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Students started their first day back to school on Monday at the Petersburg School District. "It's been busy but it's been great," said Mitkof Middle School and Petersburg High School principal Rick Dormer. "It really is great having the kids back in the building." The middle school was treated to an introductory assembly on Monday, which welcomed them back and introduced new students and staff. A similar assembly was held on Wednesday that introduced the high school athletic department and...
I had the honor of hosting the 26th Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, Admiral Karl L. Schultz, in Southeast Alaska. We were joined by17th Coast Guard District Commander Admiral Bell. Our time together included an important trip to Petersburg, where we visited crews and the town's two ships stationed there. One of the Coast Guard Cutters that we toured, the USCGC ELDERBERRY was put in Alaskan waters in the mid-50s. It's a testament to the great work of Coast Guard crews to keep this vessel in...
Earlier this month, Gov. Bill Walker signed Senate Bill 105 into law, which improves transparency in healthcare costs. “Healthcare costs are a critical issue in Alaska,” said Walker in a press release from Aug. 7. “Trying to keep costs sustainable is an important issue for individuals and families, but also for businesses and our economy. Seeking care is often hard enough – our medicals bills shouldn’t hurt, too.” Under the new bill, healthcare providers and facilities will have to publicly post the costs of their most common procedures,...
After voting on Aug. 21, the results of the Alaska primary election have started to come in. Unofficial election results have been posted online at the Alaska Division of Elections’ website. According to the election results, it was a low turnout for the primary, with only 18.2 percent of Alaska’s voting public casting ballots. There were seven candidates running for the position of U.S. Representative this year, three Republicans and four Democrats. Alysa Galvin took 19,735 votes, or 54.09 percent, securing the Democratic nomination for the...
This week, the students in the nursing program at the Petersburg Medical Center began their second and last year in the program. "Nursing school is stressful no matter where you go," said Rosa Niemi, a registered nurse staff generalist and adjunct faculty with the University of Alaska Anchorage. "They seem to be doing really good. They are a close knit group." The program is with UAA. Half of the course is done online through teleconferencing, readings and group projects. The other half focuses...
Petersburg Medical Center's first month into the 2019 fiscal year saw a 6 percent increase in net revenue, but a decrease in days cash on hand. "The month of July was a decently good month," said CFO Doran Hammett. The budget for the net operating revenue was set at $1,221,250 for the month, but the hospital came in at $1,299,357, which is a 6 percent increase. The increase in the net operating revenue is attributed to the amount of money brought in by inpatient care, said Hammett. The...
Petersburg Medical Center will partner with Petersburg Mental Health Services to bring mental health counseling to the Joy Janssen Clinic beginning in September. “We’re looking forward to working with the hospital on it and we think it’s a great deal for the community,” said PMHS financial officer Kathy O’Rear. Building off a strong working relationship, PMHS will send Pat Feffa one day a week to PMC to begin an effort to have mental health to be a part of primary care, said O’Rear. By having a professional available at the hospital to...
On Friday, Beth Flor kicked off her art show, Beyond Realism, with a reception at Firelight Gallery & Framing to display her pieces painted over a two-year period. "[Painting] makes me focus and takes me out of myself," said Flor. "It's not that I relax, it's that I focus. You escape into the work." The subject matter for half of the pieces are white sheets. Most of them were painted in Mexico. At first, she was inspired by the shapes and forms her white sheets took while she was changing them,...
In the Aug. 16 edition of the Petersburg Pilot, on page 16, Trygve Thorsen, 88 was also survived by Andrew Trygve Broschat. His name was left out of the obituary published on August 16, 2018. In the Aug. 23 edition of the Petersburg Pilot, a story on page 5 stated that Richard Burke or Sally Dwyer could withdraw from the planning commission race for the single 2-year term seat and run as a write in candidate for the available 3-year term seat so as to avoid running against each other. It should have stated Richard Burke or David Kensinger. On... Full story
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
On Monday, the borough assembly approved the filming of a reality TV show focusing on the Petersburg Police Department, pending the approval of the borough’s attorney. Engel Entertainment, a production company based in New York City, may begin filming this fall before the end of the year, said Engel Entertainment vice president of development Kara Smith. The goal of Engel Entertainment is to show its viewers several police forces throughout Southeast Alaska, focusing on police officers who have moved to Alaska from the lower 48 and their t...
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...
Family and friends of John Pickens, as well as members of the United States Forest Service and Student Conservation Association, gathered on Kupreanof Island to honor the late Pickens and the work done to rebuild the Mitchell Creek fish pass on Saturday. The USFS has been planning this event since last year, but only in February did it start to get some traction, said Eric Castro, a biologist with the USFS and one of the main coordinators of the event. Approximately 40 people were provided...
Eighteen of the 20 public seats up for election in borough elections have been filed for candidacy. Petersburg will hold its annual municipal election on Oct. 2 from 8 A.M. through 8 P.M. in the activity room of the community center. Residents will be voting on who will fill the 20 public office seats up for election and one proposition. The first day that residents could apply for candidacy was July 24, and the last day to file was Aug. 2. Candidates have until Friday to withdraw from the...
