Sorted by date Results 1333 - 1357 of 5625
Unofficial municipal election results show David Kensinger taking one of two 3-year term seats on the Borough Assembly, with Assembly Members Jeff Meucci and Brandi Thynes in a close race for the second seat. Kensinger had 573 votes in the unofficial results, which put him safely ahead of the other three candidates. Meucci has 497 votes and Thynes has 481 votes. There are still four questioned ballots that need to be added in the final number of votes. Plus, the borough has yet to receive 19...
Pilot publisher Ron Loesch won a 2nd place award from the National Newspaper Association for his editorial supporting lifting of the Roadless Rule on the Tongass National Forest. The editorial appeared in the November 21 edition of the newspaper in 2019. Judges commented: "Well written editorial commentary on how federal regulations affect a local population." The Petersburg Pilot also received an honorable mention for its special investigative story about the airport terminal space squeeze...
The Borough Assembly extended its emergency non-congregate sheltering agreement with the Narrows Inn on Monday through the end of the year or until state health mandate #14 is rescinded. Non-congregate sheltering gives homeless populations, first responders and health care workers a safe place to quarantine while they're waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test or to isolate while they recover from the virus. "Hopefully we don't need it before the end of the year, but if we do, we'll be glad...
While one can still expect to wait in a long line at the Petersburg Post Office, residents won't have to wait upwards of an hour to retrieve a package now that customer service hours have increased to four hours a day Monday through Friday from 1 P.M. to 5 P.M. Earlier this summer, a long time postal employee retired and another employee resigned. That left Postmaster Kim Aulbach and one other employee with the bulk of the day-to-day duties. Customer service hours were cut back to two hours a...
Petersburg Medical Center has continued their spike in revenue into the second month of the fiscal year, with a total operating revenue for the month of August that was 26 percent above expectations, according to a financial report PMC Controller Rocio Tejera presented to the Board of Directors at their meeting on Sept. 24. PMC had budgeted for $1,619,830 in total operating revenue in August, but instead brought in $2,045,120. A high number of patient days for the month drove up the total...
The weather information transmitter at Cape Fanshaw has been repaired after being out of service for over a year. Cape Fanshaw is located north of Petersburg, along a point of mainland approximately 12 nautical miles north of Farrugut Bay. As of Oct. 6, NOAA and Coast Guard personnel confirmed that the transmitter was now operational. Kip Wadlow, Coast Guard spokesperson, said that the transmitter fell under the domain of NOAA. He later clarified on Oct. 6 that they had a memorandum of...
An employee at Petersburg Medical Center has tested positive for COVID-19 and was identified through the hospital's routine asymptomatic testing protocol, according to a joint press release from PMC and the Petersburg Borough. The employee has been notified and is in isolation. PMC has switched to a red risk level of operations as a result of the confirmed case of the virus, according to the joint release. All non-emergent care patient visits have been canceled and clinic appointments will be... Full story
Petersburg Indian Association donated an SUV to Mountain View Food Services (MVFS) to replace the non-profit organization's unreliable delivery vehicle. The vehicle was purchased through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that was only available to tribes, said PIA Tribal Administrator Tracy Welch. There were limitations to what the grant could be used for, but PIA decided to use the grant to assist with elderly food service meals and deliveries in the community....
Petersburg School District switched over to a low risk level of operations, or green level, on Monday. Rae C. Stedman Elementary School will be in session from 8 A.M. to 1:45 P.M. in person Monday through Friday, said Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter at the COVID-19 community update on Friday, Sept. 25. Teachers will stay with their classes throughout the day and limit interaction with other teachers and pods. Students will still get recesses, lunch and other breaks while in school. Mitkof...
This year's borough assembly candidates took the stage on Sept. 24 to answer questions ranging from the borough's COVID-19 response to the tourism industry in this year's candidate forum. The candidates answered questions from representatives of KFSK and the Petersburg Pilot. Marc Martinsen, Dave Kensinger and incumbents Jeff Meucci and Brandi Thynes were each asked the same questions and had two minutes to respond. The order of the candidates changed with each question that was asked. The forum...
The Pilot asked Katherine (Katie) Holmlund and Craig Anderson, who are both running for a single 3-year term seat on the Petersburg School Board, six questions related to the Petersburg School District. Due to a production error, Holmlund's closing statements didn't run in last week's paper with the rest of her responses. Below is her last response as she submitted it to the Pilot. Anderson's last response is not included, because he didn't submit one. Provide a brief statement on any school...
A new 20-ft. x 40-ft. tent has been erected at the Petersburg airport to provide shelter for hospital employees providing COVID testing services for passengers arriving at the airport each day. Emergency operations center director Karl Hagerman said the new tent encompasses the same size footprint as the three tents and trailer that were in place this summer. "The tent survived the wind test this weekend," according to Hagerman. The airport experienced wind gusts up to 40 mph and sustained...
Mitkof Middle School was recognized as a 2020 National Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education for its overall academic performance. MMS was one of 367 schools nationwide that were selected for the award. Recipient schools were recognized for either their overall academic performance or progress in closing the achievement gap among students. The middle school was the last school in the Petersburg School District to receive the award. Petersburg High School was honored...
