-purpose transit building at the corner of 12th St. and Howkan St. across from their current location at a Transportation Priority Update meeting on Tuesday. The multi-purpose transit facility and parking lot will be used as a carport to store PIA transit related equipment, provide an indoor workspace to maintain equipment and add additional parking for PIA staff and tenants. The design of the facility is slated to take place...
PMC Director of Nursing Jennifer Bryner said at the COVID-19 community update on Jan. 8 that PMC is expecting to have a combined total of about 300 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine to begin vaccinating residents 65 years and older this week. She said most of the local residents who received the vaccine last month have already been vaccinated for the second and final time. According to the Petersburg Emergency Operations Center, 219 vaccines have been administered locally as of Wednesday,...
GCI cable TV customers in Petersburg and across Alaska have lost access to three network channels as negotiations continue over rates the cable company will pay to Vision Alaska and Coastal Television that operate Fox, ABC and CW. Vision Alaska and Coastal Television requested a nearly 40% rate increase this year, according to GCI. In a published statement Heather Handyside, a spokeswoman for GCI, said it's unclear when the companies may reach an agreement. She added that the networks rejected...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht and Utility Superintendent Karl Hagerman have agreed to leave the downtown Christmas tree and main street holiday lights illuminated, perhaps through February. With the concurrence of the assembly members, the manager said he was okay with leaving the decorations up, but worried about the wind, which of late, has reached gusts of over 40 mph. Giesbrecht said if wind damage occurs, the lights and tree will be taken down. A citizen emailed the manager suggesting...
The Petersburg Emergency Operations Center lowered the community risk of COVID-19 transmission from orange to yellow, or level one on Wednesday, according to a joint press between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. Although the current active case number in town is nine as of Wednesday afternoon, the EOC said the cases were a part of household clusters and have been isolated from the community; as a result, the EOC is able to lower the overall community risk level. However, an...
In the first round of COVID-19 aid released through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, Petersburg received $15.08 million in bailout funds from the federal government. Funds were released through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). A little over 270 Petersburg businesses received a total of $8.46 million in PPP loans, while 268 local businesses received a combined $6.61 million through EIDL, according to covidbailouttracker.com....
A large group of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the United States Capitol Building on Jan. 6 while Congress was certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election leaving a wake of destruction behind them. Petersburg residents seem united in their feelings of disappointment and embarrassment at those that entered the Capitol Building and condemnation of their actions. Where they differ is whether or not those that remained outside are just as guilty as those that entered the...
Alaska Natives Without Land now looks to the 117th Congress for the opportunity to acquire land through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act after legislation that would have established five Urban Corporations failed to progress in the previous session of Congress. "With the continued support of our Alaska delegation, our communities, and our shareholders, we will realize a positive result after many years of anguish," wrote Randy Williams, an ANWL representative, in prepared statement. Five...