In response to Ocean Beauty announcing that they’ll be closing their plant in Petersburg, the borough assembly discussed a draft letter in response on Monday. In the draft letter from Vice Mayor Jeigh Stanton-Gregor to Ocean Beauty on behalf of the Petersburg Borough Assembly, Stanton-Gregor expressed appreciation for informing the assembly of its decision, as well as the impact the move will have on the local economy. “While this is most unwelcome news to our community and it will be difficult for us to replace the lost revenue, emp...
WRANGELL - Shoemaker Bay Harbor was built in 1977 with a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years, according to Wrangell Harbor Master Gregg Meissner. Now, at 41-years-old, the harbor is finally getting rebuilt. Meissner said many of the renovations are to ensure the harbor meets the needs of modern boats. The renovated Shoemaker Harbor will be similar to Heritage Harbor, he said, which was built in the early 2000s. "Since 40 years ago boats have gotten wider and deeper, so the configuration will be a...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — A Ketchikan shipyard is expecting to lay off 50 to 80 workers between October and the end of the year. Vigor Alaska officials informed workers of the layoffs at a meeting last week, citing a lack of new construction projects, the Ketchikan Daily News reported. Without more work orders coming in, the company will need to lay off ``core workers,'' said Doug Ward, the director of shipyard development. The company that operates the shipyard is a subsidiary of Vigor Industrial, based in Portland, Oregon. ``We wanted to give...
WRANGELL - The wildfire near Telegraph Creek, British Columbia is still burning. According to Amy Riebe with the British Columbia Wildfire Service, firefighters have contained about 11 percent of the blaze, but work is still ongoing. Telegraph Creek is a small community along the Stikine River. In early August, according to Riebe, the fire was started by a lightning strike. "It was first reported on August 1," she said. "There were quite a few fires reported at that time when lightning went...
A fire was reported at about 6 a.m. Tuesday morning on Zarembo Island. The fire, according to a Facebook post by the U.S. Forest Service, is a tenth of an acre in size, and has consumed several structures at the Evergreen Timber logging camp. No injuries have been reported, and logging company employees are fighting the fire. According to Christy Gardner with the Forest Service, the fire was put out by logging company employees, though the Forest Service did come to the site to offer assistance. The fire was contained quickly and did not...
KENAI, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska seafood organization is encouraging industry members to comment on the proposed U.S. tariffs on products imported from China that could negatively affect the state's seafood industry. The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute is asking members to comment before the September deadline on the proposed increases to tariffs that include seafood products from China, the Peninsula Clarion reported Sunday. About $2.7 billion in U.S. seafood is processed in China and sent back to the U.S. annually with most of that coming f...
The borough assembly, on Monday, failed to approve the funding of assembly member Jeff Meucci’s travel to Southeast Conference to advocate for himself and Petersburg in September. Meucci was chosen by the assembly at the Aug. 6 assembly meeting to be Petersburg’s nomination for a vacant seat on the Southeast Conference board of directors. “He has multiple times been against assembly travel and suggested skyping and different things,” said assembly member Brandi Marohl. “To me, it seems like now there’s a personal interest. His view points on t...
After a dry summer season, Crystal Lake’s water levels are 11 feet below the crest of the dam, according to utility director Karl Hagerman. “We’re having a very, very, very dry summer,” said Hagerman. Since the water level is so low, the hydro dam is unable to produce as much power, said Hagerman. Ordinarily, the borough purchases 75 percent of its electricity from the Southeast Alaska Power Agency. The remaining 25 percent is produced by the hydro dam and diesel generators. The average electricity produced by the borough in the month of July...
On Friday, August 10 two U.S. Senators and two U.S. Coast Guard Admirals visited Petersburg to tour the local ships and to talk about the importance of the U.S. Coast Guard missions in Alaska. Mayor Mark Jensen talked with the delegation that included Senators Inslee (Wyoming) and Murkowski (Alaska), Rear Admiral Bell (17th U.S. Coast Guard District) and U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Kevin Schultz. The group gathered on the airport tarmac before Jensen accompanied them on a tour of both...
The U.S. Forest Service is rebuilding the Mitchell Creek Fish Pass on Kupreanof Island, which was originally built in 1992, to ensure that the self-sustaining coho salmon population continues. "This fish pass is the only one of nine on the Petersburg Ranger District to have been built specifically to increase local sport fishing opportunities," said Paul Robbins Jr., public affairs and partnerships officer with the United States Forest Service. Demolition of the previous fish pass began in early...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska authorities say two men skied to a remote bear den on an island, pulled out their weapons and shot a mother bear in front of her two newborns. They say one of the men then turned his weapon and killed “the shrieking newborn bear cubs.” Alaska State Troopers say the men didn’t know it but the bears were part of an observation program. The area outside the den had a motion-activated camera equipped with sound, and the slaughter was caught on camera. Authorities announced Wednesday that Andrew Renner and Owen Re...