A mother bear and her three cubs were seen near Rae C. Stedman Elementary School on Tuesday, which put staff and teachers on high alert; however, Principal Heather Conn said in an email to parents that the students were safe throughout the day. "I wanted to let you all know the story behind what happened as I know that for some kiddos this was a scary event," said Conn in the email. "Some it was way cool, and some had no idea it even happened." At around 1:15 P.M. all the students were brought i...
This year's moose harvest is on track to match 2018's harvest, with a combined moose count of 44 for Unit 3 and Unit 1B as of Wednesday, according to Fish and Game Area Biologist Frank Robbins. Around this time of the season in 2018, 42 moose were harvested in both units. The average moose count between 2014 and 2017 at about halfway through the season was 58. Last year's moose harvest broke the five year average with 64 moose harvested around the halfway point of the season. Overall, last...
A contractor at Southeast Alaska Power Agency's Tyee Lake hydroelectric facility accidentally entered an incorrect control system input, resulting in a power outage in Wrangell and Petersburg Saturday morning, said SEAPA CEO Trey Acteson. SEAPA staff were conducting a training session associated with recent control upgrades when the error was made. Tyee Lake generation was lost at 9:15 A.M. on Sept. 26, said Robert Siedman, an electrical engineer with SEAPA. Power was restored 25 minutes later...
The borough assembly approved Ordinance #2020-19, which amends borough code chapter 3.72 to provide for civil emergency provisions, in its third reading on Monday after postponing the final vote by two months. The emergency ordinance transfers civil emergency provisions from the City of Petersburg Code to Petersburg Borough Code while adding language to guide local officials through an emergency. The additional language caused a division in the community and led the Borough Assembly to delay...
Although this year's Southeast Alaska salmon season produced a record low run, crabbers enjoyed the second highest summer harvest on record, according to Joe Stratman, lead crab biologist for region one with Petersburg Fish and Game. In Registration Area A, which includes all the inside waters of Southeast Alaska, 5.81 million pounds of Dungeness crab were harvested by 192 permit holders in the 2020 summer season. This year's summer season alone exceeded full season harvests for every previous...
Petersburg has gone 34 days since a case of COVID-19 was confirmed to be in the community. The last confirmed case of the virus was a non-resident who tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 14 and later recovered on Aug. 21. As of Wednesday, Sept. 23, Petersburg Medical Center reported 3,887 test samples have been collected to be tested for COVID-19 on site or at outside laboratories. Of those test samples collected, about 3,829 have returned negative and 45 are still pending. According to PMC, Ne...
For Kaleb Baird, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to hunt a billy from a secluded rocky mountain goat herd on the Cleveland Peninsula earlier this month. The hunt had been closed for about 16 years and only two tags were given out through a lottery system. About 150 people put their name in the hat for a chance to hunt the covenant herd and Baird's name was drawn. Now he is looking at a chance to set the record for the largest mountain goat taken down by a bow and arrow. "I'm...
The Petersburg High School boys cross country team took third place in a virtual meet on Saturday as the team ran alongside participants in this year's Rainforest Run. While both the boys and girls team ran the 10k course on Cabin Creek Rd., just their time for the first 5k was recorded and shared with other schools across the region. Haines took first place in the boys virtual meet, followed by Craig, Petersburg, Metlakatla, Klawock and Hydaburg, according to Head Coach Tom Thompson. However,...
The Borough Assembly approved 20 members of the public to serve as election officials during the municipal election on Oct. 6. at their assembly meeting on Monday. The names of 19 election officials went before the assembly, but a 20th name, Stephanie Payne, was added to the list. Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson said with the addition of Payne, she had enough election officials to serve on Election Day. Assembly Member Jeff Meucci requested Thompson explain the process for someone to run in the...
Petersburg Medical Center's sixth annual Rainforest Run raised $225 for the Petersburg High School cross country team on Saturday, according to PMC Public Relations Coordinator Kelsey Lambe. The course began at Sandy Beach and continued down Cabin Creek Rd. Runners and walkers continued on to their turnaround point and then headed back to Sandy Beach. Participants had the choice of running or walking a 10k or half marathon. While the race was free to participants, donations were accepted on beha...
Name: Brandi Thynes Age: 38 Experience: 3 yr term borough assembly 1 yr appointed school board Why do you seek public office? I enjoyed being on the assembly this last term and would like to continue to be an advocate for our community, especially in these odd and trying times. I understand the importance and privilege that comes with being a voice for my fellow constituents. Would you support a borough-wide face masking mandate? No. This has been strongly opposed by the community. The c...
Name: Craig Anderson Age: 49 Experience: I have a bachelor's degree from the University of Idaho, and I worked on a master's degree in forestry at Umea University in north central Sweden. I have experience managing meetings, working on budgets and responding to public comments. I have been a federal employee for about 18 years. Why do you seek public office? My family and I moved to Petersburg almost 9 1/2 years ago. My two sons started elementary school at Stedman in Kindergarten and 1st...
